Environment
Haiti after disaster
BY INDI MCLYMONT-LAFAYETTE
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
ON my first visit to Gonaives, Haiti in October 2008, the flood waters from Hurricane Ike were still heavy on the streets and stories abounded of people who had spent days on rooftops waiting for the water to recede.
Eight months ago you could have called Gonaives 'mud town'. Everywhere you looked there were piles of mud and streets filled with muddy water. Today, there are still piles of mud here and there, but most of the vast expanses of muddy water are gone.
Families that were once split apart by disaster have been reunited.
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| Up to six weeks after the four disasters, some homes were still under water. |
"Things are getting back to normal," says Justin Altidor, a freelance journalist living in Gonaives and part-time coach of Panos Caribbean's youth journalist group there.
Indeed, the 12 youth journalists whom I met this May were a far cry from the shell-shocked youngsters of October who at the time were still not sure where some of their family members were.
"After the four disasters last year it was very rough as we could not go to school for three months. We had to get food from some of the non-government organisations who were here and many persons lost their homes," said one of the three young women in the group. "Some families were split up, but things are okay now."
According to Altidor, the youth journalist group lost a lot of their material, which was housed at the then flooded Alliance Francaise. While the group has resumed their activities, many of the roughly 80 radio stations in the island that were closed after the disasters are still struggling to get back on their feet.
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| Efforts to rebuild are happening across several sections of Haiti - a nation of some eight million people and one hard hit by natural disasters in recent years. Here, a group of workers are seen on the road to Gonaives. (Photos: Panos Caribbean) |
For Altidor, his radio station Radio Antenne Continentale 99.5 was only able to start back about three weeks after the disasters due to the donation of a generator.
"Initially we had to rent a generator to start transmitting and then we were happy to get a donation," he said.
A quick look around Gonaives will show buildings being rebuilt, vendors plying their trade and selling products on the streets. Noticeably missing are the long lines of people waiting for food as was evident late last year.
Haiti which has received considerable humanitarian aid since the disasters is on the surface showing signs of improvement. Terracing on the roads beside river banks are a clear indication of rehabilitation work. Some of the previously flooded yards now have grass growing and despite the abject poverty, people seem to have more of a spirit of optimism.
Yet one senses that it is a cautious optimism as the hurricane season has once again started. As we were leaving Gonaives, my Haitian guide hurried me along.
"Come, we don't want the rain to catch us here. Gonaives is a dangerous place to be when it rains," he said, as the first drops started to fall.
As the downpour continued, I wondered whether the improvements would be enough to withstand this hurricane season and what the outcome would be if the rains got too heavy. Only time will tell.
Indi Mclymont-Lafayette is the regional director for media and environment at Panos Caribbean, a regional non-governmental organisation.
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