Disabled Survivors of Haiti Earthquake Face Overwhelming Challenges

People with disabilities in Haiti faced significant challenges before the earthquake. Desperate poverty and stigmatization of mothers who give birth to children with disabilities often led to the abandonment of thousands of Haitian children with disabilities - in hospitals if they were lucky, but many were often left on the side of the road or even in sewers! The ones who survived to adulthood were assisted by various charities that provided mobility and assistive devices, medical treatment, access to education, and jobs.

Since the earthquake has destroyed most of Haiti's infrastructure, it is difficult to imagine how Haitians with disabilities will survive. Most of the hospitals are no more. Roads are ripped apart, or filled with rubble. Family members are probably dead, injured, or their whereabouts unknown. Water, food, and medications are hard, if not impossible, to come by. Wheelchairs, canes, prosthetic devices and other aids most likely have been damaged beyond repair or lost in the rubble. Charity organizations on the ground have also suffered greatly, and can provide little or no assistance to their clients. They, too, are depending on help from others to stay in business.

Humanitarian aid is beginning to arrive in Haiti. Much of it is coming into the capital, Port-au-Prince. Some people might be able to walk, or find some way of getting to distribution areas, but what of people with disabilities? How will they be able to gain access to assistance? Has anyone given any thought to Haitians with disabilities, including those newly disabled by injuries sustained in the earthquake? What steps will be taken to insure that people with disabilities will be reached and served?

There is at least one organization now on the ground in Haiti that serves people with disabilities. It is an international charity called CBM, or Christian Blind Mission. They specialize in serving people with blindness, deafness, and other disabilities in the world's poorest countries. Rehabilitation services, treatment of certain conditions, and sustainability projects are some of the services that CBM offers.

At this time the goals are to try to reach their project sites in Port-au-Prince, contact partners in the region, assess the situation, and formulate a plan to get relief aid and supplies to children, the disabled, and seniors.

The staggering devastation that this earthquake has wrought means that the population of Haitians with disabilities will skyrocket. One charity specializing in service to people with disabilities will not suffice to meet their needs. Many more disability-focused organizations and agencies must come to Haiti and work not only among themselves, but with the Haitian government to build a disability infrastructure. Only then will disabled survivors of this earthquake be able to overcome the overwhelming challenges that they face.

Sources:

CNN; Haiti Earthquake http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2010/haiti.quake/index.html

CBM (Christian Blind Mission) http://www.cbmus.org/site/PageServer