Perhaps the biggest misunderstanding about tent cities centers on who resides in them. The commonly held belief is that the tent cities almost strictly house those Haitians who were displaced from their homes because of the quake. While a number of residents in the tent cities are former home owners, who lost their residences, a huge number of the people living in in tents were homeless prior to the January disaster.
Simply ask Haitians and they will tell you that the tent cities are often occupied by those who had no home prior to the earthquake. These people quickly moved to the tented areas as they gained shelter, some food & water and a semblance of security, many of these absent in their lives prior to January 12th. In a sense they clearly took adavantage of what became an improvement in their quality of life. And who could blame them!
Many of those who owned homes prior to the earthquake want to head back to their former residence as soon as conditions permit. To these Haitians conditions in the tent cities are worse than their living conditions prior to the earthquake.
Make no mistake about it, conditions in the tent cities are dplorable for all concerned. There is a lack of clean water, horrible sanitation exists (if one can call it sanitation), there are filthy washrooms, too little food and water is to be found, a good deal of crime is apparent and medical attention is woefully lacking. Add all this up and you can see why there is such despair and hopelessness among many.
Until the citizens (as individuals and as a collective group), along with government, address permanent housing needs, for all concerned, the tent cities must and will persist.
Dick Flesher
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