The Refugee Voice - Jesuit Refugee Service | USA

The Refugee Voice
Jesuit Refugee Ser vice/USA
May 2010 — Vol 4, Issue 2
Haiti Chérie – Dear Haiti
L
ong before the crippling earthquake of January 12, 2010, Jesuit Refugee
Service had a grassroots presence in Haiti, providing humanitarian assistance
to displaced Haitians both in the town of Ouanaminthe on the northeastern
border with the Dominican Republic, and in the Dominican Republic itself. JRS
responded to the needs of Haitians during a decade of political upheaval, successive
natural disasters, and a food crisis, which devastated the Haitian economy. We knew
Haiti in both her pain and her laughter – as a country where many children under the
age of twelve in the countryside have no clothes to wear; a country where people
spontaneously gather in community during frequent black-outs to sing songs, play
dominos, and keep the night at bay. Haiti is also a country with a rich artistic and
political tradition, inhabited by a deeply faithful people who have continued to hope
for a better life despite devastation and adversity.
JRS–Haiti has accompanied the people of Ouanaminthe, a town of 100,000
inhabitants, through a series of challenges by offering schooling for the children,
helping to organize sustainable farming cooperatives, organizing well-digging projects
and engaging in human rights monitoring. Through these efforts, JRS has strived to
create creating an environment in Haiti that would offer impoverished Haitians an
alternative to migration by enabling them to sustain a dignified and secure life within
their country.
The Automeca camp in Port-au-Prince is home to
11,000 displaced people living in close quarters.
(Christian Fuchs - JRS/USA)
In addition to its work within Haiti, JRS has served the needs of Haitian refugees,
continued on page 2
A Note from the National Director
Dear Friends of JRS/USA:
Because JRS has worked in Haiti since 1999, we were able to begin providing emergency aid to victims
within hours of the earthquake. This effort was soon supplemented by an outpouring of aid from our highly
organized JRS office in the Dominican Republic, which quickly ferried food, water and medical supplies
across the border for distribution to survivors.
Thousands of other Jesuit friends, associates and institutions also instantly responded to this crisis. The
outpouring of generosity from young schoolchildren, college students, parishioners, as well as Jesuit
provinces and communities, was overwhelming. To date we have received $1.6 million, which we are using
to bring comfort to the suffering in seven camps, to provide education to children, and to assure that the rights
and needs of the most vulnerable in Haiti are not forgotten. JRS has built strong partnerships to help address
problems that surely will not be solved overnight. Though many aid agencies will move on when the current
crisis abates, JRS and the Jesuit community will remain in Haiti for the long haul in a long term commitment
to contribute to the reconstruction and rebirth of a new Haiti.
Thank you for your generosity to the struggling people of Haiti and for your letters and notes of prayerful
support. Together, we have made, and will continue to make a real difference in the lives of our Haitian
brothers and sisters.
Fr. Ken Gavin, S.J.
J e s u i t R e f u g e e S e r v i c e / US A | 1 0 1 6 1 6 t h S t r e e t , N W, S t e 5 0 0 | W a s h i n g t o n , D C 2 0 0 3 6 | ( 2 0 2 ) 4 6 2 - 0 4 0 0 |
www . jr s u s a . o r g
forced migrants, and stateless people in
the neighboring Dominican Republic for
more than 15 years, expanding upon the
migration and refugee work carried out
by the Jesuits of the Dominican Republic
and Haiti for the last 70 years.
meet longer-term needs as well,
for example by starting schools
in displaced persons camps and
in planning for the construction
of 17 new schools in the
countryside.
Now, the earthquake has brought a
drastic change in the focus of JRS’s
work. While continuing its existing
programs, JRS–Haiti is focusing on new
relief efforts in Port-au-Prince, working
in seven camps that serve the needs of
more than 23,000 displaced persons.
Altogether JRS and its Jesuit
partners offered a wide range
of emergency assistance to the
people of Haiti in the aftermath
of the devastating earthquake,
including emergency food
relief to more than 50,000
people throughout Port-auJRS and the Jesuits of Haiti
Prince; medical treatment to
Supermarkets, banks, trade houses,
more than 4,500 people injured
radio and television stations, hospitals
by the earthquake; and camp
... all have collapsed. General Hospital,
management services and
the largest health institution in the
psychosocial support to more than
capital, collapsed with many patients
23,000 people living in seven
already inside and while many wounded No motivation other than her surroundings are needed camps throughout Port-au-Prince.
