I don’t imagine many of you even attend the same school you did in 2010. Those of you who joined Students Rebuild’s first challenge to raise funds and awareness to build back better in Haiti three years ago. Your Haitian peers certainly aren’t stuck in a Time Warp either; the girls Ellie Dubois who were really involved in our videoconferences and biopics graduated over the summer. Many of them aspire to get into an American university, others are happy to study in Port-au-Prince, or, as Elie Dubois is a vocational school (not unlike ETN), go straight to employing their craft.
Haiti is just as dynamic a place to grow up as North America…yet, you may sense that despite some similarities, life is different there. And if you listen to NPR’s three-year anniversary coverage, you’d get the impression that Haiti IS in a Time Warp. A correspondent summarized yesterday that the country has “sunk helplessly back into the state they were in before the earthquake,” or something to that effect. “The national cathedral is still in ruins, with no indication anyone cares.” I’d humbly ask that news correspondent to dig a little deeper.
I don’t dispute the fact that, yes, reconstruction progress is slow. Certainly slower than our, or anyone’s, expectations were in 2010, but of course, at that time we, and many other aid organizations knew very little about how Haiti operated, or how pursuing permanent construction would be like swatting a beehive of unformalized land policies and unofficial site histories.
For instance: like many other countries in the world Haiti does not have a “cadastre,” or archive of property lines to cross that country’s territory. This means that land ownership is constant, ahem, grounds for dispute – and you can quickly imagine how useful a cadastre would be for determining who should be giving permission to build a permanent structure.
Or: despite the appeal of using Western water-flushing toilets, they simply don’t add up to reasonable solutions for areas without plumbing and a scarcity of fresh water. (The common toilet is even a bad idea for affluent countries. Bill Gates has launched a challenge to reinvent the thing – meanwhile, we’re left with the ironies of the incredulous inquiry from a greater part of the world: “You have so much fresh water you do WHAT with it??”)
Finally, and most apparently: the reason so many people were killed in the 2010 earthquake was that Haiti did not enforce safe design and construction standards. There was never a system for enforcement and buildings were assembled that looked solid, but actually weren’t. Again – not a situation unique to Haiti. But since the earthquake happened here Haiti became a case study for introducing safer construction techniques and international standards to a country of 10 million.
When ‘Western’ aid meets a ‘developing’ environment, there’s no shortage of such peculiar contradictions.
It’s situations like these where design can do the most good. That’s to say, in contradictory environments, there are no clear solutions, and need mechanisms that creatively solve problems. Such mechanisms are in play all over Haiti. There’s a “working group” right now sorting out how land ownership should be interpreted. This collective of people from different professions, from law to nonprofit, is developing how to award property rights for land, despite their ability to show ownership – it’s a complicated principle that nevertheless is among the top three reasons Haiti is not rebuilding as fast as we expected.
As for toilets, community groups are workshopping how to install suitable toilet systems that aren’t so bizarre that no one will use them.
These conversations are important, and it’s important that they happen within the communities themselves.
This is where inroads are being laid – not for bump-up-the-gloss solutions, but ones that stimulate the roots of community development. The difference might be described as “what people look for” (like efforts to rebuild a fallen cathedral…and hey, there’s an archdiocese-sponsored design competition for that), and “how a nation is empowered,” the evidence of which being much less well-documented. Down the road, however, the difference is going to be stunning.
In 2010, weeks after the earthquake, Architecture for Humanity and Students Rebuild began work in Haiti with a value: that a community’s voice is important, and revered – even those unfamiliar with design understand the value of a tradeoff of (more) time for (better) quality. In an environment where certain and diverse entrepreneurs couldn’t invent shelter schemes fast enough for their wild ambitions (regardless of the impracticality of the details), Students Rebuild and Architecture for Humanity requested deliberate action for correct, safe and permanent intervention.
Eighteen months later the first of five schools opened its doors–École la Dignité on the southern coast.
Dignité turns out to be a special case as far as school construction projects go – the client requested a two-classroom expansion for her growing student enrollment, and the architects and builders delivered, with benefits. The next school to re-open, “Good Shepherd” Montrouis (there are two “Good Shepherd” schools), delivered four times as many classrooms in an initial phase, with aims toward larger ambitions of both the school and its designers. Still, eight rooms can serve the school’s student body, for now. That might change with the increased enrollment Montrouis School has experienced since reopening, on February 29th of 2012.
Things weren’t going so well for Institut Foyer du Savoir, which was encountering intractable problems with site safety and reliability. Reluctantly we had to terminate that project around the middle of 2012. In the Fall, Bon Berger Pele (the other “Good Shepherd School”) was also becoming difficult. However the school’s headmaster, Mr. Caneus, galvanized the Pele community to support the school, and this collaboration allowed construction to finish on Pele’s first four-classroom block.
