Olivier Vilminio suffered doubly in his flesh. The Haitian was first seriously injured by gunshot by gangs, then he had to leave the hospital where he was being treated when the establishment was stormed by armed gangs.
A collateral victim of the violence, the 31-year-old young man, father of two little girls, was hit in the leg and anus and can only move around with a crutch. As the necessary treatments are either too expensive or unavailable, the pain, he tells AFP, is constant.
“I no longer have any medication. The painkiller I should take is tramadol (a powerful analgesic from the opioid family, editor’s note), and it is extremely expensive, 750 gourdes per pack.or a little more than five euros, he says from the center for displaced people where he lives, located in the Marie Jeanne high school, not far from downtown Port-au-Prince.
Like many other residents of the capital, Mr. Vilminio cannot get proper treatment.
His country is going through a deep security, humanitarian and political crisis. The number of internally displaced people has increased by 60% since March due to the intensification of gang violence, now reaching a total of nearly 600,000 people, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Transitional authorities have recently been formed with the mission of restoring stability.
A monumental task: the gangs control most of the capital and have several times attacked hospitals, where they have stolen medical equipment.
So this morning Olivier Vilminio came to see if the NGO Alima, which provides care to displaced people using mobile teams, can provide him with antibiotics.
” No money “
Marie Joanne Laguerre shows her gunshot wound in Port-au-Prince on June 14, 2024 / ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP/Archives
In the same center, other stories of lost bullets remind us of the misfortunes of the residents.
Marie Joanne Laguerre, 24, was on the doorstep of the accommodation center when she was hit in the back of the head.
“At first I thought I had been hit by a stone”she told AFP.
Three months later, the young woman still has not been able to do an x-ray.
“I go to the hospital, they give me bandages, they give me medicine” but for the radio, “there was a power outage that day”, she says. And “Now I don’t have the money to do it. I still don’t know what’s in my head.”.
Shortage of fuel needed to operate generators, lack of resources… In addition to insecurity, hospitals that are still open operate in difficult conditions.
Jean Philippe Lerbourg, medical director of the Hôpital La Paix, nevertheless believes that his establishment is ” lucky “ because all its services were able to remain open.
But since late February – when gangs launched coordinated attacks on strategic sites – the hospital has been ” under pressure “ since it must accommodate patients that other establishments, forced to close, can no longer receive, he explains.
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“We have already exceeded our capacity for a long time”he told AFP.
And the hospital, although public, finds itself obliged to charge patients for the equipment necessary for care.
“We try to do the maximum possible to provide free emergency care”he said.
“But now, once the emergency care is over, if you come to have an operation, you don’t pay the surgeon, but all the materials you need, you will have to buy them”, he adds. And “Where the problem lies is the ability, precisely, of the Haitian patient to pay the costs of their care”.
Car “the situation is extremely difficult” for the population, he recalls, patients sometimes coming “displaced persons camps” or having “lost their job”.
Dr Lerbourg says the peak in gunshot wounds occurred on February 29, the day of the concerted attack by armed gangs.
Vilsaint Lindor examines with his son an x-ray showing his gunshot wound in Port-au-Prince on June 14, 2024 / ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP/Archives
On his hospital bed, Vilsaint Lindor, 40, wears a large bandage on his belt. A few days ago, he was at home, about to take a shower, when an armed man knocked on his door.
Il “asks me to give him everything, phone, computer and money”he says. “They took everything and when they couldn’t take the generator, he shot me. »
“I’m at home and armed gangs come and rob me”he says with resignation.
