Waiting for the Rain: Haiti's Next Disaster Looms

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The relief organizations are running out of time. The past few days have already seen the first heavy rains. Haiti's rainy season usually begins at the end of March and the beginning of April. But it looks like it may be starting earlier this year.

In recent times the rainy season has been a particularly destructive force in Haiti because of the country's overexploitation of its natural resources. For years, the tropical rainforest -- which once covered 90 percent of the country and now only covers 2 percent -- has been being clear cut. The soil in Haiti cannot deal with the sudden influx of water, and mudslides and flooding are common during heavy rains.

The earthquake victims don't really expect any help from their own government. " Préval does nothing for his people," Mullin says. Which is why many of the homeless are pinning their hopes on the likes of Ehrler. Or Per Andersson.

Andersson wears a baseball cap pulled low over his forehead and the 60 year old carries a notebook in the breast pocket of his red, yellow and blue checked shirt. "I will have to leave Haiti soon," he tells his Haitian driver, as the car passes a market stall selling apples and bananas. "It's getting too civilized for me here." It's just a joke, Andersson says, grinning.

He can come across as cynical, but first and foremost, the Swede is a committed relief worker. Be it Somalia, Iraq, Liberia, Sudan and Chad, Andersson has often traveled to the people in need. "I will do this my whole life," he says. In Port-au-Prince, the engineer is mainly concerning himself with the water supply. He tests the water outlets and communicates with Haitian liaison people such as Marnity Beberly, who is homeless herself, about any problems.

"Did you hand out the purification tablets?"

"Yes."

"Were there enough there?"

"They will last for another week."

"Tomorrow the toilets will finally be delivered," Andersson notes.

'It Gets Better Every Day.'

An old man with a walking stick beckons to him. The old man's hip hurts, he can hardly walk and he asks for a doctor. Andersson notes down his name and telephone number. In the poverty stricken neighborhood of Cité L'Eternel, he goes past a hut where the roof awning is held on with just a couple of nails. "The wind will blow that away," Andersson says, pulling his notebook out again. "Bring sketches that show how to attach plastic sheeting," he writes in it.

Despite all the difficulties Andersson still discerns some progress. "It gets better every day," he says. Soon, 10,000 mosquito nets for Haitian families will also arrive from his Ireland-based charity, Concern Worldwide, where Andersson works as part of the charity's emergency response team.

Still, concern about the upcoming rainy season persists. Elke Leidel, who heads Concern Worldwide's team in Haiti, is hopeful that the Haitian government will soon provide some viable options for emergency shelter. She knows that the aid organizations will come in for criticism too -- even if their hands are tied because they couldn't negotiate anything that was against the will of the sovereign state. "They are sitting on our money and not doing anything -- the international media should write about that, there should be pictures of the overflowing camps," she says.

For the aid organizations this is also a fight for credibility, but mostly it remains a fight for human lives.

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• Part 1: Haiti's Next Disaster Looms
• Part 2: Rainy Season Could Spell Disaster