If such a tragedy occurred in the USA, the people of this country would be able to 'figure it out.' The people of Haiti can't and they react with instinct and criminality.
If I may?
The Haitian people speak languages, of course they do, but they don't have a national language regarding emergency response. In that, they sincerely lack 'the culture' of emergency that facilitates 'cognitive' behavior BEFORE 'fight and flight' sets in.
They believe they have been abandoned by 'the caregivers' they had before this earthquake. They don't 'reason' that the folks and infrastructure that cared for them before was as human and vulnerable to death and injury as they have been. They expect their 'caregivers' to show up regardless.
The culture of Haiti never included emergency response. Example:
In the USA, when a person is 'on fire' for whatever reason a person would be on fire, the CULTURE of EMERGENCY instilled in a person from a young age tells that person to overcome 'instinct' to run and to STOP, DROP AND ROLL.
IT IS COUNTER INTUITIVE. It takes a lot of culture to have a young person 'accept' instruction from teachers to be counter intuitive, but, the American people are taught from very early ages to control their instincts and react in a way that will garner 'success' over 'emergency.'
The Haitian people not only don't have the culture, they don't have the language and are not empowered to reason through their circumstances. They are quite used to caregivers to provide for them. This tragedy will see secondary consequences because of the lack of 'emergency culture' within that society.
If I were there and trying to get aid to people that have moved beyond reason, this is what I would try to do.
I would not maintain control in distribution as NGOs are accustom to doing. I would find an abandoned area of the city or place where people are known to be near. Empty as many of the supplies in that area as possible as quickly as possible utilizing as large an area as possible. I would then leave. But, before I would leave I would set up an apparatus or 'loud speaker' to direct attention to the location of the supplies. Then as I was leaving through an established and safe exit route I would fire off flares to raise the attention of people in the area.
By placing supplies over a large area it will allow greater opportunity for more people to access the supplies. The loud speakers could explain the supplies, the quality of the supplies and how they can be used best. The distribution would be random with greater opportunity to more people as a plan to these sites. The people will carry out a 'street strategy' but they will eventually begin to get the 'idea' they are alone in their ability to cope. In that, they will have to come to realize they cannot carry weapons and there must be ample opportunity for all to remain calm and receive care.
Right now, they see a truck full of supplies and believe it is the only truck in that capacity and violence breaks out to take as much of the supplies as possible a person can horde. They don't realize there are warehouses full of supplies available to them that will be continuous.
The truth they also don't realize is that a fairly short walking distance of about 5 to 6 miles there is no or far less devastation. They only know their reality and they believe all of the country is in the same condition.
That is the good news. The bad news is that there are people still surviving in the city and amongst the rubble that have to be reached and cannot move to obtain their care. They will perish if those causing violence continue to do so making it unsafe to workers to make in roads to survivors. What I am concerned about is that those engaged in violence will try to form an encampment and hence a militia and then there will be real issues that the USA military will have to confront. It would be better if people's needs were met and they began to think about a different reality. These folks don't understand their own actions threaten their lives and the lives of the people that are weak they may be trying to save.
It is my opinion that with such an abundant amount of supplies already in Haiti, it is imprudent to try to control the distribution so much as allowing it to happen. I mean where is it going to go? At this point, considering we are attempting to have them survive, the supplies are theirs to destroy even that is their directive. They are a tough bunch to try to save from themselves.
