Kristie van de Wetering
Kristie van de Wetering is Communications and Advocacy Officer for Oxfam GB-Haiti, a development, relief and campaigning organisation dedicated to finding lasting solutions to poverty and suffering around the world.
Haiti situation 'at breaking point'
"The situation is at its breaking point in Gonaives," reported Oxfam's Charlie Rowley early Sunday, just back from the all but wiped-out town. "There are very few, if any, coping mechanisms left for the people there. Whatever food and clean water there was in the town is gone. And no new food or supplies are coming in. If food and supplies don't reach the people in the next 48 hours, we will have a situation of epic proportions on our hands." Almost one week after Tropical Storm Hanna descended on Haiti, getting food and supplies to Gonaives have been virtually impossible. The main road from Port au Prince was cut when a bridge collapsed just outside of St. Marc, and the road is cut from the North as the bridge in the neighbouring town of Ennery was washed away. The alternative route through the Central Plateau proved difficult for large trucks carrying supplies, and rough waters have delayed planned shipments of humanitarian aid via boat. ...
