Diaspora

The very slow internet link here outside Port au Prince makes it very hard to upload images from the coast, so I will add some more in the next days when I return.

However, I was struck by the way the local villages have taken in so many of the diaspora fleeing their ruined lives in Port au Prince since the earthquake.

Two years ago Port au Piment had an estimated population of around 13,750 people. They had a small medical centre, several churchs and a couple of vodoun shrines, which peacefully coexisted. They also had schools, although these were woefully underfunded so that class sizes were often well over 50 and text books were scarce. Today their population has grown temporarily at least to around 22,000 – and the government is doing all it can to discourage return to Port au Prince, following a strategy to reduce pressure in the capital by encouraging people to stay in the provinces. The people here are warm and generous – they have shared the little they have with the newly arrived, many of whom are relatives or friends of those who remained here. So far however, little additional support has reached places like Port au Piment: a little food for refugees, some water. But what these people want and need is jobs to earn money, land to farm so they do not have to rely on their already impoverished families for support, and the education for their children which they themselves were mostly denied. The medical centre is overburdened and lacks most basic drugs for treating everyday diseases (I have already spoken with an aid organisation to arrange a truckload of essential items to come up in the next few days), the schools cannot cope with the numbers of pupils – it’s mostly the young who went to the city, so mostly the young who have returned home with their children – so school enrollment is doubled: how can they cope? Jobs are few and far between. When I’m back in Port au Prince I will ensure I speak with the NGOs working in this area, because I am sure they will be wanting to help and trying desperately to do so: in the areas we operate we are following Cash for Work programmes to create short term employment, allowing people to earn money to spend on their needs in addition to food & water distribution, and help with shelter & sanitation. We are also developing longer term programmes to help people transition into permanent industries, and giving them the skills to remain employed into the future. We are working across several industries to make this happen, but such profound change takes time. Right now these children need an education, their parents need jobs.

And one small Haitian town needs help to cope with its new residents.