We arrived in Port au Prince on Sunday, August 15th. It was clear from the plane as we landed that the US forces have left only a few troops on the ground. In February the entire airport landing area was covered with brown tents and helicopters, and now only about five tents remain. I saw several National Guard troops leaving the following Saturday on our flight.
It is easy to say that the NGO presence has dropped as significantly. The streets were clogged in May with NGO trucks and now only a rare vehicle is spotted. Much of the debris in Port au Prince has been removed yet many dangerous buildings remain tilting over streets. Clearly the work-for-food programs are getting a lot done. The signage asking for help that was evident on almost every corner of the capital city in May has all but vanished. Sadly, however, I believe that the signs have vanished, but the need has increased.
Finding little in the rural areas, people returned to Port au Prince looking for a way to survive. The tent camps are burgeoning, and the conditions are deteriorating with every rain. The camps are dangerous, particularly for women, and waste accumulates daily. The camps smell, and the living conditions are terrible. People have to stand all night when it rains to stay dry. Across from the National Palace is a massive camp, and similar camps are located throughout the city. The mood in Haiti is what I would call one of resignation. Things have changed for the worse, and the people are frustrated.
I saw no disturbances of the peace while I was there. We were in the rural areas after Tuesday, as the election candidates were culled from the list of thirty-three potential candidates. There was anxiety about demonstrations in the Capital, however I saw nothing and heard on Friday afternoon that all was still calm. We were encouraged to remain in Grand Goave rather than return to Port au Prince, and we were happy to do so (after being in two different vehicles that broke down that day).
Our Jatropha project expanded into Miragoane and signed up 50 farmers. In L'Azile we signed up 100 farmers. We will be bringing in a press to demonstrate the value of the oil by starting a generator at the site of each community where we are working. A link to a similar demonstration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Znu_kFyHt1o. Our press is more efficient, but the concept is the same.
Electricity service in the capital was worse than it was in May. Less access, only a few hours at night, and sporadic. In the country of course there still remains no power for the vast majority of people. Driving the roads at night there was only one section lit between Miragoane and Port au Prince, I believe near Grand Goave. No lights can be seen off the main road. Sirona Cares is working with the IEEE on a project for the Humanitarian Technology Challenge to bring electricity to the rural areas.
Our partner, Mission of Hope, was listed by a recent UN survey as one having accomplished the most re-builds for families. They came in fifth nation wide. Materials for the homes are supplied by various organizations and are built by Haitians and missionary teams. The team we met said that they build five houses per day. At the time of the UN survey, Mission of Hope had built 300 such houses, and that placed them fifth in the country. This tells us that although many people around the world are talking, and great sums of money have been spent on the assessment process, things are moving slowly on the ground. 20,000 homes were lost in the Grand Goave area.
The reasons for the hold-ups are many. I applaud Mission of Hope for their ability to get the housing materials shipped to them, get them out of customs, and get them to their community. The need in Grand Goave is great, and the rebuilding speed is not reflective of the interest/capability/desire to work of the Haitians, it is a result of logistical problems that keep materials from being delivered to where they are most needed.
As part of our trip we picked up three containers from the port containing humanitarian aid for 20,000 people. The fees for the containers at the port were accumulating at $300/day. We paid $1700 to get them out (in addition to broker fees, customs fees, in-country transportation, etc.), and that day the machine that lifts containers to the trucks broke. The next morning the port asked for an additional $300 fee. We were able to avoid it and got two containers out. The following day they wanted additional money for the final container when the delays had been caused by the port itself. It was expensive and frustrating, but in the end the goods were taken out of customs and delivered to the intended recipients. This type of headache is faced every time Mission of Hope receives building materials. We were fortunate because Sirona was on the "fast-track" to get our goods out. Generally months of storage fees are incurred and often donors ship goods back to Miami rather than pay the thousands in fees.
The people were very grateful for the goods we delivered. I cannot express their thanks with my words, I will post their e-mails here with photos to show everyone who helped how appreciative the people in Haiti are.
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