ARTICLE - RUBBLE

POST-EARTHQUAKE HAITI STILL CHOKED BY RUBBLE
(South Florida Times) - By Tamara Lush (AP)

PORT-AU-PRINCE — From the dusty rock mounds lining the streets to a National Palace that looks like it’s vomiting concrete from its core, rubble is one of the most visible reminders of Haiti’s devastating earthquake.

Rubble is everywhere in this capital city: cracked slabs, busted-up cinder blocks, half-destroyed buildings that still spill bricks and pulverized concrete onto the sidewalks. Some places look as though they have been flipped upside down, or are sinking to the ground, or listing precariously to one side.

By some estimates, the quake left about 33 million cubic yards of debris in Port-au-Prince, more than seven times the amount of concrete used to build the Hoover Dam. So far, only about two percent has been cleared, which means the city looks pretty much as it did a month after the Jan. 12 quake.

Government officials and outside aid groups say rubble removal is the priority before Haiti can rebuild. But the reasons why so little has been cleared are complex, and frustrating.

HUMAN REMAINS
Heavy equipment has to be shipped in by sea. Dump trucks have difficulty navigating narrow and mountainous dirt roads. An abysmal records system makes it hard for the government to determine who owns a dilapidated property. And there are few sites on which to dump the rubble, which often contains human remains.

Also, no single person in the Haitian government has been declared in charge of the rubble, prompting foreign nongovernmental organizations to take on the task themselves. The groups are often forced to fight for a small pool of available money and contracts, which in turn means the work is done piecemeal, with little coordination.

Projects funded by USAID and the U.S. Department of Defense have spent more than $98.5 million to remove 1.2 million cubic yards of rubble.

“There’s not a master plan,” Eric Overvest, country director for the U.N. Development Program, said with a sigh. “After the earthquake, the first priority was clearing the roads. That was the easiest part.”

AID DOLLARS
Overvest said the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, created after the earthquake to coordinate billions of dollars in aid, has approved a $17 million plan to clear rubble from six neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince. The neighborhoods have not yet been selected, however, and it’s unclear when debris will be removed from other areas.

Leslie Voltaire, a Haitian architect, urban planner and presidential candidate, says his country needs a “rubble czar.”

“Everybody is passing the blame on why things haven’t happened yet,” he said. “There should be one person in charge. Resettlement has not even begun yet, and it can't until the city has been cleared.”

Voltaire maintains that there are enough crushers, dump trucks and other heavy equipment for the job; others say that more machinery is needed. But everyone agrees that recovery will take decades, and the slower the rubble removal, the longer the recovery.

Most Haitians are simply living with the rubble, working and walking around it. After a while, the gray heaps and cockeyed buildings just blend into the tattered background of the city.

SISYPHEAN TASK
“It will take many, many years to fix,” Overvest acknowledged. “We can’t just go with wheelbarrows to remove it.”

But that’s exactly what some Haitians are doing: using shovels and wheelbarrows to clear properties, a Sisyphean task if there ever was one.

“Personally, I don’t think Port-au-Prince will ever be cleared,” said 47-year-old Yvon Clerisier, an artist working a temporary job clearing rubble with a rusty shovel for a private homeowner.

He wore torn jeans, a sweaty T-shirt and sandals, and was covered in a fine dust.

Clerisier was one of a dozen men working in temperatures higher than 100 degrees. The property owner, Gregory Antoine, said he paid the crew $1,200 for three weeks of work.

“People want to work,” Antoine said. “If you get a good organization to put people to work and give them direction, things will get done. But right now, nothing is getting done.”

RUBBLE GUY
It’s not for lack of trying. The nonprofit organization CHF International spent about $5 million of USAID money on heavy machinery and paying Haitians to remove rubble from specific sites.

Dan Strode was the rubble-removal operations manager for CHF for three months; some dubbed him “the rubble guy” because of his enthusiasm for the job.

