One year on – ayiti cheri

I have been on a rather lengthy absence from writing as I have been unable to write something productive of late. This could in part be a result of tiredness; or, more likely, that I have become so acclimatised to my surroundings that I lack the motivation to crystallize my thoughts in text. Seldom in the first two months of my visit to Haiti did a day go by when an experience could have been cultivated into a piece of analysis.

A year on from an event which would cripple any country let alone the poorest in the Western Hemisphere, The WEP refuses to add to the gloom with another travail about what is wrong with this country. Where others see destruction; I see survival. Where many talk of failure, I see success against all odds. Where others see desperation, I see only hope. Haiti, for all its ills is a miracle.

Any other nation that had suffered two hundred years of war, corruption, intervention, murder and poverty might have given up, shelving the idea of statehood altogether and allowing itself to be absorbed into a larger brother – such as the US. For periods in its history, undeniably, Haiti has been utterly dependent on external powers. Indeed, today it is no more independent by some measures than December 31^st 1803 yet having suffered so much, we should praise Haiti for its successes. Moreover, looking forward, I would like to argue that there are many ways we can bring about lasting improvement as non-nationals.

Firstly, the experience on the ground is that of a thriving commerce. Dependent as it is on imports, with the right sort of help and cultivation of agriculture and business security, it would not be difficult to tap into a resource that Haiti has in abundance – manpower and entrepreneurial spirit. Whether it is the sugar cane salesman, mototaxi driver or market trader, Haiti is abundant with local businesses. They are just not ones we have concentrated on in our efforts to help.

Second, following Brazil’s example, Haiti could again become rich from its natural resources. Not, as many fear, internationally lucrative crude oil but sugar cane. It could be refined, depending on the prevailing market equilibrium, for sugar or ethanol with the waste product burnt for local fuel supply.

Third, I have witnessed some of the most articulate and passionate public speakers in my time working in Haiti. The country is staunchly political and potentially a strong and fruitful democracy. It has been let down for too long by its leaders and it is up to the NGOs to help unlock this powerful potential for peaceful contestation and public discourse.

Fourth, Haiti has seen one of the worst brain drains of anywhere in the world. It is important that those that have left are reconnected with their former communities; not simply as blank cheques but as vital resources for wisdom, education and security for those still living in the ancestral home. Crucially, a further exodus must be avoided at all costs.

Fifth, reflecting on the international community, there must be a focus on what actually works and what does not with regard to NGO efforts. For instance, we should not be talking about 45 seconds of destruction on January 12^th as a focus for efforts; instead, we should look at Haiti since independence and draw lessons from every period of its development. Timely policy advice, business skills, education and academic expertise are what Haiti sorely lacks and are things which non-Haitians can provide in abundance. This does not take require huge economic transfers and will provide a longer lasting impact than any aid budget can.

Sixth, we have to take a look at the role of international organizations in Haiti. It is by no means constructive for disaster-related missions to continue for years to come. Therefore, we have to ensure that the international communitiy’s continued presence in Haiti is valuable to Haiti – not to highly paid professionals who will not cultivate its future growth. If that means NGOs should withdraw and allow Haiti to run itself, even if it is argued that this could lead to disaster, then so be it. Nothing can be achieved without the consent and participation of those who will be left once the disaster and emergency relief merry-go-round moves to its next crisis. That means reform to the way aid monies are distributed and spent. This can only be achieved through a re-evaluation of what is truly necessary and what is not to provide for a stable and thriving Haiti.

Therefore, I would recommend the following: an integrated, multidisciplinary Haitian studies incorporating as many testimonials and in-country evidence as possible from NGOs and all sections of civil society. Two, reconstruction is only one part of the puzzle; we have to take a holistic approach to where we, as non-Haitians, can provide help not over one or two years but over one or two centuries.

That means when you build a school or church, do so in partnership with the local community. When a ‘blan’ organization comes to help, demonstrate a long-term commitment by having a continuous presence in the community – every working day every all year round. When you build a new hospital, don’t undercut the pre-existing health-system, as poor and outmoded as it seems. Do not promise jobs, but sustainable skills to create independence. 

Haiti is a miracle and continues to amaze any who choose to see beyond the rubble.

Bino

Bino is a neighbourhood in the second section of Leogane. It is very poor but the people are kind. There are local women who bake bread, grow and sell vegetables and even a place to watch Spanish football games. Bino is on a floodplain between the sea and the Leogane river and the area is filled with a beautiful canopy of forest producing mangoes, breadfruit and coconuts. Indeed, there are surprisingly few savage creatures, save the mosquitoes and the odd tarantula. Bino is also our home.

