Scottish Catholic Observer

SCIAF’s new Latin American programme officer has said Haiti still desperately needs western help more than a year after the earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people there.

Mark Chadbourn (right) recently returned from his first trip to the small island nation—one of the focal points of SCIAF’s Lenten campaign—and said, although there are signs of hope, the situation there is still desperate.

“Even before the earthquake Haiti was the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere,” he said. “If you compare it to the recent earthquake in Japan that was much stronger but the impact was much less because they were much better prepared and better able to respond.”

Port-au-Prince

Due to Haiti’s poverty the impact was devastating in the island capital of Port-au-Prince.

“Early on I drove down to the presidential palace which was completely destroyed and there were all these stalls next to it with people getting on with their lives but behind them were these huge piles of rubble that still have all these bodies amongst them,” he told the SCO.

Despite these horrors he was impressed at how the country has responded to the disaster.

“Having seen all the TV coverage, I was expecting the whole country to still be in pieces but away from the capital the more rural areas were not directly affected by the earthquake, so in some ways life is much the same for the people there though of course they’ve been affected by all the disruption,” Mr Chadbourn said.

Even in the capital, there are early signs of recovery.

“There are many new buildings under construction, and damaged buildings being repaired,” he said. “There is a certain buzz about the city, people going about their day-to-day business, trucks clearing rubble, and new houses and buildings under construction.

SCIAF’s role

SCIAF’s work with it partners has been helping that recovery in many ways.

The agency’s work with Caritas Haiti was key to helping Haitians get emergency help like food and shelter in the immediate aftermath but their other partners, who they have been working with for decades, are trying to find long term solutions to help Haiti out of poverty.

“One of our partners ITECA (Institute of Technology and Animation) carried out a census of the affected families in their region,” Mr Chadbourn said. “They registered 1700 families who had lost their homes, or whose houses were severely damaged. With the help of SCIAF and other agencies, ITECA was able to provide tents and shelter to those families in the immediate aftermath. Now they have developed a programme to rebuild permanent, earthquake-resistant houses. They began working with 100 families, and hope to expand to include all 1700 affected families.”

Similarly SCIAF’s partner GADERE has been helping hard pressed Haitian farmers.

“I met a team of technicians who are helping to show rural families the benefits of Agroecology,” Mr Chadbourn said. “We visited farmers who are reversing the devastating effects of soil erosion, building living barriers on the hill slopes to retain water and prevent the soil, and its fertility, from being washed away. Despite their economic situation the farmers are now investing time and effort in planting trees. This is because they understand that in the long run, the trees will protect and benefit their land, which in turn will benefit their crops.”

Felix family

While in Haiti, Mr Chadbourn also met the Felix family who are at the heart of SCIAF’s Lenten campaign.

“They are very appreciative,” he said. “I brought them out some of the posters and they were amused and impressed. They are doing very well and are grateful for the help they’ve received.”

As for lessons that can be learned from the disaster in Haiti he is convinced of the importance of strong government.

“The government didn’t do enough to organise the relief effort,” he said. “Up to a point they left a lot of it to the NGOs but the aid would have been more effective if they’d been willing and able to organise it centrally. Hopefully with the election of a new government, which is due to be announced shortly that will improve.”

Despite all the problems Haiti faces, however, he still sees hope for the future.

“I met many committed and dedicated people, both Haitian and non-Haitian, who are working to improve things in a sustainable way,” he said. “But it all takes time. People who gave money might wonder why there are still such problems but if Glasgow was hit by a disaster on that scale it would take a decade to recover so why would Haiti be any different.

“Also we don’t want Haiti just to go back to how it was before the earthquake, the people there deserve a better future.”

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