The idea for this diary title comes from a conference to be held at the University of Massachusetts this spring. Maybe its too soon for some to discuss rebuilding issues. If so, give this diary a skip. OTOH, if you are ready to roll up your sleeves and think about influencing policy, read on.
Even during this heart breaking period when the disaster images lie heavy upon our hearts and minds, dare we look toward the future and plan for ways to insure help is used wisely and sustainably for Haiti, and for other disaster areas?
Here in the US should we not now double-down and get better prepared, since more disasters are surely forthcoming because of climate change and our geophysical reality on this planet?
Further, how can we thwart disaster capitalism and greed from sapping our aid resources, slowing effective assistance to people, wildlife/environment?
Finally, is this not one more good reason to climb back out of the 'enthusiasm chasm' created by last year's mixed results, and work to elect better Democrats?
With deep sadness, shock and empathy...
That's how Kossacks have responded to the disaster in Haiti, and also with an outpouring of money and good wishes! Yes! I love this community!
Looking ahead
Dare it be considered during this period of sadness, that sometimes the US (and me) throw money at challenges without an effective result?
For example, in the area of security after 9/11, massive spending has resulted in massive ongoing waste and fraud, both here and in Iraq and Afghanistan, and still, we are not 'secure.'( Screw the cheneyites, some of you know what I mean.)
Has this question come up for you? 'When considering aid to disaster fraught countries such as Haiti, how can we give smarter and more effectively? ' WaPo Op Ed :
...To prevent a deepening spiral of death, the United States will have to do things differently than in the past. American relief and development institutions do not function properly, and to believe otherwise would be to condemn Haiti's poor and dying to our own mythology.
In Haiti, we are facing not only a horrific natural disaster but the tectonics of nature, poverty and politics. Even before last week's earthquake, roughly half of the nation's 10 million inhabitants lived in destitution, in squalid housing built of adobe or masonry without reinforcements, perched precariously on hillsides. The country is still trying to recover from the hurricanes of 2008 as well as longtime social and political traumas. The government's inability to cope has been obvious, but those of us who have been around Haiti for many years also know about the lofty international promises that follow each disaster -- and how ineffectual the response has been each time.
(Jeffrey D. Sachs is the director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and the author of "Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet." ) Bold by diarist.
Beyond rescue work
Sachs goes on to list phases of recovery and suggestions, along with sobering estimate:
...The Haiti Recovery Fund should be constituted for five years -- a suitable period to respond to such a challenge. Electoral politics in Haiti should be suspended for at least one year as well. This is no time for national elections; the people's survival is the first purpose of politics.
How much money would the Haiti Recovery Fund need? And where should it come from? Here is a rough estimate: Before the earthquake but after the hurricanes, I had calculated an urgent (and unmet) development financing need of $1.4 billion per year for Haiti, up from about $300 million currently. Basic urgent reconstruction costs will add perhaps another $5 billion to $10 billion over the next few years. One can imagine annual disbursements of $2 billion to $3 billion annually over the next five years.
Obama should seek an immediate appropriation of at least $1 billion this year and next for a Haiti Recovery Fund, and ask other countries and international agencies to fill in the rest, not with promises but with cash. The obvious way for Washington to cover this new funding is by introducing special taxes on Wall Street bonuses, utterly unjustified payments that will be announced in the next days....
We might do this wrong, you know...
This week President Obama pledged $100 million for Haiti, with more on the way. Indeed we should respond with all possible haste, the documented suffering is overwhelming. But afterward?
Consider this article from India:
http://www.dnaindia.com/...
...The US-based GeoHazards International, in a report, had warned that a magnitude 8.3 earthquake striking Shillong might kill 60 times as many people as were killed during a similar size quake that hit in 1897.[The Shillong quake [ in 1897] had killed 1,542 people.
The reason, it says, is the replacement of single-story bamboo homes with multistory, poorly constructed concrete-frame structures, often on steep slopes, has made the population much more vulnerable. ...
