The survivors of Hurricane Matthew in Haiti are begging for help as they try to cope with the aftermath of the weather disturbance which turned their houses into debris.
In several towns in Haiti, especially those who are located at the southwestern part of the country, the residents begged for water and food from passersby.
Many people have expressed they felt abandoned by aid groups in the country whom they can’y find anymore.
Some of around 400 people taking refuge in a school in Port-Salut, a former tourist town mostly flattened by the storm on Tuesday, said they had been without basic care for nearly a week.
“We’ve received nothing at all. The situation is really grave,” Antony Bergel told AFP.
“We’re waiting for a lot of help. We need shelters, water, food.”
Around the school where they are staying, houses were destroyed by fallen trees where most of them stripped of roofs.
Those staying in the school building said a small Doctors Without Borders team visited them on Saturday. Because of this, open wounds of the survivors were bandaged. However, they complained that no other attention from organizations that include several UN agencies operating in the desperately poor country were given to them.
On Sunday, Haitian former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, turned up with a truck full of aid to give to the people in the shelter. Aristide was ousted in a 2004 coup d’etat. When he came to the area, people were seen as they pushed and shoved as they lined up by the vehicle.
“We are going to increase the solidarity,” Aristide told the crowd before passing among them to hug and give handshakes to the survivors of Hurricane Matthew.
The former president’s appearance took place on what was meant to be an election day to choose the next president of the country.
However, elections were postponed following the hurricane.
Even they receive aid, the people complained that they need jobs in order to survive.
“We need work. How can we get by without jobs?” asked Joseph Marie Juna, 50, who said she was responsible for five children.
In the town of La Gaudray, residents gathered for mass in a church whose roof had been ripped off praying to the Almighty.