Haiti earthquake Relief - D7020 update Feb. 20th, 2010
D7020 Website - Haiti Updates
A bitter sweet day in 3 parts
Warehousing and supplies
We had a very exciting and productive day yesterday in Port au Prince.
Although it was painfully real it also gave me a better sense of our
direction going forward and a comfort that we were in Sync with the
Rotarians in Haiti and the Government of Haiti.
I had arranged a meeting with the Prime Minister of Haiti to discuss
numerous issues but mainly to understand if Rotary, and specifically
our District 7020 was approaching our relief and recovery initiatives
with the right priorities in the mind of the Haitien Government. I
asked PRID Barry to go with me for wisdom and support and The Haitien
Ambassador to the Bahamas as he has been very helpful and supportive
to us.
Once again Odyssey, and Saga Boy Holdings provided the Caravan and
their team of Captians, Paul Aranah and Paul Pyfrom took command of
getting us to Port au Prince and back. We were wheels up at 5:00 AM
and landed back in Nassau shortly before 7:00 PM, with on the ground
time of approximately 6 hours.
As usual the Haiti on the ground team was extraordinary. Claude and
his team met us at the airport and took us across the road to their
warehousing centre. That in itself was an instant education. They are
working from a yard and a couple of 40' containers as their
distribution point. The reason the distribution had been stopped a
couple of days back was because the perimeter wall had fallen down and
all the people from the shelter camps that surround the area could not
be controlled. The wall has since been rebuilt and they were
distributing supplies when we arrived.
The two containers of supplies from St. Maarten have arrived and been
distributed along with on additional one from the US, There are two
there right now from the DR District 4060 which have been mostly
emptied. They message is clear. We need to get them some containers.
We have a vessel planned leaving Nassau the second week in March. It
can carry 60 20' containers. We had planned to buy 20 or so containers
and send them down full and to leave them. The balance of supplies we
would palletize into containers and unload when we arrived in haiti.
That will not do. I believe our objective now must be to buy all the
containers on the ship and leave them all there. Containers are
available in the United States from Omega Container Services for
$1,375 for a 20' and a couple of hundred more for a 40'. Please see if
your club , or corporate sponsor or someone can help with the funding
for these additional containers.
The painful reality of the tour
After the distribution site we toured Port au Prince and Petion-Ville.
I can only tell you that I felt my expectation of what I would see was
based on my experience in Haiti and a very informed understanding of
what the infrastructure was pre earthquake and how desperate the
situation was pre earthquake. I must tell you that I was shocked
beyond words at the destruction and magnitude of the disaster. While I
expected to see thousands of crumbled buildings and the devastation I
had no idea it could be so bad.
As we drove block after block, we saw either all, or every couple of
buildings imploded. It pained me to know that in most of them there
could have been anywhere from 1 to 50 or 60 dead people still in the
rubble never to be found, claimed or even buried. Besides the imploded
buildings, fallen walls, cracked and broken structures, the entire
infrastructure was also laying on the ground pushed to the side.
Things like powerlines, phone lines and water lines. This was
amplified by the sewerage and water running down the streets carrying
the garbage and loose possessions.
Anywhere that there was a clear spot, tent cities had popped up. There
were 100's of them made up of 10's of thousands of tents and home made
shelters, randomly placed and very tightly packed together. Tents of
all descriptions made up the camps. Many UN or international agency
tents that were identifiable by the orderly fashion they were placed
but it was clear they were soon crowded out by tents made from
everything one could imagine around them. Some tents were framed from
reused rebar from a crumbled buildings and wrapped in cardboard and
remnants of clothes found after the earthquake. Others were framed
from sticks and covered with pieces of material rescued from the
streets after the earthquake. Interestingly enough on our tour we saw
very few shelterboxes. I saw a couple of them on the side of a street
where they acted as the safe home for a displaced family from a home
that still stood but was cracked and the residence were afraid to move
back into it. I guess the lack of sightings could be because of the
lack of on the ground Rotary involvement, and maybe they were in
locations unknown to the local Rotary clubs. To bad!!
As a quick perspective I was told the following. 15% of the country is
now homeless, additionally 10% are displaced. I was also told that
they have estimated that if they take 1000 loads of rubble per day
from the streets, it will take a full 2 years to remove all the
destruction. I saw it and believe it, but can not comprehend what that
means to those trying to chart the way forward for this desperate
country.
