Common Language Project: Multimedia that Matters

Day Thirteen: Kids and Camps

By Grant Fuller February 17, 2010

You’ll have to excuse the excessive use of kid photos. Ever since the first couple days when I wrote that there were no children around, I’ve been surrounded by them. Turns out I was right: The camps are swarming with little tikes. It’s funny to see the different ways kids greet foreigners around the world. In Haiti, the shouted phrase of choice seems to be “Hey, you!” followed by laughter and silence, having exhausted their English vocabulary. The little boy above had received some kind of vaccination today, and he moped around the camp holding his right arm, which hung limp at his side. I’m pretty sure he thought he was dying. Little did he know it was supposed to feel that way. I forced him to crack a smile for the camera. And all over the camp, other kids also walked with numb arms displayed like a badges of courage.

I took a walk through one of the city’s biggest camps tonight and marveled at the ingenuity and adaptability of people in crisis. I’d seen it before in West Africa, but it never ceases to amaze me. Maybe it wasn’t like this in the first days, but right now these camps seem to function like they’ve been there forever. It’s hard to believe they were hastily organized just one month ago. There are barbers, video centers, Internet (supposedly), churches, restaurants, juice makers, classrooms and soccer fields. I wouldn’t go so far as to say they’re nice, of course. Water and sanitation are serious problems. But the general feel you get is that these people have been living together in harmony for years. Maybe pre-quake differences don’t matter so much in the camps. Here, you’re all in the same unlucky boat together – may as well get along.