Each new day in Haiti brings a fresh set of challenges

This morning I woke at 4 AM – my last day in Haiti – as rain pounded the top of my tent and water pooled around my sleeping bag. Needless to say, I was very unhappy.

I spent the next 10 minutes scrambling to get the camera equipment out of the water while cursing the weather and my luck.

A brother and sister wait for family at UNICEF tent

As the early morning cobwebs cleared, I thought of something far less trivial than wet camera equipment and soggy clothes. Hundreds of thousands of Haitians, left homeless after the earthquake, were enduring this very same deluge without even the luxury of a proper tent. And with the rainy season fast approaching, this was just the first storm of many more to come.

Each new day in Haiti brings a fresh set of challenges for the ongoing relief and reconstruction effort. It is my sincere hope that these challenges do not weaken the resolve of the international community to help Haitians pursue the transformation of their country.