We passed by the water commission where they were training some staff
on the needs for the latrines and the message they needed to share
with the Tent City residents pertaining to drinking water, sanitation
and latrine use. If you can imagine, the latrines should ideally be
distributed to a ratio of 1 per 50 shelter residents. They are
currently about 1 per 2000+. I will leave your imagination to figure
out the rest. The water commission is responsible for the delivery of
clean drinking water to the camps. It is also charged with the deliver
and maintenance of the latrines for those camps. They are really, like
everybody else in Haiti being pushed to the limit, but they are doing
an amazing job. They have an additional 4000 latrines coming but need
another 10,000. Something to think about.
The water commission is also distributing the Water Survival Boxes
from Rotary in the UK. They are the most qualified and informed team
in Haiti to deliver these and are doing so on behalf of our Haiti
Rotary Team. They know where the camps are and what the needs are in
each camp so we feel they are the best distribution system we can
use.
Meeting with the Prime Minister
The meeting with the Prime Minister went very well. There were a
number of issues we needed to discuss with him, and we also needed to
hear from him, what he saw as priorities and issues as they pertained
to the future of Haiti. Both these objectives were met. I will not
cove rall the points, but summerize the most important ones.
We wanted to better understand the planning process for the medium and
long term recovery efforts for the Country and the priorities that the
Government of Haiti saw. There has been a Post Disaster National
Assessment Committee (PDNA) put together to formulize a plan scheduled
for local review in mid March and for presentation to the United
Nations at the end of March. As of our meeting, the Prime Minister
agreed to give Rotary a seat on that Committee and we will be involved
in the development and production of the plan as a result. Barry
Rassin will assist us with Rotary Internationals presence at the UN
presentation to be sure we stay connected with the process at that
level as well.
This is probably the single most important advancement we have made in
identifying our role as we move forward. We are going to be a part of
the planning process from the beginning and as such will be
knowledgeable of all the elements and understand the full scope of the
recovery initiative. This coupled with the Rotary Clubs in Haiti being
in the communities will give us a very clear understanding of our role
in whatever sustainable initiative we decide to undertake.
We discussed the idsue of Customs and the challenges we have faced and
possibly may face as we continue our medium term relief efforts. We
are assured that we could get a letter that would make clear our
customs privilege and any other issue that may develop at any port of
entry we chose to use. This was a great and necessary assurance.
We discussed the status of our NGO, (ROTAH) Regroupement Oeuvrant a
Travers des Actions Humanitaires en Haiti. We have been given
assurance that this would be approved very expeditiously and we would
have temporary approval by next week.
We discuss the issue of trying to get supplies to La Gonave and the
challenges therein. I had recommended that we have approval to ship
directly by sea to La Gonave by sea. The Prime Minister said he would
look into the possibility of that as a regular port of entry, but
assured us that we could under special request do so. This will help
the Island Community a lot.
We also discussed the overall response to the Disaster and the furure
of Haiti. There are many VERY difficult decisions to be made and
actions to be taken. At the forefront of all of them is the
understanding by all involved that this may well be the only time that
an effective calculated plan for a sustainable recovery may be
possible, and we must do it right. The pressure to do it soon is also
critical as the patience of the population is already being tested.
They need to see and hear the plan and then immediately initiatives
that indicate that it is a reality and not rhetoric.
We discussed the need for a quick switch in our recovery efforts from
relief to sustainable initiatives. Don't continue to send drinking
water when the local water production plant can produce the water.
Support the local production plant by buying water from them to
distribute. Don't send rice that can be produced in the Artibonite
region, help them get back into full production and then help by
buying some of it for the needy.
In the very short term, food, shelter for individuals and for schools,
School, scholarships, water and specific medical supplies is still the
priority but this should only be for the short period unless there is
a very specific need identified.
I hope this update helps. On these trips, Captain Paul has taken
photographs for us. He is downloading the latest one for me on a drive
today, and Barry will take this and put a Photo presentation together
for us all.
I am going back to Port au Prince Tuesday. Rotary International
President John Kenny will be there and is wanting to discuss the
relief efforts to date in Haiti and to meet with a number of NGO's. He
is coming in from the DR as he is actually visiting that District. I
think its important he is informed of our efforts and understands the
direction we are taking.
A quick Thank You to Captain Paul Aranah for supporting us through all
this and arranging flights and sponsorships. Thanks to again Barry for
his unwavering support for anything this district does and for being
there when we need him EVERY time. Thanks to Claude for his
exceptional Leadership and support during what must be the most
challenging period of his life, Thanks to all our Rotarians in Haiti
who make our efforts so rewarding, and thanks to all of you for your
continued interest and support.
I'll keep you posted
PDG Dick