Road Trip to Haiti – from Misery to Opportunity
Two weeks ago I traveled by road to Haiti from Santo Domingo, D.R., with Dominican and American colleagues. The purpose was to review local conditions, seek opportunities for establishing small and medium enterprises, and to collaborate with Haitian-American colleagues, Haitians, Dominicans and others to help rebuild the devastated infrastructure and livelihoods. Before traveling I met with people from the World Food Program and the UN High Commission for Refugees.
Map of Haiti
Our focus would be on Jacmel, on the southern coast, in collaboration with the Haitian-American investment group Société Immobilière de Agriculture, Commerce et Tourisme, Inc., (SImACT) . Our team identified priorities and made initial preparations for a workshop on investment and commerce to revive Southern Haiti. This is scheduled to take place in Jacmel in late June.
En route we visited tent camps near the border and encountered the diversity of conditions we would see throughout the trip. One camp dealing with post-operative care was well-equipped by Harvard University and USAID. Another, for displaced families, run by the American Refugee Committee and assisted by UNICEF, was more basic. A third was “do-it-yourself.”
I wanted to learn how people were faring. I was interested in how people were cooking their meals, and confirmed charcoal and wood had become more scarce and more expensive since the earthquake. I explained that one of our concerns was to promote better, clean cookstoves and ethanol fuel. The ARC camp supervisor was delighted and the woman below gave me permission to take this photo of her using a charcoal stove.
Woman cooking on a charcoal stove
We traveled to Port-au-Prince, Leogane and Jacmel. Many people remained in great distress; others at first sight appeared to be going about their daily lives. In some cases destroyed and intact buildings were side-by-side. One could see tents in front of houses and encampments in schoolyards, churchyards and public sites. There were still people with little shelter from sun and rain – sometimes a bedsheet attached to sticks.
Parts of Port-au-Prince were untouched; other parts were devastated. The image of the demolished Presidential palace has become known worldwide. Leogâne, with a population of about 150,000, suffered heavily. Much was destroyed. Jacmel had been cut off by mountain landslides. The route was reopened but still vulnerable in the coming rainy season.
Maternity Ward at Jacmel Hospital reduced to rubble
The charming port town of Jacmel, with a population of about 50,000, had been damaged. Its hospital had been destroyed. Sections of town had been flattened. But we could also see early possibilities for economic and social reconstruction. With the national policy focus on decentralization and the international attention coming to Haiti for rebuilding, we felt that Jacmel could be a center for recovery and improvement. Jacmel has been known as a site for Haitian tourism and the arts. Its historic district, much of which was slated for demolition after the earthquake, has been spared, at least for now.
There is great need to strengthen the infrastructure and services people need – from the hospital to the schools to the port. Then there is room for imagination and creativity. SImACT and PPAF confirmed their intent to organize the workshop on investment and commerce, with topics that could include infrastructure, renewable energy, ethanol cookstoves, housing, agriculture and agribusiness, social venture capital, health, historic district, tourism and arts and artisans. The outcomes of this workshop can help Haiti Build Back Better.
Historic building near port of Jacmel
David Stillman, PhD
Executive Director
Public-Private Alliance Foundation
