Rebuilding Haiti - obstacles and options

As many as one million people are still without a proper roof over their heads almost one year after a deadly quake struck Haiti. Journalists and VIPs will be arriving en masse over the next weeks to make their assessments and publish their opinions. They will see hundreds of thousands still under tarpaulins and makeshift shelters and wonder why all the money that has been raised - literally billions - has not been able to achieve more. It is a valid question, easy to ask but complex to answer.


Challenges to finding real shelter solutions have been many and are mostly linked to:

• the fact that shelter is not just about structures, it encompasses important legal, economic and social aspects that must also be taken into consideration
• the urgent priority and demands to continue delivering life-sustaining emergency services, including shelter, before proper reconstruction can start
• land tenure and informal system of property rights (it is said that some 80% of Haiti's property is based on verbal contracts)
• even when tenure issues are resolved the availability of adequate parcels of land is rare
• sourcing sites to rebuild that are considered appropriate by the community especially in terms of access to local economy, schools and healthcare (the vast majority understandably do not want to move and prefer to stay in or around their destroyed homes - and forcible displacement to 'new' shelters is clearly not an option for humanitarian organizations)
• the metropolitan sized task of rapidly removing rubble created from the destruction of an estimated 200'000 homes and buildings has been simply beyond the means of national and international agencies
• the dilemma faced by aid agencies who despite being flexible are understandably reluctant to rebuild vulnerability i.e. returning people to known vulnerable areas (flood plains, seismic zones etc.) in structures that are are not resistant to hurricanes / earthquakes etc.

The video below, just released, attempts to provide some additional background to the shelter challenges and options.

Haiti, is yet another context which demonstrates, if need be, the limitations of aid. The generous billions donated by ordinary people and communities around the world have been, and will continue to be critical in providing life-saving care and support, restoring livelihoods and delivering numerous other humanitarian services to the people of Haiti. The shelter component however is a challenge of such enormous magnitude that it necessitates long-term and well-financed developmental solutions driven by serious political will, both nationally and internationally. 

The destruction wrought upon Haiti, and especially its capital Port-au-Prince, has left unprecedented challenges for the humanitarian, development and political communities. An entire capital city and all the basic services and infrastructure that its citizens expect and deserve, needs to be completely rebuilt from scratch - and to a standard that will resist future threats. This cannot happen overnight.

One year on, we cannot lose sight of the huge amount that has been achieved but we also know only too well all that remains to be done. In addition to the shelter challenges listed above, the seriously complicating factors of political turmoil, cholera outbreaks, floods and hurricanes have all conspired to stall Haiti's much-needed progress, but nevertheless progressed it has. The serious business of humanitarian aid will continue, and continue for the long haul. Patience and perseverance will be needed as ever. Indeed, the people of Haiti know this more than any of us - already from the first weeks the phrase I most recall was: C'est l'heure de la patience!

/PC

Haiti: Enormous challenges remain, three months on

Recent heavy rains and their mud-soaked aftermath have once again turned the spotlight back onto Haiti.

Along with the immediate shock at the continuing human suffering, the images we’re seeing are also provoking another reaction; why, when so many of us around the world have given so much, are those affected by the earthquake still living in such appalling conditions?

Why, when the world knew that the rainy season was coming, are people still forced to shelter under tarpaulins? Where are the new houses for the homeless? Where, in short, is the relief effort which might seem to have dissolved under the rains?

In truth, aid agencies in Haiti are working harder than ever to provide relief and protect people from the rains.

So far, shelter distributions led by the International Red Cross have reached close to 1.2 million people. Haiti represents one of the fastest distribution operations ever undertaken. This in spite of well-publicised problems including a port too damaged to operate, blocked roads and a clogged airport.

Some obstacles undoubtedly persist, but humanitarian agencies in Haiti continue to perform logistical miracles to get aid to those in need.

