SANITATION IN SMALL TOWN HAITI ©

At home in Canada we are blessed to be able to take so much that we have for granted. We live in one of the wealthiest countries on the planet and many believe that all of the things we have around us are ours by right. We are entitled to have these things: electricity 24/7, potable water, universal health care, free schooling in the primary and secondary grades, paved roads and the rule of law. I could go on to include other things such as social welfare, meaningful employment, unemployment insurance, public housing, freedom of religion, solid financial institutions but I won’t.

So it comes as a shock to our first world sensibilities when we discover that most in the third world have few if any of these things that we “know” are our birth right.

There is one item in my home that I always took for granted. After all everyone needs one and therefore they have one, don’t they? In fact, I have three in my house and there are only two people living here. What am I going on about? A toilet, a commode, crapper, powder room, by whatever name, a lavatory or bathroom is a necessary part of all our lives.

So it comes as a shock to discover, that ain’t necessarily so.

If you live in a one or two room hut made of branches, palm leafs and scrap metal and cook over a couple of rocks in the alley outside of your door, you probably don’t have a facility for you know what. Many in Haiti live just so.

So what do they do you ask, after all we all must do daily. A five gallon plastic pail with a plastic bag inside is the most common in our village. But what do you do with the bag? It’s not as if you can just throw it over the fence or into the river or the ocean. Oh right, that’s exactly what happens. In fact in one nearby village, the people there bypass the pail and bag and go direct to the nearby dry riverbed. One has to be careful walking on that popular shortcut.

It doesn’t require a membership in Mensa to figure out the need; a latrine would come in handy here.

Our good friend Nixon Gabriel and de facto mayor of the village had the answer but like most people in Haiti, no money to do anything about it. If he had the money he would build a number of latrines to help the poorest of the poor. Each latrine would be divided into sections for 4 families, each with a door and a lock for privacy. This would provide the necessary and restore some dignity to their lives. He required money for cement blocks to line the pit and for the exterior walls, wood for doors and sheet metal for the roof. The recipients of the latrine would dig the hole for the cost of a meal. A local mason and his helper would lay the block and a carpenter and his helper would install the roof and doors and four families would finally be able to do what must be done, in privacy. All materials and labour could be found in the community so such a project would be an all-round winner for everyone. Locations would be selected by Nixon in consultation with the residents who had to agree on the site and also agree to dig the pit.

Note the antenna doubling as a ladder

While the wood, sheet metal and hardware all have to be brought in from the city, the blocks are made right in the village. Each block is hand made in a steel mold using a mixture of sand and cement. Generally, there is too much sand and not enough cement and this results in a block that is not as sound or strong as it should be but for our purposes they are ok. The sand and cement are mixed together with water using a shovel as they don’t have a cement mixer. This mixture is packed into the mold and pounded with the back of the shovel to compact it. Then the mold is shaken out and the newly formed block is set in the sun to dry and harden. At this site perhaps 150 to 200 blocks are made each day, generally in the mornings as it becomes too hot late

Interior and exterior walls laid out on the floor 

r in the day to work in the sun. Nixon would purchase the block for the pit and they would be delivered along with sand and cement for the mortar.

Community Builders International  agreed to fund the construction of the first two units and Nixon was requested to select the sites.

Walls are up ready for the carpenter

Once the first sites were selected, the work began. Each pit was dug approximately 20 feet deep and 6 feet square. When the required depth was reached, the mason and his helper line the pit with blocks up to ground level. Some pits are easy dig and others are very difficult, depending on the soil. Sand or clay is shoveled rapidly and extracted from the pit by buckets at the end of a rope while others are more difficult as the site

 
might be solid limestone. Those pits took many days of hard labour using sledge hammers and chisels. Next came the floor also of block and rebar and once that had cured for a day, the exterior and interior walls were built on that.  Now it was the turn of the carpenter and his helper to build and install the roof and doors from wood and corrugated sheet metal. Now the latrine was finished and keys for the doors were given to each of the 4 families involved. A happy day for all.

Nixon Gabriel and a new latrine in MacDonald, Haiti

 Over the next three years with funds raised in Canada the village got latrines for 48 families. Unfortunately the costs escalated from $500 US to almost $1000 each as the materials increased in cost, whether from inflation or greed or some combination of both still remains to be determined.

