Haiti
was a desirable example when the US finally left in 1947 and has deteriorated since.
Is
this a proof of the culture being unable to govern itself? Therefore
a strong authority would seem appropriate. The discussion of Brazil
under the UN is encouraging, but needs to be less considerate of
local government and solicitous of an international cooperation.
Results, not diplomacy.
What is the problem with the people of Haiti? Is it laziness ; a refusal to cooperate (the text calls it mistrust) ;
Lack of leadership is obvious. Or is it an inherent ignorance (either genetic or more politely, a brain drain ([Text says [top] 5% live in the US and that 80% college people are out of the country.). Text adds to this – "no sense of order and feeling of responsibility."
Cultural change depends on the next generation – although much effort should be spent on education, the urgency cannot wait before action. Political opposition and mob behavior bothers me. Language babel is also a problem – French in a local between Spanish south America and English North America, but not insurmountable. I, of course, recommend a program of Ogden's Basic English
Habitat for Humanity can build a US style house with 40 people in a weekend. The labor is mostly unskilled. 1.3MM displaced people in 400 days could have built – No lets say 500,000 available workers, in 300 days (need time to get organized) and 50 people for 3-days to build a US style house. Works out to 1 million US style houses. Text says at most only 300,000 required.
Habitat is larger internationally than it is in the US. It is devoted to building “appropriate housing” which means local materials and climatic conditions – "simple, decent, and affordable". There is a display at H4H headquarters in Americus, GA. There I have personally made "Habitat Blocks" – mix clay, cement, water and shovel the mix into a mold ; then press it to shape with a hand ram ; stack the blocks to cure and in a week we can build a solid house.
Trade skills developed in the first few houses can be spread in two directions. To led other groups in building other villages. Or to use construction trade experience to start building shops – commercial and industrial, schools, clinics. The world will provide needed wire, pipe, cement, solar cells, and other commercial supplies. Note this also provides a promotion path to keep leadership inside Haiti. Offer incentive (free transport and business) to expatriots to return to run and staff shops
The press calls attention to lack of
heavy equipment and that rubble still exists months after event.
Does anybody remember UPI newsreels at the movies of
the Germans with bucket brigades passing rubble down the line, brick
by brick. The text complains that the military construction teams
concentrate of building roads as their expertise is with troop
movement (Armies do not build sewage systems, but use a hole in the
ground – just exactly what Haitians are used to. Text says
sewage plants were non-existent before the earthquake.)
Is anybody going to scream that cooky cutter housing and villages or neighborhoods built on a grid are bad? Does anybody remember Levittown? How about living in tenement buildings? My college dormitory was a barracks village built for GI Bill crowds 15 years earlier. Text says that pre-earthquake, “two-thirds of population lived on less than $2 a day.” Gracious living can come in the next generation.