Haiti is the poorest country in the Northern hemisphere. Everywhere you look there are images of people dealing with extreme poverty – children carrying water on their heads, people living in tents constructed of found materials, USAID tarps and unsealed roads wrecked by rain and hurricanes. This situation was made considerably worse by the January 2010 earthquake, however it was certainly not the catalyst. Haiti was systematically pillaged by French, British and American Colonial powers at several stages of its life. Haiti has a very proud claim to being the first independent slave colony in the world following a revolt in the late 1700s/early 1800s, however the French insisted Haiti repay it not only for loss of land, but for the slaves. Essentially, Haitians paid the French for themselves, at an estimated cost of 21 billion USD in today’s terms. It is not hard to see why this country has struggled to get on its feet.
The people are of West African descent and are very dignified. They are kind and gentle but have a certain wariness of foreigners, due, in part, to the large presence of NGOs and their out of proportion security measures. You will not be able to outdress a Haitian on a Sunday and the children come to school immaculate - despite the trials of living in a tent city. Our experiences travelling and talking to them are that they like a joke, are honest and like you to know that Haiti is not represented by Port au Prince (there are many beautiful areas in the country that we were lucky enough to visit). They also have their own ideas about Haiti’s reconstruction – but it seems this is an unheard voice.
It is hot in Port au Prince and dusty. The electricity comes on occasionally as the country does not have enough to allow fulltime access. Most people cook over charcoal stoves (which has led to major deforestation and consequently land erosion), and the staples are rice, black beans and bananas. People get around by “tap taps” - on the back of brightly painted utes – aptly named as you tap on them when you want to get off, or motos. The housing is concrete made mostly of poor quality mountain sand (part of the reason so many homes were demolished in the earthquake) and people mostly spend their time outside the houses as inside is dedicated to sleeping quarters. There is however an upper class who, on the whole, do not seem too worried by their countrymen's conditions and they live in large homes, higher up the mountain where it is cooler and are driven around in the standard landcruiser 4wds.
The other large user of these 4WDs are the NGOs – approximately 560 separate organisations at its peak. Haiti is known as the “NGO Capital of the world” or the “Republic of NGOs”. Whilst the value that they contribute is immense most people we talk to are very cynical about the efficiency of these programmes, as there seems to be little co-ordination of resources, and not enough accountability for their outcomes (or lack thereof). There are all the big names here – the very strong presence of the UN (usually seen being driven around in large vehicles as security protocol does not allow employees to walk, or in the form of throngs of unnecessary UN Peacekeepers). Also are Sean Penn and his foundation, the Clinton foundation (big cigar wielding Bill), World Vision, Care, Caritas, Red Cross, Medicine Sans Frontiers, Save the Children, any number of matching t-shirt clad US mission groups. And us.
If you ask most Haitans what they want, they want a job. 60% live on $2 or less a day, and 50% live in $1 or less a day, and living here is expensive, especially food. We can't understand why - this place really has the feeling of a Caribbean South East Asia. We guess it is because they are such an import dependent economy, and the NGOs and elite families have severely inflated the prices.
Most rubble has been cleared and in a drive downtown only certain areas would suggest there had been a large earthquake. In saying this, there are plenty of empty lots where large buildings once stood, many buildings still half crumbled, and the symbolic destroyed presidential palace. There are no longer any tent cities downtown - the government paid each tent 500 USD to leave and rent or rebuild - an offer worth taking as they were going to be made to leave eventually, but certainly not enough long term.
If you ask most Haitans what they want, they want a job. 60% live on $2 or less a day, and 50% live in $1 or less a day, and living here is expensive, especially food. We can't understand why - this place really has the feeling of a Caribbean South East Asia. We guess it is because they are such an import dependent economy, and the NGOs and elite families have severely inflated the prices.
Most rubble has been cleared and in a drive downtown only certain areas would suggest there had been a large earthquake. In saying this, there are plenty of empty lots where large buildings once stood, many buildings still half crumbled, and the symbolic destroyed presidential palace. There are no longer any tent cities downtown - the government paid each tent 500 USD to leave and rent or rebuild - an offer worth taking as they were going to be made to leave eventually, but certainly not enough long term.
The majority people were in the tent cities because they had no accommodation, some needed to move there because they had lost employment and could not afford the rent, some just moved there for the free water and electricity as it was a better option than their current dwelling. There were up to 1.5 million people living in tents post-quake, the number is now possibly still as high as 500,000. The camps occupied every vacant space of land – building sites, parks, the President’s front lawn, and the prestigious Petionville golf club. There are many horrific accounts of domestic and sexual violence in these camps due to the close proximity of living quarters, the lack of electricity (the tents were plunged into darkness when the sun went down), and the lack of security. We heard that in one camp there were only two latrines for 2000 people and girls are scared to go to the toilet a night for fear of sexual attack.