Living in the comfort of our beautiful house is at times disturbing. We have intermittent electricity, piped water and an abundance of space, comfort and many of the modern conveniences that sweeten life. What we do not have, however, is a project for the neighbourhood.

I have attempted to understand the likely impact that establishing a project would bring – the impasse I reach is, understandably, where to begin. Looking through the lens of security, a community project might contribute to lifting the physical and mental barriers of ignorance that inevitably exist between us and our neighbours. Moreover, the questions that might emerge on assessing the impact of a project are difficult and many.

First, in establishing a project, we would try to develop a number of basic facilities and skills that are sorely lacking; however, will we create a dependency if the project meets a need but does so in a wholly unsustainable fashion. Secondly, we must find premises to house our community work; are we putting at risk our security if we produce a project that opens our home and our resources to the neighbourhood. Third, assuming we begin working, are we interfering in the natural course of community life if we try and establish a project in the first place?

The first step in establishing a project is to look at need. Some of our volunteers have already approached our neighbours. There are children in the neighbourhood that do not attend school nor have access to basic necessities. Moreover, there are few, if any, fun activities such as art classes, sport, or even first-level sanitation and healthcare.  A number of the older children work and the younger ones just hang around with nothing to do most of the day. Unemployment levels are high.

With a bit of good fortune and enterprise, even on a shoestring, many important results can be achieved. Doubtless, our presence in Bino has not been wholly negative; for we have begun to give ad hoc art classes, observe at voodoo ceremonies and provide out of hours medical attention to our neighbours. Much of the hard work, therefore, has already been achieved, progressing towards meaningful social interaction with the Bino community.

Our task is clearly simpler as the most important ingredient exists in abundance – desire. Our walk to the main road from our home is punctuated by smiling faces and what have now become dozens of pictures deposited at number 13 with our names and good wishes. Therefore, it is important that we continue to cultivate that.

Reflection

Forgive me for the tardiness in my posts and the time-lag between reality and posting. This was something I wrote immediately after the first raindrops of trouble in the election.

I have just heard that at the closing event of Michel ‘Sweet Mickey’ Martelly’s presidential campaign gunmen opened fire killing at least one person. Cholera is sweeping through the country and The Dominican Republic has closed its border to Haiti to prevent the spread of disease. With all that has ensued since my arrival, flooding, cholera, political instability, against the backdrop of the earthquake, it is hard not to feel unmoved by another event which will further destabilize an already difficult country.

I cannot begin to comprehend, nor, accordingly, convey the hardships that each day brings for the average Haitian. In defiance of non-existent government, poor governance, ignorant NGOs, meek international institutions, poverty, decrepit infrastructure, deceit, violence, helplessness and worst of all indifference the people of this small island attempt to build families and live a good life. The list would go on, though I fear that I am erring too far away from my desire to remain apolitical and, by some measure, evaluative.
I observe that at the macro-level the reasons for continued decay, economic stagnation and insecurity are myriad and dauntingly complex. However, at the individual level, the pieces of the puzzle conspire to tie each person in a yoke that renders even the most fundamental of tasks an effort. Now is not the time to try and unpick the knots, save to remark that a recovery of sorts would take generations and I am not sure that our continued presence here as NGOs will solve anything. Merely, all the efforts and energies expended thus far seem to pull in the opposite direction away from independence and against what I value most - personal autonomy.

Logistics

There are many romantics working in the field. There is the community organizer working to inspire voluntarism amongst the youth, the medic healing the sick and infirm, the human right activist standing toe to toe against corruption and injustice. There is one task, however, that has become a vital aspect of field work.

To those unburdened by it, logistics is simply a term. Perhaps even it is a catch-all for those aspects of work which do not involve direct contact with the needy and infirm. Yet there is no doubt that once you are forced to engage in tasks as mundane as renting cars, fixing water supplies, fueling generators, agreeing contracts, managing staff you come to appreciate that, what most take for granted, is an arduous responsibility in low income countries.

Taking on logistical responsibilities is a crucial task that affords the field operative a wider horizon on which to focus, to better understand all that is functional and, as what turns out to be the case, all that is not.

Haiti is no different: once the initial shock of the place, the sheer destruction the lack of infrastructure has settled into the background, all that remains is the imperative to find solutions that are often novel and unnecessary in the Wide Eyed Pragmatist’s homeland. Even the most fundamental of tasks can become unmanageable without careful planning; everyday products, widely accessible in high income countries, just do not exist; professionally trained staff are difficult to come by. Moreover, serviceable road networks, functioning internet, electricity, clean water and a state infrastructure, certainties I once took for granted, are a chimera in Haiti.

Having taken on this responsibility with my usual aplomb, I look forward to sharing more with you regarding my adventures in banalities as wondrous  as buying food, water purification, driving and fixing the generator.

