First Person

Some kids in Haiti’s camps grapple with more than the loss of their homes

Posted by
Workers mark out the location for a bank of latrines at a resettlement camp outside of Port-au-Prince. Photo by Jane Beesley/Oxfam
Workers mark out the location for a bank of latrines at a resettlement camp outside of Port-au-Prince. Photo by Jane Beesley/Oxfam

The United Nations says more than a million Haitians left homeless by the Jan. 12 earthquake have now received emergency shelter. For some of them, that means white tents lined up in blocks at a resettlement camp  at Corail Cesselesse about a 40-minute ride outside of Port-au-Prince. Last week, Oxfam’s Ana Caistor Arendar  visited the site where 5,000 people have now set up home. But for some kids, “home” is missing the heart that often holds it together.

In her account, Ana reports that “As we were walking through the camp a little girl, no older than four, came up behind me, put her arms around my waist and grabbed onto my hand tightly. She held onto me while we toured the camp. As we left, I was told that young girls often cling to female visitors in this way, these usually being the girls who lost their mothers in the earthquake.” Read more on the Huffington Post.

Oxfam.org Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Google+