The camp next to the school has a real permanency to it. We visited this tent camp, the home to many of the school children. This was an extremely humbling experience. These people have lived in this “temporary” state for 2 and a half years now. Chelsea Clinton noted on a visit to one camp that the average time for people in Africa to live in this type of accommodation was 10 years. A sobering thought for the Haitians, and a reminder for the urgency to help them reconstruct their city better than it was. The camps are where the waterborne diseases such as cholera have been prevalent, but also many types of contagious skin infections, stomach bugs, and other infectious diseases.
Another issue that has been amplified since the earthquake is the tragedy of the restavek children. As the quality of education in the provinces has historically been very poor, if provided at all, parents have sent their children to live with families in Port au Prince (often people they do not know), to be sent to a city school, and in return the child will work for them. Essentially this is child slave labour, but it is entrenched as a culturally acceptable option for poor families living in the provinces. Not only are these children made to work by the host family, they rarely get to school and are frequently physically, mentally, and sexually abused. It is horrifying to think of children in this situation, and more horrifying to know that it is socially acceptable for many people.
In our minds Haiti needs a solution bigger than the patch up disparate approach that is occurring now. The things going well include a reasonable government, still a lot of resources from overseas and the potential of newly found mineral reserves in the mountain regions - something that must be carefully protected to ensure it benefits Haiti and not just the politicians and multi-national corporations that often do so well out of poor countries.
Our work at the Children of Haiti Project (COHP) School involved helping to feed the kids breakfast, snack and lunch, Lou taught an english language course, I taught computer skills (one computer, 10 students and they are VERY quick at learning). At other times we were just regular helpers and play toys for the children. The principal of the school is quite frankly amazing and has given up lucrative international school and UN jobs to continue her work at COHP. She also cares for the school community - taking mothers in to have birth control depots, sending cans of milk to the tents to feed starving children and taking her own students to the doctors if required.
Our experience in Haiti was nothing short of phenomenal. On leaving we hope we managed to contribute a little to the country as we certainly got a lot from our experiences, which will no doubt shape the rest of our lives.
The camp next to the school has a real permanency to it. We visited this tent camp, the home to many of the school children. This was an extremely humbling experience. These people have lived in this “temporary” state for 2 and a half years now. Chelsea Clinton noted on a visit to one camp that the average time for people in Africa to live in this type of accommodation was 10 years. A sobering thought for the Haitians, and a reminder for the urgency to help them reconstruct their city better than it was. The camps are where the waterborne diseases such as cholera have been prevalent, but also many types of contagious skin infections, stomach bugs, and other infectious diseases.
Another issue that has been amplified since the earthquake is the tragedy of the restavek children. As the quality of education in the provinces has historically been very poor, if provided at all, parents have sent their children to live with families in Port au Prince (often people they do not know), to be sent to a city school, and in return the child will work for them. Essentially this is child slave labour, but it is entrenched as a culturally acceptable option for poor families living in the provinces. Not only are these children made to work by the host family, they rarely get to school and are frequently physically, mentally, and sexually abused. It is horrifying to think of children in this situation, and more horrifying to know that it is socially acceptable for many people.
In our minds Haiti needs a solution bigger than the patch up disparate approach that is occurring now. The things going well include a reasonable government, still a lot of resources from overseas and the potential of newly found mineral reserves in the mountain regions - something that must be carefully protected to ensure it benefits Haiti and not just the politicians and multi-national corporations that often do so well out of poor countries.
Our work at the Children of Haiti Project (COHP) School involved helping to feed the kids breakfast, snack and lunch, Lou taught an english language course, I taught computer skills (one computer, 10 students and they are VERY quick at learning). At other times we were just regular helpers and play toys for the children. The principal of the school is quite frankly amazing and has given up lucrative international school and UN jobs to continue her work at COHP. She also cares for the school community - taking mothers in to have birth control depots, sending cans of milk to the tents to feed starving children and taking her own students to the doctors if required.
Our experience in Haiti was nothing short of phenomenal. On leaving we hope we managed to contribute a little to the country as we certainly got a lot from our experiences, which will no doubt shape the rest of our lives.
COHP Graduation Ceremony
One Month in Haiti
Reinforces just how lucky we are!! Xx
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