In the United States, one of the the richest countries in the world, with teams of the most well equipped experts on earth, it took two years to clear the rubble of the World Trade Centre.

Haiti, it hardly needs to be pointed out, is not the United States. Rubble clearance and reconstruction is an enormous task, and to achieve long-term, sustainable recovery we have to be realistic about the size of that task and how long it will take.

That is why emergency shelter has been the focus. We have to reach the most vulnerable people with the most effective forms of aid possible within the time available. In Haiti that means mass distribution of waterproof tarpaulins to get shelter to as many people as possible. Gradually, as rubble is removed and new land made available, families will receive metal roof sheeting and timber and steel frames to construct more durable shelters.

We need to help people as quickly as we can, but must not let pressure to increase the speed of our response lead to errors of judgement which could undermine recovery, and jeopardise people’s lives, in the long term.

All aid agencies are working round the clock to make sure people are protected in the short-term and ensure a safer future in the years ahead but it is a sad reality that, with the rains coming, the situation for people living in the camps will get worse before it gets better.


/PC

Haiti: Aid need not be delivered through the barrel of a gun

There has been much written about insecurity when delivering aid in Haiti. For the Red Cross it is all about the approach you take. Basically, genuine contact and partnership with the community. Good preparation. Involving people and being accountable to them; involving communities in their recovery. Guns, barbed wire and containment often serve to frustrate and provoke people in desperate need into an enraged mob. Aid need not be delivered through the barrel of a gun. Head Down Eyes Opener Joe Lowry reports from Port au Prince on a typical Red Cross relief distribution.

Relief distributions are stepping up a gear in Haiti. Soon the Red Cross relief effort will reach its first target of getting essential household (non-food) items to 5,000 families every week. The distribution are – unlike those reported in the media – generally smooth and secure.

"We’re doing targeted and frequent distributions," says Charles Blake from the Red Cross relief team in Haiti. "We don’t use any armed security, barbed wire or tear gas, we rely on our emblem and the goodwill the public has towards Haitian Red Cross."

Prioritizing women

It works. At the Citée Renault camp for displaced people at the edge of Port-au-Prince hundreds of people wait in line. "First priority are pregnant women, then other women, the elderly and then men," explains Charles. "The Haiti Red Cross volunteers visit the camps two days in advance, work with the committees and distribute tickets. The community feels part of the distribution just as Haiti Red Cross is part of the community." (Photo shows pregnant women, top priority to receive relief, at a Red Cross distribution this week).

Each ticket entitles the holder to a blanket, mosquito net, two boxes of sanitary items like soap, toothpaste and shampoo, and a box of kitchen items including plates, pots, cutlery and knives.

Among the hundreds of women receiving a package is Ismene Caiis, a market woman, who has queued three hours to reach the head of the queue. The distribution is done at a site near the camp, where access can be halted if the crowd gets unruly. "It happens sometimes, especially towards the end of the day when people sense the supplies are running out, but if they have a ticket they will get aid," says Charles.

But Ismene and her cousin Leckson Michel, a teacher, make their way through the good-natured crowd and back to Ismene’s tent, which the 25-year-old shares with her daughter (9) and eight-year-old son. The tent, sheets draped over branches, is about the size of a double bed and has a piece of cardboard on the floor. Nothing else.

Having lost everything

"This is really useful for us", she says, thrilled with the metal plates and pots. "Of course we need food as well but this is welcome as we have lost everything we ever owned."

The Red Cross has installed water points in the camp and runs a clinic nearby. Camp Renault is not ideal, far from it, but at least some basics have been taken care of.

The big worry is shelter, as the rainy period in May will be followed by the hurricane season. "We have been distributing plastic sheeting and tools to thousands of families but the difficulty is the density of the displaced. At least the tarpaulins gives them shade during the day and will help when the rains come," says Corinne Treherne from the shelter team. "The long-term solution is to get them back into their homes or to help them integrate into host families."


/JL (also posted on ifrc.org)