"The initial reaction to the sights in the capital city of Port-au-Prince was sheer shock.  It seems unbelievable that a tremor lasting 30 seconds could cause such devastation.   Not a single house stood intact along entire streets, schools were flattened with their roofs lying leveled to the ground and the observer could only guess how many floors had been in those buildings – two, three, or more?  Homes and cars could barely be noticed as they protruded from the horrendous devastation.  These houses and cars once formed part of an entire vibrant community where people went about their daily lives," thus wrote Dr. Eitan Shahar, a member of the board of the Gvanim Association, to his friends and associates.  Dr. Shahar who qualified in social work and specializes in community affairs, returned home two weeks ago from Haiti where he participated in the "Natan" contingent (The Israeli Coalition for International Humanitarian Aid, including various organizations such as the Kibbutz movement, Sapir Academic College, Tel Hai Academic College, Brit Olam and similar groups) which went to provide assistance and treat those affected by trauma.

  Dr. Shahar gave his distressing account of the painful and shocking scenes he encountered including the sight of hundreds of thousands of homeless people roaming about the wasteland, scavenging for food and shelter.  Improvised tents made with blankets were to be seen on every street corner and he also described the total destruction, where nobody even tried to make rescue attempts as such actions would only have been a futile exercise.          
   The contingent stayed in a camp which accommodated 5,000 refugees, and the staff set up their headquarters at the Saint Marie church as most of the buildings belonging to it, including the local school, collapsed during the earthquake.
     Needless to say, the initial assistance focused on rescue efforts and on treating the wounded.  Natan's staff which was composed of medical professionals as well as experts in psycho-sociological assistance worked in four central domains: In the community organization of the camp, education, health and social affairs.  According to Dr. Shahar the main element here was the speed with which they accomplished an assessment of the needs, in locating the existing forces and deciding the issues on which to concentrate, while remaining aware of the fact that these efforts were only a drop in the ocean. 

   In the midst of all this chaos, among the thousands of refugees in the camp where Dr. Shahar worked, one story stood out: "There was a child, 11 years old, who became friendly with me and every day he used to ask me and the other staff members to take him with us when the time comes to leave.  His mother, despite the fact that she had lost her infant child in the earthquake, also asked us to take her older son so that he might enjoy a better future.  This type of situation which was repeated day in and day out exemplified for me the enormous difficulties faced by the ordinary people.

    Those people who escaped with their lives are now struggling hard just to survive in extreme conditions, and their trauma is reflected in their passivity, dysfunction, the feeling that the event is far from over and dreading what the future might have in store for them, all this in addition to basic shortages of food and shelter.   Even allowing for this dismal situation, Dr. Shahar notes, "I found active individuals and people were by no means submissive, just waiting around for Divine deliverance.   These people kept busy gathering cloth materials and tin to put a roof over their heads to serve them during the coming days, months and maybe even years."

     According to Dr. Shahar the most significant experience proved to be the establishment of the school.  The "Natan" contingent with help from local people, were granted the credit for establishing the first school in a refugee camp in Haiti following the earthquake.  Sponsored by the local priest, with assistance from volunteer teachers from the church, and helped by a consignment which arrived from the Dominican Republic, the people of the community set up tents to serve as classrooms.  The school was planned to provide a response for about 600 students, an unprecedented achievement made possible thanks to the cooperation between all the aforementioned entities.  "The sight of children arriving at eight o'clock in the morning dressed in their festive clothes, young girls with their hair done in ponytails, standing there at morning roll call, waving the flag, singing the national anthem and praying, was a very deep and moving experience for me."       

   This is not the first time that Dr. Shahar has experienced working with such a contingent as eighteen months ago he spent a month helping out at a refugee camp in Georgia, in the wake of the Russian offensive. In attempting to draw a comparison with the tragedy in Georgia he stated, "The greatest chaos imaginable was in Haiti.  In cases of this kind the UN and the International Red Cross usually take responsibility for coordinating the work of the various organizations at the very least, and work with the local government.  Where Haiti was concerned the mission went way beyond the UN's capabilities.