École Baptiste Bon Berger brings solid and lively architecture to the renown slum of Cité Soleil in Port-au-Prince. This four-classroom block is the first of several construction phases.
École Elie Dubois, whose Phase 1 is wrapping up as you read this. Two large historic buildings existed on this downtown Port-au-Prince campus–one of which was deemed unsound after the earthquake and had to be demolished. Architecture for Humanity went to work first reinforcing the school’s “transitional” classrooms so classes could be held on campus, then rebuild the cafeteria, kitchen and toilet block. The cafeteria was completed in time for graduation in July – those girls, including Diandine, who has been working with Students Rebuild from the beginning, were able to see the benefits of their peers’ compassion, and hold commencement there. The kitchen, the last element in the first phase, will be completed in January 2013.
The stately Elie Dubois school in downtown Port-au-Prince is undergoing multiphase reconstruction, including new biodigester /kitchen (foreground) /cafeteria (midground) system and renovation of a two-story historic classroom building (background).
The year 2013 holds a lot of promise for the Haiti school rebuilding program. Students Rebuild paved the way for Architecture for Humanity’s ability to work in Haiti and refine its design collaborations. And even though the following projects aren’t financially supported by Students Rebuild, Collège Coeur Immacule de Marie, and Ecole national Republique d’Argentine would not be possible without the achievements that Students Rebuild empowered.
CIM School is loosely affiliated with Elie Dubois – both are Catholic all-girls schools run by the same group of nuns. Argentine school is a public Haitian school identified by the Government of Haiti as being a critical project for reconstruction.
Argentine is also facing some unique problems that are preventing work from going forward: namely, a tent camp that has occupied part of the campus. While the designs have been completed, and work commenced on the two school buildings that have survived the earthquake, completion of the school’s campus and new construction has been indefinitely postponed – until new homes are found for the families in the camp.
There is yet promising for much progress on these schools – including those we’ve seen opening ceremonies for, as they pursue second phases.
Elie Dubois just got a visit from some construction sponsors who will support the historic renovation…and a culinary element to the curriculum. Montrouis is also getting a lot of attention these days and interest in the second set of classrooms/offices/washrooms appears imminent. We will keep you posted on these and other developments as the year continues.
Haiti is far from rebuilt – but that’s not to say nothing is happening. I’ll go so far as to say that the accomplishments made to date are incredibly significant – showing that roughshod solutions are not part of the equation, that Haitians are critical players in their own reconstruction, their own future, that some foreign organizations carry the faith that longer-term solutions are building a system of strength, instead of merely strong-looking objects.
From Le Nouvelliste, December 5, 2012:
A camp prevents the reconstruction of Ecole national République d’Argentine
Nearly three years after the 2010 earthquake, Ecole national République d’Argentine shares its space with a refugee camp. A situation that prohibits full functionality of this school located at rue Sans-Fil, in Port-au-Prince.
Destroyed, in part, by the terrible earthquake of January 12, 2010, this establishment shares its property with many dozens of refugee families. Their presence makes attending this public school difficult for the 728 students in two vocations. Makeshift shelters in wood, tarp, and plastic surround the classrooms; concrete debris; detritus and broken-down vehicles create a decor not at all pleasing to see. Plus, one’s curiosity is piqued to know that the site still hosts the school.
This lamentable situation is causing prejudice toward the proper functioning of the scholarly institution, according to Dany Léveillé and two other teachers at the school.
“Because of the insecurity provoked by the presence of the camp, we had to close night school that welcomed almost 500 students. The students no longer have a place to play, which is a very important part of education. Coming to school, they run a lot of risks; violation, theft, etc.” explains Mr. Léveillé, indicating that many students have already been mugged for their telephone and money.
“The people that live here don’t have a single concern for the functioning of the school, they do whatever pleases them in the school’s courtyard. They quarrel all during the day, they joke loudly close to the classrooms…you can hardly capture the attention of the students during the class period,” complain several teachers anonymously.
“The worst, they do their business in plastic bags and leave them in the courtyard,” added one teacher, visibly frustrated by the current situation of the school.
According to the director, all the money necessary to equip Argentine School with a new building and already available. In fact, the reconstruction will be financed by the Clinton Foundation, and Architecture for Humanity assures the new design of the project. “The presence of the displaced refugees constitutes the major handicap that prevents us from starting work,” Mr. Léveillé declared.
Many approaches have already been undertaken with the Ministry of the Interior and of the Municipality of Port-au-Prince for a solution to this problem, Director Léveillé believes. “But nothing more has been done,” he regrets, before inviting authorities to take their responsibilities as soon as possible.
While waiting for the departure of the refugee camp, work and repairs are being undertaken with the goal of consolidating the classrooms that withstood the 2010 earthquake.