There is a need for more latrines and of course, with that, the need to raise the funds. So if you are feeling “flush” – pun intended, donations marked “Latrines in Haiti” can be sent to:

Community Builders International Group, 404-999 Canada Place Way, Vancouver, BC V6C 3E2

Tel 604-879-4645

Email: info@community builders.ca

Or check us out at http://www.communitybuilders.ca/

Receipts for income tax purposes will be sent for all donations over $10.00. 100% of all donations marked “latrines” in Haiti will be used in the construction of latrines in the village of MacDonald.

Cap Haitien

CAP HAITIEN - Northern Haiti

MacDonald and the Bay of St Marc, Haiti

On Dec 5, 2011 we left St Marc for a two day trip to tour part of the north. We wanted to take a break from our mission work and see part of the country and learn more about Haiti. Barb McLeod joined us on this trip as while she had been in Haiti for years, she had not been to the north. We all welcomed her company and her ability to speak Creole; in fact the trip would not have been possible without her. We planned to visit not only Cap Haitien but to visit two important historic sites on the north coast, Sans Souci and the Citadelle la Ferriere.

Cap Haitien is located on the north coast of Haiti facing the Atlantic Ocean, originally built by the French in 1670 as Cap Francois. Once considered the jewel of the Caribbean, it has suffered through destruction by fire and earthquake, disruption by revolution and perhaps worst of all, neglect by Haiti’s governments since 1820. It underwent many name changes over the years, first as Cap Francois, Cap Français, Cap Haitien, Cap Henri and finally, once again Cap Haitien. Even today, Haitians know it as "Au Cap".

The road from St Marc to the city of Gonaives had been rebuilt recently and was in excellent condition. The one hour drive included a brief delay at an accident scene; there had been a fatal motorcycle accident. Accidents like this are far too common on Haitian roads as drivers do pretty much as they please with little or no regard for the rules of the road. Drivers seem to understand that the larger vehicle automatically has the right-of-way regardless of where it is on the road – including head-on in what you thought was your lane. An important survival technique is to always yield to the larger vehicle. In the cities, the streets are jammed with cars, trucks, buses, tap-taps and motorcycles. The tap-tap is a small imported pickup with a canopy and benches on either side of the box. I have counted up to 15 passengers jammed into one of these. The tap-taps are independently owned and follow a route between towns or villages all over the country with people getting on and off when and where they wish for a small fee paid to an attendant on the back of the vehicle. Buses follow a more formal route with designated stops and a schedule. People cram on filling every space with no thought or concern about personal space. When the inside is full, the overflow moves onto the roof rack with the baggage.  Safety issues don’t seem to be a concern in spite of the fact that when an accident does happen, fatalities often number in the 50’s. On every visit to Haiti, I have seen at least one fatal accident.

The city of Gonaives has played an important part in Haitian history both in the distant and recent past. Gonaives was where Dessalines declared independence from France in 1804 and where plots to overthrow a number of subsequent governments have been formulated. The city of 300,000 was almost destroyed in the floods that followed hurricanes and tropical storms in 2004 and 2008. High water marks can still be seen just under the eaves on many houses. The road into the city has since been built up on a virtual dike so that future flooding will not cause the residents to be cut off from the rest of the country.

After Gonaives, the next 60 miles of road to the north coast was in very poor condition, winding and narrow, twisting up and down through the steep mountain passes and very much in need of significant repair work. It was heavily rutted with deep pot holes reducing our average speed to about 15 miles per hour. A busy highway with many large trucks and the ubiquitous buses but few cars. On occasion we had to stop and pull off the road to allow a large truck or bus room to pass.  We rarely went over 25 mph to avoid damage to the car and to limit the discomfort of the passengers, one of whom got car sick anyway.

