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DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Aid group says Haiti rebuilding effort too slow

Haitians in camps down to 810,000: IOM
Port-Au-Prince (AFP) Jan 9, 2011 - More than 800,000 people still live in camps a year after Haiti's devastating earthquake, but that is nearly half the number initially left homeless, the International Organization for Migration said Sunday. The UN group noted that 1.5 million people lost their homes in the January 12, 2010 quake, and as recently as September there were 1.35 million people living in the makeshift refugee camps. But in recent months the refugee population began to shrink significantly, dropping to just over a million in November and now going below a million for the first time since the crisis began. "People are leaving the camps for many reasons," said Luca Dall 'Oglio, the IOM chief in Haiti.

Stormy weather, a cholera outbreak, evictions and the threat of evictions have contributed to the decline, but families also have moved as they have found more permanent places to live, the organization said. 'Oglio said international aid has gone to more than 200,000 earthquake victims in the form of long-term houses, building materials for home repairs, and financial support. "A national census conducted between the end of November 2009 and January 2011 determined that there are currently 810,000 people living at 1,150 sites in Port-au-Prince and the provinces," the IOM said. "The IOM's conclusions underscore a downward trend of about 100,000 people a month in the camps in Haiti, and particularly those in the southern regions," it said in a statement. It said the number of camps housing more than 1,000 families have dropped from 39 to 26, and the average size of the remaining families is smaller.

Senior US lawmaker to visit Haiti
Washington (AFP) Jan 10, 2011 - US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said she would travel to Haiti Tuesday to measure the country's progress one year after a devastating earthquake. "There is no question that the last year has presented its share of challenges for the people of Haiti but it is also important to recognize how far Haiti has come in the past twelve months," she said in a statement Monday. "Having last visited Haiti six months ago, I am looking forward to seeing firsthand the progress made and assessing the challenges that remain," said Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican from Florida. The Cuban-born lawmaker was making Haiti her first overseas destination since taking over the committee, which has broad oversight powers over US foreign policy.
by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) Jan 10, 2011
French-based aid group Architectes de l'Urgence (Emergency Architects) said Monday the reconstruction effort in Haiti one year after a devastating earthquake is moving too slow.

Foundation president Patrick Coulombel said the main factor in the delay is the decision by the United Nations to wait for the installation of a new elected government.

"The reason (for the slow pace) is the political decision by the United Nations," he said in a statement released by the group.

"During this time, the homeless remain in tent cities."

Coulombel said the organization, which has raised some 2.5 million euros (3.2 million dollars) for Haiti, has been effectively paralyzed by bureaucracy.

"We do not have the means to work, especially funding," he said. "The centralized decision-making by the UN has blocked the ability to react, with red tape."

He said the architects group, which seeks to help in rebuilding and restoring damaged structures, is still awaiting building codes, for example.

Haitian officials have said some 390,000 structures were destroyed or damaged in the quake. Of this, less than a thousand can be repaired, while the rest -- an estimated square footage of eight million square meters (86 million square feet) must be cleared.

Coulombel said the group is working to help build homes, schools and other structures in Haiti to help an estimated 800,000 people still living in makeshift camps.

earlier related report
Haitians turn to God at quake anniversary
Port-Au-Prince (AFP) Jan 9, 2011 - Faith is about all Haitians have left a year after an earthquake destroyed their country and on the last Sunday before the anguished anniversary, they flocked to praise God.

In Port-au-Prince, hundreds of Roman Catholics attended Mass under tents erected next to the cavernous ruins of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption.

Their prayers filtered through palm trees and over rubble. Men wore immaculately pressed long-sleeved shirts and the women crisp white and pink dresses, somehow kept free of the dust and dirt choking the capital.

All across the city similar scenes unfolded. Later Sunday, thousands flocked to a stadium to hear an American preacher, Franklin Graham, a star in the conservative US evangelical movement.

From the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI dedicated a "special thought" to Haiti and said he was sending the head of the church's charity arm.

Haitians have long been known for fervent, rather idiosyncratic faith. A majority are Roman Catholic, but various Protestant churches have made strong inroads, while the deepest rooted faith here may be in voodoo.

On the eve of Wednesday's anniversary of the January 12, 2010 earthquake that killed more than 220,000 people and made homeless about one in 10 of the population, Haitians say they are more devout than ever.

"The earthquake increased faith for many people. Many returned to their faith," said Francoeur Roland, 32, a plumber attending the open-air Mass at the cathedral.

Asked what was he was praying for, Roland, wearing a white coral necklace, answered: "That this doesn't happen again."

The pastel pink and white outer walls of the cathedral still stand but inside is a scene of terrifying destruction. Giant pillars lie tossed over mountainous heaps of rubble. Pieces of stained glass -- blue, red, gold -- wink from the dusty debris.

Eder Charles, a gatekeeper at the cathedral complex, said the entire choir, which had been in rehearsal, was crushed and that bodies still lie under the rubble. Haiti's Catholic archbishop was among the other victims that day.

Charles said his prayer was for "something to change." What? "Everything. We are praying for the country to change."

There was a glimmer of good news Sunday when a UN group said that the number of people living in squalid tent camps has for the first time dipped below a million.

More than 800,000 people are still living in camps, but that is down from 1.35 million just in September, the International Organization for Migration said.

Many of those who have left camps are not properly housed, the IOM cautioned, since they are often living in tents on their old properties, or sharing space with other families in a house.

Waiting at the city stadium for Franklin Graham, son of Reverend Billy Graham, Beatrice J. Delievre said religion helped her believe that the natural disaster visited upon her country, the mass deaths, and overwhelming poverty, were not cause for despair.

"If all Haitians were not killed on January 12, then there is hope. Those who died, this was their time. But for those alive, there is hope," she said.

What Haitians have lost faith entirely in are the human powers of their political class.

At the moment when Haiti most needs leadership, the country finds itself in yet another round of political turmoil, with candidates from a first round of presidential elections squabbling over who should enter the second round.

Many here blame a lack of political vision for the inability to put Haiti back on its feet.

Not only has there been almost no rebuilding, or restoration of services, but barely any of the rubble has been cleared from earthquake sites -- including the collapsed presidential palace.

"Those are men and mankind is weak," Delievre, 29, said. "You can't put your trust in mankind, only in God. God can do everything."



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DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Haitians turn to God at quake anniversary
Port-Au-Prince (AFP) Jan 9, 2011
Faith is about all Haitians have left a year after an earthquake destroyed their country and on the last Sunday before the anguished anniversary, they flocked to praise God. In Port-au-Prince, hundreds of Roman Catholics attended Mass under tents erected next to the cavernous ruins of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption. Their prayers filtered through palm trees and over rubble. ... read more







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