Haiti: The challenge of aid work in an urban setting

Guest Blog from Haiti By John Kisimir John Kisimir is a World Vision International relief communications expert from Kenya. He is currently based in Haiti. The Haiti earthquake emergency intervention is proving to be one of the most challenging humanitarian situations in modern times. Most humanitarian organizations are used to supporting major interventions in rural areas and rural communities do have functional social structures that make it easy to mobilize people thus making the business of giving aid much easier. Haiti is different. Its city of Port-au-Prince is a fully packaged urban environment – from the suburbs to the sprawling slums of Cité Soleil. Its people are not peasant farmers whose lives have been spanned by a hurricane - some are professionals whose homes and jobs are no more. Some are families who lost a loved one they depended on. Some are folks who abandoned their homes - too scared to live under a concrete roof. Some are criminals who mugged and stole even before the earthquake. You can also count among these prisoners who walked to sweet freedom when the quake brought down some jails. Do not also forget unaffected people who pose as victims who attempt to receive free stuff – sad but true. Aid agencies & the Military It is one of those rare moments where aid agencies have embraced the support of the military in providing armed protection at aid distributions - an interesting combination of compassion and hard knuckles. If you want to know how this combination is working, you should probably meet Dr. Debebe Dawit, a veteran aid worker for World Vision. His experience wraps up massive humanitarian interventions like the Asia Tsunami and others in Pakistan, the Southern Africa food crisis, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, Angola, Rwanda and now Haiti. He comes to Haiti with a heart and expertise to move things fast. Yet he sees the risks behind every makeshift camp in the city. Life is hard and residents are restless for all the suffering they are going through. Anything done wrong can cause distress and possibly a riot. Today, he woke me up at 5:00 am to visit one camp to provide tents to those who do not have. The plan is to go early and make sure that only those who live in the camp get the help they need. Working with UN peacekeepers to distribute aid With a crew of 20 World Vision staff and United Nations peacekeepers from Nepal, we arrived at the sleepy camp. Some residents were sleeping in cars, while those who slept under the stars had started to stir. As the peacekeepers took positions, World Vision staff swung into action putting a security barrier at the entrance of the camp. Leaders of the camp were quickly located and word was passed out from tent to tent. Sleepy camp residents started to come out holding coupons that were given through their leaders a few days ago. The elderly, the disabled and the sick got into line first. The young and the strong jostled for position at the end of a growing line. A truck carrying the tents pulled over and the distribution starts. Hawk-eyed Dawit was busy giving instructions to his staff. Every detail in the process matters and no room for mistakes - from security to the recording of names on the register. The soldiers are on guard, stopping those without coupons outside the camp from getting into line. Often there are scuffles and arguments but the tension subsides once the beneficiaries realize that the process of sharing resources is transparent. Humanitarian aid in Port-au-Prince is given with compassion and sometimes with hard knuckles. “It is human nature to have conflict when in distress but my job is to make sure that those who deserve help get it. I must also keep the promise of that person who gave a one dollar donation to Haiti,” Dr. Dawit says. Today’s distribution is over and another one is planned for tomorrow and the weeks and months to come. Since the earthquake struck, World Vision with the support of the World Food Programme has given food aid to more than 864,000 people. None food items including 2,500 tents, 9,400 blankets, 11,400 cooking sets and 5,200 mosquito nets have reached 65,000 people in the camps to make life just a little bearable.

