Haiti’s own March Madness
Despite all, life goes on as abnormally as it can be in Port-au-Prince today; see the pictures I just posted. The people there seems to be assimilating more and more with their new found realities; living in tents, sleeping outside, living through after-shocks, standing in line for their food, etc. Let me state first of all that I purposely did not attempt to visit any of the nearby camps for having seen enough of the horrors on TV, I was looking for something positive, something that would not rob me a the few hours of sleep that would manage to get through all the noise, the dog barking all through the night, and the roosters and ducks singing in the early hours of the morning.
My family lives in a little known area across from the main airport, right on the main boulevard, 20 minutes from the city center, named Sarthe. We landed at 2:00 pm sharp on Friday afternoon (March 19, 2010) on small plane by way Porto Rico. I snapped a couple pictures from the air as we were getting closer to those impressive mountains before the disturbing sites of the blue tarps that made the tents cities came within view. I snapped a couple more pictures around the airport just before I started to sweat. The anxiety was building up as I have not been there in 10 years. With me was another 6 family members as our main reason for this trip was to attend my father-in-law’s funeral; Mr. Nemours Brun died of natural causes at the age 79. It must have been 4:00pm when we finally arrived at the house; only a 15 minutes drive from the airport.
Once there, we quickly survey the house and declared it suitable to sleep in. Only as a matter of fact, for some of my family was already sleeping inside whenever it rained. I was amazed with the ease everyone at the house consented to sleep in tents deep in the yard. Those same people would not have slept with their door unlocked the day before the earthquake. Our yard had 6 tents, each sparsely and strategically located on the shade of a tree. A sand mount was poured before they erected each tent. The path to each tent was also raised with sand as to not muddy their feet before entering the tent. All but one was camping tent from the US that they purchased during the first 2 weeks after the quake. The odd one was about 14 in x 14 in with wooden posts and crossbars, white and grey tarps, large enough to sleep the whole family unit. That tent along with two others was there as a matter of courtesy. Although friends and family, their owners didn’t actually live there prior to the quake.
I can’t put it into prospective myself, but, maybe you can; all through it all, the young men’s passion (soccer) did not died with the earthquake; 10:00am as I was in my way to visit a fractured school building a block away from house, I pause for a moment to watch a 7v7 going at it; skinned and barefooted. Such heart! They did not look a day older than 14 years old; while the older ones will walk miles to locate a friend with a functioning TV in order to watch Europe best soccer games. Sarthe has been without electricity since the quake; we had to make do with generators. The young ladies are for the most part, the ones worrying about not being able to finish the school year; they do not have much to do aside from school. Parents of young children are pulling out their hairs trying to enroll their kids in whatever school that might be about to re-open. A problem that existed long before the quake destroyed most of the schools in Port-au-Prince; for with over 2 million people, the Capital city never had enough schools to satisfy all. Here is a quote from Anda Adams on an article published today by the Brooking Institute:
” One institution that will require a complete overhaul is the education sector. Prior to the earthquake, approximately 55 percent of school-aged children were not in school.[3] One of the biggest barriers to achieving universal quality education in Haiti is the fact that more than 80 percent of the classrooms with 90 percent of the country’s students are run by private entities. These entities are unregulated and have little to no oversight by the Ministry of Education, leading to wide ranges in the quality of education.”
During our four days stay, we drove from Sarthe through Cazeau, Tabarre, Clercine, all the way to Croix-des-Bouquets. We then drove from Croix-des-Bouquets through Santo, Shada, Croix-des-Missions, and Sanon-Carlebasse back to Sarthe. We also drove from Sarthe to Marin, Sybert, etc; while the devastation is not as bad as in the city center, it is everywhere we went; even the tombs in the cemetery cracked open. But, life is slowly picking up in the city; Bar de L’air just re-opened on Rue Capois; we had a Prestige (beer) there. Most of the roads have been cleared of debris; we circulated freely. It’s not just the people of Port-au-Prince; the same goes for those of Leogane which I’m told is even more devastated than P-au-P. The reports coming from Jacmel seem to be more hopeful but never the less those affected are on the race of their lives with the rainy season on their heel. And with the odds stuck against them, they will be sleeping in those makeshift tents for years to come. What can the misguided Diaspora do to help them through out that awful predicament they have found themselves? I for one would suggest that we keep supporting the small organizations such as “Change for the Youth Found” in Brockton. They are doing the grunt of the work one kid, one adult, and one family at a time. This particular organization had a benefit dinner at Generation in Avon, Ma last night. My hearth filled kudos goes out to those strong women of Leogane. Let us keep talking until we change the lives of those affected for the better. Do not shy away from visiting if you have a place to stay. All the anxiety went “bwa shat” (creole) once we got there and by the second day, we all pledged not to stay out so long before returning. What are you doing for Haiti now? When are you going back?
