This post is also available in: Kreyol
If there is enough for one, there is plenty for two
(Third principle of the Bwa Kayiman)
On the morning of August 14th – more than 200 years after a group of enslaved people decided to show the world all humans were born equal – planet earth decided to show us she is no force to be reckoned with. She shook and that quake took the lives of 2248 Haitians.
The island of Haiti is one prone to earthquakes, and according to history, only the military was able to execute acts of national development and managing natural disasters. This institution died without passing on its capabilities to any other public institutions. Which is probably why the state’s response to all these predicaments happening to us is all but efficient.
The response following the January 12, 2010 earthquake was very wasteful. Because the state was weak, the UN and NGOs overstepped their authority and managed a very complex logistical challenge. What resulted from that was the CIRH (Interim Commission for the Reconstruction of Haiti) established by the Clintons, so that they could install foreigners in expat positions instead of hiring Haitian executives, and waste money without being held accountable. The examples of what happened with the American Red Cross and YELE Ayiti come to mind when speaking about poor management of donated funds. There are still victims who were living in refugee camps back then still living under tents today.
In these past ten years, what has been done to prevent the same catastrophe from happening? During those ten years, the country was busy parading and promoting its corruption and its culprits, some even amongst its highest ranked government officials. Still today, Haitians are asking where the CIRH funds have gone.
However, it is also true that efforts from the Civil Protection Agency during the last 10 years in bringing awareness on cyclones and earthquakes had been made. And this time around, this agency took steps to manage the response. It’s even been noted that, this time, NGOs and the UN made an effort to conform. But due to lack of funds and poor long term planning, the Civil Protection was unable to bring aid to many of those hit by the natural disaster. After the earthquake, the Civil Protection estimated that more than 650, 000 people were in need of assistance. In their last report, posted on their website, dated September 4th, they say they’ve been able to reach 70,000 families, which is about half of the amount of people estimated. 10 years after a similar disaster had hit (where an estimated 300,000 people lost their lives), the Haitian government is still an unfit first responder to its people.
The question remains: is Haiti equipped with an efficient, well financed and executed national plan for response to natural disasters? When digging deeper, a plan can be found on the internet for a period going from 2019 to 2030. For the appropriate execution of this plan, proper investment in infrastructures should be made, as well as ample funding for the Civil Protection and all local governments throughout the country.
For the time being, only solidarity can help alleviate the population’s burden. The day after the earthquake, various groups of people, coming from diverse social backgrounds, began cooperating to get help to the Southern peninsula of the island, where damages were substantial. From the internet to radio stations, calls for solidarity were coming from everywhere, and everyone was lending a hand. Messages were sent out quickly. It had been a long time since Haitian solidarity had been this palpable and concrete. People were going through a great deal to bring help to those in need. A round of applause for the Haitian medical community, those young doctors and nurses who left their homes on the day after the disaster to reach those in need of their assistance. Their attitude and quick responses made it so that the amputation frenzy that had happened in 2010 didn’t happen again. The government wasn’t ready to help the people, but the people were not willing to sit and wait for the government either.
