Disaster Response Haiti Project #24745

Help 6,000 Families Affected by Floods in Haiti

by Concern Worldwide US

Project Report | Feb 2, 2017
Progress in Haiti's Cite Soleil

By Alexandra Strzempko | Development Officer, Institutional Partnerships

Jeantisse Michelin in front of her home

Dear Supporter,

Thank you for supporting Concern Worldwide as we help the people of Cité Soleil in Haiti rebuild their community after devastating flooding in July 2016, and again in the wake of Hurricane Matthew in October of 2016. Thanks to you, we have made significant progress in helping the residents of Cité Soleil clean up their community and working to mitigate the effects of flooding in this flood-prone area.

After the July storm, Concern teams visited the multiple neighborhoods that make up Cité Soleil, assessing damage and gathering information from the communities. Emergency provisions were also given to families in need.

Concern then mobilized a cleanup effort, equipping residents with rakes and shovels and leading them in cleaning out canals throughout the community of waste, debris, and floodwater. Cleanup after the July storm was a success, and the flooding after Hurricane Matthew would have been much worse if many of the canals had not been cleared out by the community through the facilitation of Concern Worldwide. It is also critical that a good amount of sewage was removed during those same cleanup efforts.

To make it clear how important these efforts have been, I want to share a story about a family in Cité Soleil who have survived both the flooding in July and the damage in the wake of Hurricane Matthew.

Jeantisse Michelin stood in the doorway to her home, holding her hand just above her knee to show us how high the water rose in her house during the hurricane. “I piled everything on the bed,” she said, gesturing to the bed behind her that is covered in clothes. “To keep everything dry.”

“The wind was shaking, shaking the entire home,” she explained, recounting Hurricane Matthew’s effect on the small, roughly 10-foot by 15-foot structure that is home to her family of seven in the Ti Ayiti (“Little Haiti”) neighborhood in Port-au-Prince’s vast Cité Soleil slum.

Jeantisse explained that they were impacted by water damage resulting from the hurricane in two ways. Not only did flood water wash into their home, but their home is also placed on top of wet soil. “When the hurricane came, water also came up from the ground.”

However, Jeantisse’s family was luckier than most. She, her husband, and five children (ranging in age from 5 to 19 years old) had a little money saved and some food stocked up, so they were able to make do in the days since. “We didn’t have enough food to fill our stomachs, but there was enough for five days so that everyone could eat a little,” said Jeantisse.

She explained that her husband is a day laborer, so when he is working, they can eat; when he is not, they are less sure – and they are now counting on work to materialize as things get back to normal. Concern was present in Cité Soleil after the hurricane to provide emergency aid and facilitate getting affairs back to normal in the community, so that people like Jeantisse and her family could go back to their daily lives without fear of going hungry.

Since the hurricane, Concern has continued to work in Cité Soleil, equipping and training communities to clear drainage canals to reduce the potential damage of future storms , and ramping up public education efforts on cholera prevention and treatment. Additionally, Concern plans to build on our community participatory centered solutions in Cité Soleil, including the mobilization of neighborhoods for community cleanup and the facilitation of community dialogue in order to promote peaceful cooperation between community leaders and local gangs.

This Global Giving project is coming to an end, but we thank you so much for your support and hope that you will continue to support our other projects in Haiti and around the world. Concern continues to work in Cité Soleil, and it is thanks to you that our work continues to be possible. We would especially like to direct your attention to our ongoing response to Hurricane Matthew, which can be found here: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-hurricane-matthew-in-haiti/

Children in Cite Soleil in October

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Nov 3, 2016
Update: Flooding in Haiti's Cite Soleil

By Alexandra Strzempko | Development Officer, Institutional Partnerships

Cleanup begins in Cite Soleil

Dear Supporter,

Thank you for supporting Concern Worldwide as we help the people of Cité Soleil in Haiti rebuild their community after the devastating flooding in July 2016. Thanks to you, we have made significant progress in cleaning up Cité Soleil and unclogging canals in the neighborhood in order to prevent similar flooding in the future.

Even before the storms, the people of Cité Soleil were some of the country’s most vulnerable. The slum, built on a former garbage dump, is overcrowded, with many living in shacks fashioned from corrugated steel. The area lacks access to safe drinking water, toilets, and electricity.

The few resources and facilities the community did have were swept away or flooded during the rains. In total, nearly 6,000 families were affected, with many forced to stay living in flooded homes — sleeping in beds surrounded by stagnant floodwaters — because they had nowhere else to go.

Those who were physically able tried to start the cleanup of homes and streets immediately, but without the proper equipment they could only push waste and water into already clogged canals. With hurricane season lasting through the fall, the community was extremely vulnerable to a similar calamity occurring with the next heavy rains. Of even greater concern were the pools of stagnant water that remained, increasing the risk of cholera and mosquito borne-illnesses like malaria and yellow fever.

After the floods, Concern teams visited the multiple neighborhoods that make up Cité Soleil, assessing damage and gathering information from the communities. Because of the continuing rains, tarps were given to families to prevent further water damage in their homes. Jerry cans were also distributed, so residents could store clean drinking and cooking water. Concern teams held sanitation and hygiene training to reduce risk of diseases, particularly in children, who were playing in and around areas littered with waste.

After speaking with block and community leaders, Concern mobilized a cleanup effort, equipping residents with rakes and shovels. One village member remarked, “Nobody came to see if we needed anything. Concern is the first and only organization that came voluntarily and walked around with us.” Despite the deep mistrust between the local communities and the mayor’s team, Concern was able to unite both parties around cleaning and preventing future flooding.

Heavy rains hit Cité Soleil again on August 5^th, but this time water did not overflow in areas that had participated in the cleanup organized by Concern. Community blocks that had not engaged in the cleanup effort did experience flooding. After seeing this success, the mayor’s office launched a town wide campaign where neighborhood groups organized a weekly maintenance operation to look after the narrow streets and keep them clear of trash.

Next Steps

Some unexpected good did come out of this disaster: with Concern facilitating dialogue, community leaders and local gangs set aside their differences and worked together to mobilize their blocks for the cleanup. It is hoped this will be the first step towards greater cooperation for the good of Cité Soleil’s residents.

Because of donors like you, Concern’s Haiti team was able to respond rapidly to this emergency, immediately putting in place measures to stop the spread of disease, enabling Cité Soleil’s residents to take back their neighborhoods from the contaminated floodwaters, and ensuring systems are in place to keep canals clear and stop disasters like this from happening in the future. Though the July floods were tragic, the robust response by the people of Cité Soleil has left the community even stronger and more resilient than it was before.

Hurricane Matthew struck Haiti with extreme force on Tuesday, October 4. In the wake of this disaster, Concern will continue to assist the people of Cité Soleil, and plans on developing further projects within the area. There is still a great deal of work to be done, and Concern will continue to engage with community leaders and the local government to get that work done.

Community organization for cleanup in Cite Soleil

Links:

Concern USA Update

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