Posted on 02 September 2021
More than 2,200 deaths have been recorded so far after the latest earthquake in Haiti, while at least 30,000 families have had to abandon their homes. Many were sleeping on the streets when Tropical Storm Grace struck the following week.
Despite the hardship, many Haitians are wary of the massive international aid response which is still under way. “We don’t like international aid but it’s not like we have a choice,” says Marjorie Modesty, a community leader in Les Cayes, whose home was flooded and damaged in the dual disasters.
An article from The Guardian describes Haiti’s relationship with aid as long and toxic. “So you get a lot of white people driving around in their white SUVs, not getting out of their cars, and they’re the ones making the decisions about what Haitians need and where they need it.”