‘Menanpil, chay pa lou’
Many hands make the load lighter
Haitian proverb
Arrival
On November 16th, 2012, a small party of 14 Haven volunteers arrived in Christianville in Leogane, Haiti to prepare for ‘Build it Week’ November, 2012.
The journey from Port-au-Prince airport took two hours. Some of the roads are nothing more than tracks in the dirt and the people drive helter-skelter… it was a white knuckle trip … zipping in and out of traffic … traffic lights did not need to be adhered to … experienced some choreographed manoeuvres en route. The look on peoples’ faces as they sat on the roadside was one of exhausted bewilderment. However, after a gruelling journey via New York, we arrived safely, tired but in great spirits on to our fenced compound. Though still pretty awful, there is evidence of some small improvement since my last visit. While much of the debris from the earthquake 2010 has been cleared, yet, thousands of tents and vast slums are to be seen everywhere. In the suburb of Carrefour, a short distance from the capital, Port-au-Prince, up to one million people live in absolute squalor.
Families continue to live in huts surrounded by muck and garbage-strewn rivers. Animals and children wander across heaps of trash in search of food. Dreadful scenes…..no waste management or refuse collections!!!!
Christianville Campsite
Security, especially for foreign volunteers, is very high in Haiti. The campsite was surrounded by 10 foot-high walls with coiled barbed wire on top. The complex had 24 hour security by guards armed with shotguns. The campsite was for one purpose – a secure site for the volunteers to sleep and to eat when not on the building site.
We lived in a state of overload for those first 10 days as we prepared the kitchen, dining area, temporary toilets and showers and provided tent accommodation for 700 volunteers. The campsite had an array of tents whose sizes ranged from 2 persons to 85 with cots and a gravel base. The heat was debilitating – reached 45 degrees – and working in the tents was like spending time in a sauna. It was a striking and humbling lesson. We worked as a team and gave each other moral support. The various tasks called for personal initiative and you were your own resource … if something didn’t work you simply tried something else. When in the most difficult circumstances the human spirit irresistibly asserts itself.
Anticipation
We had no food for the first 48 hours. However, the local mission house supplied us with a welcome ‘stew’ on Sunday evening and no one questioned the ingredients!!! Hunger, indeed, is after all a great sauce. The sound of a siren in the early hours of Tuesday morning meant the arrival of four huge trucks from the Dominican Republic carrying all food supplies required for the two weeks. This meant that 700 people were now guaranteed 3 meals a day. In a third world country food and shelter are the essentials and all else, to some degree, is luxury. As the days progressed the local Haitians – interviewed in advance by Haven personnel – helped with the work. This project provided several men and women with employment and a wage which is so sought after in Haiti. Such a chance encounter with strangers whose gentleness, appreciation and free spirit was an experience to behold. Yet, they radiated a tough spirit of survival and resilience – anything I considered to be mine, they considered to be theirs ….. even the bottle of water! Really the greatest wealth is contentment with little.
Sense Of Community
For that first 10 days I was running on pure, self-generated adrenalin which is ok for a short while but not sustainable as the mind and body suffer fatigue. While the mind may be driven the body will only put up with so much. But I realized that you can’t go through a difficult time without getting something out of it. Because we couldn’t leave the campsite we simply welcomed the joy of curfew. We – all 14 – sat around every night for a few hours in the peaceful darkness and talked, listened, shared, laughed, prayed, always mindful of the other person. What a sense of community. Alas! It wasn’t to last as Saturday brought to the campsite 680 volunteers from all over the world including 90 from Ireland for the Build it Week. This was the most colourful scene I’ve ever experienced. The colour of the T-shirt distinguished nationalities i.e. Irish wearing red, Americans blue, Canadians orange, Chinese and others white. Future home owners wearing green. All volunteers were sporting an Armband carrying their personal details.
Habitat For Humanity & President Carter Work Project
Habitat for Humanity is an international, non-governmental, non-profit Christian organization devoted to building simple, decent and affordable housing. The mission statement for Habitat for Humanity is “Seeking to put God’s love into action” … brings people together to build homes, communities and hope. In 1984, the former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, led a group of volunteers to New York City to help renovate a six story building with 19 families in need of affordable shelter. Since then the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project has become an annual event, bringing the Carters and volunteers from all over the world together to build homes and raise awareness of the critical need for affordable housing.
