The Conversation: Haiti Progress Report

Nov. 22, 2010 — -- On the ground in Haiti, it's clear that the country and its people are still mired in the effects of the January earthquake. As a cholera epidemic has spread across the small island nation, things have rapidly soured even further.

"Epidemiologists think that this outbreak is actually going to get worse over the next couple of days. It's probably going to peak sometime this week," said ABC's Matt Gutman from Port-au-Prince. "The morgues, the hospitals, the clinics are inundated. They can't handle the volume."

Gutman found that the cholera dead are being buried in the same mass graves where earthquake victims had been laid to rest months ago.

The cholera outbreak has sparked protest from Haitians in recent days, at an already volatile time as the country prepares to elect a new president. With all the uncertainty, turnout is expected to be extremely low and the chance for electoral fraud high.

"Many people lost their identification, no passport, no drivers' license, nothing. So it's going to be hard for those people to register. There's also a tremendous amount of election fraud in this country," Gutman said.

Amidst the disease and political upheaval, plenty of aid workers are also still on the ground in Haiti doing their best to help, including Sean Penn. The Oscar-winning actor went to Haiti in the aftermath of the quake, and he's continued to make regular trips there, living in a tent in a refugee camp.

Over the weekend, Gutman spoke with Penn, who expressed outrage over the hundreds of millions of dollars' in U.S. donations that have gone unspent since the earthquake.

Today on the Conversation, Matt Gutman spoke with ABC's David Muir for a progress report from Haiti. We hope you'll watch for more.

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