Giving birth in Haiti camp – Aid worker’s diary

Guest Blog from Haiti Fiona Perry works as a health advisor for World Vision On hearing the rain in the morning, I hoped it was someone showering in the next room, but Port-au-Prince had been soaked through. Whenever I do assessments in my line of work I always say it’s important to use all your senses – eyes, ears and smell especially. So I lay in bed visualising what the temporary camps would be like this morning. Not only do have families need to put up with the cramped conditions of living in a tiny 6ft by 6ft square space, covered with sheets, blankets or sometimes some plastic sheeting held up by makeshift poles, they now have to battle the rain. Health needs I have been in Haiti for a month, helping to address the health, hygiene and nutrition needs of people affected by the January earthquake. World Vision is working in eight camps in the capital, all filled with thousands of people whose homes were destroyed and who have nowhere else to go. A few days ago, I had an experience that helped me to remember why I am here. On a camp visit, I walked through the labyrinth of narrow pathways around a piece of land perhaps the size of a tennis court, which is home to around 200 families. Here, World Vision has provided people with heavy-duty plastic sheeting, mosquito nets and cooking sets. It was good to see that each house had a plastic sheet and most have made every effort to make their hut a home. An entrepreneur had established a kiosk selling fruit, condensed milk, sugar and spices. A few of the children were having their afternoon wash. Birth I was called over to a hut where a woman was lying on a plastic sheet on the ground, having given birth to a baby boy only minutes before. New to the camp, she had very little in her home made from four sticks and some bed sheets. A nurse who happened to be in the camp had helped to deliver the baby but had run out of equipment. She needed some more gloves and was out of plastic sheets. There was no sign of any of the comforts that we in the West take for granted – a soft mattress, a pillow, some soothing background music or someone to hold your hand. This mother was enduring a complicated birth. Delivery pack The week before, I had been at the same camp distributing clean delivery packs to pregnant mothers, so I asked the camp leader to get a pack from one of the mothers. Rather than demonstrating, as I usually do, I took out the clean gloves, plastic sheet and piece of material from the emergency kit and helped the nurse with the mother’s prolapsed uterus. We both agreed she needed to go to hospital. Her new baby was wrapped in a towel and we helped her to walk to the car. At the busy city hospital, a doctor examined her before telling us he had nowhere to live. I am constantly shocked at how everyone has been affected by this disaster. When I went home that evening and felt tempted to complain about the lack of electricity, or that I have to eat the same food every day (rice and beans mostly), that there is no light in the bathroom or that I have to have a cold shower every morning, I stopped myself. One day with those affected by the earthquake and my struggles seemed very small indeed.

Hugh Jackman speaks out for the people of Haiti

Hugh Jackman, actor and World Vision ambassador, speaks out for the people of Haiti, whose lives have been devastated by the earthquake which struck on Jan 12th 2010.

Beyond Haiti's headlines

Guest Blog by World Vision aid worker in Haiti Anna Ridout While headlines report violence and looting in Haiti’s capital and observers speak of chaos and desperation on the streets, I’m seeing another side to Port-au-Prince often lost in disaster reporting. Young boys scramble and leap over rubble chasing their ingenious kites made of flimsy plastic bags. A dozen teenagers sing their hearts out at a spontaneous open-air church service overlooking the devastated city. Small businesses – barbers, corner shops, bars – have already sprung up in many of the haphazard settlements of tents and makeshift shelters. Children dance, sing and laugh in one of World Vision’s safe play areas. Only three weeks after the earthquake caused catastrophe here, people are already finding ways to rebuild their lives, often with a smile. Calm While there have been moments when fighting has broken out at distributions and security remains a key issue for the population as well as aid agencies, these are notable incidents rather than a sign of widespread unrest. When World Vision and other agencies launched a city-wide distribution of rice, with the World Food Programme, designed to reach close to two million people in just two weeks, many feared chaos. Today our team was in the notoriously volatile district of Cite Soleil. We intentionally started the distribution a few days later there to give us additional time to talk to those who have influence in the community, such as leaders and local groups. This meant we were able to reach 8,500 people today in the most dangerous part of town with calm and cooperation. Gesture Incredibly poor, Cite Soleil was already a huge densely-populated neighbourhood of iron roofs and inadequate services. My non-existent Creole means I’m often communicating with people in gesture or expression. As the empty food trucks left the site, a young girl with confident inquisitive eyes looked at me and smiled. I scrunched up my nose and she did the same. She tried to speak to me and I shrugged my shoulders; she laughed. It’s staggering how such a spirit of tenacity can exist alongside devastation and poverty. Sharing At all the food distributions this week the most vulnerable have been first in line. A blind man and his daughter, an elderly woman with her arm in a sling, a pregnant woman with a month to go, all left with 25-kilogramme sacks, assisted by World Vision volunteers, without hassle. Elderly women tell me how the only way they are eating is because neighbours, friends, strangers are sharing food and water with them. Such generosity was echoed by a woman I met in a lively crowded camp, who has lost both her home and job. “When we get help here, we never fight,” she said.“We are friends and we share our things and support each other.” A nine-year-old girl who lost both her parents in the quake tells me of a friend who has taken her in. Families who have been left with nothing are surviving by sharing. Continued support The generosity of the public all over the world in response to this disaster has been incredible. Today that money is helping provide families with food, healthcare, water and shelter – immediate life-saving relief that is still needed for the millions of people affected. As we look to the long-term rebuilding of Haiti, the continued support of the international community will be vital. World Vision will continue working here beyond the emergency phase to help people find secure jobs, reliable incomes and strong community networks. As local artists start once more to line the streets with bright bold paintings, and potters display mosaic plant pots in amongst the debris, artists and businesspeople alike need help to enable their businesses grow and families flourish. The evidence on the ground here in Haiti proves there is the resiliency and determination to make it happen.

