Haiti: Plans to Rebuild Lives

The disaster in Haiti has brought out both the best and the worst in people.

A man of God, Pat Robertson, suggested that Haiti’s catastrophic misfortunes flowed from the “fact” that ancestors of the present victims made a pact with the devil. Fortunately, a flood of prayers and goodwill for the victims drowned out such drivel.

A famous entertainer, Rush Limbaugh, derided, politicized and tried to create mistrust over the U.S. government’s urging Americans to donate to humanitarian aid and relief efforts. Fortunately, Americans ignored such disingenuousness, opened up their hearts and their wallets and responded with one of the biggest outpouring of donations and assistance ever.

Many others, including a French government minister attempted to malign the motives for America’s humanitarian efforts. Fortunately, the world—including the people in Haiti—did not buy such poppycock.

Many in the media and elsewhere pooh-poohed and criticized the relief efforts as our military, what was left of the Haitian government, and so many other governments, military and organizations struggled to organize one of the biggest and most difficult relief efforts in recent history. Fortunately, we are now seeing such valiant endeavors beginning to take hold and to yield results.

And as the world now starts to consider and plan for the rebuilding of a devastated country, for its long term recovery and, perhaps, even a for a total “makeover,” many claim that Haiti and Haitians cannot be helped, that “it is just in their blood,” that giving money to Haiti is like “throwing money down the toilet,” and even point to the alleged “low I.Q. of the Haitian people.”

Fox’s Bill O’Reilly claims that no matter how much we help, “one year from today Haiti will be just as bad as it is right now.” Fortunately, there are many others who have better faith in the character, the stoicism and the pluck of the Haitian people.

One of them is Nicholas Kristof who, after debunking some of the myths about Haiti and Haitians, says in today’s New York Times: “To visit Haiti is to know that its problem isn’t its people. They are its treasure — smart, industrious and hospitable — and Haitians tend to be successful in the United States (and everywhere but in Haiti).”

Referring to O’Reilly and to other naysayers, Kristof points out:

No, [O’Reilly] is not right. And this is the most pernicious myth of all. In fact, Haiti in recent years has been much better managed under President René Préval and has shown signs of being on the mend.

Far more than most other impoverished countries — particularly those in Africa — Haiti could plausibly turn itself around. It has an excellent geographic location, there are no regional wars, and it could boom if it could just export to the American market.

So in the coming months as we help Haitians rebuild, let’s dispatch not only aid workers, but also business investors. Haiti desperately needs new schools and hospitals, but also new factories.

And let’s challenge the myth that because Haiti has been poor, it always will be. That kind of self-fulfilling fatalism may be the biggest threat of all to Haiti, the real pact with the devil.

You say, OK, those are nice words and nice hopes, but how about some concrete ideas on how to rebuild Haiti.

Well, there is an organization that is doing exactly that; drawing up plans for some of the most important aspects for long term recovery and rebuilding of Haiti: temporary shelter, health clinics, community structures, hospitals, schools and permanent housing.

It is “Architecture for Humanity and the Open Architecture Network.” Its co-founder, Cameron Sinclair (he also calls himself “Chief Eternal Optimist”), outlined such plans in an article, “Haiti Quake: A Plan for Reconstruction,” at the Huffington Post a few days ago.

Sinclair claims no ownership to this plan—to “rebuilding lives.”

He concludes the summary of his plan with the words:

It sickens me when I hear agencies say their processes are proprietary. If you like what we are doing either support us or steal this plan. We need dozens of tug boat NGO’s working together to build back Haiti better. Let’s not waste donor dollars on working in silos. Haiti has suffered enough.

To learn more about Architecture for Humanity, please click here.

Image: Courtesy Architecture for Humanity