“Rubble isn’t sexy,“ the Californian said. “And clearing it is not as simple as people think.”

Strode’s big worry: that debris won’t be cleared fast enough and that the piles of rocks and garbage and dirt will be overtaken by tropical growth.

“If we don’t clear it, what we will leave behind is something that is worse than before,” he said. “If you come back in a year, and the rubble hasn’t been cleared, it will be grown over, subject to landslides and unstable.”

RUBBLE REMOVAL
Strode, who coordinated the removal of nearly 290,000 cubic yards of material in three months, said a major obstacle to demolishing buildings has been the lack of property records, which either were destroyed in the quake or never existed at all.

Without an owner’s consent, it is difficult to remove debris, he said. Another problem: Strode often received approval to demolish a building such as a hospital or a school, even when nearby homes were at risk.

“You cannot wantonly go in and demolish,” he said. “There’s a liability issue.”

Strode is no longer doing rubble removal. The grant money ran out, and has not yet been renewed.

EXPENSIVE PLACE
Another hurdle: dumping the debris.

While many private landowners and others are dumping the rubble in the streets, canals or countryside, there's only one place in all of Haiti where NGOs using U.S. money can take contaminated rubble: an approved and environmentally surveyed site.

“Not all rubble is the same,” said Michael Zamba, the spokesman for the Pan American Development Foundation. “There’s a lot of contaminated rubble with human remains in it. It can’t go in a standard landfill.”

Zamba points out that before the earthquake, Haiti was the least-developed country in the Western Hemisphere, so it’s not that surprising recovery is slow.

“Haiti is a really expensive place to work: You have to ship in gas, vehicles, people,” he said. “But you clean up the rubble in a neighborhood, and it transforms it. Life comes back.”

Associated Press Writer Evens Sanon contributed to this report.

photos - repairs - part 1

Our last wall is being worked on and is now becoming straight!

It takes more mortar but the end results will look good.

The cement boss and Pastor Pierre are even doing some fine work to make the wall look the same as the wall to the right of the front barrier. They are skilled workers.

When the last 1/3 section of the wall was being done I thought that I would give them a hand. Everybody laughed and I gave up quickly! I need to get some more training.

This is how it should be done!

photos - various - part 2

This young mother had 2 children. Her other child died a couple of years ago after some post-op infection problems from her hydrocephalus surgery. While she was in the hospital with her other daughter she was very pregnant and ended up going into labor! We brought her to the Chancerelles maternity hospital and Lukner played the role of husband and father and stayed with her in the hospital, while Joanne (another mother of a hydrocephalus child) looked after her hydrocephalus child in the hospital. This mother has always been grateful for the help that she received. She lives in Mirebalais and calls us on the telephone from time to time. She recently came with her child to visit us here at Coram Deo.

She came bearing gifts of food as a thank you! You can see it was a large gift and this is something from a person who is very poor. It is encouraging to see the thankfulness of people who we help. She now is planning to baptize her child!

When Jantje visited us she brought along a quilt that was made by a woman in Rodney, Ontario. We gave this quilt to this young family.

Marie has been having some circulation problems in her legs. After getting some tests done the doctor prescribed some special medicine to take as well as wearing these "anti-embolism" stockings. I feel sorry for her that she has to wear these in the hot weather here in Haiti but they should help her out. Now she can stand all day on her feet and maybe even dance!

Manu and Benson started school at the Christian Light School in the neighborhood. Here is Manu getting his razor blade hair cut. Sony is the hair stylist. Because of his skin condition Manu has to go bald everytime he gets a hair cut.

photos - various - part 3

This is a first. Attack of the tarantulas! Warning to all visitors who may stay here. Before going to bed always check for unwelcome visitors in your bed. This tarantula was on my bed sleeping under my covers when I was planning to go to sleep one night. Good thing I checked!