for this child to study at Automeca camp in Port-auwere being brought in. ~ Fr. Perard
In partnership with the Jesuit
Prince. (Christian Fuchs - JRS/USA)
Monestime, S.J., director of the JRSFe
y Alegria school system and
Ouanaminthe. January 13, 2010.
volunteer engineers from the University of Detroit Mercy
The longstanding presence of JRS in both Haiti and the
School of Architecture in the U.S. JRS also evaluated the
Dominican Republic allowed JRS to respond rapidly to
structural integrity of 400 schools throughout the stricken
the earthquake. The quake crippled the capital, leveling
area in the month after the earthquake.
government buildings, the National Palace, the UN mission
“Only through providing universal education to all
headquarters, and the Catholic Cathedral. Streets filled
children
in Haiti, and through a massive literacy campaign
with rubble from the collapsed buildings, and the cement
from those buildings powdered into a fine dust, choking the for adults, can we ensure that Haiti will have the tools it
needs to build back stronger,” Fr. Wismith Lazard, S.J.
air. Even four months later, the air above the city remains
sandy, obscuring the mountains nearby. Only the heavy
JRS Work in the Camps
evening rains clear the air, but they bring a new misery as
The scale of the disaster is such that despite efforts by
waters cascade through the streets carrying trash and dirt,
a plethora of organizations, many vital needs still go
hammering the tents of the homeless and soaking what
unmet. JRS is urgently advocating to bring these needs
possessions they may still have.
to the attention of the Haitian government and other
“Our national symbols are all gone, destroyed by the
earthquake. We have lost a piece of our history and are
at risk of losing our sense of nationhood.” ~ Fr. Wismith
Lazard, S.J. – Director of JRS–Haiti
All three million inhabitants of Port-au-Prince were
directly affected by the magnitude 7.2 earthquake. With
25% of government officials dead within minutes, public
services and communications disrupted, and soon inundated
by the exodus of some 600,000 stunned survivors from the
capital into the countryside, the rest of the country suffered
as well. Even four months after the disaster a staggering
1.3 million survivors remain displaced, most still without
adequate shelter, employment, or the other necessities of
life.
Donations for Haiti have been used both to meet
immediate emergency needs in the camps and to begin to
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institutions with the power to address them. Meanwhile,
JRS is working with the people of the camps to do all we
can to mitigate human suffering through accompaniment,
psychosocial intervention and linking camp leadership
committees with UN and U.S. organized aid delivery
bodies to address the rising needs.
JRS is the official camp manager in three camps:
Henfrasa, Palais de l’art, and Parc Colofer. In these camps
we employ a participative management approach to ensure
that all voices are heard and that the most vulnerable camp
residents receive the care they require. As in other camps
where JRS works, JRS insists that women be included
on the committee of residents who represent the camp’s
inhabitants.
“Is this any place for human beings to live? … often
we have little or nothing to eat during the day.” Haitian
mother living with her young daughter in Automeca camp
In camps that JRS does not manage, such as Automeca
– a camp of 11,000 residents living in tents only inches
apart from one another – JRS provides vital services
such as psychosocial support and assistance to the camp
committees which are a sort of camp council.
JRS offers management training sessions and regular
meetings aimed at building the capacity for the displaced
Haitians to develop their own emergency assistance,
recovery and reconstruction initiatives. On a visit to our
staff in Automeca in May, Fr. Ken noted that the camp is in
a crisis situation.
“I have visited camps of refugees and IDPs throughout
the world in my role as JRS/USA’s national director. I
was shocked at the conditions in which people are being
forced to live in Automeca camp. The camp is a national
and international disgrace. Of the many people we spoke
to, nearly all complained of lack of food.” ~ Fr. Kenneth J.
Gavin, S.J.
Jesuit Refugee Service/USA
a mango tree offers the promise of a cooling breeze that the
tents shut out.
While the situation at Automeca is alarming, it is not
exceptional within the current Port-au-Prince landscape. In
fact, it should be noted that 80% of all officially sanctioned
camps, which amount to a little under 600 camps in all,
have no camp managers. While some in the international
community have claimed that 99.6% of all earthquake
victims have been reached, we have noted that many
have only received one, two, or three aid deliveries. The
international coordination seems to have failed many of
the residents in the camps until now, and we fear that with
malaria, typhoid, and tetanus on the rise, the death toll in
the coming months will climb precipitously.
JRS also works in the “unofficial” camps of the Manresa
district of Port-au-Prince (Bas Georges, Au Georges, and La
Grotte), where the humanitarian needs are even more acute
than in most officially sanctioned camps like Automeca.