The flooding

One of our volunteers has developed a close attachment to one of our neighbours. She is a young mother with four children who lost a leg during the earthquake. He has organized a prosthetic leg for her which will be fitted imminently. It is hoped that this will improve somehow her situation. Immediately following the hurricane, one of our number visited her home, a small corrugated iron dwelling of about six foot by six with a table in the centre. With her four children she was lying on the table for protection from the waters that had penetrated into her home.

Her immediate response was to ask for food as she was starving. This is not an uncommon response to the sight of a ‘blanc’ but, following a flood on the scale that hit Leogane, it is hard not to feel that her case merited special attention. As I have argued in previous posts, the philosophy of the organization is one designed against created dependency. Does this case, however, even for us deserve a different response.

There are three issues here: security, compassion, dependency. On the one hand, our security in the community is threatened if we do act and, on the other, if we do not act. If we agree to give food to one amongst many then we risk having to face the demand from the entire area for food if word gets out. If we do not act, there is the risk that the community will turn against us if it is felt that blame can be laid at our door for all of Haiti’s troubles.

Second, in an act of human compassion, a feeling individual’s response to the disaster is to do all that is necessary to provide food and shelter. However, the case of the young mother is certainly not the only one in need of aid, nor should our personal attachment to her afford her special attention.
Third, if the organization has been constructed to breed self-sufficiency, and we are untrained in how to coordinate emergency and disaster response, it may be foolish to begin training in the midst of this event.

My friend decided that in the face of her suffering, he was unable to turn away. For two days he brought rice and beans for her and her young family. The third day, he sourced cans of meat, enough to feed her and her family for three days, and brought that to her too. He visited a fourth time to see how she was. Her response when questioned about how she was, “the meat was great but could I have more rice to go with it.”

Hopital Saint-Croix

One of Leogane’s largest hospitals succumbed on Friday to the floodwaters. Perhaps, ‘succumb’ is misleading; this would infer that there must have been some semblance of resistance to the river as the banks burst and the onrushing waters devastated all in its wake.

On Saturday morning, I visited the hospital to find an utterly dejected American, who ran the facilities, one doctor and complete desertion. Practically alone, they had battled to save vital medical equipment and prescription medicine the night before whilst putting in place an evacuation of the remaining in-patients to the second floor. The new river tributary took its natural course straight through the hospital wards and reception area.

Wilfully accommodated by the hospital corridors, a cascade of dirty river water greeted us on arrival. The American was there pacing about incandescent with rage at the situation, lost for words, other than to curse the inability of his Haitian colleagues to grasp the seriousness of the situation.

He refused any offer of help, arguing that it was up to those who worked in the hospital to take responsibility for what had happened. Having put in place a prevention plan, one week prior to the hurricane, he told us how no one had turned up to work on Friday, nor had they worked on his plan to put in place sandbags, move vital equipment or take any such preventative measure to sure up the hospital. Only one doctor, out of all the staff arrived to help on Saturday.

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The hurricane

Expectant for the approaching weather system, it dawned upon me that our preparations were cold comfort when put into context. We live, fortunately, in a sturdily built home, with ample protection from the onrushing storm. The same cannot be said for the vast majority of the population in Leogane.

When it arrived for twenty-four hours it was no more explosive than a torrential downpour typical of England. However, for the hundreds and thousands living in cramped conditions in poorly constructed corrugated iron housing, let alone the tented IDP camps, it was a crushing blow. Considering all that has befallen Haiti in such a short space of time, this was just one of many disasters that the communities have had to face. Standing out above all else is the stark contrast between our complete safety and the destruction wrought by flash flooding in the communities. As with the earthquake a complete lack of infrastructure and adequate housing has threatened the vast majority. This time, fortunately, it seems that the loss of life may only reach single figures.

To add some colour to the picture of devastation, it is worth understanding a bit about those we are in contact with from the area. Guilou, our house manager, a lady of about forty, spends her days working to support her entire family; herself, four children, two step children, her mother and blind father, her aunt, her partner and her great uncle. This is not unusual in a population where sixty percent are unemployed. She called that morning to ask for our assistance in evacuating her home as it became inundated with floodwaters. Her family were relocated to our ample space and she came to work for us after, in vain, trying to save the contents of her home.

Flooding is nothing new for Haiti, nor to Britain. What is striking, though, in contrast to our experience, is the immanent risk of flash flooding in a country where basic housing is a luxury, where flood defences are non-existent, where riverbanks burst and flow with impunity into the heart of heavily populated areas. If there is one thing that this episode proves, it is that, in order to avoid further damage in future, it would take a Herculean effort to focus attention on improved infrastructure and to deal with, once and for all, the IDP camps in a humane and novel way.