On January 12th 2010, in the span of just 37 seconds, the tiny impoverished Caribbean nation of Haiti was devastated by a massive earthquake.  My first experience in Haiti was in May of this past year producing documentary photography and video for Compassion International, an international aid and development organization. Haiti had a profound effect on me.  Years of experience in third world countries in East Africa and a few stints in war zones did little to prepare me for the level of desperation faced daily by most Haitians living under extreme poverty.  I learned of the earthquake within minutes via online news resources. My heart sank because I knew that in the fleeting minutes before the quake the majority of Haitians were simply struggling  to survive the day by finding  food and clean water. Now this.

Within hours of the earthquake I was making preparations to cover the tragedy. Food, water, shelter, electricity and a reliable data connection would be the highest concerns. The first two were easy to solve with years of backpacking experience.  Shelter came in the way of a trusted bevy sack for no buildings could be considered safe to sleep within.  A trip to Radio Shack was made to purchase  cigarette lighter plugs with alligator clips and DC extension cords that could be attached to a car battery for electricity. I secured a satellite data terminal, a Hughes HNS-9201, which guaranteed a high speed data connection for uploading photos and video.

I arrived in Port au Prince, Haiti on the evening of January 25th with a team of doctors who were tasked with setting up mobile clinics in and around the capital city. The devastation was incredible. I quickly came to understand that although the death toll was enormous the real tragedy was being played out in the desperate living conditions of the survivors.  Nearly two million people were living in the streets of Port au Prince.  Food and water were scarce particularly for the young, old or weak who could not travel to emergency aid distribution points. I did not meet a single Haitian who had not lost a family member in the quake.

For the following ten days I was tasked with providing a visual record of this nation now shattered to its core.  Hope was a difficult thing to find but the occasional smile of a child caught in a playful moment provided a glimpse of the resiliency of the Haitian people and the promise, although faint, of a better future.

Presented here is a slide show of photographs of my attempts to portray Haiti today.

A video may be viewed here.

Slideshow, video and post by Shaun Stanley.