Because the Haitian
government and
The president
the international
of the Automeca
coordinating bodies
camp, elected by the
do not sanction
community to represent
these unofficial
their interests, reports
camps, JRS is the
that only three food
only NGO present.
distributions had been
The people in all
made by the World
unofficial camps
Food Program in the
throughout the city
past three months and
receive little to no
none since February.
care from large
JRS continues to
aid organizations
advocate for increased
or international
food delivery
throughout Automeca JRS–Haiti’s Fr. Wismith Lazard, S.J., left, talks with members of Electricians Without Borders coordinating bodies;
about installing electricity at a camp for displaced people as the camp leadership committee
many have been
and other camps with listens. (Christian Fuchs - JRS/USA)
asked to move from
World Food Progamme
the camps but have not been provided alternative space in
leaders in both Washington, D.C. and Rome.
Automeca camp residents live in shacks made of tarps and which to live. JRS calls on the Haitian Government and
the international community to address the needs of those
rags so close to one another that you can almost mistake
in official and unofficial camps alike, and to continue to
the multiple dwellings as one tent held aloft by acres
distribute aid to those in unofficial camps until such time
of tent poles; there is little or no privacy. There are no
as these camp residents are offered a safe and tenable place
schools or electricity, sanitation is poor; the water is barely
where they might settle during the emergency phase.
potable and often brings on diarrhea in children and adults.
Drainage at Automeca consists of shallow ditches running
between rows of tents, a hazard even when dry; when it
rains they flood and a cascade of garbage and muck rushes
through the camp toward the lower sections.
“We are afraid of the rains. We need different tents, more
solid tents to withstand the rain. These tents get wet inside
during the rains.” ~ Resident of Parc Colofer, a soccer field
turned into a camp for 1,200 displaced people.
The atmosphere in Automeca ripens throughout the day
as the heat rises, and the dank humidity embeds itself onto
clothing and tarps, adding an unhealthy sheen to everything
it touches, collecting dust and attracting insects. The few
trees are preferred as meeting areas to tents, as the shade of
JRS notes that all camps where we work continue to
suffer from the same overarching basic needs, infrastructure
and security concerns. The lack of electricity and lighting
at night has meant women and children are vulnerable to
sexual assault and abuse. Other concerns range from lack of
3
access to potable water, to the spreading of infections
such as typhoid, tetanus, and malaria, to poor drainage
in many camps, to too little food and water distribution
and assaults on women, the elderly, children and the
disabled during aid delivery. Helping the people in
the camps survive the rainy season has become an
additional challenge for our humanitarian team.
Recommendations for Action
“Haitian civil society is still weak. But we have a lot
to offer, we understand our country and the situation
on the ground. We can be a support to strengthened
Haitian government, and help to hold our leaders
accountable to the people of Haiti. The Haitian people
must be tapped as the real resource for reforming
our nation.” Fr. Kawas Francois, S.J., president
of the Jesuit Interprovincial Committee for the
Reconstruction of Haiti
• There must be better coordination of food aid,
sanitation, water so that all camps are receiving
appropriate aid on a regular basis.
• The Cash for Food and Cash for Work programs
need to be strengthened and expanded. These address
important psychosocial needs to reduce idleness and
the sense of dependency, as well as meeting food
needs.
• Unofficial camps should not be neglected, nor
disconnected from aid efforts until appropriate living
alternatives have been offered for camp residents.
The Haitian Government should be asked to use its
eminent domain authority to claim appropriate tracks

of empty land for camp residents under threat of forced
displacement.
• Women must be fully integrated into all camp leadership
committees.
• The International community and the Haitian
government must immediately address drainage, sanitation,
and security needs for vulnerable populations.
• Camp management and aid delivery structures should
always include consultation and cooperation with the
displaced people who are swiftly forming their own
organizations to advocate for their own particular needs.
More attention must be placed on supporting the food and
relief needs for IDP recipient communities and people
not living in camps so that moving to a camp is not the
only way for people to receive minimal food, water, and
livelihood assistance.
• To avert future disasters, cities and towns outside of
the capital must be armed with the resources to build the
infrastructure necessary to sustain their current populations
and allow for natural growth. A governance plan based
on decentralization of emergency assistance, services and
resources, strengthening the capacities of local governments
and the establishment of mechanisms to ensure the direct
participation of civil society actors outside of the capital
must be ensured.
• Despite an established need for continued foreign
support, the long–term development of the country must be
led and carried on by Haitians for Haitians.
For more information – including many more photos and several
videos – please visit http://www.jrsusa.org/voice/haiti2010
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