Good Intentions not good enough for Haiti's children

Guest Blog by Anna Ridout, Emergency Communications Officer for World Vision in Haiti This evening I walk up a steep hill covered in makeshift huts made of floral pattern sheets hiked up on anything that will hold them. I speak to a mother who is living in a fragile shelter perched on precarious rubble. “We are worried about people who come to pick up our children,” she said, “it has happened here.” Missing Child At crossroads next to a flattened school, a man waited patiently behind the roped area as World Vision gave families rice this morning. Since the earthquake struck Haiti three weeks ago, he hasn’t seen his seven-year-old daughter. He shows me Jaymmiqua’s birth certificate and explains he has done everything he can think of to find her. “I tried to look for her but I couldn’t find any information,” he said. “The neighbours said they don’t know where she is. The way the house is broken there’s no way to check inside. It’s like my soul has disappeared with my daughter.” Afraid This afternoon I talked to children who had found a safe and fun place to play at World Vision’s children’s play area. I met a nine-year-old girl whose Mum was killed instantly in the quake, while her father, severely injured, was flown to Santo Domingo for urgent medical treatment. “I’m afraid of another earthquake,” she said. “I’m afraid to be alone. I’m afraid of people who may come to do bad things to me.” Dust A 12-year-old boy lives on a roundabout in what used to be the smart part of town. Since his Mum died, he is living with his Aunt and two cousins. He told me what happened on the day of the quake. “I was on the street near my house and I felt a shake and I saw lots of dust,” he said. “I just stood there. If I was supposed to run, I don’t know where I was supposed to go. “My Mum was at the open market and when she tried to come back home, some blocks fell on her and killed her. People found her and I saw her. I felt shaken because I lost my mother. “My father has been living in Santo Domingo before the earthquake. I don’t know anything about him. I have a brother and sister but we are not together,” he said. Alone and Vulnerable When the earth split and plunged Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas into chaos, it did not just destroy lives, businesses and buildings. The earthquake split families apart and left many children alone and vulnerable. Just as the recovery following such a catastrophic disaster will take a long time, it will take weeks and months for children to be reunited with their parents and for parents to find their children. As just one day in this densely-populated city proves, the problem is complex. And as with most complex issues, there is no quick-fix solution. At risk As this week has shown, children separated from their families are at risk of abuse and exploitation, trafficking or losing their identities permanently if they are not rapidly registered for family tracing and reunification. World Vision has called on a halt to all new international adoptions, while working hard to protect and identify children in Haiti and over the long-term will help strengthen community networks and support systems. Taking children out of the country in the midst of chaos will permanently separate thousands of children from their families – a separation that could compound the acute trauma they are already suffering and inflict long-term damage on their chances of recovery. As I and the woman agreed as we stood next to her temporary shelter over-looking the destruction of the quake, let’s not let the genuine desire to help those in need become an excuse for short cuts or easy answers.

