Coming Back After a Disaster: Lessons from Haiti
I promised back in January to check back in on Haiti 6 months after the earthquake. Where is Haiti now? What can we learn about motivation and recovery from the survivors?
It is hard to say how Haiti is doing now. According to The Miami Herald, the current threat to many still living in refugee camps and tent cities is the coming hurricane season. Many of these camps are not protected from flood waters and the residents could face severe danger yet again.
“Some 1.5 million homeless earthquake victims remain under tents and tarps in at least 1,200 camps across the country. Roads remain cluttered with rubble. The Haitian government has designated only two new emergency relocation camps. And few hurricane-resistant transitional houses have been built as the government and international aid groups continue to wrestle with land issues: how to get more of it, how to put up temporary houses and how to get camp dwellers with safe homes to return, or seek higher ground
‘When we first started this operation . . . we hoped that we would be able to build a significant number of transitional shelters by the start of the hurricane season,” said Alex Wynter of the International Federation of Red Cross. ‘We’ve made up our minds that we are going to have to face the emergency or the potential emergency of the rainy season and the hurricane season in the camps.”
-“Many say Haiti unprepared for hurricane season,” The Miami Herald, May 31, 2010
While it is certainly a step in the right direction to have people with at least some form of shelter and basic necessities, taking into account how much money has been raised by various relief organizations, isn’t it a little surprising that the recovery effort isn’t a little further along?
What has been going on the last six months? A lot of organizations have done many good works in Haiti, distributing food, water, shelter, medical supplies and other needs.
Yele Haiti, the charity established by musician and Haiti-native, Wyclef Jean, “spent more than $1.3 million in recovery aid and is planning to allocate another $8 million to Haitian recovery efforts as fundraising continues. It has delivered 700,000 gallons of clean water.” The video below shows the continued efforts of Yele Haiti and Wyclef Jean’s wife, Claudinette.
While Yele Haiti is a relatively small player in the relief effort in terms of dollars spent, it is the organization that has had the greatest emotional pull with me. While the organization was dogged with allegations of misspent funds, the images and messages it has consistently portrayed throughout its relief operations have convinced me that donations are being well spent and are being spent in ways that donors likely expected them to be spent.
[R]aising money and awareness isn’t enough. We need action now to replace the infrastructure, get Haitians employed and renew the agriculture. It’s going to take years, and there’s no time to lose.”
–Wyclef Jean, quoted in “NAACP honors Wyclef Jean,” Variety, February 25, 2010
The American Red Cross received probably the majority of money from individual American donors, totaling approximately $409 million. To date, the agency has spent roughly 25% of that amount or about $111 million. Recently, a journalist for the Miami Herald profiled the efforts of Fred Sajous, described as “a 29-year-old mechanical engineer who left Fort Lauderdale for Port-au-Prince after being laid off last year.” Armed with only a video camera, Mr. Sajous went around Port-au-Prince looking for signs of Red Cross aid. He discovered little. You can watch his video below.
Naturally, the Red Cross was less than pleased with this video and story and President and CEO Gail McGovern issued her own video response:
While I appreciate that a relief effort is a complex, long-term process and that dollars must be carefully spent, it is a little strange to think that approximately $300 million is just sitting waiting to be spent when it could probably be used now for things like medical care, food and improved shelter. It would sit a little better with me if there were specific projects identified for use of the Red Cross funds, whether now or in the future. I find Gail McGovern’s response a little unsatisfactory and vague. It appears the Red Cross has set aside funds for growing Haitian businesses and long-term infrastructure like water purification plants, etc. but I am not sure that is what donors had in mind. If the dire predictions about the impact of the hurricane season on Haiti prove true, however, you may see the Red Cross step up again with renewed attention.
The big money for Haiti’s reconstruction is coming from donations from a variety of countries and international organizations. The Haiti Reconstruction Platform indicates that almost $10 billion has been pledged to date with a little over $1 billion from the United States. This money will be used to tackle the enormous issues, like this education project from the Inter-American Development Bank:
“The five-year plan, which would require around $2 billion in funding from foreign donors, will be aimed at expanding tuition-free education services in Haiti. At present, nearly 90 percent of Haitian schools are private. Even before the Jan. 12 earthquake, which destroyed or damaged more than 4,000 schools, around half the children of primary education age were not enrolled in school.”
–“Haiti gives IDB mandate to promote major education reform,” Blog for the Inter-American Development Bank, May 15, 2010
What does all of this funding mean for invididuals and businesses in Haiti? It is very hard to answer that question or even learn how much has been spent and where. It seems the smaller projects are a little easier to track and are not years away but already launched!
A sweet (and delicious) project to revitalize Haiti was found in the refrigerated case at our local Costco. Odwalla Haiti Hope Mango Lime-Aid! This is a project of The Coca Cola Company and the Inter-American Development Bank to grow the mango trade in Haiti.
“Haiti produces some of the world’s best mangoes but around half of the crop is lost before it reaches markets. Only about 10 percent of the fruit is exported. And, paradoxically for a country with 10 million mango trees, Haiti imports mango juice.” . . .
“The $7.5 million, five-year project, to which The Coca Cola Company plans to contribute $3.5 million and FOMIN $3 million, will support the development of a sustainable mango juice industry in Haiti, aiming to double the incomes of some 25,000 farmers and their families.”
–“Hope for Haiti,” Blog for the Inter-American Development Bank, April 12, 2010
All profits from sales of the Mango Lime-Aid go toward the project. We love the drink and love the cause too!
So there is both a lot to be proud of with regard to Haiti relief efforts and a lot still to be done. What is one key ingredient for the future success of Haiti? You may be surprised to hear that it is motivation. As eloquently stated by Secretary of State Hilary Clinton (who, along with her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have been long-time advocates for Haiti and even took their honeymoon there!):
“Our goal must be the empowerment of the Haitian people. They are the ones who will carry on the work of rebuilding Haiti.”
–Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, quoted in “Haiti receives $5 billion in aid pledges,” The Miami Herald, March 31, 2010
The Haitian rebuilding effort will require tireless amounts of energy from many people and organizations. They all must be unflagging in their belief that the future holds great things for Haiti. They will have to endure a lot of setbacks along with their successes and work tremendously hard.
What can keep them going in these difficult times? If you take notes from Wyclef Jean perhaps you look to inspiring people who have suffered far greater challenges.
“As a human being, we’re going to have times where we want to quit. And every time I’m think ‘Oh, man, the hell with this, let me just go back and play my guitar,’ I read. I read Gandhi. I read Martin Luther King and Marcus Garvey. I even check J.F.K. and I’m like, ‘Oh, man, I’m actually not going through anything yet.'”
–Wyclef Jean, quoted in “Wyclef Jean uses his celebrity and music to aid victims of the Haiti earthquake,” Sunday Star Ledger, April 23, 2010
What are your thoughts on Haiti? Please share in the comments.