Left With No Solution: Haitians Burns Their Dead
Around 200,000 dead, the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit Haiti on January 12, 2010 left an enormous damage to the country. Buildings collapsed, homes were totaled, and lives were lost. But infrastructure and survivor recovery is not the most pressing problem of Haitians today, but believe it or not it’s the corpses. It’s pitiful that one way corpses were disposed, was to burn them right where they were left trapped. One car, which smashed during the quake and got stuck in the rubble, had bodies inside which were already decomposing. The stench was already bothering survivors who are living in tents nearby, so they decided to just burn the car with the bodies when their call to retrieve it were rendered useless.
Since the devastation of the quake, there are no words to describe the everyday scenes that happen in Haiti. Background check shows how bodies are still continuously recovered from the rubbles and tractors are piled up with it. Bloody and odious, it can be a bother to those who have settled in the tents set up as temporary evacuation centers. On the days following the catastrophe, it was only food and water that were the primary concerns of the survivors. But later on, as death toll increased, dealing with the corpses also became a problem.
For some, burning the corpses maybe heinous; a sort of disrespect for somebody’s dead loved one. However, with their present situation we cannot blame them for taking such action. This too is hard for them. They’ve already lost loved ones, and now even the bodies of someone they don’t know have become their liability.
Burning the bodies, even on the streets, was not the only way they had dealt with the corpses. There were instances that the coffins were dug up only to place another dead inside. Burning became an option only when there was no other option left. The place already smelled of dead people everywhere.
It is a pity how these people have to suffer such fate, and how they have to deal with burning someone they once knew. For a moment there, we were all thinking that finding new homes for the orphans, as court records reveals were one of the highlighted problems to ensure a good future for them. With regards to the dead judging their present way of dealing with it can be horrible for many yet we have to understand the tough situation they are in now. They have been through a lot, and the least they need now is skepticism, which they do not deserve at all. What they need is help—from food to water to medicine. Even a simple prayer is already something big for the people of Haiti.
About the Author
I am a busy working woman in a Background check agency, living with a satisfying life with my family and friends. Currently I am working as a Public records researcher and a full time writer. With my experience on internet I am too addicted surfing the net, with my free time I used to spend it blogging and writing.
Just hit 2600 members – Toronto, Help Haiti!