Late on Thursday, we landed in Santo Domingo (in the Dominican Republic).
Normally this city, referred to as the ‘Gateway to the Caribbean’, is a typical seafarers’ town. But now it is occupying news headlines around the world as the ‘Gateway to Haiti’, a far less romantic association perhaps, but a truly vital one. Aid agencies from around the world are gathering here, preparing to enter Haiti from this ‘safe corridor’, though we now hear that the sea port into Haiti has been opened and secured by the US military as well. Hopefully this will mean that the cargo ships full of aid that have been anchored off the coast will be able to push through even more aid.
One of the people we have met is a photographer who has just returned from a tour of duty in Haiti. This photographer, who is also a WSPA supporter, wanted us to have a couple of pictures that showed what an important part of Haiti’s social fabric the Haitian animals are.
This is what the photographer said about this particular picture, "While taking pictures of the devastation in Haiti, I saw this group of children - camped on the pavement with no home to go back to, they represent the harsh reality that Haitians are faced with. But as the dog cheekily forced his way into the frame, the children burst out laughing… and I realized how these simple pleasures are part of their reality too!"
I wonder how many facets of this reality we will find when we finally enter Haiti. The ARCH team have now made arrangements for a plane to fly us in to Haiti, and we expect to be taking off for Port au Prince on Saturday.