Returning home from Haiti

Guest blog by World Vision aid worker James Addis I’m writing this from a little eight-seater plane that has just flown out of Port-au-Prince airport. I think the pilot said the plane was a Chieftain but it was difficult to hear him above the whirr of the engines. Other communicators will be coming take my place. It’s an odd feeling. I’ve spent the last few days looking forward to returning to the comforts of home. Now they are actually in sight, I feel slightly deflated. One feels a whiff of nostalgia for working long hours in difficult conditions, rubbing shoulders with people who have lost everything including those dearest to them and possibly are now missing a limb; and yet are prepared to soldier on regardless. Real life It’s odd how we spend most of our lives seeking some kind of security and comfort—financial security, a decent retirement, a comfortable home to live in with conveniences like dishwashers and microwave ovens; an air-conditioned office with every kind of phone and internet connection, and things to entertain like Wii players, and ipods, and big, flat-screen televisions. But the real living, I imagine, is done when everything is haphazard, unreliable, uncomfortable, and dangerous. Comfort zone Out of your comfort zone you are forced to rely on every scrap of ingenuity, resourcefulness, and courage that you can scrape together. And there’s a certain kind of joy in discovering you have those things when you did not know you had them. And when they are exhausted you are forced to lean on God and simply ask that he take care of things. There’s a sense of release and peace in that. Free Food I think Gilbert Bailly will be feeling some of these emotions. He is my favorite person in Haiti right now. His three Muncheez pizza restaurants miraculously remained intact during the quake. But he realized he had not a chance of running a business in the current chaos. Nobody has money to eat out, and there’s no fuel or power to run his restaurants normally. Did he retire to a corner and sulk? Did he shoot himself? Did he anticipate financial ruin? Actually, no. He calmly reopens one of his restaurants and uses it as a base to provide cooked meals and distribute donated food for free to people who desperately need it and can’t afford to pay. Right now much of this food is coming from World Vision. Other donors are providing the fuel he needs to keep the place running. Staff volunteering His formerly paid-staff have become volunteers. They know there is no money in this. I’m sure their satisfaction comes from seeing the hundreds of hungry come through the door to get free food. Each day, Gilbert’s sstaff distribute about 1,000 plastic bracelets in a needy part of the city. They vary the location to spread the goodwill around. Late in the afternoon, the restaurant opens its doors and those who turn up wearing a bracelet are allowed admission. I’m thinkin many years from now, when Gilbert reflects on his life and what he has accomplished in business and elsewhere, he will probably remember this as one of the toughest times and a commercial failure. I think he will also remember it as his finest hour.

Homeless in Haiti

People in Haiti who lost their homes in the earthquake are now living in temporary camps all over Port au Prince. They desperately need food, water, shelter and medical care.

Haiti: The Aftershock

Guest Blog by World Vision aid worker James Addis in Haiti Well, a heart-stopping moment this morning when a powerful after-shock, just after 6a.m. had me making a hasty exit out of my hotel. I was soon joined by the rest of the World Vision, staff, mostly in pyjamas. Once we had recovered our breath, the conversation quickly turned to how many more fragile buildings might have been brought down. More injuries The whole thing maybe lasted six or seven seconds. I’m writing at 6.30 a.m. and my heart is still pumping quite hard. It’s certainly the biggest quake I’ve ever been in, but I imagine peanuts for others. You can’t help feeling the people of Port-au-Prince could use a break. Yesterday, I spoke to a man at one of the city’s hospitals, where World Vision was delivering medical supplies. He was holding his bandaged up son, but had actually come to visit his daughter, who was lying on a stretcher, wrapped in multiple bloodied bandages. She had been trapped in a church building for two days before being rescued. Call of Nature But it was the father, Rosmond’s story that struck me on this occasion. He and his wife and 8-year-old son had been living on the street since the quake, sleeping on plastic sheets. He had been using the cash he had on him to buy food and water. That morning, his money had run out. It was about 3 p.m. and he and his family had not eaten all day. In one sense though, he was remarkably lucky. His home is built on a hillside and he was the only one at home when the quake struck. His wife was at work and his son at a neighbor’s house. Seconds before the quake hit he had gone to the outhouse to relieve himself. It will probably be the most fortuitous call of nature of his life. He had just stepped outside again, when the quake hit. Three houses slid down the hillside and crashed into and demolished his home. Rosmond and the outhouse remained standing.

