Five years ago Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast of Alabama and Mississippi. I ended up in Biloxi just days after the storm. Over the years I’ve posted many pictures of my travels to the Gulf Coast region. I dug back through some of the images that I didn’t ‘feel worthy’ at the time and tried to breathe new life into them. The images below are just days after Katrina.

A car sits in a marshy field in Alabama courtesy of hurricane Katrina. Alabama Sept. 2005

In Bayou La Batre shrimp boats were piled along the shoreline like children's toys. Bayou La Batre, AL Sept 2005

Along the Mississippi Gulf Coast tent cities sprung up everywhere as relief workers poured in. Waveland, MS Sept 2005

A trailer replaces where a home once stood. Waveland, MS Sept 2005

The remains of the Episcopal Church in Biloxi, MS. Sept 2005

People post signs to let family and friends know they are OK. Biloxi, MS Sept 2005

Life in the streets of Dhaka, Bangladesh are tough. Children and their families live under small tarps along sidewalks.

Children of all ages must help provide for the family. Some make firewood while others search through garbage for useful items. Below are some of the children I met in Dhaka in February 2010.

Children in Dhaka filter through the garbage dumpsters to find any items of use. Dhaka Bangladesh 2010

When the children are done filtering through the garbage they shovel it back into the dumpster

A boy flies a kite in his front yard in the streets of Dhaka. Bangladesh Feb 2010

This boy is making firewood to cook dinner. His family lives in the tarp behind him.

Though life is not easy children find time to play. Behind them are their homes. Dhaka Feb 2010

One of the many children living on the sidewalks of Dhaka. Bangladesh Feb 2010

Dhaka Bangladesh Feb 2010

As always I welcome your comments!

As most of you know I traveled to Port-Au-Prince, Haiti in February document humanitarian work at an orphanage. Needless to say it was a very long trip. Traveling with me were two members from the organization Mission Love Seeds.

VIDEO QUICK CLIP
Jimani Border

The half of the wall that's still standing guarding the Diakonos orphanage

Before heading to bed we managed to get the tents setup.

Orphanage wall destroyed by earthquake. Haiti February 2010

Though the trip was long, it was productive. I did learn it is not easy to get to Port-Au-Prince, especially when there are no commercial flights. We had to fly to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, then take a ten hour bus ride to Port-Au-Prince. Three of those hours were spent crossing the border at Jimani. Though Jimani is one of the main border crossings into Haiti, it is a complete mess. I can see why it is nearly impossible to get supplies in via the Dominican Republic.

From my Twitter Feed…
“Loaded on a busload of people from all over world making their way to 5:55 AM Feb 9th via txt”
Still at border at Jimani… #Haiti 1:35 PM Feb 9th via txt
Still on bus… must be close to PAP. #Haiti 5:13 PM Feb 9th via txt

While in Santo Domingo we met up with Martine and Jean Luc, representatives of the Diakonos International orphanage in Haiti. This is the orphanage we will be visiting in Carrefour, a city to the west of Port-Au-Prince.

We arrived in Port-Au-Prince sometime that evening. Two vans were waiting to carry us to the orphanage in Carrefour. Because it was night and there was no electricity in Port-Au-Prince, we could not see the devastation left by the earthquake. Our van crept slowly through the city weaving to avoiding rubble and parts of buildings laying in the streets. Our headlights provided the only source of light giving us the occasional glimpse of the destruction all around us. Though one of our vans broke down and the other overheated we managed to make it to the orphanage.

Like most homes in the area there is a large wall surrounding the orphanage. In the dark of night we are ushered through a large gate where thirty kids are waiting to greet us. They welcome us with a song.

The orphanage sits on a corner lot approximately fifty by one hundred feet. A concrete building sits on one side and the rest consist of a small courtyard. An eight foot wall surrounds the small compound with two gates opening into the street. Half if the wall however was destroyed by the earthquake and concrete and rubble fill the courtyard.

Because the orphanage building is unsafe the children must sleep outside. Mission Love Seeds brought several tents that were donated before leaving which we setup before going to bed. A small slab of concrete has been swept off and each child has a 2×4 foot UNICEF mat and blanket they sleep on each night. This is also where we will sleep.

PART II… next post
SUBSCRIBE to my blog via email

RESOURCES
Diakonos International
Mission Love Seeds

Guards at the gate of the Jimani border crossing into Haiti. February 2010

As we enter Port-Au-Prince the streets are lined with vendors as people shop before the sun goes down. February2010

Tents that were donated were setup in courtyard for kids to sleep. February 2010 Haiti

A child gets ready for bed in one of the new tents. February 2010 Haiti

The maze of streets around Port-Au-Prince all look very similar. Concrete and rubble spill into the street where a home or even a school once stood. Because many buildings have walls surrounding you can walk past a collapsed home without knowing. Only a crooked roof or partially destroyed wall will offer a clue to the destruction behind the wall. Due to the lack of machinery people must dig through the rubble by hand.

The images below were captured in a small town named Carrefour located just east of Port-Au-Prince. February 10, 2010

A man digs through the rubble of a destroyed building near Port-Au-Prince, Haiti

The top floor of a two story home is visible behind a wall that guards this home in Port-Au-Prince

A basketball goal stands behind a collapsed school. Schools in Haiti have morning and afternoon sessions so many students were in school when the earthquake struck.

As always feel free to comment!

Jimani border crossing into Haiti

This is the Jimani border crossing into Haiti. Just through the gate is Haiti. It is crowded with buses, trucks, and other vehicles making their way to Port-Au-Prince. It creates a huge bottleneck for getting much needed supplies to earthquake victims. We sat at the border for three hours before we could pass. The road after the crossing is a narrow two lane dirt road just wide enough for two cars.

Haitian Market

All along the streets of Port-Au-Prince are vendors selling everything you can imagine. This image captures just a tiny glimpse of street life in Port-Au-Prince.

Leaning home

Many buildings crumbled to the ground in the Haitian earthquake but there are thousands of home still standing that are unsafe to live. Families have taken to the streets to live under tarps or if they are lucky in small tents.

One of my night’s in Haiti was spent sleeping on the concrete at an orphanage in Carrefour. I awoke to the children in the orphanage saying their morning prayers. The orphanage did not collapse but due to the damage the children must remain outside. Just down the street from the orphanage is a home that did collapse. Ten people were crushed to death when the home fell.

A man searches through the rubble of a home where ten people died.

A resident of this building told me that ten people died when this building collapsed during the Hatian earthquake.

A girl prays her morning prayer

PHOTO TIP – See this photo in “Add Punch With Contrast Layer”

The streets in Haiti are lined with piles of rubble, some only wide enough for a single car to pass. Homes have been abandoned and people have moved into the streets or in tent cities. There are no bulldozers or heavy equipment. People dig through the rubble with their bare hands.

The men in this image dig through a school that collapsed from the earthquake.

Resources:
More Haiti Images

I caught this interesting photo at the border of Thailand and Laos. The border itself was just a small fence but you did have to go through a small checkpoint to get between countries.

See larger image HERE

I shot this image of a Filipino soldier standing in front of a “mini library” during a MEDCAP on the island of Sulu in the Southern Philippines. The MEDCAP was setup at a school in the village of Parang. I had the privilege of traveling with the US military for a few days to document and photograph humanitarian work they were doing on the island.

Philippines
March 2007

Every home you pass in the Philippines has someone looking out the window at you. This girl lives in a small house on a farm in a village called Sitio Pantay. The humanitarian group I was working with ventured out through the jungle to see her families home.

Philippines
June 2006