A boy reaches up to grab a food packet from Sri Lankan UN soldiers
Sri Lankan UN soldier hands a packet of food to people
A woman and child watch the pile of humanitarian aid and water and the US Marines, these were eventually delivered to an orphanage and neighborhood.
Children from the destroyed orphanage carry water past their building
Children from the destroyed orphanage carry water past their buildingJanuary 23, 2010
(Forgot to mention you can see more photos at www.gettyimages.com , just search under my name)
4:25pm, back at the bureau and AFP text reporter Dave Clark emails, “He’s out!”. A man has been found alive after 11 days in rubble, apparently trapped in a grocery store so had food and water. Since we are French, here’s the French angle from reporter on scene:
“Didier le Bret, french ambassador;"Ce que c'est passe c'est extraordinaire ... Il a resiste pendant 11 jours ce qui est particulierement incroyable." Told reporters at scene”
Then again M. le Bret may not have seen this:
“Round of applause for french firemen and smaller US and Greek teams from media, but even as street cleared youths spraypainted "We Don't Need The France help only The USA" on nearby wall.” "In USA We Trust".
I guess its bad if you’re the original imperialist aggressor.
Spent the day with Daphne in Leogane, my second time there. We were searching for the US Marines, and found them where I last saw them, in a field near the town center that they used for a helicopter landing pad, temporary storage for humanitarian aid and camping spot. A big stack of boxes with food and hundreds of gallons of water sit in an orderly pile, marines sitting in the hot sun. They were and had been waiting for a UN truck to arrive to pick up the aid and take it to a distribution point. For some reason the marines couldn’t distribute the aid right there, so a small crowd formed on the road to stare at the supplies and the marines. A few of the marines I talked to were frustrated with this situation, but their orders were to wait. A Navy helicopter lands to unload more supplies. I sit in the shade of a marine jeep to transmit photos when the UN truck shows up. A Sri Lankan unit will distribute the aid, somewhere. So when I though I had enough photos to send, the Sri Lankans announce a plane will be landing on the road near the field. And out of the sky a small Cessna plane decends and lands. It’s bringing supplies from Santo Domingo and returning with a volunteer medical group from Massachusetts. This draws the crowd previously watching the marines.
I set up the Bgan satellite phone on the roof of our van, manage to send 1 picture when Daphne says the Sri Lankan UN troops are going to distribute aid now at an orphanage. So off we go to the Christian Orphanage of Bonne Nouvelle, whose buildings were completely destroyed but no children killed, where the Sri Lankans deliver water and food boxes. It was located off the main road and no one would have found it if a Christian aid group hadn’t seen it.
The Sri Lankan commander decided to also distribute some of the food and water in the local neighborhood, to prevent looting of the orphanage. The truck draws a moderate crowd in a few minutes as the soldiers struggle to keep people in an orderly line. The soldiers in the truck motion to me and help me up to get an angle from high up. When the food packets are handed out people press forward and it becomes a bit tense with small children squeezed up front, but no injuries. When it’s all done, I find Daphne sitting in the shade writing her story on a computer surrounded by about 10 people staring at her working. The driver takes us to shade where we can send our stories.
4:25pm, back at the bureau and AFP text reporter Dave Clark emails, “He’s out!”. A man has been found alive after 11 days in rubble, apparently trapped in a grocery store so had food and water. Since we are French, here’s the French angle from reporter on scene:
“Didier le Bret, french ambassador;"Ce que c'est passe c'est extraordinaire ... Il a resiste pendant 11 jours ce qui est particulierement incroyable." Told reporters at scene”
Then again M. le Bret may not have seen this:
“Round of applause for french firemen and smaller US and Greek teams from media, but even as street cleared youths spraypainted "We Don't Need The France help only The USA" on nearby wall.” "In USA We Trust".
I guess its bad if you’re the original imperialist aggressor.
Spent the day with Daphne in Leogane, my second time there. We were searching for the US Marines, and found them where I last saw them, in a field near the town center that they used for a helicopter landing pad, temporary storage for humanitarian aid and camping spot. A big stack of boxes with food and hundreds of gallons of water sit in an orderly pile, marines sitting in the hot sun. They were and had been waiting for a UN truck to arrive to pick up the aid and take it to a distribution point. For some reason the marines couldn’t distribute the aid right there, so a small crowd formed on the road to stare at the supplies and the marines. A few of the marines I talked to were frustrated with this situation, but their orders were to wait. A Navy helicopter lands to unload more supplies. I sit in the shade of a marine jeep to transmit photos when the UN truck shows up. A Sri Lankan unit will distribute the aid, somewhere. So when I though I had enough photos to send, the Sri Lankans announce a plane will be landing on the road near the field. And out of the sky a small Cessna plane decends and lands. It’s bringing supplies from Santo Domingo and returning with a volunteer medical group from Massachusetts. This draws the crowd previously watching the marines.
I set up the Bgan satellite phone on the roof of our van, manage to send 1 picture when Daphne says the Sri Lankan UN troops are going to distribute aid now at an orphanage. So off we go to the Christian Orphanage of Bonne Nouvelle, whose buildings were completely destroyed but no children killed, where the Sri Lankans deliver water and food boxes. It was located off the main road and no one would have found it if a Christian aid group hadn’t seen it.
The Sri Lankan commander decided to also distribute some of the food and water in the local neighborhood, to prevent looting of the orphanage. The truck draws a moderate crowd in a few minutes as the soldiers struggle to keep people in an orderly line. The soldiers in the truck motion to me and help me up to get an angle from high up. When the food packets are handed out people press forward and it becomes a bit tense with small children squeezed up front, but no injuries. When it’s all done, I find Daphne sitting in the shade writing her story on a computer surrounded by about 10 people staring at her working. The driver takes us to shade where we can send our stories.
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