6 Months After Earthquake, Haiti

Status of recovery after six months: As much as 98% of the rubble from the quake remains uncleared; thousands of bodies remain in the rubble. The number of people in relief camps of tents and tarps since the quake remains at 1.6 million, and almost no transitional housing has been built. Most of the camps have no electricity, running water, or sewage disposal, and the tents are beginning to fall apart. Crime in the camps is widespread, especially against women and children. Between 23 major charities, $1.1 billion has been collected for Haiti for relief efforts, but only 2 percent of the money has been released. According to a CBS report, $3.1 billion was pledged for humanitarian aid and has paid for field hospitals, plastic tarps, bandages, and food, plus salaries, transportation and upkeep of relief workers. By May 2010, enough aid had been raised internationally to give each displaced family a check for $37,000.
CNN returned to Port-au-Prince and reported, "It looks like the quake just happened yesterday", and Imogen Wall, spokeswoman for the United Nations office of humanitarian affairs in Haiti, said that six months from now it may still look the same. The Haitian government says it is unable to tackle debris clean-up or the resettlement of homeless right now, because it must prepare for hurricane season. Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive states, "The real priority of the government is to protect the population from the next hurricane season, and most of our effort right now is going right now in that direction."