In Haiti; Home Tugs

Guest Blog by World Vision aid worker James Addis in Haiti The last time I was deployed to a humanitarian emergency, I had no wife and no children. This time I have a wonderful wife, Sharon, a daughter, Nicole, 3, and a young son, Michael, 6 months. In previous emergencies, I never got homesick. Now the tug of home hits more powerfully than ever. I keep needing to pull myself together: For goodness sake, man, you have only been here a few days. It’s not only missing the family, of course. The heat, the smell of sickness and despair, the tragic stories that one hears, it all makes one long for peace and tranquility, familiar faces, the comforts of home—a strong cup of coffee, taken at leisure and not in a mad rush. Aid Distribution Yesterday, I attended our first distributions of relief aid to the homeless—biscuits, health kits, clothes, and bottled water. I chatted to people waiting patiently in the lines. They all have a story. One woman was trapped for days, hugging her infant son. She says she spent most of the time praying. Another woman, Gina Jean, was pulled from the rubble almost immediately. Bewildered, she ended up sitting in a street full of screaming people. When she eventually composed herself, and was able to thank God that she was still alive and that her children had also got out. Then she was struck by a fresh fear: what about her husband at work? Family He has not been seen since the events of Tuesday. Gina has since checked the local hospitals, without success. If things were not bad enough, she now lives on a patch of ground with her two children. One of them is only 4 months old. The other is 10. A few strung-up bed sheets and a washing line hung with clothes are their protection from the sun. These things amount to home at the moment. “It is shameful for my children to have to live like this,” she says. Soon I expect I will be able to go home and be reunited with my family. One can only guess what the future holds for Gina.

Haiti Earthquake; "This is the most shocking I have ever seen."

Guest Blog by World Vision worker James Addis in Haiti written on Jan 16th 2009 I’ve been deployed to many humanitarian emergencies. For me, this is the most shocking I have ever seen. I will never forget the corpses piled outside the city morgue. Travelling back to a modest hotel at 2am last night we drove past hundreds, maybe thousands, who would have no shelter that night and perhaps not for many nights to come. People everywhere Some slept under vehicles. Some on sidewalks. Some dangerously on the road. Some had set up chairs in the middle of the street and remained talking into the early hours. Vehicles were parked haphazardly. We had to ask bystanders for one to be moved. Our driver got out and helped push it. People were good natured about it all. So far I have not seen a hint of the violence that some have predicted may erupt if conditions do not improve. On the contrary, for now, a spirit of cooperation seems to prevail. At the hospital on my first day, where World Vision was distributing medical supplies, the hospital manager spoke enthusiastically of the volunteers who had come to help out. Everything takes an age It took ages to reach the hotel. We lost our way several times in the narrow streets, many blocked by large bits of rubble. The good news is World Vision’s flights bringing emergency supplies have started to land. We are expecting several in the next few days. The next challenge will be to distribute it. Everything takes an age. It’s hard to find trucks and gasoline. The simplest things—getting a driver, finding an internet connection, finding a place to stay at night require a lot of effort and planning. It’s tiring work. But one only has to walk the streets for a few seconds. Take in the smells emanating from the makeshift camps to realize that ones own position is a thousand times better than that of those all around you.

Earthquake devastates Haiti

You have probably already seen the pictures of the devastating effect the recent 7.0 magnitude earthquake had on the people of Haiti. Tens of thousands have already died and many more are sick and injured. Many have been left with nothing, as their homes, their possessions and their access to clean water have been all destroyed. Emergency Response You probably know World Vision through our child sponsorship programmes, but what you may not know is that we are also one of the world’s largest emergency aid organisations. World Vision has been active in Haiti for over 30 years and had 370 staff already working in the country before the earthquake. Since the earthquake struck on Tuesday though, additional staff and supplies have been flown in toprovide much needed expertise and assist with immediate needs such as search & rescue, food, water & shelter and medical care & supplies. James Addis: Guest Blogger in Haiti For the next while, this blog will be updated by James Addis a World Vision aid worker who is now in Haiti to help with the relief effort. World Vision Ireland is also running an appeal to help the survivors of the quake. If you would like to donate, go to www.worldvision.ie or tel +353 1 498 0800