What Now? Haiti: Part 5

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4


So what next? What does Haiti really need?

To be clear, I would not wish what happened to Haiti on any country. However, in an odd way Haiti was probably better suited for the horror of an earthquake like this then most nations. Because political corruption has kept that nation in such poverty, most of the nation already got its water from hand pumped wells. The majority of people use small charcoal fires for their cooking.




What was really interesting was that more then one person I talked with didn't even realize that Haiti and the Dominican Republic share different sides of the same island. The difference between the two nations is startling, especially when you consider that both nations have much of the same natural resources and weather. The Dominican Republic does gets more rain, as it is situated on the weather side of the island. Haiti is on the lee side, with a 5000 foot mountain range dividing the island. Having driven through much of the two nations, I can tell you that the difference is striking.



Don’t get me wrong—the Dominican Republic is not a wealthy, first world nation, but it is so much more prosperous and stable when you compare to its close neighbor. The reality of the situation seems even worse once you realize that the poverty in Haiti is not based on lack of options. Many little island nations in the area have managed to turn their islands into tourist destinations. Unfortunately for Haiti, the corruption in their government has been so bad so many years that it has kept outside companies from wanting to invest. The poverty isn’t due to lack of revenue, either. The government has collected taxes for projects many times over, but the money mysteriously disappears before it can be spent for what it was collected for. I would not be surprised if unrest among the people grows and there is a major political upheaval in Haiti within the next 6 months. Unfortunately, even if that does happen, we can only expect more of the same. The new group will take power, and during the unrest many of the aid groups in the country will pull their people out for safety, never to return.




So, here’s the real question: Is there anything we can really do, or is it just a depressing nation? I think there is much that can be done.

Housing:

Once I came home I found that many groups were trying to get contracts from the US government to build houses in Haiti. In theory, it’s a fantastic idea. I had even had some thoughts about this myself. The main problem with this idea is that it’s a slow-moving process, and Haiti needs a solution now. There’s another problem with this method of helping: who gets the homes? As evidenced in the past, you can’t rely on the Haitian government to make a fair decision. The bit of government that is left will do all they can to direct any new homes to their friends and families. Even worse, they also know which homes belong to people that are now dead and are likely to claim those properties as their own in an effort to get more properties built for free. When you combine the corruption with the fact that any new homes built will not be able to be built quickly or cheaply, it becomes even worse. After all, the lawyers for the American firms will not allow the builders to build anything substandard to American standards out of fear After all, it’s not a stretch to imagine a situation where a lawyer will find a Haitian that had a brick fall on their foot and talk them into suing the “big rich American firm” for having given them a free home. As I mentioned, the other problem is the speed. Homes are needed now. Right now. Every day that goes by is one day closer to the rainy season. If the government gets involved, there is no way of having anything happen quickly. It should also be noted that there are many companies bidding and trying to get attention for their new disaster home. What I haven’t seen or heard anything about is repairing the 50% of the homes that only slightly damaged. While in Haiti I looked at a great many structures. I can tell you that there are a lot of damaged buildings that can be repaired quickly and cheaply. Unfortunately there is no real profit to be found in the repair work. That, coupled with the fact that there is a huge liability if it’s not done right means the quickest, easiest, and most straightforward way of getting people off the streets and back into homes isn’t even being looked at by American firms right now.



Think of what a simple solution building repair is: The Haitian people tend to live in and around family. In fact, it’s very often the case that entire blocks would be composed of extended family members. If only one or two homes on that block could be repaired, that would often mean that the all the people of that block would have a place to sleep because their family would take them in. Of the many homes that I inspected, many of them could be made safe in one day for under $200 by only a few men.


As for the other problem (the risk of being sued), the solution is simple: have the Haitians do the work and have small groups fund the material. Smaller groups would not make for a rich enough target for a lawyer to bother going after, and if the groups were only funding the materials then any work not done to American standards would be the legal responsibility of the Haitians who did the work.




Debris removal:

As I drove into Port Au Prince that first day, I remember staring at all the destruction. In my mind’s eye I could see the clean-up: Americans could ship in some heavy construction equipment and get the job done right…Big, yellow Caterpillars would line the streets, breaking down and removing the rubble.

Now? I really don’t think that’s the best idea. After all, you wouldn’t actually be able to get the construction equipment and personnel down here on their own dime. Instead, you’d have to find a couple of wealthy businessmen to fund the operation. While that might be a possibility, the problem with that scenario is that the operation would be run by Americans, funded by Americans, and it would be Americans earning the money and depositing it in their US bank accounts to spend back at home. One of the biggest problems that Haiti has is that there are so few jobs. If you look at it from the right perspective, this quake could actually be used to help jump start Haiti's economy.

Think about it: The least amount of money that it would cost a US firm to hire a US heavy equipment operator would probably be $400 a day. That’s the VERY least it would cost. The reality is that it would likely cost a great deal more. Not only would they have to hire the operators, they would also have to ship the equipment to Haiti AND maintain the equipment at high cost. There would be legal fees involved, and secretarial fees to handle the mountain of paperwork… by the time the job is completed, the amount of money needed to finance it would be a small fortune.

On the other hand, hiring a Haitian man to work costs around $5 a day. I’ve heard people say that they’ve read that the wage is $1 a day, but that’s really an average of what a Haitian earns ($5/day) combined with majority of people being unemployed ($0/day). Think about it: For the cost of what one American and his equipment would run you (likely $600 a day or more), you could hire 120 Haitian men that not only want but desperately need the work. The money those men make would go straight back into the Haitian economy. It would be used to feed their families and friends and make repairs to their own homes. The truth of the matter is that getting Haitians working would do more then anything else to help that nation. The crowds that are shown on the television are usually depicted as a hungry mob. In reality, it’s just crowds of men looking for work. It’s not that they’re lazy—during my time there, I saw Haitians bringing their crops into the area to sell… But how can their prices compete with the free food that an aid group might drop on the same corner? On the other hand, if that same aid group put out the word that they would pay $5 a day for men to come and break up the rubble of the homes that are too damaged to be repair, there would be men lined up around the block for the work. Not only would it be solving the hunger/unemployment problem, but it would also give the people some pride and dignity at helping to rebuild their own country instead of standing on the sideline, watching the Americans come and work.

Will I go back? I hope to. I would love to lead a group back and make use of the many contacts I was able to develop. If you have an interest or know a group that is wanting to go please contact me.

John
johnnorling@gmail.com