My family lives in a little known area across from the main airport, right on the main boulevard, 20 minutes from the city center, named Sarthe. We landed at 2:00 pm sharp on Friday afternoon (March 19, 2010) on small plane by way Porto Rico. I snapped a couple pictures from the air as we were getting closer to those impressive mountains before the disturbing sites of the blue tarps that made the tents cities came within view. I snapped a couple more pictures around the airport just before I started to sweat. The anxiety was building up as I have not been there in 10 years. With me was another 6 family members as our main reason for this trip was to attend my father-in-law’s funeral; Mr. Nemours Brun died of natural causes at the age 79. It must have been 4:00pm when we finally arrived at the house; only a 15 minutes drive from the airport.
Once there, we quickly survey the house and declared it suitable to sleep in. Only as a matter of fact, for some of my family was already sleeping inside whenever it rained. I was amazed with the ease everyone at the house consented to sleep in tents deep in the yard. Those same people would not have slept with their door unlocked the day before the earthquake. Our yard had 6 tents, each sparsely and strategically located on the shade of a tree. A sand mount was poured before they erected each tent. The path to each tent was also raised with sand as to not muddy their feet before entering the tent. All but one was camping tent from the US that they purchased during the first 2 weeks after the quake. The odd one was about 14 in x 14 in with wooden posts and crossbars, white and grey tarps, large enough to sleep the whole family unit. That tent along with two others was there as a matter of courtesy. Although friends and family, their owners didn’t actually live there prior to the quake.
I can’t put it into prospective myself, but, maybe you can; all through it all, the young men’s passion (soccer) did not died with the earthquake; 10:00am as I was in my way to visit a fractured school building a block away from house, I pause for a moment to watch a 7v7 going at it; skinned and barefooted. Such heart! They did not look a day older than 14 years old; while the older ones will walk miles to locate a friend with a functioning TV in order to watch Europe best soccer games. Sarthe has been without electricity since the quake; we had to make do with generators. The young ladies are for the most part, the ones worrying about not being able to finish the school year; they do not have much to do aside from school. Parents of young children are pulling out their hairs trying to enroll their kids in whatever school that might be about to re-open. A problem that existed long before the quake destroyed most of the schools in Port-au-Prince; for with over 2 million people, the Capital city never had enough schools to satisfy all. Here is a quote from Anda Adams on an article published today by the Brooking Institute:
” One institution that will require a complete overhaul is the education sector. Prior to the earthquake, approximately 55 percent of school-aged children were not in school.[3] One of the biggest barriers to achieving universal quality education in Haiti is the fact that more than 80 percent of the classrooms with 90 percent of the country’s students are run by private entities. These entities are unregulated and have little to no oversight by the Ministry of Education, leading to wide ranges in the quality of education.”
During our four days stay, we drove from Sarthe through Cazeau, Tabarre, Clercine, all the way to Croix-des-Bouquets. We then drove from Croix-des-Bouquets through Santo, Shada, Croix-des-Missions, and Sanon-Carlebasse back to Sarthe. We also drove from Sarthe to Marin, Sybert, etc; while the devastation is not as bad as in the city center, it is everywhere we went; even the tombs in the cemetery cracked open. But, life is slowly picking up in the city; Bar de L’air just re-opened on Rue Capois; we had a Prestige (beer) there. Most of the roads have been cleared of debris; we circulated freely. It’s not just the people of Port-au-Prince; the same goes for those of Leogane which I’m told is even more devastated than P-au-P. The reports coming from Jacmel seem to be more hopeful but never the less those affected are on the race of their lives with the rainy season on their heel. And with the odds stuck against them, they will be sleeping in those makeshift tents for years to come. What can the misguided Diaspora do to help them through out that awful predicament they have found themselves? I for one would suggest that we keep supporting the small organizations such as “Change for the Youth Found” in Brockton. They are doing the grunt of the work one kid, one adult, and one family at a time. This particular organization had a benefit dinner at Generation in Avon, Ma last night. My hearth filled kudos goes out to those strong women of Leogane. Let us keep talking until we change the lives of those affected for the better. Do not shy away from visiting if you have a place to stay. All the anxiety went “bwa shat” (creole) once we got there and by the second day, we all pledged not to stay out so long before returning. What are you doing for Haiti now? When are you going back?
Do you know the members of the board proposed by the Preval Government in NY today? They will be in charge of aproving recontruction projects and distributing money; we need to know who they are.
ReplyDeleteSecretary-General Ban Ki-moon opens donors' conference for Haiti. To his right is US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
ReplyDelete31 March 2010 – Dozens of nations and organizations today pledged almost $10 billion in immediate and long-term aid to help Haiti recover from the recent devastating earthquake, just hours after Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon opened a day-long donors’ conference by calling for the wholesale rebuilding of the country.
Of that amount more than $5 billion has been pledged for the next 18 months, well above the $3.9 billion sought for that period...... But, I still can't find out anything about the board that will oversee the distribution of the money. Do you have an idea? Please share.