BT Partners Blog

Remembering the Haiti Earthquake

2012-01-12T11:14:00.000-08:00

Today marks two years since a devastating earthquake hit Haiti in January of 2010 claiming over 200,000 lives, leaving millions homeless and shining the world spotlight on a tiny troubled nation right in America's backyard.

Two years later, as many celebrities, from Kim K. to Sean P. travel to Haiti, many are disappointed by the the pace of reconstruction, and wonder about the true and positive changes on the lives of the Haitian people. Before the earthquake, Haiti was the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. It faced massive unemployment, and lack of investment in its people, local industries and infrastructure. After the earthquake, these challenges became more pronounced and begged the question: how does one rebuild a nation that was already at a stage of unacceptable under-development which was further worsened by one of the worst natural disasters in modern history?

In 2012, the resilience of the Haitian people and their ability to overcome adversity have proven that rebuilding back better is indeed possible. Rebuilding Haiti back better, however, requires that we recognize the potential of the the Haitian people and the unique opportunities presented to the international community to form true partnerships and blaze a course for Haitian development. This means supporting local efforts that uphold human dignity, create a vision for long term sustainability, and that increase access to and improve the quality of the fundamental components of human development: education, health care, environment, livelihood.

Many mistakes have been made in the reconstruction efforts of Haiti, but hope and opportunities still remain. In remote parts of the country, without any international support, locals are doing their own research and trying different methods to find solutions to global problems.

Accessible only by a three to four hour hike along foot paths near the beautiful Morne La Selle mountains, St. Etienne is an example of local efforts to create a better tomorrow. Through no outside support, the residents of St.Etienne have managed to create a primary school, saving children as young as five the exhausting half day trek to and from class. The residents of St. Etienne recognize the potential of their area and know what they would like to see happen. They do not mention distribution of imported rice, they mention improving the school, they mention introducing new crops with higher economic potential, they mention partnerships.

As we mourn the thousands of Haitians who lost their lives two years ago, we must recognize that many lives could have been spared if generations of extreme poverty had not led to a people vulnerable to all sorts of hazards (political problems, tropical storms, earthquakes and diseases like cholera.) As Haiti and the world look forward, we must make it a priority to strengthen the potential of the Haitian people and reduce their vulnerability to come what may.

URGENT ACTION

2011-12-24T11:11:00.000-08:00

BT Partners urgently needs $4500.00 in emergency funds to enable the St. Therese Elementary School in Marbial Jacmel to keep its doors open and to meet the increasing demand of educating and supporting rural children in Marbial, Jacmel.

The St. Therese School in Marbial has existed since 1930 and enrolls over 683 children between the ages of 4 and 20. It has one of the highest rates of student success in Haiti, with many of its students going on to complete secondary school and even university. The school also serves as primary source of assistance, including medical and livelihood assistance, for needy rural parents in this harsh, mountainous, and isolated part of Haiti with a population of over 60,000 people. Often times, children attending the school will have their only meal of the day at the school’s canteen. The school relies on donations and loans to keep its doors open. This school year, St. Therese struggles to keep its doors open and to pay its teachers without putting an extremely heavy burden on parents, most of whom are subsistence farmers living on less than a dollar a day. Despite the difficulties, the school has refused to turn any child away regardless of the parent’s ability to pay and continues to believe in the power of education as a vehicle to improving lives in rural Haiti.

St. Therese urgently needs $4500.00 in emergency funds within the next month in order to pay its 29 teachers. It also needs an estimated $38,000 within the year to purchase books, supplies, improve school facilities, train teachers and ensure that all children entering its doors receive a quality education and that their families receive the support needed to improve their lives and their community.

A gift as little as $10.00 can go a long way. To support the St. Therese School, make an online donation at http://www.btpartners.org/ today.

Jefte's Story

2011-12-24T10:59:00.000-08:00

Beyond Travel health volunteers first met Jefte earlier this year during a community clinic day, where volunteers were providing free general consultations for over 200 people in the rural enclave of Marbial, Jacmel. Jefte’s dad, Faton brought Jefte to the clinic day hoping to find help for his son. Fifteen year old Jefte looked about eight years old and had been suffering for most of his life from an eye ailment. He was nearly blind and in a lot of pain. In this rural mountainous part of Haiti, Jefte’s future was bleek as he could not participate in the farming activities and find his way around without help.

BT Partners took on Jefte’s case and brought him to specialists to be diagnosed and treated. Unfortunately treatment came too late for Jefte. Before he was able to get to the specialist, his left eye imploded from the pressure caused by his condition. Doctors later indicated that since the age of two, Jefte had developed an autoimmune disorder called Uveitis brought on by common infections, and that if Jefte had had access to just basic health care since birth, he could have been spared a life time of suffering as well as his sight.

