First, on behalf of all IRD staff, I'd like to offer a big thank you to everyone who participated in our Haiti Benefit and Raffle last week near headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. We had a great turnout - over 300 - and those who came seemed to enjoy themselves. And most importantly, we collected almost $40,000 in money for our Haiti programs.
At the benefit we first aired our thank you video to our donors. Take a look and let us know what you think.
Having recently returned from Haiti, I can tell you this video represents pretty much exactly what this money has been and will be going to: building latrines, sanitation training, and providing shelter and temporary employment. And as we've mentioned in previous posts, because of weather, limited resources and deteriorating conditions, everyone in the NGO community is still working against the clock in Haiti. So please keep the efforts in your thoughts.
Three Things to Know about Leogane and Why They Will Build Back Stronger than Ever Before
By Melissa Price, Communications Officer
Leogane was the closest town to the January 12 earthquake’s epicenter, and 90 percent of the city’s buildings and infrastructure were destroyed. Every one of Leogane’s 150,000 residents has been affected by this disaster.
IRD has chosen Leogane as its primary response site for relief and rebuilding activities, including shelter, sanitation, water, building reconstruction, and agriculture programs.
Given the magnitude of destruction, you might ask how the people of Leogane will survive and thrive in the years to come. Here’s a short list of things you should know about the people of Leogane. It’s just a peek into the enormous pride, strength, and resilience of these men and women.
1. Proud Royal Heritage At the time of Columbus's arrival in 1492, there were five Taino chiefdoms on the island of Hispaniola. Leogane was built on the site of the town of Yaguana, the capital of Xaragua province, which was ruled by Queen Anacaona. One of the highest Taino chiefs, Anacaona negotiated treaties with Christopher Columbus’ younger brother, Bartholomew Columbus, and the Spanish in 1496. However, the Spanish turned against the Taino people, and Anacaona was later arrested and hung at the age of 39. She is much revered in Haiti, recognized by many as a founder of their country. More recently, Leogane was also the birthplace of Marie-Claire Heureuse Felicite, the wife of the Haitian revolutionary Jean-Jacques Dessalines, and Simone Duvalier, a First Lady of Haiti.
2. Strong Agricultural Background In pre-Columbian times, the Tainos lived a mainly agrarian lifestyle. The people’s connection to the land continued through the Spanish rule of the island. During the 18th century, the French specifically encouraged the growth of sugar cane, tobacco, indigo, cotton, and cacao. With increased planting came increased importation of African slaves to work the land. The success of modern-day Leogane was born in the fields of sugar cane and banana trees, and it is the back-breaking work of those in the field that has carried Leogane through the centuries.
3. Resilient in the Face of Disaster Slave revolts in the late 18th century and early 19th century led to the Haitian Revolution. While most of the French colonists fled ahead of the defeated French army, Leogane remained as a French stronghold and was consequently burned to the ground in the early 1800s.
Prior to the Revolution, Leogane had been destroyed by an earthquake in 1770. With the near total destruction caused by the January 12, 2010 earthquake, Leogane and her people have suffered three devastating disasters in less than 250 years, all of which have nearly wiped them from the map. Yet, each time, they rise again—prouder, stronger, and more resilient than ever before.
Having arrived just last week, I'm still trying to see as much as possible in my short time here - so I've been visiting our projects more than I've been writing about them. And right now, our projects are in full swing, so there is a lot to see.
I'll have more on the shelter component in the next few days. But right now, here's a couple of video segments on our water and sanitation component. We've been doing latrine constructions in camps around Leogane thanks to grants from LDS and URJ (Union for Reform Judaism). And USAID has funded expanding those projects going forward.
The latrines are constructed by people living at the camps through our temporary employment program; the video shows two men from the camp finishing work on the base of a four latrine block. They're constructed according to Sphere standards - 10 feet deep, with ventilation piping. To guarantee gender protection at the camp there will be separate facilities for men and women.
Blocks like these will provide basic sanitation to 28,000 people living in camps in the greater Leogane area - the first access to sanitation of any kind for many of these people since the earthquake.
Check out the full video here. The project manager from LDS, Bertouni Theodore, provides the description of what you're going to see. And IRD's project officer, Rosalind, is the one giving the fabulous sanitation training. More on that soon.
Port-au-Prince, Haiti -- The IRD field team traveled to Leogane on Tuesday for an initial infrastructure assessment and our third shelter distribution. Joining us for the assessment were two engineers, who were able to share with us the structural reasons why homes and buildings were destroyed in the earthquake and how we can help the local citizens to rebuild stronger. As part of the assessment, we also conducted interviews with local residents in order to learn more about their needs and desires as they look to the future. We talked with them about their earthquake experiences, their current situations for food and shelter, and whether they plan to stay in Leogane. Here are a few of their stories:
A mother and daughter along Rue de la Croix let us know that they have been living next to their house since the earthquake. All four members of their family survived, but they have no shelter, no food, no money, and no services other than a few international doctors in town. They are relying completely on the international community for help. They would like to stay in town if there are plans to reconstruct and bring the city back.
The owner of a small sundries shop indicated he was also very interested in staying in the Leogane city center. He said that he’s just waiting to see what happens. He’s not sure what exactly he’s waiting on, but he’s just waiting.
Directly across from the sundries shop, a family of five lost their home and is now living down the street in the main city square. They all survived and would like to move back to their property if there are plans to rebuild the city. But they do not have the means to rebuild their home or their lives on their own. They need outside support.
At a major intersection in the city center, the local florist and two workers, both family, died in the earthquake. However, the local pharmacist survived, three workers at a law office survived, and all the children at the kindergarten survived unharmed. These businesses would all like to rebuild and reopen, but no one has heard any plans for reconstruction. According to the locals, IRD has been the first NGO to interview people about future plans.
While in Leogane, the team also had a chance to meet with Mayor Santos Alexis, who said his town is “leaning on IRD.” As Adam said in a previous post, Leogane has experienced 90 percent destruction and 100 percent of the population has been affected. IRD is working closely with the Mayor to determine priority sites for reconstruction, including homes, businesses, and historical community centers. Leogane has such a rich heritage, having been home to ancient royalty and modern revolutionaries, and IRD hopes to preserve the history of Leogane and its people.
Following Tuesday’s infrastructure assessment, the field team held its third shelter distribution for the people of Leogane. You can read a detailed description of shelter distributions in Adam’s last blog post. There are days and days of preparation that go into this three hour event—everything from acquiring the donated shelter materials and cutting the large rolls of plastic sheeting into family size pieces to identifying those beneficiaries who are in the most need and organizing the trucks and security to bring the materials to the individuals.
Tuesday’s distribution went very smoothly, despite a short delay in the beginning because of heavy traffic that held up our four truckloads of supplies. You can see a few photos of the distribution here, and below is a short video clip of some beneficiaries making their way through the line. You may notice that the beneficiaries are separated into small groups of men and women. This is part of the strategic planning in order to protect the women and ensure they are not harmed by any men who might get aggressive while waiting in line. We were able to provide emergency shelter materials to 1,000 families in Leogane on Tuesday. This makes a total of 2,000 families or 16,000 individuals that have received shelter from IRD. And we have plans to distribute materials for an additional 1,500 families in the coming weeks.
In addition to shelter and infrastructure needs, IRD is helping with sanitation needs in Leogane. You can read more about our sanitation program here.
At the benefit we first aired our thank you video to our donors. Take a look and let us know what you think.
