So today, on the national on cbc there was an interesting video about life in Haiti and how the people that were 'saved' are doing. The real issue that came up was whether saving people caused more suffering.
Basically, Haiti, is not equipped to help people that have different disabilities. What happens when a person with a spinal cord injury goes back home, where 'home' is 20 steep steps up a cliff where no wheelchair can go down? Are we just delaying death since they have no way of getting back to the hospital?
The problem that most people don't think about is that the initial saving of lives is only a first step, and the real challenge begins when these people have to get back to their previous jobs and lives, the question becomes is that even possible with a very unaccessible country and where people with disabilities are shunned by the other communities.
So the question becomes is it better not to save people that do not have the resources in place to have a good quality of life? That is a very controversial question, but sometimes doing nothing prevents many months or years of suffering debilitating pain, bedsores, and being bedbound in a place with few medications and no accessibility. If the international community wants to be involved in 'saving lives' they have to think about the future lives these people will lead, and commit to helping them rehabilitate, not just leave after the acute part of the disaster is done.
http://www.cbc.ca/thenational/blog/2010/11/haitis-invisible-ones.html
That is interesting to think about. That is actually something that sort of came to mind during the whole earthquake thing. Here when there's an attack, people tend to focus on how many people were killed, while not paying attention to who survived but was severely injured. These people will be living with disabilities now for the rest of their lives. And it still sucks when your country does have resources for disabled people. I can't imagine a place where there aren't.
ReplyDeleteSometimes, I think that the people that are killed get off easy, since life is a big struggle for the people that survive, and the media never shows it.
ReplyDeleteEven in Canada, where we are supposed to have the resources to help people with disabilities, there are still often very long wait-lists to even get into a rehab facility and then even longer wait-lists to get accessible housing.
This is an interesting thing to think about. And, I'm sure people who have disabilities have thought about it themselves, but it's finally made it to light. I know we discussed people with asthma in Haiti on the Severe Asthma Research Program group after the first hits.
ReplyDeleteI think restoration of Haiti needs to be brought to light also, like you mentioned--it's not just the immediate act of survival, but the life beyond it.
Welcome Kerri,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree about the fact that people have to think beyond the initial 3 months, the problem is people think that they can go in, save people and get out. The reality is a disaster such as this one does not go away after the news agencies stop reporting on it, it lasts years and the current cholera crisis shows this.
If interested, I did post the original video in my next post.