This year marked the second in Haiti and along with volunteers from Haven – 300 in 2011 and 90 in 2012 – will have helped build 255 permanent houses in the Santo community of Leogane which was the epicentre of the 2010 devastating earthquake that left much of this community in ruins. Similar to last year, Haven managed all logistics, including catering, accommodation, transport throughout the week and working on the building site.
Opening Ceremony
Following the evening meal, in three staggered shifts until all were fed, volunteers gathered in the recreational area in the open air to listen to different speakers. The highlight of the evening was a speech by the former US President Jimmy Carter. He is still hugely active on charity and humanitarian issues. Raising awareness of the ongoing efforts to rebuild lives and provide safer and decent homes is one of his priorities. Each year the Carter family volunteer for a week with Habitat building homes and hope all over the world and providing inspiration to millions of people who share Habitat’s vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to live.
It has been an amazing feat and even more impressive given the fact that the Carters are both in their late eighties, are right there with the volunteers on the ground, working for a full week in very challenging circumstances. I suppose the harder the fight the sweeter the victory.
Sunday Morning And Returning To The Santo Building Site
On the dot at 5.30 am music started to blare out of the PA system. It was actually the Beatles Lyric ‘Good Morning’. Breakfast was at 6.00 am and before we headed off to work all volunteers were invited to attend Sunday School in the Canteen. Again Jimmy Carter spoke for 45 minutes on St. Paul without a note in hand. The first day at work was shorter than normal as we did not start till 10.30 am and finished at 3.30 pm. With a 45 minute bus trip each way it was still a pretty long day.
Santo Site
Santo site was a former sugar cane field of approximately 15 acres. As the volunteers arrived in Santo on the morning of November 25th we were welcomed by the Haitians – they sang and danced. Some had already received new homes from last year’s Build it Week and were there to show their appreciation. Others were still awaiting a home and were exuberant in their anticipation of finally having a safe, decent place to live and bring up a family. Volunteers were grouped into teams of 8 or 10 persons and each team was assigned to build two houses in six days.
Houses 602 and 603 were to become my base for the next number of days. There were six Americans and two Irish on my team. Not a great gender balance – three men and five women. We worked very well as a team and our day began with a group prayer every morning for safety during the day.
On day two all teams were to meet the future home owners – chosen by Habitat and based on greatest need – and they remained with us for the week. Anything you asked them to do, they would get out there and give it their all. They seemed surprised at times as the work was progressing at such speed. They simply stood, watched and smiled.
The houses are strong, hurricane and earthquake proof and are built using quality materials. Though small one – two rooms and a porch – to the Haitians it’s like a five star hotel.
Houses have no running water but groups of about 12 families each share a single well and pump. All the families have latrines outside at the back of the house.
Many of the Haitians are unskilled. By providing hands on experience with future home owners we gave them the unique chance to learn exactly what it takes to build a house. We helped to empower and challenge local community members to use what they have learned to help others. The work was arduous, very physical, temperatures in the mid 40’s but all were willing and hard working. I spent all afternoon on Monday fixing things called hurricane clips – strong metal bars – each requiring eight nails and the holes in the bars are deliberately smaller than the nails. This means that you have to hit them very hard and the problem with that for the amateur like me is that when you miss the nail, as I frequently did you also hit the finger holding the nail very hard!
Fingers were bruised, bloodied and blistered (first trip to the medical tent). I hope I never see another hurricane clip. I managed to avoid any major catastrophes for the remainder of the week which I spent basically with a drill in my hand fitting cement plating to the houses. Against that I bought myself a ‘Black & Decker’ for Christmas and what’s more I have used it!
We came back to camp every evening at 5.00 pm pretty wrecked with blisters in various parts of the anatomy and lined up for cold showers. It’s amazing how a trickle of cold water feels like heaven after a day out in the heat. There was a great sense of camaraderie among all the volunteers and nobody really cared about the lack of comforts once all were safe, fed and in good health. One evening as we queued for showers we were treated to the antics of a tarantula on a light bulb. Following a few screams from the audience it continued to entertain us.
