By Laura Figueroa (Miami Herald)
lfigueroa@MiamiHerald.com
Flies buzz around his wounded leg, and yet, despite his cries for help for Christiane Carystil, 87, can not attract the attention that his case requires.
Even outside the ruins of the Municipal Asylum - the main health care center dedicated to seniors in the capital - the staff can barely take care of the elderly in particular each trying to survive in a post-earthquake.
"Here are many needs, but staff is still very inadequate" said Andree Devils, one of the workers at the center.
In Haiti, the elderly must face the fact that assistance to victims of the earthquake was mainly thought for children and adults. Edentulous elders should try chewing on hard biscuits, distributed by United Nations humanitarian workers, or eat whole grains, they are no longer able to digest properly. "In the urgency of the distribution of aid as quickly as possible, these details have unfortunately escaped" , advance Cynthia Powell, spokesman for HelpAge, an international organization that helps seniors through the world.
Since his arrival in Haiti, shortly after the earthquake of January 12, HelpAge has taken much of the daily tasks at Asylum Comunale, and continues to mobilize its efforts to help the elderly staying in tent camps in Port-au-Prince, Petit Goave and Leogane.
The organization has provided financial support to eight health care centers run by churches and houses 400 seniors, and has set up camps in protected areas consisting of elderly needing attention. She also launched a radio campaign urging families not to abandon their elderly parents.
Yet HelpAge workers are concerned that in a country where the needs are so enormous that the elderly continue to be neglected.
"We've had reports of cases of abandonment of the elderly in the camps" regrets Rosaleen Cunningham, spokesman of HelpAge. "Concerns were also raised about the increased risks to the elderly and unable to protect their property and themselves."
In Asylum Communal Clairevana Desbrosses, 87, shows off a bottle half filled with amber liquid, sort of medication to alleviate his shooting pain she feels in her abdomen. Addressing the shortage of medicines, she is afraid that he steals his bottle in a moment of inattention.
"I'm not feeling well" shouted it repeatedly.
It is part of the number of 42 residents of the nursing home, forced to stay in Outside the center, following the collapse of one of the two main dormitories. Over 90 residents share the same space as 100 families who have established their camp on the lawn of the clinic.
Children playing around the muddy lawn, not far from the seniors lined up naked, bathed by nursing attendants with buckets of cold water.
From the beginning, HelpAge had paid men to serve as security guards at several residents who complained that gang members "were in their tents to steal the little food they had. "
" The best option for their residents would be relocated as soon as possible " believes Cunningham " but the mayor has given agree to any proposed plans. "
For now, HelpAge has hired a physician to ensure continuity of care at the center and working to transform the first floor of a clinic in an area of geriatric care room with 25 beds.
While people older living in households receiving aid workers who take care of them, thousands of elderly people trying to survive in tent camps. Nearly 200,000 people over age 60 are now homeless, according to figures collected by HelpAge.
Many seniors rely on the generosity of neighbors or the resourcefulness of children and grandchildren to get food and medical care.
"Sometimes, my neighbors give me a few grains of corn" Dilianne says Charles, 90, inside his tent in the Parc Sainte-Thérèse in Petionville.
While children run through the camp, playing jump rope or football, many older people, like Charles, say rarely leave their tents.
"At my age it's hard to stay in the sun" said Charles. "What can I do? There is nothing else to do than sit here and do not waste my energy. I always said that I'm alive for a reason. "
Frézelia Cetoute, 109 years, was one of the oldest residents of the camp of the Park St. Therese. She has since been transported to his home, one of the lucky homes that have been declared safe enough to accommodate their occupants.
Yet while living in the tent camp has Cetoute tried to remain attentive to its environment, despite his blindness.
"Play children play made me happy, "she said had one of those days. "It allowed me to know that life goes on."
Cetoute lived under a makeshift tent built from tarps and gray floral leaves, with her daughter aged 66, her grand- 17 year old daughter and her two nieces, 8 and 9.
Thanks to money sent by relatives living in Miami and New York, the three generations of women lived on soft foods that are easy to eat for Cetoute, such as potatoes and the bananas.
Cetoute often worried about not being able to walk in the park crowded. So she spent most of his days fingering her black rosary, praying installed in a lawn chair that served as beds.
"I just waiting" sighs Cetoute. "If I can survive the earthquake, who knows what else I can survive? "
Translated from English by Victor Claudel
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