Haiti's Long Road to Recovery

INTERVIEW / Rubem César Fernandes

Exactly 12 months after the tremors that shook Haiti and left its capital Port-au-Prince in rubbles, killing more than 200,000 and displacing more than a million, little has changed. At least that's how it may seem. According to Rubem César Fernandes, the executive director of Viva Rio, and NGO that has worked in Haiti since 2004, much has been done since then. Even if the work has not always been visible, "it makes an impact and contributes at least a little the lives of the people, even if it hasn't been in reconstruction," he says.

After the January 12 earthquake, Kay Nou, Viva Rio's headquarters in Haiti, was transformed into a first aid station that attended to more than 400 families, distributing water and constructing latrines. In addition to the estimated 8,000 people attended to at Kay Nou, which means "our home" in Criole, Viva Rio lent assistance to around 70 temporary shelter camps. For Fernandes, the past year can be divided into two periods: the first, immediately following the earthquake that was marked by fear and horror of all that was ruined. "In this period there was a very strong and impressive reaction. A mobilization of solidarity, of confronting problems together," recalls Fernandes.

The second moment is what Fernandes calls the management phase of the large reconstruction projects that took place after the mobilization and donation of US$11 billion from the international community. "We entered into a phase in which it may look like nothing was happening because the projects are still being planned and negotiated. So, the reconstruction phase—which is a great challenge—in practice has not begun," he says. A hurricane, a cholera epidemic, and a presidential election later, Fernandes discusses what has been done and what remains to be done for Haiti to recover.

How is Port-au-Prince a year after the earthquake?
We can divide the year into two periods. The first, immediately after the earthquake, was fraught with fear. People were afraid that everything was going to collapse, and couldn't sleep under roofs, they—including us at Viva Rio—preferred to sleep in the street, in improvised shacks, on concrete.

During this time there was a strong, impressive reaction: a worldwide mobilization, a climate of solidarity, of confronting immediate problems. This first period impressed me, it showed the international community's capacity to respond to emergencies—like a team of firefighters. This exists in Haiti, and it shows an impressive strength of presence.

And the second period?
We've now entered a phase in which it looks like nothing is happening. It's striking. The reconstruction projects are still being drafted and negotiated. So the reconstruction in practice has not started yet. Emergency aid is still there, all the time. Reconstruction—which is the great challenge—is a slow process, and it is still being defined at the moment.

And did the cholera epidemic worsen the situation?
There were two more serious complications tacked on to an already painful situation. Hurricane Thomas was one. The first of the complications was the cholera epidemic, which struck the poorest communities. Cholera is spread through contaminated water, and affects the camps and most vulnerable neighborhoods.

And the second complication?
The second was the elections. The confusion of the elections also represents a loss, as the previous elections went well, the people legitimately elected a government, even with complications. It was a government recognized by the majority of the population.

Now there is a pervading doubt that there was fraud—everyone there thinks it's the case—and voter participation was low. Even President René Préval employed a scheme that would give his candidate, who was in second place, a condition so he could dispute in a second round.

When the OAS criticized the electoral process, it should have included a paragraph of self-criticism because it too was involved, not just in organizing and monitoring elections, but also in producing the ballots. This was one of the problems—there weren't enough ballots for the voters. Many people who wanted to vote arrived at the polls and left indignant because they couldn't.

Is there still a lot of debris in the streets?
Yes. A lot.According to Le Figaro, 800,000 are in displacement camps, and that is optimistically low. It was estimated that 1.5 million people were in the streets. That would mean that nearly half have gotten off the street. Some alternatives are being created, but they only address a small volume of the problem. Most people leave the camp because they can't take it any more—the camps are in poor shape, muddy, chaotic and crowded. Many prefer to return to where they lived before the earthquake, trying to rebuild their homes.

What has the Haitian government done during this period?
The government works at many levels. There are many complaints against the government, as well as toward the United Nations. President René Préval is an old school politician. He's not an executive, leader, decision maker, who, at the end of the day is content with what he has decided and what is going to result from those decisions. His work is in negotiating agreements between the various outside forces in Haiti. He's not a politician noted for leadership or making decisions.

Even in a situation like this?
Even in a situation like this. The first thing he said following the earthquake, when he was asked "what now?" was" "I lost my house, too." It's true, the Presidential Palace was ruined as was his personal home. But there was a lot of frustration among the international community, in the world of leaders, who want to get things done, to find in him a slow decision-maker.

And at other levels of government?
The government is very large and there are many different sectors. Some were active. There is one entity charged with taking care of water and sanitation, DINEPA, that was very strong. DINEPA had clear leadership, and became a reference during this period. But, in general, the government broke down, buildings collapsed, ministries were in ruins, people died. The government's capacity, which wasn't very strong to begin with, became weaker.

And how was the international NGO response in Haiti?
There are good NGOs and bad NGOs. Some do a good job and others do terrible work. There are those who do respectable work and others who do horrible work. Many projects are not just NGO projects, they're conceived by the UN, together with the government, and are given to an organization to execute, like outsourcing. There are some absurd projects, like camps resembling Rio de Janeiro's Cidade de Deus in 1960. They're far, there's no water, transportation, work, and it's hot and far and remote. The idea of uprooting people from one place to another and putting them in identical houses is inhumane. We know better than this.

Have the donations from the international community been received?
No. One of the main concerns about international aid is corruption. So the agencies overseeing Haiti's reconstruction decided that any approved project would have to receive technical support from one of the following three agencies: the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), or the United Nations Development Programme. The money is there, the proposals exist, but in order for them to be executed, they must go through one of these agencies, which needs to evaluate the projects on technical viability and environmental impact, which can take a long time.

So the agencies work on a different timetable than what the population needs?
The World Bank will have a strong presence in Haiti will be for the next 20 years. It's not thinking in terms of months. Their job is to think in terms of decades. There is a big discrepancy between the urgent need for reconstruction and the timelines of the institutions responsible for this reconstruction. There are a lot of groups like Viva Rio, who are working every day to make an impact and somehow contribute to making the situation more tolerable, but that doesn't focus on reconstruction.

In your opinion, what is the greatest challenge now?
The international community's challenge is not pointing fingers, but finding a way to reform the institutions responsible for reconstruction in a way that they can make their work felt more immediately. Twelve months later, trash is still in the streets, people are still living in camps, and many things have remained the same: there's no water, no latrines, so it looks like nothing has been done. There are many little things being done, but the big projects have not been done.

Translated by Danielle Renwick.