Democracy Now (2010, January 22) looked into this question, interviewing people in Haiti while traveling from the capitol to the epicenter of the quake: Léogâne.
Democracy Now found that the main problem with aid distribution is due to the designation of “Red Zones,” which place restrictions on access to many areas based on security concerns. In these zones, aid groups travel in sealed vehicles, out of contact with the people they are there to help. Food is distributed from hovering helicopters rather than face-to-face on the ground. There is a fear of the Haitian people blocking the establishment of good communications with community leaders, as well as a lack of interpreters that could be available within the Haitian population. The people of Haiti have banded together into community groups to help each other, but are frustrated by their inability to obtain things like fuel to move the resources they do have. For instance, there is available water, water trucks and Haitian drivers available to distribute water from wells, but no gas for the water trucks. The local community knows what it has, and what it can do, but communication between natural helping networks in the community and the aid groups is lacking. Instead of following good community social work practice and tapping into the community as a first step, the first concern has been security.
Democracy Now, in another set of interviews on January 14, 2010, detailed the history of Haiti and its relationships to western governments, particularly the US government. The US has had a historically poor relationship with Haiti. In news reports the response of the US has centered around the military first securing control of the airport and putting priority on security concerns, as opposed to the responses from other governments in the area.
The large loss of life in the Haitian capitol, Port-au-Prince, is related to the presence of shantytowns built up along the hillsides and along ravines in the least desirable areas of the city. There has been an exodus of people from the countryside to the city in search of manufacturing jobs. Before the effort to industrialize initiated by outsiders, Haiti had an agrarian economy. The question now is how best to help Haiti rebuild into a healthier, sustainable economy. Haitians lack even the bare essentials of adequate food and water in the city, and survival is at the forefront of their concern. Even without a nearby earthquake, the economic situation of Haitian people crowded into Port-au-Prince would be unacceptable. Their labor and the economic rewards of industrialization have not been for the benefit of Haitians as a people, but for the economic benefit of others (Hallward, 2010, January 13).
Before anything else can happen for the good of the people of Haiti, they need to be able to feed and provide for their own families reliably. Haitians are best served at this time by helping them to help themselves by employing them for the short-term needs of a disaster, and networking with their own community leaders. Following this, a grass-roots redevelopment effort in sustainable agriculture can be the start of an economic base that will benefit the people of Haiti first, and eventually provide excess agricultural commodities to sell and raise the standard of living. Schobert and Barron (2004) describe a successful sustainable agricultural program sponsored by World Hunger Relief in Haiti. It built upon Haiti’s small, subsistence farming tradition, instead of imposing an outside view of economic development built on a supply of cheap labor for manufacturing plants, in cities that cannot provide basic services or safe housing for the numbers of people displaced from the countryside.
The first, most basic step in utilizing community strengths after the earthquake is partnership with the people of Haiti. Community resources should be sought out and built upon, not overlooked due to fear and security issues. For those able to help financially, consider focusing on those organizations that emphasize the community work approach. These NGOs place a priority on employing Haitians and partnering with community leaders. The most effective ones will be organizations with a previous history in Haiti and established community connections. This information is available on the website for InterAction, the largest coalition of US led NGOs in relief efforts. The InterAction listing describes the varied approaches of the NGO’s providing relief efforts in Haiti.
References
Howard, P. (2010, January 13). Our role in Haiti’s plight [Electronic version]. Guardian (no pgs). Retrieved February 21, 2010, from
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/13/our-role-in-haitis-plight
InterAction (n.d.). Interaction members respond to the earthquake in Haiti. Retrieved March 2, 2010, from http://www.interaction.org/crisis-list/earthquake-haiti
Kidder, T. (2010, January 13). Country without a net [Electronic Version]. New York Times. Retrieved February 26, 2010, from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/opinion/14kidder.html
Schobert, F. M. & Barron, D. A. (2004). Community development in an international setting: The role of sustainable agriculture in social work practice. In T. L. Scales & C. L. Streeter (Eds.), Rural social work: Building and sustaining community assets (pp. 178-191). Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Brooks/Cole/Thomson Learning.
Security “Red Zones” in Haiti preventing large aid groups from effectively distributing aid. (2010, January 22). Democracy Now. Retrieved February 26, 2009, from http://www.democracynow.org/2010/1/22/security_red_zones_in_haiti_preventing
US policy in Haiti over decades “Lays the foundation for why impact of natural disaster is so severe.” (2010, January 14). Democracy Now. Retrieved February 26, 2009, from http://www.democracynow.org/2010/1/14/us_policy_in_haiti_over_decades
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