"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.

“S’a a, se Frijolito ki sove’l” “That one, it’s Frijolito that saved him/her”

The Earthquake happened just before 5 PM. Between 4 and 5 PM on weekdays, most people in Jacmel (as is probably the case for many people in Port-au-Prince as well) gather together in each other’s homes to watch Frijolito (“Amarte Así”), a Mexican soap opera dubbed in French. In Jacmel people speak of dying or surviving along the lines of where that person was when he or she was watching Frijolito, and thus, Frijolito either killed or saved you. For instance, if someone left their home and was watching Frijolito at another’s house and died there, people say “Frijolito touye’l” (“Frijilito killed him/her”) or, if a person’s house fell while they were somewhere else watching Frijolito, people say, “Frijilito sove’l.” (‘Frijolito saved him/her”). Walking in town, Jacmel January 24, 2010

“M’santi tè ap Moulen!” “I feel the earth is grinding away!”

Running out into the streets after an aftershock…Jacmel, January 24, 2010

“Ou Santi’l?!” “Do you feel it?!”

Running out into the streets after an aftershock…Jacmel, January 24, 2010

“L’anme Ale” “The Ocean Left”

“When it happened I was sitting here on the wall on the beach outside the Art Center…suddenly the earth started shaking, pieces of the Art Center falling from up high behind me and I saw the ocean recede as far as my eye could see and I saw all of the mountains in the ocean, I saw fish jumping to try to get to the water…I was so confused I actually ran inside the Art Center and ran right out through the other side of the building.” FOSAJ Artist January 24, 2010

Jacmel Hospital Visit January 24, 2010

Today we visited the only public hospital in Jacmel. All of the patients were laying outdoors under tarps tied to trees and poles with beds lying in close proximity of each other. Some patients had family members next to them, some with no one present. As we walked in we saw ladies with plates of rice and beans topped with macaroni, distributing what we were later told was the only meal of the day that was given to patients, served at around 4PM.

As we walked through the patient laden courtyard we were immediately greeted by a hospital administrator and a teacher who heatedly started to fill us in on the situation at the hospital; we did not have a chance to ask the first question. The men told us that they did not understand why there was so much aid coming in at the port and the only hospital in the town still had not received medical supplies. The men noted that they had heard that milk, tents and medical supplies had arrived but that nothing had been brought to the hospital yet. We looked over and saw what looked like an army tent on the other side of the hospital’s courtyard. We asked the men about this and they told us that they believed that this was probably a Canadian or U.S medical team working independently. They explained that these foreign doctors conducted surgery but that the patients were then sent back to the hospital’s care, but that the hospital seriously lacked adequate medical equipment and the staff to properly care for the patients. The men also told us that there was a group of Cuban doctors on the other side of the hospital. We asked the men where the food that was being served came from and they told us that an organization called PAM had donated the rice, however, the hospital was running out of gas for cooking and that they would probably run out in a day or two. In addition, they mentioned that they had no fuel for the hospital ambulances.

Soon after, we were joined by a doctor who had just delivered a baby under one of the tarps. The doctor noted that it had been a complicated delivery and that among other things, he had lacked a suction pump, but that luckily one of the foreign doctors who happened to be walking by, noticed the problem and brought over a suction pump to help. The doctor said that after delivering the baby he advised the mother that she should see a pediatrician before leaving the hospital in case the baby had caught an infection during childbirth because it may have come into contact with an open abscess that the mother had. The doctor left the mother and newborn to tend to other patients and when he returned she had left with the baby. The doctor does not know if she ever saw a pediatrician, and he explained that since there is a shortage of pediatricians in Jacmel anyway, that it probably would have taken some time and effort to find one and that since most of the nurses did not show up for work today (he did not know why), there was no one to keep the woman from leaving.

The doctor subsequently recounted his experience on the day of the horrific earthquake. He told us that he is a gynecologist and came to the hospital as soon as the earthquake hit on January 12th. He told us that most of the injured that night suffered from broken limbs and needed orthopedic surgery and amputations. Because there were no orthopedic surgeons in Jacmel at the time, he had to conduct many amputations himself, a procedure he had never done before as a gynecologist.

After talking with the doctor and the others, we headed to the hospital pharmacy to donate medical supplies consisting of syringes, surgical kits, surgical masks, soap, blankets and other materials. At the pharmacy we met with two head nurses who permitted us to walk under the tarps to visit patients. We visited with a mother and a baby girl about 6 months old. The baby had been injured in the leg. We noticed that the baby needed a clean diaper, but the mother did not have any, nor did the hospital. The nurse gave the mother some kind of makeshift bandage to serve as a diaper for the evening. We promised the mother we would come back in the morning with diapers.

After assessing our visit, we decided that we could help the patients by providing breakfast. Depending on the food we find in the area on different days, we will bring breakfast to the hospital, which may consist of a variety of bread, milk, bananas, plantains, seasonal fruits such as tangerines and hot cereals. We will be visiting the hospital daily.

La Montagne, Jacmel January 23, 2010

This morning we visited 80 children that we work with in Terre Rouge, La Montagne located in the mountains, approximately 40 minutes by car from the major seaside city of Jacmel. Jacmel suffered significant damage and casualties in the earthquake and we wanted to check up on our kids in Terre Rouge. Upon our arrival we were relieved to learn that all of our kids were accounted for and none were wounded! After discussions with the children and a walk around town we learned however, that many homes had been damaged or destroyed and, similarly to many Haitians today, many families in Terre Rouge are also now homeless or have damaged homes. It is interesting to note that the reason that there were no deaths in Terre Rouge is most probably due to two significant differences with major cities: (1) all the houses in Terre Rouge are small one story structures with corrugated metal roofs supported by wood joists and rafters (thus roofs did not cave in and the walls fell outwards) and (2) most people in Terre Rouge work outdoors in their yards or in fields during the day and spend very little time indoors until later in the night.

In addition to damages to homes, as we expected, many families in Terre Rouge are having additional economic difficulties due to the severe crisis in Jacmel. Jacmel is the center of economic exchange for Terre Rouge and the area of La Montagne generally. Therefore, to help families get back on their feet, we provided each child with enough bulgur wheat and spaghetti to bring home to help feed a family of four for approximately a week. We also provided the community with a first aid kit and medicine (to be managed by a town nurse who is a member of Rural Haiti Project) to treat the children in case of sickness and wounds in the future. We will conduct a similar visit on Wednesday, January 27th with the children we work with in Kaminette, near the town of La Vallée de Jacmel.