海地救援队为灾民搭建临时安置点

People have been desperate, Andrew, for over a week now to get out of Haiti, get out of Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince . And finally now, there does seem to be transport for them, to get out and also a beginning at least to build a tent camp so they got somewhere to go to. It's vital because imagine an earthquake in central London, everyone is sleeping outside. And the homeless, hundreds of thousands of homeless, have claimed every inch of open space. Imagine all the parts in central London, there isn't any inch of open space left. Everyone is camping out with their families, there are no toilets, there's no running water, there's no food, very little aid getting through to anybody. Imagine that situation happening in London, that's exactly what has happened here. And obviously the risk of sanitation problems, disease, apart from the fact that everyone is starving, dirty and doesn't have any water. It's enormous. And also, there's a risk of civil unrest and rioting. And that's why the government and aid agencies are really trying to get people out of the capital into organized camps on the outskirts.

And what about that aid operation itself, Dominic? We know now that time suggests that the effort is switching from the dead to the survivors. Reports that the port is now functioning better, and that more aid is coming in, can you report now the situation itself of the aid program is improving?

Yeah, Andrew, for the first time, we've seen UN convoys going through the city and setting up and handing out significant amounts of aid. We went to the presidential palace this morning and a little sort of piece to camera to explain what's going on there. And this is what we found outside the presidential palace.

Well, they have been queuing since dawn here in the middle of Port-au-Prince, hoping for food and water. They've been told the UN will be handing it out outside the presidential palace. From 6.30, these Brazilians have been handing out a lot of food that ran out a few hours ago. And the water they have been handing out has just ran out. You can see the Brazilians now are moving out. In the background, the loudspeaker is a message reassuring the people left who didn't get any thing that help is coming from around the world and that there will be more food and water. And the Brazilian commander of this force said he's concerned about security, he's concerned about anger on the streets, and it's very important that expectations are managed, that the UN brings food and water when it says it will, and then can reassure people there will be more to come, because at the moment there simply still is not enough aid getting through and there's the danger of riots, of rising tensions if these people lose all hope.

And Andrew, to give you an idea of the kind of risk the army, the Brazilian army, feel they are running here. They were running out hundreds of liters of water and tons of aid over three and a half hours. To do that, they needed 230 soldiers, armor personnel carried significant security presence. And they felt they could only do that for three and a half hours or so this morning. They are not sure when they'll be back there. There is this fear amongst the aid organizations and the military supporting them are all panic of rioting and they are doing this in a very organized managed way, but it's really hampering their efforts to get the food and water to the people who need it.

Glossary [only for reference]

 claim [transitive]: to state that you have a right to take or have something that is legally yours

sanitation [uncountable]: the protection of public health by removing and treating waste, dirty water etc

unrest [uncountable]: a political situation in which people protest or behave violently

outskirts [plural]: the parts of a town or city that are furthest from the centre

function [intransitive]: to work in the correct or intended way

convoy [countable]: a group of vehicles or ships travelling together, sometimes in order to protect one another

piece to camera: the television and film term used for when a presenter or a character speaks directly to the viewing audience through the camera.

presidential palace: the National Palace (Palais National) located in Port-au-Prince—facing Place L'Ouverture near the Champs de Mars—and is the official residence of the Haitian president.

queue [intransitive]: to form or join a line of people or vehicles waiting to do something or go somewhere

loudspeaker [countable]: a piece of equipment used to make sounds louder

reassure [transitive]: to make someone feel calmer and less worried or frightened about a problem or situation

litre [countable]: the basic unit for measuring liquid in the metric system

armor [uncountable]: metal or leather clothing that protects your body, worn by soldiers in battles in past times

hamper [transitive]: to make it difficult for someone to do something