Whuhoooes, does this not sound like Haiti?
Quality control
Will the US write RFP's which require Green Building techniques? Or will all environmental values be thrown out the window in the name of speed and rewarding political supporters like they were during previous administrations in that massive project began along our border:
U.S.-Mexican Border Wall Destroying Habitats for Endangered Animals
DHS's Michael Chertoff waived 36 laws so the wall could be built without consideration of the environment, disregarding laws like the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act....
...
The wall is meant to keep the illegal immigrants out of the US, but the artifacts of border crossings tell a different story.
"Ladders, ropes, and tunnels litter the borderlands now as people find a way around," she says.
Not every single mile of the 2,000 long mile stretch is covered in the solid wall, so humans can find gaps in the wall. But the animals can't. The endangered animals are cut off from their life supply, unable to find water in the already dry areas of the country and unable to hook up with mates . ...
(Created some jobs, but is a real world class disaster that does not work, but hey, some folks made a buttload of money building it real fast! But what do some animals matter, as long as we are safe.? OT. Sorry. End of rant.)
Change for Haiti
Shouldn't we do our best to insure that aid dollars spent after the initial rescue are used for Haitians to restore their already disastrous ecology, and support work for them to recover/move on to live more sustainably? ( See Haiti’s Deforestation Epidemic )
April 2010 International Workshop
These folks think so-- a conference is being planned by UMass at the Center for Rebuilding Sustainable Communities after Disasters (CRSCAD)
After the Cameras have gone:
Rebuilding Sustainable Communities in Haiti
after the January 12th Earthquake
We can do better, should do better.
Kossacks are committed to continuous improvement of our government. Many of the people that work on the ground for the Fed orgs are progressives like some of us, but are hampered by regs in their orgs. A former USAID/Afghanistan worker that we met in Zambia last summer says the organization is restricted to being in effect a gross welfare agency for US corporations and organizations who charge exorbitant fees, and produce little effect for the local people. Is this true?
What kind of 'bang for the buck' will we create with our personal donations, tax-supported aid, and our volunteer efforts? (BTW, my wife and I had a bay home in the area that hurricanes Rita and Ike hit, have raised disaster relief funds when we taught high school in Austin. Have seen some waste at the coast, no expert but disaster aid is something which I have given some thought to.)
How to Aim Relief Dollars
Here's an article carried on CNN Opinion which really helped me segment my thinking about assistance for Haiti and other future disaster areas, both inside and out of the US.
Written by " Gillian Yeoh [who is] the lead program officer for disaster response at Give2Asia, a San Francisco-based public charity directing private philanthropy resources to their targets in the Asia-Pacific region. The organization was the second largest U.S. contributor (after the Red Cross) to relief and recovery after the 2008 China earthquake, raising $15.8 million. More information is available at http://www.give2asia.org/... "
...
If you are interested in supporting disaster relief and recovery efforts in Haiti, I would like to share some tips and advice based on our experiences.
There are three phases of disaster response. Understanding these phases is important, because it can help you decide when and how you can assist.
Immediate relief: This phase often includes providing survivors with immediate needs such as medical assistance, food, clean water and shelter. Other necessities, such as heavy equipment to remove rubble in the search-and-rescue operations, are also needed.
Short-term recovery: This phase comes during the weeks and months after the immediate relief effort. It includes providing temporary housing, temporary schools, the initial rebuilding of infrastructure and services for displaced children and families, such as psychosocial services. During this time, most families and parents are busy cleaning up their damaged homes or retrieving their belongings while leaving their children at temporary shelters, which often exacerbates the trauma that children have experienced.
Long-term recovery: The long-term recovery period is measured in years. This includes livelihood restoration and training; educational support for disaster-affected students; permanent rebuilding of homes, schools and infrastructure; and psychosocial support.