Surprise, Surprise
On Thursday night country music stars Garth Brooks and his wife Trisha Yearwood gave a concert to the volunteers. Garth told through music the story of his whole musical development from being a five year old listening to songs by Merle Haggard on his Dad’s radio, all of which seemed to be about being in prison. He was absolutely brilliant, related well with the audience, particularly about his recent induction into the music Hall of Fame, but the real highlight of the night was when Trisha joined him on stage for a few great songs. And the reaction when he sang a song about Ireland – the Irish were on their feet and the volume increased by a thousand percent. In addition to providing entertainment, he worked on the building site, queued for lunch and served the food at the campsite. He is a genuine supporter of Habitat and gives of his time on a regular basis.
New Community In Santo
For me one of the highlights of this project was the first sight of what last year was a building site and is now a flourishing community. 155 Families moved to their new homes early February 2012 and are so proud of their new houses. The safety and security of a house has given them renewed confidence in themselves and in their community. Some are saving money to start their own small business in downtown Leogane, so they can provide a brighter future for their children.
Many families have transformed the small plot of land surrounding their house into a garden brimming with flowers, beans, corn and several fruit trees.
They eat all the food they need and share with each other. At least we saw the practical results of our work. Seeing children playing, kicking football and having fun brought tears to my eyes.
One woman, Tenten, struggled to find words to express what a difference the house has made to her family. ‘Here I feel safe’ she said ‘it’s never too hot or too cold and I’m not afraid of animals coming into the house and biting me.’ In the tent where her family lived for more than two years, spiders and snakes were frequent, uninvited guests. All of this made me really reflect on the blessings we have in Ireland in every respect. Santo stands as a beacon of hope, a sign of what’s possible when people of goodwill keep investing generously and wisely in humankind.
Final Day
The pressure was on to get houses finished. We did well and all hands were on deck to achieve our aim. It was in essence painting day. While paint was available as each house had its own paint supplied, however, there was a shortage of paint brushes so ‘begging & borrowing’ from the neighbours was the order of the morning. True to form, the response was more than generous and both houses enjoyed two coats of paint. We were indeed very proud of our week’s work. Shortly before finishing we had our photo taken with the Carters in front of the house. This was a lovely moment for all. They spoke to each team for a few minutes and expressed their appreciation and stressed the importance of volunteerism ‘… doing more than you have to because you want to, in a cause you consider good …’
Dedication Ceremony
Before we left the site for the last time we probably had the most emotional part of the week when each team handed over the keys of the houses to the new owners. In addition, all families received a signed copy of the Bible from the Carters. This was a celebration of ‘dignity’ you can’t kill the human spirit. With the help of an interpreter owners spoke most eloquently about what having a house will do for their families.
All in all, 100 dedication ceremonies filled with tears, gifts, photos, hugs. 100 beautiful new houses for families left homeless by the 2010 earthquake. It was a fitting way to finish the week and while there was a strong sense of sadness as we boarded the buses we were aware of the links forged, the work accomplished and a conviction that the wick of self-respect will continue to burn in the beautiful community of Santo in the town of Leogane.
Return Trip To The Airport
The journey to the airport was a sobering experience. Saturday is market day in Port- au-Prince and it personified ‘chaos.’ Tens of thousands of people were milling around makeshift stalls. The traffic was dreadful, drivers getting their trucks, buses etc. into whatever gap they could find on the road regardless of others. At one point we were stopped for most of an hour and even though we had given ourselves 5 hours to travel less than 50km there were times when I wondered if we would actually make it. The shocking sights on route were beyond description. In the words of St. Augustine ‘I shut my eyes in order to see’ – all a reminder that we were in the poorest country in the world.
Conclusion
Finally, my heart goes out to the people of Haiti. Even in Ireland we have people in need of a helping hand, but we have community shelters i.e. Simon Community, Focus Ireland, SVD, etc. we have some semblance of support. In Haiti, all of that is non-existent, except for outside agencies and missionaries who are providing what support they can.
Even though 3 years have passed – 3rd anniversary mid-January 2013 – since the 2010 earthquake, there remains a dire need for adequate shelter in Haiti for many who were displaced from their homes and more recently by Hurricane Sandy as a cholera epidemic grips Haiti again. There is much work still to be done in rebuilding Haiti and it will take time, money and a lot of good will to accomplish.
Let’s hope they will not become a forgotten nation.
Bernadette Costello rsm
Southern Province
