Visit to Haiti

The little two engine plane has just cut through the cloud cover. All of a sudden, Port au Prince is beneath us. A mosaic in all shades of beige, with dots of blue and white, the colours of tarpaulin and tents, colours which dominate the countryside of Port au Prince when seen from above.

After the unavoidable jams, we finally arrive at the community. The last part of the journey is very difficult. Most of the houses are rubble. The occupants have set themselves up in tents, planted directly on the street since their own land is unusable. So the street is packed with tents, as well as the huge pile of debris that is being slowly shifted by hand. 

The gate of the community is opened and I am treated to the kind of welcome that has become a Carrefour speciality. I enter into the courtyard. Since the neighbours and friends have taken refuge there, this has now become a refugee camp. Every single little corner is occupied. The three foyers have been condemned. Two of them will need to be demolished.

Since 12th January, Jacqueline is not only responsible for the community but also for a little village of 70 people who need to learn to live together, sharing space as well as tasks. So it was wise to send a dozen people to Chantal, which is situated in a rural area not affected by the earthquake. These are the people who could not have coped with the promiscuity and the size of the group.

The rainy season is on its way, along with the inevitable floods. It is clear that the tents will not stand up to the strong winds which mark the “cyclone period”. So the Board is setting about ensuring their replacement by cabins made of wood and corrugated iron. This is all the more urgent since the tents are not large enough for beds. The money we have raised is therefore being directed towards meeting this pressing need, putting in place a short term fix, as well as preparing the ground for the rebuilding. This will not happen quickly. In this place, a huge effort is required even to take the smallest step forward. In the short time that I spent at Carrefour, I saw no sign of any diggers, bulldozers or in fact any building work at all. What I did see was a whole people who have come through a great trauma, who have lost much and who are still weeping for their dead. One afternoon during the siesta, a 7.9-er shook the whole quarter awake, everyone running everywhere as they attempted to escape the ‘goudougoudou’ (Creole word for earthquake) - food for the rest of the day’s conversation.

Clearly, many questions are surfacing: where, what and how to rebuild? I am full of admiration for all those grappling courageously with this question for it implies totally re-defining the community project in the post-January 12th context. When the time comes, we will be there to support the reconstruction on the plans established by the community. But as of now, we should anticipate the costs of a total rebuild.

I left Port au Prince again with a deep respect for the Haitian people, the memory of the smiling children playing in the ruins, and a renewed appreciation of each minute of life, knowing that at any moment, everything could be taken away. Life is so fragile and yet so strong!

Jean-Chritophe Pascal
International Coordinator