We got into the city Cap Haitien by mid-afternoon and began the search for a room. We looked at 4 or 5 mid to upper priced hotels and rejected them all due to high room rates. These rates were 2 to 3 times higher than what was quoted in our 2 year old tour guide. This we blamed on the opportunism of the hotel owners taking advantage of the sudden influx of aid workers and UN personnel due to the earthquake who are willing and able to pay whatever is demanded. After much group discussion, we selected a modestly price hotel that turned out to be even more modest than we had thought. The electrical system sole source of power was a large diesel generator whose exhaust was pointed directly at our room so noise and fumes came with the lights. The windows that wouldn't close, showers that wouldn't work, tap handles that fell off when touched, air conditioners that hadn't been cleaned since installation years before and toilets that leaked are all the stuff that legends are made of.

Statue of King Christophe in the gardens of the hotel named for him

Once we had selected the hotel for the night, secure in the fact that we at least had a room, such as it was, it was time to look around this historic city.

The city is laid out in a grid pattern, at least in the old core of the town making it easy to find our way around. The streets are narrow and crowded and the buildings are built in a 19^th century French colonial style with shuttered windows and high wooden doors. None are more than 4 stories high and all seem to lean and appear to need their neighbours help just to stay up. We visited two of three nearby 19^th century forts on the east end of the city, both in almost complete disrepair. Little effort has been made to preserve and present these obvious tourist attractions. In fact, over time, most have been plundered as a source of building materials. All that remain are the stone walls, some rusted cannons and cannon balls, all too heavy to move and of little use as building materials.

Restored 17th Century mortars

We picked up some food at a grocery store and returned to our hotel early in order to be off the streets before it got dark. It is never a good idea to drive at night in Haiti for any number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that many vehicles have few if any functioning lights, street lights are rare and dark skinned people wearing dark clothes – well, you get the picture.

That night’s rest wasn’t. Noise from the generator, smells from the bad plumbing and rodents scratching around the room all added to the charm of our room.

Early the next morning after a breakfast of crackers and water, we checked out of the hotel and headed east into the mountains to the village of Milot and the Citadel and San Souci.

From Milot, a roughly paved road and a decent 4x4 will take you to the parking lot at the tourist centre next to the Palace of Sans Souci.

Remains of Sans Souci

The palace was completed by King Christophe in 1813 not only as his home but also as the administrative centre of his kingdom. Its splendour was said to rival that of Versailles in France.  It was complete with gardens and orchards, barracks for his palace guard, a hospital and even a school. Destroyed by an earthquake in 1842, it lay abandoned until the grounds were reopened as a park. From the grounds, you can see some remaining statuary and portions of the barracks and gardens.

Here we paid a small fee that covered entrance to both sites and hired our tour guide. Then we were back in the car to drive to the end of the road, roughly 20 minutes from Sans Souci.

From there you still have a 45 minute hike up a steep mountain trail to the Citadelle. An option would be to hire a mule or horse and ride up but that looked like more work than walking.

The Citadelle atop 3000 ft Pic la Ferriere

The Citadelle is a UNESCO world heritage site. Once there a truly spectacular 360 degree view of Cap Haitian and the mountain valleys is spread out in front of you.

The fortress was completed in 1820 after 15 years of construction by over 20,000 people and remains largely intact even today. It was designed to house 5,000 people with food and water for up to a year. It has over 160 cannons still in place and an estimated 50,000 cannon balls, all of which had to be carried by hand from the coast to the mountain top. The cannons, a variety of styles and sizes, some iron and some bronze were captured by the Haitians in various battles with the French, Spanish and the English.

Original cannon on a restored carriage

A replica of the original officer’s quarters was recently built on the edge of the parade square. These quarters look over the parade square and a large rock located in the centre. Under that rock, it is told that Christophe’s remains were buried in quick lime. This method of burial was to prevent his remains from being desecrated by Voodoo practitioners.

Restored Officer's Quarters

The tour guide that we had hired when we paid the entry fee at the tourist centre  was very helpful throughout the tour, both up at the Citadelle and later at Sans Souci. When we returned to our car, chaos ensued as a large number of vendors assertively attempted to sell us souvenirs, none of which related to the Citadel.
As our guide was encouraging us to “get out of Dodge” some of the people were getting quite aggressive and he was concerned for our well being.

We were able to complete our tours by noon, paid our guide and returned to Cap Haitien for lunch. A quick bite and we hit the road for home. This trip was a repeat of the beating that we had taken the day before with Barb getting car sick and the rest of us just plain tired of the whole thing. We got back to St Marc just at dark, exhausted and ready for bed.

