Earthquake in Haiti shows that there's a thin line between order and chaos: Jarvis DeBerry

Garry, my Haitian-born cousin who was the subject of my column a seek ago, received a call from his mother in Haiti Friday evening. And two more calls from her since then.

That's the good news. With 70,000 people having already been buried in mass graves and at least six people in Garry's own family among the dead, hearing from a loved one in Haiti is a blessing that not everybody has enjoyed.

But the news of his mother's survival came paired with news of her peril. Her house was destroyed by the 7.0 magnitude earthquake, though the security walls that surrounded the house remained standing. She has a private well on her property that provides water, and she and her neighbors have pooled together what food they have for the benefit of their community. Outside help, however, had not reached her the last time she got a call through to her son. Garry, for his part, is trying to figure out how to get some small measure of assistance to her. As of Thursday he was contemplating flying into the Dominican Republic and driving into Haiti.

Haiti Earthquake.JPGJerald Bristol, right, watches as a cemetery worker covers the remains of his wife and four children in a mass grave in Port-au-Prince, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010. Bristol lost his entire family in the earthquake that hit Haiti on Jan. 12.
Meanwhile, the situation on the streets of Port-au-Prince grows increasingly desperate. Relief agencies bringing food and water have not reached all the people in need, and doctors report that thousands need basic -- albeit, lifesaving -- medical attention.
"There are still thousands of patients with major fractures, major wounds that have not been treated yet," Dr. Eduardo de Marchena, a University of Miami cardiologist, told The New York Times. "There are people, many people, who are going to die unless they're treated."

Catastrophes such as the one that just struck Haiti demonstrate how thin the line is between order and chaos. The looting that has been reported in Port-au-Prince should not surprise anyone. When the power is out and getting accurate news is impossible and food and water are scarce and police officials are unorganized or absent, you will see desperate people go to whatever lengths they deem necessary to feed and take care of themselves.

You will also see them sharing. Just as the people in Garry's mother's neighborhood have lumped all their foodstuffs together to make the most of them, the amount of sharing that followed Hurricane Katrina remains a largely underreported phenomenon of the storm and its aftermath.

A couple in eastern New Orleans told me how their neighbors throughout their apartment complex contributed food that the couple put on their grill and distributed to all. A Gentilly man was standing barefoot on the interstate until another man noticed his plight, went away and returned with a brand new pair of high-tops. Teenagers driving a hijacked United States Postal Service truck stopped by a nursing home on Chef Menteur Highway and invited the people stranded inside to avail themselves of their loot. They had water, juice, potato chips. They returned later with baby wipes, adult diapers, Gatorade, nightgowns and chicken and red beans and rice from a nearby Popeyes.

No, not everybody who loots is a Robin Hood. Some people welcome chaos because it gives them the best opportunity to enrich themselves or terrorize others. We would be wrong, though, to conclude from that point that everybody on the hunt for food, water and supplies is a threat.

Of the many disturbing images that have come out of Haiti since the Jan. 12 earthquake, one of the most disturbing is the picture of 15-year-old Fabienne Cherisma lying facedown on a pair of picture frames. She had apparently stolen the paintings -- one of them of flowers in a vase -- from a shop in downtown Port-au-Prince and was reportedly shot in the head by police.

According to the British newspaper, The Guardian, witnesses weren't sure if police were aiming for the girl or if they hit her accidentally. But the police shooting down a 15-year-old girl with paintings is proof that the situation is out of control.

Garry's mother is alive, but news of the continued mayhem gives him reason to worry still.
