"Vwazinaj Se Dra Blan" “Your Neighbor is your Security Blanket”

Many, if not most Haitians living in areas that were affected by the earthquake congregate in public parks, soccer fields, church yards, neighbors’ yards or in the streets in front of their homes in makeshift encampments. When we asked people in Jacmel, Port-au-Prince and Leogane the question “will people be sleeping in their houses soon?” everyone’s response was about the same: “no one will be sleeping inside any time soon” and in many instances we heard “what every Haitian wants most right now is a good tent!” Some have even gone so far as to say that a new community camp culture is taking shape in Haiti because “there is a sense of solidarity in the camps, people feel less alone and stay because they feel a sense of security…they help each other so they can survive. If you are stuck for food for example, you no longer have to endure starvation, because if the group is cooking, you will eat…and new friendships are forming.”

Although life in communal camps seems to be the vogue now in Haiti, there are also signs that at least some people do want to return to their homes (if they still have homes) sooner rather than later, but that they are afraid to sleep in their homes until they can find an expert to give them the assurance that their homes are safe and could withstand another earthquake. This fear is significant for those with homes made of concrete. For instance, in Leogane (one of the most affected areas), a woman sitting with her family in front of what looked like an undamaged concrete home, explained “I won’t go back in until a good engineer examines the house and tells me it is safe to inhabit; until then, there is no way we are sleeping in there – we will sleep in the streets.”

Whether Haitians will end up creating a permanent cultural of sleeping in encampments and tents is debatable and remains to be seen, but what seems certain, and understandably so, is that many Haitians will not return to sleeping indoors without strong assurances that their homes are safe. Furthermore, and perhaps more importantly, any rebuilding in Haiti will have to be done in organized phases and take into account sustainable land use management, undergo master planning, careful zoning policy and adopt and enforce international building codes (e.g., The Caribbean Uniform Building Code (CUBIC)). All of this work will likely take some time and therefore, in the immediate, there is an urgent need for proper temporary housing so that people can live outside their homes and occupy public spaces under sanitary conditions with dignity until their homes can properly be rebuilt.

The Rural Haiti Project has established an architectural committee to help rural areas plan sustainable rebuilding efforts that take into account global visions for durable communities. Our work in this committee will seek to find funding to help communities rebuild and provide them with the professional and strategic support necessary for a viable future.