JACMEL, HAITI Post Earthquake

JACMEL

The main highway to Port Au Prince from Macdonald is National Route 1 and has recently been rebuilt and is excellent with center lines and guard rails. National Route 2 west from Port Au Prince to Leogane is fair with some remaining earthquake damage and a particularly large break in the highway caused by the earthquake. Leogane was the epicentre of the earthquake and was hit very hard. The highway is also poorly marked with few road signs and as a result that we missed the turn-off at Dufort for Jacmel and drove 10 to 12 miles the wrong way. After doing a most “unmanly” thing by actually asking directions, we backtracked and found the right route across the parking lot of the Texaco station and so through the mountains. This is a good road, well paved though narrow and very winding through a steep mountain pass. This is a concern as oncoming traffic tends to appear in your windshield without warning and as a result, we had several near misses, one in particular that stands out in my memory to this day.

Jacmel first founded by the French in 1698. It is located at the head of a 2 mile wide bay with beautiful black sand beaches on the Caribbean or south side of the island. In the 19^th century Jacmel was an important seaport for shipping coffee to Europe as well as being a major embarkation port those travelling to Europe.

Jacmel Town Centre

The core of the city suffered a fire in 1896 that destroyed many of the original buildings. The city rebuilt in the 19^th century French style that remains to this day. The city experienced a number of significant firsts for Haiti being the first to have telephones, the first to have potable water as well as electricity. It is now moving into the 21^st century and is the home of a significant carnival celebration every year during Lent. Carnival has resumed after being cancelled for two years due to the earthquake. It has a large arts and craft base that has grown over the years to support local artists. Many shops also sell Paper Mache masks made specifically for carnival. It has been one of the more tourist oriented towns in Haiti and has the best potential to once again welcome both foreign and local visitors.

While it was hard hit by the earthquake, it is well on the road to recovery. Many buildings still showed signs of damage but many others have been rebuilt or are under repair. It seems to vibrate with energy and it appears that most people have meaningful work. There was a noticeable lack of begging in the streets unlike either St Marc or Port au Prince and we were able to enjoy our walk around town with locals paying little or no attention to us.

Maison Cadet with its red iron "Witches Cap"

Hotels are few and far between in the city as most in the downtown area were closed, still showing moderate to severe earthquake damage. However, we were able to find clean accommodations near the town center at a reasonable price that also included a great spam omelet for breakfast. The black sand beach in town has a lot of potential but needs some minor cleanup to suit North American tastes. There is a large art market there as well and a sprawling two story hotel. This one has also been closed since the earthquake. This could be a great spot for R & R when and if these hotels are restored.

There is a strong connection to Canada with Jacmel as the city was the focus of a large Canadian relief effort immediately after the 2010 earthquake. There is a small airport there and it was used by the RCAF as part of Operation HESTIA providing emergency aid in the days after the 2010 earthquake. At the peak of operations, Canadian military personnel supporting the emergency response topped 2000. The Americans had determined that they could not safely operate their Hercs off Jacmel’s runway as they felt that at just 3300 ft. long, it was too short. The Canadians cut down a few trees and made it work for the next 4 months. Initially used as a base for their Hercules aircraft, Sea King and Griffon helicopters, they soon added the giant C17 Globemaster to the list of over 160 movements per day.  Later in 2013 the airport was expanded and once again approved for scheduled service to Port au Prince.

Jacmel was also the family home of Michaele Jean, a former Canadian Governor General and current secretary general of la Francophonie, an association of French speaking countries. Haiti and Canada are 2 of over 80 Francophonie member countries.

We left for home around mid-day planning on being back in Macdonald before dark. The trip was not without tragedy as evidenced by the sight of a young man lying dead in the road, the result of yet another motorcycle accident, this time just outside of Leoganne. All of us had difficulty sleeping that night as that scene replayed in our minds. Traffic through Port Au Prince was very heavy and it took over an hour just to get through the market near the docks and Cite Soliel.

Once home, it was time to get back to work with Nixon Gabriel and the committee projects.