COMPLETELY unrelated to the context of the rest of this post, Bill Clinton was in Leogane a couple weeks ago to check out shelters that were put up on a slab which HODR cleared; unfortunately I was away from Leogane on the school-building project so I didn't get to see Slick Willy in person, but several of my fellow volunteers got to meet him and shake his hand.
Sorry for the gap in posts -- we've had extremely limited web access in Leogane for the past few weeks.
It's been nearly two months since I returned to Haiti, and I leave for the States in two days. Right now I'm in Jacmel, a French colonial town on the southern peninsula of the island. Compared to Leogane, Jacmel suffered significantly less damage from the earthquake, but the quake's effects are still visible with the usual collapsed buildings, ubiquitous rubble piles, and IDP camps (albeit far fewer than in Leogane).
I came here yesterday afternoon with Keely, a fellow HODR volunteer -- we took a tap-tap from Leogane and hitched on a rice delivery truck from the highway junction about 15 minutes outside of Leogane. She's been working here for the past month and a half with an artists' collective called Fosaj / KOLAJ (Kolektif Artis Jakmel). There are some ridiculously talented artists here in Jacmel, and she's been taking photos and building websites so they can display their art to a wider audience than just Haiti. The Fosaj-KOLAJ building, an old wooden French colonial structure, was badly damaged during the quake, so the artists now work in the courtyard below the building. It's a really cool location, right by the beach and with an idyllic view.
Jacmel is the location of Haiti's carnaval, and the KOLAJ guys are responsible for creating many of the masks and props on display during the festivities. However, Carnaval didn't really happen this year due to the earthquake, so they didn't make any money & are instead in debt due to loans taken to fund creation of the Carnaval masks. Some of these guys used to do album art & typography for Wyclef Jean -- key words "used to," since Wyclef has apparently found better artists elsewhere.
For two decades now, Haiti has been the recipient of a huge amount of foreign aid, but very little of it of it has gone into the right places or programs. Part of this is due to corruption of the Haitian government and part due to myopic NGO & foreign governmental action. One phrase that every Haitian seems to know is "give me" -- if a foreigner walks down the street here, odds are that they'll hear "Hey you, give me one dollar, I am hungry, give me food, give me your shoes, give me your guitar, give me your watch." It's because Haitians have grown accustomed to blancs showing up in their country, handing out food, clothing, and shelter, and leaving.
I'm by no means an expert on disaster relief or economic development, but from what I've seen and experienced during nearly three months in Haiti, the foreign aid in Haiti has done more harm than good in the long run. Here I often think of the well-known proverb "Give a man a fish, feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, feed him for life." Not to say that Haitians don't know how to fish or farm, but so much of the staple food in Haiti is imported -- for example, the United States farm-subsidized rice, beans, & chicken are far cheaper than the locally produced equivalents, and when the vast majority of the population lives on less than one U.S. dollar per day, this price differential really matters. A lot of empowerment has been wrenched away from the Haitian people due to hand-outs -- if Haiti is going to recover from the earthquake and grow, sustainability is the key.
Micro-projects like the one Keely's working on are really important to the recovery and growth of Haiti. When the Fosaj artist collective succeeds and starts seeing money flow in from their art, it'll show the people that their art, music, and skills are valuable, desirable, and marketable outside of Haiti. This is where an NGO can really help -- there's not much tourism in Haiti, especially these days, so the ability to sell and ship outside of Haiti is essential. In this case, a donation of paint & canvas might be much more valuable in the long term than a donation of food or clothing.
Here are some links to the KOLAJ guys' work. Check them out! I don't think there is any way you could purchase any of it right now, but if you see something you like, I can put you in touch with somebody who can make this happen.
Jacmel Artist's Collective website: www.dequoi.com/atisjakmel/
Vady Confident:Â confidentjacmelartist.weebly.com
Sino Augustin: sinojacmelartist.weebly.com
Geoff, those jakmel artists have their new site up www.atisjakmel.org
The shipping container idea is a good one and I believe there are some people doing it in the southern areas. There are lots of containers available. They absolutely need to be braced as they do get carried way in floods. In 2008 UN shipping containers floated away and took out the bridge on RN3 on the way to Cange. I don't remember the name of the town.
The problems that are holding up the housing at the moment are access to land and money. Most of the homeless in Port au Prince were renters. They don't have land to put a house even if you give them one. The second problem is finding the money to buy the materials, transport them, and build them. In Grand Boulage, north of Croix des Bouquets, where I am helping with reconstruction we have land and 6450 homes that need repairs or replacing. Bids for model homes are coming in at $2000-$5000 per unit. That equates to a lot of money for people who live off of $1 per day in a rural community with no jobs and no NGO help. We've looked at loans, but without jobs in the area the people would have to move to find work to repay the loan on a house that maybe someday they be able to move back to.
How much does it cost to build a container house? Yes Haiti can do it but they need and are asking for assistance. Assistance that will help them get back on their feet and move forward as a self sufficient society.
HOUSING FOR HAITI! Simple! Used Shipping Containers 20' or 40' in length can be converted to housing for Haiti. The Haitians that live in the tent villages can be put to work refurbishing the Containers into living units, storage units, bathroom/shower complexes for the sharing where communal living may be appropriate such as farms, industrial complexes, etc. Containers can become commercial builgins as well. [a recent report indicated that the tent villages may be needed for at least another 3 years, which has to be horrible for the estimated 1.5 million living there now] SHIPPING CONTAINERS WOULD BE EARTHQUAKE PROOF, FIRE PROOF AND WITHSTAND HURRICANE FORCE WINDS. Shipping containers can be a permanent housing solution; they are currently being erected throughout the world. Rebuilding regular housing in Haiti is major risk with the uncertainty of another large quake; why take chances! Shipping Containers can be mounted on earthquake bracing at ground level (sand beds with lateral metal stringers) similar to Mobile and Modular Homes in Southern California which enable them to “float” during a quake. The Donations flowing into Haiti is doing nothing for the general population that has suffered the most except for feeding them. Haiti needs to rise to a level to support themselves, but they can't do it with the living conditions stifling their ability to be mobile to develop an economy. Communities of Shipping containers can go up near the work places, farms, fishing villages, etc. HAITI CAN DO IT!
You are so right about the sustainability factor and the negative impact of charity. Because imported rice sells for less than Haitian rice, Haitian rice farmer can not make a living any more. Same for the textile industry. All the clothing was exported because it could not compete with all our donated goodwill clothes.
I teach farmers how to raise rabbits for food and income in Haiti. I have a small project at the AIDS/MDRTB hospital called Sanitorium de Sigueneau near Leogane. The farm and hospital are run by nuns and were badly damaged during the earthquake. We are hoping to help them rebuild the farm, as no funding has come forth except for the hospital part.
I was in Carrefour when the earthquake hit and spent the night treating children from a collapsed school in Riviere Froide. In 1984-85 I was in Niger W. Africa for the drought that launched “We are The World” Sadly the issues facing Haiti have been around the developing world for more than 25 years. After WATW 1 people asked all the same questions. Optimism that development could be redirected and become effective was abundant, yet here we are with twice the population and more poverty. It makes one pause to think. What does the developed world have to gain by keeping these Lessor Developed Countries poor?