Mother cares: excuse this personal aside
[My people-loving-79-year-old-former-Hillary-now-Barack-supporter mother lives alone in Austin, TX, has cable news on all day, and is often heartbroken because she see so many people who are suffering from disasters. She says it is was not like this when she was young. I wish she would not watch the news so much.]
Hard to contemplate, but I am convicted that, as I am sure you are, more disaster images are on the way. Climate change coastal flooding, earthquakes, hurricanes, drought, you name it, hang on, my brothers and sisters. But really. We should continue to tweak our preparedness. We can do this. As progressives, we are not allowed to give up/give in to overwhelm, are we? Heh.
Future Disasters: Get On Up for the Inevitable
Mo Yeoh .
Her picture looks so young to me, but she obviously talks from serious real world experience:
...Disaster preparedness is also part of the long-term recovery phase, especially for places that are prone to disasters. For instance, training teachers in earthquake preparedness could save hundreds of lives if an earthquake hits again....
Would really like to put the whole Yeoh article here but fair use prevents. Well, mebbe a little bit more in the name of disaster preparedness giving won't hurt?
Gillian lists five areas for consideration by you who might like to support the funding of disaster preparedness/rescue/rebuilding:
- Donate wisely. snip
- Be flexible and mindful. snip
- Avoid in-kind donations. snip
- Support programs that involve the survivors. snip
- Consider supporting long-term recovery. snip
Her discussions after each point are eye openers, reality-based, thought provoking. Hope you have time to go read them
###
We can do this!
RE: the 'enthusiasm chasm.' Pep talk here. Progressives can assist the people in Haiti in their work to rescue, recover, and go on to work with them to build a sustainable future for us all. Afterwards, we might even be able to work with many other locations in this manner, now and with future disasters, here in US and abroad, IF we spend some time educating ourselves on how to use our dollars more wisely. (Humbly I submit a Resources list below.)
Another major way multiply the power of our disaster response/approach is-- wait for it, you burned out Progressives... elect better Democrats. JUMP up over that 'enthusiasm chasm' !
You go Mr. President! Now whip that Congress into action. And get the rest of our money back for uses like helping Haiti, creating jobs for our own un-employed, health care, shiyut. Whole bunch of things we can use that money for. Hey Dems in Congress , how about restoring the Bush tax cuts on 'em, too! Yuh!
Ahem. We shall see.
Other Resources
Found this widely cited piece (says Google) which is worth reading for those who want to delve deeper:
- Disasters, 1993 - crid.or.cr Recovery after Disaster: Achieving Sustainable Development, Mitigation and Equity
Another one: Rebuilding urban places after disaster: lessons from Hurricane Katrina
From Science : Social-Ecological Resilience to Coastal Disasters
Check out pictures here of Rebuilding After Chinese Earthquake: Beautiful Bamboo Homes
For a real eye opener on how US efforts have hurt Haiti in the past, and a discussion of where to go in rebuilding, see Earth Institute in WaPo:After the earthquake, how to rebuild Haiti from scratch
Monitoring earthquakes Latest Earthquakes in the World - Past 7 days USGS Interactive Map
See also: Operation Fresh Start
website is designed to empower individuals and communities as they recover from hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, and other natural disasters by providing resources and tools that can help rebuild communities, businesses, and homes using sustainably.
###
###
###
The cameras have captured many heart rending images in Haiti. We are stepping up to assist with the suffering beamed home to us. Are we in it for the long haul, when the cameras leave?
Kossacks young and old, you are earning many thanks for all the best wishes for recovery/positive thoughts/cold hard cash you are sending our fellow earth travelers, the Haitians! As we celebrate MLK Day, consider the future. We have come a long way. Together, we can move on with our progressive work.
I know this was long. Thanks for reading.
BTW, we gave to Médecins Sans Frontières. You?
Tips, Recs, Flames, Opinions invited at this time. Namaste...
divineorder