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| December 7, 2010 |
It felt as if my heart was stopping as I flew into Port au Prince. Even from the air you can see the rubble, the sea of tents. Still, our plane was met by a band of musicians. Haiti is full of artists-painters, musicians, artisans.
Craig Keilberger and some Free the Children staffers met me at the airport. Tents are crammed everywhere around the airport and we walked among them to talk to the people. Some men were making metal sculptures, some children high-fived, others watched shyly from a distance.. We met a group of women making bracelets from cardboard covered with paper from magazines. They coat them and can sell them for 9 cents per bracelet. On a good week they can make as much as15 dollars.
People have access to clean water, thanks to the Red Cross, and the latrines are also maintained by the Red Cross. We were told the government had been no help- ”If we left it to the government we would all be dead” one man told me.
In this atmosphere, the elections results will be announced in a couple of hours. People don’t believe the process was conducted fairly, ballot boxes were stuffed, they say to favor Jude Celestine, current President Prevals candidate. Tonight the tension is palpable.