ARTICLE - HELP STARTS AT HOME

ONE COMMUNITY'S RESPONSE: HELP STARTS AT HOME
(Montreal Gazette) - By Rene Bruemmer

PORT-AU-PRINCE — The borough of Petite Place Cazeau on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince was a mess.

Nobody came to pick up their garbage, so many of the town’s 25,000 residents would dump it, along with their raw sewage, into the drainage canal known as Gwo Twou — Big Hole, or the Crater — meant to divert water during Haiti’s rainy season. When the rains came, the garbage-clogged canal would flood residents living downstream with feces-laden sewage. It would also wash out the unpaved main road in town.

Deciding no one would help them if they didn’t try to help themselves, Val Jean Jr., the owner of a local elementary school, and others called meetings in 2004 open to anyone interested in discussing the problems and suggest solutions. JUPED — Jeunes unis pour la protection de l’environnement et le developpement (Young people united for the protection of the environment and development) — was formed, and they had meetings. Many meetings.

They came up with an action plan, focusing on three issues: garbage collection; cleaning out and rebuilding the drainage canal; and building a market square for the food vendors who sold their wares on the side of the crowded main road, open to the elements, at risk of car accidents.

Armed with an organization of 20 mostly young volunteers and a well-constructed written plan, they approached the municipal government and convinced it to send two garbage trucks from Port-au-Prince on a regular basis. They organized information meetings and went into the community to educate people on sanitation. (Not everyone was happy about having to carry their garbage farther than they used to.)

Then they sought funding. They found it through a branch of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), in Haiti, known as the Local Fund Management Centre, which donated $500,000 for the projects.

“They’re not like most other foreign agencies who come in and do all the work,” Jean said. “They gave us the funding, but let us take care of everything.”

JUPED hired hundreds of locals at $5 a day for months to clean the canal. It built stone retaining walls for a stretch of 1.5 kilometres so earth wouldn’t fall into it. It built new septic tanks and diverted sewage there. It bought land and built a covered market for 100 vendors to sell their wares.

“Business is good here,” said Arianna Louis, a 34-year-old mother of four who sells vegetables at the market with her husband, starting at 4 a.m. and finishing at 6 p.m. “And I don’t have to worry about getting hit by a car or being out in the rain.”

Now JUPED is expanding, spreading its knowledge in local development to other communities.

The group has organized environmental awareness classes at the elementary schools, one hour per week, and has started a micro-credit program, lending $500 to small merchants who lost their livelihoods in the earthquake and teaching them better selling techniques and basic bookkeeping. It organized food and water distribution after the earthquake. The Mennonite Central Committee relief organization has signed on, donating $10,000 a year, and JUPED has banded with other Haitian community groups to gain power and influence. Its membership is up to 170.

“Our goal is not to replace government,” Jean said. “We want to work with government, and help those that are the most vulnerable get out of their precarious position.”