April 22

We are planning a trip for tomorrow but will have to wait to see if the riots in surrounding areas subside. I suppose that it's human nature to have conflict when in distress. Life in the camps and the streets is hard, and Haitians are restless from all the suffering they have, and continue, to endure. Haiti is a rare circumstance in the humanitarian relief world; it is one those moments where aid agencies have embraced the support of the military in providing armed protection at aid distributions. The need is staggering and the capacity of all the NGOs combined is not enough. Frustrations abound as Haitians scramble for help.

Someone also reminded me of an interesting fact this morning. Jails were brought down along with the rest of buildings, and many of the prisoners who survived are now among the general population. It's also important to remember that Port-au-Prince is a fully urban environment--from suburbs to sprawling slums. Some residents are professionals who lost their homes along with their jobs, others are families who lost loved ones along with everything else they held dear. Many folks have abandoned their homes because they are afraid to live under concrete roofs. And, of course, there is the poverty, which defines this country. More than 78% of Haitians live in poverty (pre-quake), and this is defined by the World Bank as living on $2 per day. With poverty comes vulnerability, and the earthquake exposed it. No wonder there are riots.