Notes from the Field … Côtes-de-Fer, Haiti
Lodz Joseph shares her personal experience and observations working as a consultant to oversee ACDI/VOCA’s emergency distribution efforts in Côtes-de-Fer. |
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The helicopter ride to Cotes-de-Fer is one that showcases the immense beauty and underlying poverty in Haiti. After weeks of emergency response, Côtes-de-Fer is just one of many spots in Haiti too far and too difficult to access despite the influx of families from Port-au-Prince.
The people of Côtes-de-Fer heard help would come but said that “Neg di san fe.” (People talk and don't act.) Now, because of our emergency response interventions, the people of Côtes-de-Fer say ACDI/VOCA both talks and acts.
Higher Ground
The cities are swamped with aid, but in the countryside, resources are hard to find and the most vulnerable and hardest to reach people are neglected.
After the earthquake hit, ACDI/VOCA was on the ground and able to provide immediate assistance to families in the communes.
Over time, the concentration of settlement areas and camps moved to the Centre Ville of Côtes-de-Fer. The city center is a flood basin, and community residents knew it was time to leave the low-lying lands and head to the plateau.
For many people, the plateau area is their new home and they do not want to return to the low areas.
‘You Can’t Fool the Rain’
Over the past weeks, ACDI/VOCA has conducted assessments with various NGOs and local authorities to see how we can best respond to the immediate needs of the population.
At first families were okay being inside tarps and stick structures. The makeshift housing seemed better than nothing. But once the rain began to pour, the phone calls started coming in to ACDI/VOCA asking for help.
People felt bittersweet in the morning after the rains. People were glad their crops got rain, but they also knew many in the camp who were rained on and who slept on wet rocks.
Jean Robert Cadichon, a farmer and camp resident, said a Haitian proverb to express how he was feeling: “Kay koule twompe soley soley men li pa twompe lapil.” (A leaky house can fool the sun, but it can't fool the rain.)
Delivery Day
Good work is what everyone aims for by the end of the day or work week. As the trucks drove to the new field that would house families, people were singing and dancing, making it clear to everyone that ACDI/VOCA had exceeded the community’s expectation. “ACDI/VOCA, ACDI/VOCA, yo bon bagaye!” (They are the good stuff!)
The community leaders and people saw we had delivered and that in time, the tents would become temporary homes for people who had lost everything.
A young girl named Melissa, age 13, watched as her cousin Mackenson learned how to set up tents from Save the Children technicians. Melissa and Mackenson walked around the tent once it was set up and looked in awe.
Melissa said, “Wow, there is space for the living room and in the other room we can all sleep.”
We all shared a laugh together, and Melissa said, “Thank you. Thank you for the tents, thank you for what you give us, thank you.”
At this moment, it was only 9 a.m. and as the work got harder, and people saw more tents fill the field, “thank yous” started pouring in from everywhere.
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Children in Côtes-de-Fer drink clean water that was supplied by ACDI/VOCA and its local partners. Photographer: ACDI/VOCA-Haiti |
Though basic, the food, water and shelter distributed that day were extraordinary comforts to the population of the camp in Côtes-de-Fer.
After the tents were set up, families got in line for the non-food item distribution. They were excited to get basic necessities such as soap, toothpaste, towels, cooking pots and jerry cans.
Mackenson, who was in charge of the distribution, would playfully express to the community, “This is hard work that ACDI/VOCA is doing.”
Though it was the end of the day, it was a new beginning for families in their spacious temporary tents.
As Melissa and Mackenson thanked the ACDI/VOCA team for their work, they also asked if anyone needed a place to sleep. “Feel free to come to our tent,” they said. “We now have space enough for us—and a few more.”
