Haiti Relief Effort

On January 12, 2010, Haiti experienced a devastating 7.0 earthquake that leveled, collapsed or ruined buildings, infrastructure, claimed 300,000 lives, and left over a million people homeless. My friend and colleague, Haitian-born Schadrac St. Louis, put together some donations and flew down to Haiti over the President’s weekend to assess the damage, and check on family and friends. Upon his return, I learned from his stories and videos of the impact the earthquake had upon an already destitute population.
Mr. St. Louis was determined to help, and therefore put together fundraisers, calls and requests for food, clothing and supplies for hygienic purposes. He organized the shipping details, such as purchasing barrels to contain the donations, and air cargo costs and logistics. The plan was to put together a team and travel to Haiti over the spring break.
Our team, Schadrac St. Louis, Carol Chase, John Katzenstein, Joseph Spinelli and myself, was briefed about the health and safety issues we would be facing. We were aware that there would be no running water, plumbing or electricity, and that we would be sleeping outside in tents. The State Department issued a travel advisory recommending that all travel to Haiti be suspended, due to gang violence, murder and rape. Kidnapping was also mentioned as a threat to United States citizens and Haitians alike. Nevertheless, Schadrac assured us of our safety, and determined to help, we decided to go despite the recommendations. As a health precaution, per the recommendation of the World Health Organization, we were vaccinated for Hepatitis A and B, Diptheria, Tetanus and Pertussis, Polio, Typhoid, Influenza, Swine flu and Malaria. Water purification tablets were a part of our luggage, as was antibiotics, Pepto-Bismol and/or Imodium for traveller’s diarrhea. We planned to stay 6 days, and distribute over 3 tons of food, clothing and hygiene kits, which we had packed into 27 barrels the weekend before we left.
After nervous goodbyes to family and friends, we flew to Santiago, in the Dominican Republic, and caught a small plane to Port Au Prince. Standing on line to board the plane, I was behind a tall young man whose sweatshirt read “Roosa Gap 5K- Wurtsboro, NY”. After striking up a conversation with him, I learned he was a 2001 graduate of Middletown High School named, Dr. Asad Mohammad, and that he was sent to Haiti by his employer, New York University Medical Center, to offer aid. The picture you see was taken just as we landed in Port Au Prince.
Outside the Touissant D’Overture Airport, is a very chaotic scene. Many people from the tent cities nearby come to the airport to try to sell wares, offer rides or hustle everyone. At one point, Schadrac offered some money to a child with torn clothes, no shoes and looking very hungry. This led to a mob scene of people fighting to surround us, begging for money, food or clothing. They hung on the car as we tried to pull away, pleading, and leaving a lasting impression of fear and sadness.
We drove north to Croix-des-Bouquets, Schadrac’s hometown, to our campsite located in the courtyard of the St. Mary Magdelene Catholic Church. Father Jean Francois Printemps welcomed us with open arms, and assisted setting up our tents next to his. Like many other Haitians, sleeping indoors was not a comfortable experience, with the fear of tremblors and aftershocks.
Driving throughout Croix-des-Bouquets, there are roadside concession stands selling charcoal, for cooking, fruit, soft drinks, personal care products, used clothing and other much-needed necessities. There are no buildings left standing to house these businesses, and so this economy has evolved to fulfill these basic needs. As we visited the tent cities, many of the residents didn’t have stoves, clothing, or anything more than the clothes on their backs. We knew these were the people we wanted to target for the distribution effort we had come for. The tent people who had not received vinyl tarps for protection from the rain got wet the night I was dry in my tent. Listening to the raindrops, I couldn’t sleep thinking of the families of 5 and 6 people, living in a 4 foot by 4 foot space, whose beds consisted of cardboard, whose walls and roofs were sheets wrapped around and over 4 retaining branches stuck in the ground.
Customs proved to be more difficult to maneuver than we thought. Even though the Haitian government had decreed that any humanitarian supplies would not be taxed, we were imposed a $200.00 “tax” on our goods. After 2 days, we were finally able to liberate our donations, unlike many non governmental agencies which had waited weeks to try to release trucks, cars and other supplies backlogged in the airport and shipping terminals.
My fondest memories of Haiti have to do with the spirit of the people. This is something that I have chronicled in video images I created. Despite the tragedy, the poverty, the lack of cohesive, coordinated relief efforts, the people of Haiti are resolute. The situation is dire, the issues are complex, yet, one cannot forget that this was the first group of slaves who achieved independence. I know I am viewing this through my white liberal lens, however, I must believe that this time Haiti will find it’s center and rise from the ashes.
After visiting 6 tent cities, we decided upon a ticket system to create an orderly flow of people to receive our donations. These tickets were created by the Haitian Organization of the Underprivileged, and distributed to the acting mayors of each tent city. We asked them to choose the neediest of their “villages”. Our distribution point was located in the church courtyard, and took us about 4 hours to complete our goal. 425 people arrived and received our packages of food, clothing and hygiene kits.
We were warmly received, hugged, kissed and feted with cakes from the cook of the Catholic church. I never felt fear while I was in Haiti, nor did I feel that our group was in any kind of danger, The Haitians appreciated our efforts.