It is estimated that to remove all the rubble in Port-au-Prince it would take 1,000 dump trucks 1,000 days working 24 hours per day. Dump trucks seem to be in short supply. This dump truck is missing a wheel! I wonder if the driver knows.

We went to the physical therapy center located behind the Nos Petits Freres/Soeurs Children's Hospital. The UN has a large compound near the hospital. These yellow-shirt work program employees were cleaning the road near the entrance to the Phillipine Contingent Headquarters.

There are several nations represented here in Haiti as part of the UN forces.

Another section is where the Italian forces are located.

photos - various - part 4

The physiotherapy center helps a lot of children. The child that we registered can't start physiotherapy until January 2011 because of the large demand for physiotherapy.

This dome reminds me of the Skydome in Toronto! This dome is used by the HIV treatment center located near the children's hospital. Because of investment by foreign governments the poor are provided with anti-retroviral medications free of charge. Many people are helped. Haiti still has the highest HIV rate in the Caribbean but the rate is decreasing.

The Medecin Sans Frontieres Maternity Hospital building was damaged during the earthquake. A lot of work is being done to repair the building.

The workers are doing a good job to fix up the building. Pray that this much needed maternity hospital will be able to re-open again. The maternal death rate is increasing in Haiti. The country needs good maternity hospitals.

This woman is a street vendor who sells used clothing in the Cite Aux Cayes market area in our neighborhood. Another woman abandoned this child near her. She couldn't let the child remain on the ground and took her in. She filed a police report to let the police know what happened. After a couple of weeks of trying to locate the woman who abandoned this child she came to us for help. We contacted Chris Nungester of HIS Home for Children and this young girl, who was named "Sara" by the clothes vendor is now in their orphanage. Haitian Social Services was notified and registered with them as well. Pray for "Sara" and those of HIS Home for Children who will be providing for her.

photos - various - part 5

We brought Lourdie Aldor to the Bernard Mevs/Project Medishare Hospital to get fitted for a new prosthetic leg. Her other prosthetic leg was lost in the collapse of her home.

This elderly lady came from Mirebalais to get a "tune-up" on her prosthetic leg. She is a 72 year old woman who is very determined. Her leg was taped together so that she could walk. We brought her too the prosthetic clinic at the hospital.

Project Medishare continues to be very active with their medical relief effort. This is one of the many medical volunteers who come from all over to help Haiti. Davor lives on site in a room attached to the prosthetic clinic. He is a friendly man and eager to help as many people as he can. Pray for the efforts of all the people involved with Project Medishare as they continue to assist the Haitian people.

After getting a "tune-up" on her prosthetic limb this elderly woman returned back to Mirebalais. Now she can dance again!

Project Medishare and Healing Hands continue with the hydrocephalus program. Jansika and her mother live in a refuge camp in the Delmas 31/Hatt area. Her mother has been looking after well and we have been helping the mother with baby formula. Because the mother doesn't eat well she is not able to have enough breast milk to support her child. Project Medishare paid for Jansika's cat scan and the surgeries are scheduled for October 23rd to 27th. Pray for all the children who will be receiving surgery.

photos - various - part 6

The mother and Jansika live with friends in the Delmas 31/Hatt refuge camp. To see the living conditions is sad but the Haitian people know that it won't be forever and they keep going on.

These are some of the children who are Jansika's tent neighbors.

This handicapped boy can't walk straight. His legs are withered. I don't know if polio caused his problems. He is determined though and goes to school. Pray for the handicapped as they struggle to manouever around here in Haiti.

Junior's sister Dorly lives with the woman whose hand she is holding. Dorly's parents both died in the earthquake and this woman was friends of her parents. They live in the Adventist Refuge camp in the Jeremie area of Delmas 31.

This woman has not been doing well since the earthquake. She has visited many doctors and has accumulated a couple bags full of medicines none of which she takes properly. When Dr. Karen held a clinic here at Coram Deo last week the first thing that she did was dump all the medicine! Pray for Dorly and the woman she stays with.