Hurricane season has come to an end, the school that collapsed and killed over 100 students and teachers has been razed, the dead buried, and this small, impoverished Caribbean country has drifted from the headlines.
Haiti is breaking. Haiti has been breaking for a long time, but the signs are evident that a threshold is being crossed and the people of Haiti are heading toward some very rough times. There are glimmers of hope, and some tremendous efforts, but if the next generation represents the hope of a nation, Haiti's children stand with very little in their hands.
Children in front of our water truck (kamion dlo) in Cite Soleil
Please follow me for a few minutes to Haiti, and I will try to explain why this place, these people, have taken my heart, and if you chose to help, I'll share some of the relief groups I know that do good work.
How sad that we only remember Haiti when a tragedy strikes, as though human suffering and Haiti are synonymous. When I last diaried about Haiti, Hurricane Ike had drowned Gonaives, and earlier in the spring, just after I had returned from Port au Prince, food riots had broken out across the country caused by a sharp rise in the prices for the most basic foods. Four hurricanes this season have destroyed the fragile agriculture, crime, disease and malnutrition are on the rise.
So...sa k pase (what's up)?
*Major cities are still crippled by the aftermath of water and wind. Here is some AP photography after Hanna showing Gonaives under water. In a report at the Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree Brax writes:
By heavens you would not wish this situation on your worst enemy. The mud that washed out of the mountains into the rivers and (eventually) into the houses, schools etc is simply unbelievable. We up to date have moved, we estimate, 100 tons...
The quote above is from a volunteer with HODR now on the ground, helping this city to dig out and rebuild homes.
*The staff at an orphanage in the southern coastal city of Jacmel filmed the onslaught and aftermath of Gustav, which made landfall about 10 miles up the coast. They are slowly digging out and rebuilding.
*In other areas, particularly mountain villages, MSF (Doctors Without Borders) has been discovering horrifying pockets of severe malnutrition in children, leading to death by starvation in at least 26 children. From what I gather, this is occurring in areas where people would normally have access to native wild food stuffs, but the basic foods (rice, beans, milk, oil) are lacking due to washed out roads and trading access, high prices, and destroyed crops. Couple that with a fouled water supply, and tragedies such as this can't be prevented. A government official in the most affected region is calling the situation a famine.
*Obstetric care in Port au Prince is also strained (sorry - bad pun). Again, from MSF:
In the last month, hundreds of women have desperately sought emergency obstetric care at Jude-Anne hospital in Port-au-Prince. In October, the hospital staff assisted a record high of 56 women giving birth in one day and received 160 women waiting for hospitalization.
The hospital has been so overwhelmed by demand that mothers have given birth in the hospital's waiting room, the staircases and in the washrooms: basically anywhere they could find space. For this 60-bed emergency hospital (including five delivery beds) with an average rate of 35 births a day (1000 births a month), this is an untenable situation.
Lack of medical care is a constant in Haiti, yet there are a few government run hospitals, but it seems they have been on strike for several weeks. Good news is found in the completion of a large pediatric hospital that is run well and is very low cost (actually free to most). Unique for Haiti, this facility includes physical therapy, a cancer ward, day programs for special needs kids, and even a water therapy pool for children.
*Ecologically, things could be better...Lake Azuei, the large inland lake shared with the Dominican Republic, has overflowed it shores, flooding towns, destroying roads, businesses, homes, interrupting a major trade route between Haiti and the DR. Lake Azuei is Haiti's largest lake, and is rich with biodiversity - a growing rarity in this country. Flamingos, alligators, fish, migratory birds, etc. have flourished here, but through neglect of drainage canals, sediment build-up and over mining for sand (for construction), the region's ecosystem is struggling.
Deforestation is a major concern and certainly one of the most difficult problems to solve. The hurricanes this summer flooded villages and cities with mud that was carried off the mountains - topsoil no longer protected by forest. 98% of Haiti's forests are gone, and reclaiming them with be a nearly impossible, but critical task. Several groups are working on this, from the government and the UN to small groups. A few that I am familiar with include Fondation Seguin, the Lambi Fund, Wynne Farm (home of Jane Wynne), Glenna Stinson with Trees for Life Int. Floresta, Konbit Pou Ayiti, and
Haitian National Coalition for the Environment. Knowing the smaller efforts personally, and understanding how hard these folks are working to change attitudes, teach new options, I can't tell you how impressed I am.
Fonkoze - Haiti's largest micro-finance system, especially functional in the rural areas. This is another organization and concept that is working. Small steps.
Children - I already mentioned the new pediatric hospital, but the day-to-day life of children in Haiti is rough. The most common fatal diseases are due to bad water - that simple. I have been active with a few friends hauling clean free water into Cite Soleil (largest slum area in Port au Prince) for the last few years. We make 4 trips 6 days a week, hauling 3500 gallons each time. That's where many of my photos are from. We also deliver to a few schools in the area. We get massive crowds lined up behind the truck, and everyone helps carry the buckets back home, even the little kids. Often people don't wait to get it home to bathe:
Besides decent water, feeding kids is critical. We have a container in customs right now filed with 300,000 meals. Originally it was just to help offset the high price of food for some of the schools and orphanages we know of, but since the hurricanes, we will have to make it spread farther. The organization I am associated with is Healing Haiti. If you are in the market for a charity, check us out - you can buy a donkey or a chicken, help construct a school, get a load of water delivered, or help us get the container out of the port.
L'Athletique d'Haiti is a youth sports program that brings high-level coaching and a good hot meal to the slum kids who can stay in school. They have programs in Port au Prince and a few other regions.
Boby Duval runs this program, and i think it was his comment that really hit home for me a while ago. Paraphrasing, he said: Haiti is a mess, and there is not much anyone can agree on, but everyone can agree on the kids. So, I try to spend a lot of time with the kids. The kids in the Sisters of Charity feeding program, the kids in Jacmel getting water by the river, the girls of Furcy, posing for me with hibiscus blossoms, and the kids of Cite Soleil, who find my hair funny and my accent funnier.
So - why do I like this place? Disaster tourism? A belief that I can actually change anything? No, although those reasons have crossed my mind. I actually love the life this country has, these people have. My brain cells wake up and pay attention, I marvel at the quick smiles, broad laughter, graceful art, delightful twoubadou music, and above all, the remarkable tenacity of these folks. Oh - and I love the kids.
I'll be heading down in a few weeks, I'll tell them hi for you all.
p.s. - Thanks for the recommends. I'm honored and touched!
Here is another link (thanks sable!) to a comprehensive piece in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.