Idamise Pierre leans against a tree for support as she waits to bathe at the city-run nursing home for the aging population in Port-au-Prince.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Eline Darisma, 45, helps Meritha Bien-Aime with her morning bath at the nursing home. Darisma, who applied for a job as a driver, has been taking care of residents at the home for the past 12 years.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Eli Francois, 43, carries Leronie Belvue, 62, to her daily shower in the open courtyard at the nursing home.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Sia Rosias, 79, who is blind, takes a bath with the help of workers.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Phoncly Raphael, 43, bathes a group of men in Port-au-Prince. Sanitation at the nursing home remains a problem for residents living in the community, and the home is short on supplies, including adult diapers.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
In Haitian Creole, the old are called "gran moun," and they are relatively few. Those 65 and older make up just 3.4 percent of Haiti's population, compared to 13 percent in a developed country such as the United States.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Leronie Belvue, 62, huddles in a chair as she waits to be dressed.
Nikki Kahn-Washington Post
To attain such seniority in a nation beset by high infant mortality, curable diseases, AIDS and poverty is an accomplishment.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Eli Francois, 43, dresses Lormicille Mingo after her bath. The elderly at the nursing home have some protections, but not much. "The walls fell down so people come and go as they like," said Nickson Plantin, one of the security guards.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
"We struggle to maintain a little dignity, but look at us," said one resident of the nursing home.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Residents gather for a morning prayer. "No water today. We are waiting. We are waiting for medicines, for the doctors, for God to help us," said nurse Yolette Francois. "I am serious. These old people have a lot of troubles."
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Opsimise Joseph, right, makes the rounds to tents at the home for the elderly, leading her fellow residents in prayer and song.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Christianne Caristil cries out for help at the nursing home. Since the Jan. 12 earthquake, residents have been living in tents in the facility's courtyard.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Jacqueline Thermitis, 71, makes her way through a mostly empty building at the nursing home. "They are invisible, and we need to do more to help," said Ronald Blain, a Haitian government official working for the U.N. Human Settlements Program. "Because they are desperate."
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Since the earthquake, Sulfrida Ace has slept mostly in her wheelchair.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Jacqueline Thermitis reaches down to check on Anna Filogenne at the home.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Phelicie Colin cooks her own meal near her shared tent. Since the wait for the heavy sacks of donated rations -- what Haitians call "disaster rice" -- can last for five or six hours, the frail ones cannot compete with the younger, stronger and just as hungry.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Dinner for residents one Friday consisted of red beans and rice and a vegetable stew. One elderly woman complained her spoon was stolen and she had to eat with her hands.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
The bed sags beneath the slight frame of Colbert Lindor at the nursing home. Weeks after the catastrophic Jan. 12 earthquake, the elderly appear to be forgotten.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Makeshift tents sit amid sturdier ones at the nursing home. The building used for housing the female residents of the community was destroyed in the earthquake.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Madelaine Derosiers sweeps around Christianne Caristil as she sleeps in her tent.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Meritha Bien-Aime is bashful as Eline Darisma, 45, asks why she yelled at residents. The elderly have had to hobble through the daily chaos of Port-au-Prince, forced into rubble piles by speeding convoys of aid workers. There are few sidewalks, and no ramps, no rails.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Celires Jean Baptiste, 40, receives a kiss from resident Opsimise Joseph.
Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post
Gallery Credits:
Producer, Photo Editor Stephen Cook
Text Editor Heather Farrell
