Disaster on the ground: Communities in Haiti create grassroots relief response as official efforts lag

Four weeks after the earthquake in Haiti, some communities outside Port Au Prince are still struggling with little or no aid. One area is Croix des Bouquets, about ten miles east of the capital. There, local residents are organizing their own informal relief effort. One of the leaders is Haitian artist Carl Telemaque, who divides his time between New York and Haiti. He was in Haiti during the earthquake and, after official relief efforts were slow to reach the community, he stayed on to help organize a grassroots response.

Earlier today, we reached Carl Telemaque in Croix des Bouquets. He began by describing the local situation, where the number of people in need of food, shelter and medical attention, is growing every day.

For more information on Carl Telemaque’s efforts through the organization Sodecca in Brooklyn: http://www.caribbeanbluebook.com/SODECCA-Inc..html

Or contact New York coordinator for relief efforts, Bernardo Rubie: 646.261.5334