As hundreds of thousands of people displaced by last month's earthquake put down stakes in the squalid tent camps of Port-au-Prince, the authorities are struggling to address the worsening problem of human waste. The problem has become impossible to overlook in many districts of Port-au-Prince, with the stench of decomposing bodies replaced by that of excrement. Photograph by Todd Heisler / The New York Times
Due to the high volume of human waste, trucks have been dumping excrement and medical waste nearby. Sindia Michel, 33, moved to the Troutier trash dump after her shack collapsed in the earthquake. She scavenged for firewood with one of her five children near the pits of excrement. "I do what it takes to endure," she said. Photograph by Todd Heisler / The New York Times
Children gathered around a truck as it dumped water in a trash dump near Cité Soleil. Just steps away, human waste is now being legally dumped on a regular basis due to the increased sanitation needs from the numerous tent cities that have sprung up after the earthquake. Children who live nearby earn money digging through the debris to find salvageable material. Photograph by Todd Heisler / The New York Times
