by Alexander Manda
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- The remarkable resilience shown by quake survivors and medical staff in quake-hit Haiti is set to be tested by mental and physical sequelae, which can be more clearly seen weeks or months from now, a non-government organization (NGO) official said Friday.
"Haitians are tough and have learned to live in a state of despair," Mike Stewart, country officer for NGO Hope for Haiti, told Xinhua in an interview. "They have seen some terrible moments and have the strength to hold it together," he said.
Haiti, the poorest country in Latin America, suffered a major hurricane in 2004 and a coup in the early 1990s.
Port-au-Prince residents have remained apparently untroubled despite the Jan. 12 quake measuring 7.3 on the Richter Scale, which killed at least 170,000 people.
However, Steward, who was part of a team that buried at least 800 at the city's general hospital, warned many may suffer emotional collapse later when the adrenalin disappears.
"I have seen people that have collapsed already as well as those that are holding on longer," Stewart said. The strain has been particularly felt by medical staff, who have worked arduously during the emergency.
One day earlier, two doctors from the University of Miami Hospital in the United States, told Xinhua that they and their colleagues had routinely worked on a 36-hour shift.
"The biggest problem is that hospital staff are dealing with the same issues as everyone else and not showing up for work," Steward told Xinhua at the Villa Creole Hotel, which is much frequented by reporters, after supervising a team that patched up a wounded photographer's eye.
During emergency, Steward coordinated teams of doctors as they got off the plane, creating a multilateral cooperation squad that performed around 1,500 surgeries in the first days after the quake, 70 percent of which were amputations or major interventions.
Those most at risk of emotional damage are recent amputees, he warned.
"It is very difficult for amputees to reestablish their life and suicide is a concern," he said.
Even in wealthy nations, amputees, with considerable support, still have to struggle hard for daily life.
In poverty-stricken Haiti, it is very hard for amputees to find basic support such as prosthetics and wheelchairs, let alone psychological help.
Another problem is the slow response by the world's major NGOs. Although they have vast resources, they are also prone to bureaucratic procedures and have so far superficial links to grassroots providers, who deliver aid to where it is needed, Steward said.
"I have a very large cargo depot, but it is always half empty," he said.
During the first days after the quake, Hope for Haiti, which was established 20 years ago, distributed 1,000 emergency survival buckets that each contained 10 days worth of emergency survival items, dry food items but also soap, detergent, candles and trash bags for a small family. The NGO quickly put together another 1,000 from materials it had in store.
"Within 10 days of a disaster, shops and markets are usually starting to open again and government services start to come back," Steward said.
On Friday, just over two weeks after the quake, the situation was considerably calmer and the victims suffering heavy blows in the head or body have either received medical treatment or died. Medical concerns are now turning to the second round of risks.
"We now have primary and secondary infections that need to be managed," Steward said. This is particularly problematic in a city, where basic sewage management has severely been damaged.
Earlier Friday, a resident of a city center emergency camp Mayis Gate warned 15,000 people are living without access to sewage and some are returning to quake-ravaged homes to use facilities.
Both the United Nations and the United States have said there have been no outbreaks of the most virulent diseases linked to public hygiene, but those in Haiti still have to keep alert.
