Thursday, 17 November 2016

Weaker than the storm

They’d rather eat than vote

ON A cloud-dampened morning in Jérémie, the capital of the department of Grand’Anse in south-west Haiti, André Tham walks along a muddy road with a loudhailer, urging passers-by to get vaccinations against cholera. Farther on, a colleague empties a small vial into the mouth of a motorcyclist.

More than 3,700 people are thought to have contracted the waterborne disease since Hurricane Matthew washed over Haiti on October 4th, felling trees, destroying houses, schools and clinics, and polluting sources of clean water. More than 1,000 people died and 1.4m still need immediate assistance. Farms and fisheries, the main source of livelihood, were ruined. Some families remain in their derelict homes, trying to keep out the rain as best they can; about 140,000 are living in government-run shelters. Mr Tham and his wife, who has suffered a broken leg, are among them. “I lost everything,” he says.

Recovery is slow. Aid agencies say it is difficult to deliver food to many of the hurricane’s victims, in part because roads remain impassable. Rebuilding has barely begun. Jobless refugees...Continue reading

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