Jefte had never even seen a health professional until our volunteers held a clinic day. Like many in this area, health care is often too costly and inadequate. In this village of 60,000 + there are two first aid centers and not one can perform basic diagnostic tests. Inorder to receive care, Jefte’s family would have had to travel down to the capital, Port-au-Prince- a very costly option for a family earning less than $2.00 a day.

BT Partners is now providing support to Jefte and his family through our sponsorship program. Though he will be blind for the rest of his life, he will no longer have pain, and he will receive training, education and support in order to live a more fulfilling life with better opportunities.

BT Partners is also working hard to ensure that no more children suffer like Jefte has suffered. To do this we need your help to build a diagnostic center in the village of Marbial, which will make diagnostic tests and exams available to over 60,000 people in this mountainous region. We also need your help to provide, support, training, and incentives to the health workers who are the only ones to reach people in this area.

Community Spotlight

2010-10-12T19:48:00.000-07:00

With just a picture, it will be hard to place the the town. With its beautiful rolling hills, you just might mistake it for a bucolic European country town . But take a closer look and you'll soon realize that it is Marbial, one of many rural towns in impoverished Haiti.

The recent earthquake has steered much attention away from towns like Marbial-not that they had any before the quake-yet these towns are the keys to Haiti's development. Nearly two-thirds of the country's population still live in rural areas, and the decline of these towns is a principal factor in the emigration of Haitians to the sugarcane fields of the Dominican Republic and to the slums of Port-au-Prince in a desperate search for livelihood, which continuously exacerbates the problems of poverty and increases vulnerability in the country.

In Marbial, one group is working to reverse this trend. TEDEKOG, which stands for "Tet Ensam pou Developman Cochon Gra" or "Together for the Development of Cochon Gras" is a planters group, but not all the members are farmers. With close to 78 members, the group is as diverse as any community group can be in a town of nearly 50,000 residents: women, men, young people, elderly, literate, illiterate. They all want the same thing: to create opportunity where they live.

For TEDEKOG, opportunity means creating sustainable income generating activities for all rungs of the population, especially women and youth. It also means restoring the ecology of the area, increasing local agricultural production, and preserving the natural beauty of their town- beauty that Marbial's native sons and daughters reminisce about with the utmost pride.

Community initiated and led, TEDEKOG and other groups like it, are the keys to building a foundation for sustainable development in Haiti. Without the real voice and prominent roles of local people in thinking about and implementing development programs, both the ends and the means of a better future will be lost.

2010-09-20T07:57:00.000-07:00

At the end of the Thor market road in Carrefour lies a rusty old freezer; the freezer has become a bit of a nuisance in the neighborhood by blocking traffic, and in revenge, is often kicked about by mad drivers and passer-bys. Throughout post earthquake Haiti, there are remnants like this, remnants of livelihoods that are no more.

The freezer used to belong to 19 year old Henry’s grandmother who hawked whatever goods came her way and sold cold "Kola” soft-drinks she stored in the freezer, which was graciously powered by the neighborhood internet call center. Though her income was meager, she managed to send Henry and his siblings to school.

On January 12, Henry sat in his backyard, where he lived with his grandmother, and watched their home crumble on top of her. Henry struggled to save his grandmother, but in the end, was only able to dig her lifeless body out from under the rubble using only his bare hands.

Refusing to allow his grandmother to rot on the streets like so many others or to be buried in a “fos komin”, the mass graves, Henry gathered whatever resources he could to give her a proper burial in their family grave in the country side.

With little prospects in the country side, Henry later returned to Port-au-Prince with his younger siblings and without the precious income his grandmother once provided. For many young people in Port-au-Prince, the earthquake not only took with it loved ones and homes, but also the principal bread winners. With this loss, many young people are left with no means to pay for school or meet even basic needs.

In a country where nearly 80 % of all schools are private and with tuitions few could afford- even before the earthquake-each school year has brought with it great financial stress to families. With no stated plans by officials to provide universal and free education at the primary and secondary school level, life is sure to get even more difficult for youth like Henry in coming years.

Alleviating the burden of school fees on families must be a priority at any level of education. But for so many young people like Henry, who are of working age and still in the early stages of their education, constructive employment opportunities are also important. Constructive employment being defined as the type of employment opportunities that build communities and foster the acquisition of skills that the country needs to rebuild.

2010-09-19T10:51:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our new blog. Be sure to check here often for information about community development trends and issues in Haiti and West Africa. Also check our sister blog at www.igobeyondtravel.blogspot.com to learn about volunteer and cultural exploration travel programs in these regions.