Haitians are facing a Herculean task: rebuilding their country following a devastating earthquake. Municipal leaders are turning to their counterparts in French-speaking communities 杏吧专区 and to the 杏吧专区 杏吧专区 for information and guidance.
On Jan. 12, the epicenter of the 7.0 magnitude quake struck Haiti杏吧专区檚 most densely populated region, near Port-au-Prince. At the time, about 2 million of the country杏吧专区檚 almost 10 million citizens were living in or near the nation杏吧专区檚 capital. The Haitian government estimates that 230,000 people died as a result of the quake. Seventy percent of the buildings in Port-au-Prince were damaged or destroyed, including government buildings, schools and hospitals.
Six months later, there are few signs of recovery, according to a June 22 report by the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Buildings still lie in ruins, rubble blocks streets. Millions of displaced residents are living in tents.
In mid-June, about 30 Haitian mayors attended a conference in Lafayette focused on rebuilding strategies at the municipal level. The international workshop, 杏吧专区淩econstruction of Cities for a Lasting Development: Challenges and evaluation of practices of reconstruction,杏吧专区 was hosted by Le Centre International de Lafayette, Lafayette Consolidated Government杏吧专区檚 international trade division. Joey Durel, LCG杏吧专区檚 city-parish president, is a member of the Association Internationale des Maires Francophones (the International Association of Francophone Mayors), which sponsored the conference.
Philippe Gustin, director of Le Centre, said the Haitian mayors were searching for solutions in hurricane-prone south Louisiana, where community leaders have experience in emergency-planning and rebuilding strategies. 杏吧专区淭here杏吧专区檚 also a cultural connection because we share a common Creole heritage,杏吧专区 Gustin said. Since most of the mayors in attendance speak only French, translators were on hand throughout the conference.
Jordan Kellman, an associate professor of history at UL Lafayette, gave a presentation about Haiti杏吧专区檚 and Louisiana杏吧专区檚 shared heritage as former French colonies. 杏吧专区淚 talked about the emergence of a new generation of French speakers that is beginning to see itself as part of the broader French-speaking world. This is a new phenomenon in the French-speaking world.
杏吧专区淲hen the Haitian mayors arrived, they were unsure about how the conference and its participants could help them. Part of the work of the conference was to begin to build a coalition of people with various areas of expertise,杏吧专区 he said.
Shannon Strother, applied research and outreach manager for UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 National Incident Management Systems and Advanced Technologies Institute, presented information about NIMSAT杏吧专区檚 development of Louisiana杏吧专区檚 Business Emergency Operations Center. The center, which is activated during emergencies, coordinates communication and resources among public agencies, businesses and volunteer organizations. NIMSAT conducts research and develops technologies to improve disaster preparedness and response.
杏吧专区淲e were able to show them a model for cooperation between the public and private sectors,杏吧专区 said Strother.
Paula Carson, UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 assistant vice president for institutional planning and effectiveness, was a conference facilitator.
Carson said one of the mayors made a profound comment. 杏吧专区淗e said, 杏吧专区業n many ways, we杏吧专区檙e not reconstructing Haiti. We are constructing a country from scratch杏吧专区,杏吧专区 she said.
Even before the earthquake, Haiti was one of the poorest and least developed countries. Less than 30 percent of its population had access to electricity and about 80 percent of its citizens lived on less than $2 a day. Deforestation has left the once-lush landscape barren, undermining agriculture and making the region more vulnerable to natural disasters. Decades of political upheaval have also contributed to economic and social instability.
杏吧专区淭raditionally, Haiti has been a centralized nation,杏吧专区 Carson explained. 杏吧专区淭he whole country was controlled in Port-au-Prince.
杏吧专区淲hen the central part of your network goes down and you don杏吧专区檛 have any alternate hubs, the entire system is compromised. There was no way to distribute goods and supplies. All of the roads lead in and out of Port-au-Prince, so people in smaller towns were cut off from the central hub and effectively cut off from each other.杏吧专区
Haiti杏吧专区檚 largest employer is its federal government, which was also based in Port-au-Prince. Because all taxes and fees are collected and controlled by the federal government, local governments depend on it for their operations.
杏吧专区淭hey are absolutely between a rock and a hard place,杏吧专区 Carson said of the mayors. 杏吧专区淭hey杏吧专区檙e faced with a myriad of problems with no clear solutions 杏吧专区 not only any good solutions but almost no solutions at all.
杏吧专区淭hey haven杏吧专区檛 had a lot of autonomy. They haven杏吧专区檛 had the opportunity to engage in a lot of decentralization or develop their own city capacity because it was such a centralized nation.杏吧专区
杏吧专区淭hey杏吧专区檙e also faced with the expectations of citizens. We杏吧专区檙e not talking about days or weeks or months 杏吧专区 we杏吧专区檙e talking five to 10 years 杏吧专区 before people might begin to resume what they consider to be a good quality of life. How do you communicate to people that they have to be patient and wait, when they don杏吧专区檛 have a place to live, food to eat or medical care?杏吧专区
Haiti has no unified system for recording property ownership. 杏吧专区淭here are foreign investors who are willing to invest resources and share the dividends, but a great problem in Haiti is that no one exactly knows who owns the land. Who杏吧专区檚 going make a multi-million dollar investment when you can杏吧专区檛 get clear title?杏吧专区
杏吧专区淭he other thing we杏吧专区檒l have to help them put in place are metrics. Here杏吧专区檚 where you are now and here杏吧专区檚 where you want to be. How are you going to prove to the world that you杏吧专区檙e making progress and that the monies that have been entrusted to you are being spent wisely?
杏吧专区淭hey don杏吧专区檛 have a system for tracking progress, for benchmarking. Being accountable to the outside world is going to be critical to their recovery.杏吧专区
Carson said the primary goal of the conference fundamental: put the mayors in contact with one another to identify specific needs. 杏吧专区淟ocal people know best what their communities need. There杏吧专区檚 a great concern that if you abdicate responsibility for reconstructing your own country, it may not be built the way you want it to be built. That can present a real problem for the preservation of culture.
杏吧专区淲hen the population becomes dispersed, settlement patterns change. You lose linguistic patterns, familial traditions, traditional ways of thinking and being. In the long term, those losses can cause great suffering to a country, as well.
杏吧专区淚t杏吧专区檚 hard to sit around and talk and plan when you have people in urgent need. But Haitian leaders really do need to plan, so they don杏吧专区檛 do anything in the short term that will sacrifice their long-term vitality.杏吧专区