Oxfam blog: Haiti quake aftermath 'bringing people together'

Alexandros Yiannopoulos is Oxfam’s coordinator of food security and livelihood in Haiti.

To find out more about Oxfam in Haiti visit their website here.

It is my third week in Haiti – have not had time yet for a day off, but in good spirits.

For the rest of Oxfam there is a strong emphasis in getting the job done and making sure each of our activities are running, but I think there is a frustration that we need to be better organised and become more efficient.

That is part of the difficulty and the challenge in working in this type of environment.

On the one hand we have to do things quickly which means you need a lot of people, but on the other organising all those people and building a structure also takes time.

Outside of Oxfam there are efforts ongoing by both: UN and NGO. Some organisations are working on cash for work, which is basically an activity that helps poorer people in the community without jobs to earn an income whilst carrying out a job that is worthwhile such as clearing the mountain of rubbish that has accumulated in the city.

The World Food Programme has also distributed rice to the whole of Port au Prince. This was very well organised and will provide some support to the people here.

For the Haitians there is a long way to go. in the areas Oxfam works people are starting to come together more than they did previously to help one another. As in many cities across the world people tend to be more individualistic than in rural area.

Now this shock has had a benefit in bringing people together to share food and other resources. This is very heartening and something humanitarian organisations need to support and encourage.

Last week, I was walking around an area called Carrefour Feuille, into an area where people living there said they had not yet seed an aid worker.

I stopped off to talk with a group of about 50 people living under a shelter made out of sheets. They passionately explained that they needed shelter, food, wanted a job and many other things.

In response I asked them how they are able to support their families at the moment. They said that it was through working together and sharing what they have, helped them to live, but only just.

This is part of the puzzle for me. We need to assist as quick as possible the groups of families like the one I talked to, but at the same time, work with them to support their present ways of coping with the situation without causing damage to it.

Should we just give a big lump of money to everyone? Should we take a little longer, see how people live and cope, then do something more targeted?

Should we only work with the most vulnerable and poor or with larger traders who could support a much larger group of people?

These are just some of the questions we need to puzzle through to make sure that the money donated to Oxfam is spent is the right way, is given to the right people and has the biggest impact in the shortest time-frame.