International interests offer opportunity for Haitian development.

Story by Anneka Miller

Illustration by Cam Giblin

Starting from Nothing, Again

Haiti has its share of palm tree-shaded beaches and warm tropical waters, but for many life on the Caribbean island is far from paradise.
According to the Heritage Foundation, Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. Coups, dictatorship, and political instability have stagnated the country’s economy and hindered the establishment of basic infrastructure like electrical grids, sanitation systems, schools, and medical facilities. The Duvalier dictatorship, a period of extreme human rights violations and military rule, lasted for almost three decades. The chaos following the ousting of the oppressive dictatorship in 1986 forced most factories to close, slowing Haiti’s economy.
Manufacturing provided Haiti with the majority of its export goods. Roughly 70 percent of Haiti’s total exports go to the U.S. annually. In December 2006, the U.S. Congress passed the HOPE Act, which eliminated tariffs on garments and automotive parts exported to America. The HOPE Act reopened Haiti’s garment industry and captured the interest of investors looking for new manufacturing opportunities.
By 2009, Haiti’s potential for development was gaining international attention. Companies from the U.S., Brazil, Ireland, and Korea expressed real interest in restarting the nation’s factories, which meant more jobs for the estimated two-thirds of the population that were unemployed.
But the island nation still lacked basic infrastructure. According to the World Food Programme, roughly 50 percent of Haiti’s population doesn’t have access to clean drinking water. Noticing this need, Curt and Beth Luthye began working with their partners at Nazarene Compassionate Ministries to establish the Haiti Water Project in 2007.
LeeAllie Buchanan, who works on the ground in Haiti for the organization, says gathering water is usually the children’s job. “In rural areas, people have to walk for hours to get water. Sometimes it’s two to four hours round trip and kids are more focused on getting water than on school or just being kids,” she says.
The project has installed sixty biosand filters in schools and is in the process of putting in sixty more. The filters make clean water accessible to students and the larger community. “Water is the source of life,” Buchanan says. “When you lack access or have dirty water, you realize this.”
Haiti was awakening from decades of stagnation and pushing toward the future when disaster struck.

Desperate Measures

Haiti’s fragile infrastructure wasn’t prepared for the quake or its aftermath
On January 12, 2010, the Earth shook. Cracks fractured the brand new walls of King’s Hospital in Port-au-Prince. The hospital had only performed twenty-five operations in its sparkling clean operating suite before the quake hit. Despite the violent tremors that ripped apart much of the country, the thirty-five-bed facility stayed standing. It was one of the few medical facilities that suffered minimal damage, the staff found itself inundated with quake victims.
Used to seeing about 120 patients per day, the hospital staff suddenly had 300 desperate people crammed into the inpatient ward. More survivors congregated on the hill above the facility. Medical supplies ran out fast.
Medical Teams International, a nonprofit aid organization based in Oregon, helped coordinate the first wave of relief. The first team of two doctors, three registered nurses, and medical equipment were sent two days after the quake.
“When we first got there, their staff was exhausted,” says Marlene Minor, vice president of communications. “Of all the disaster zones I’ve been to, this was the worst.”
Marie Davis and her husband Curt arrived in Port-au-Prince in March. Almost two months after the earthquake, the stacks of rubble remained.
“We went into the city on an excursion and it was totally flattened,” Marie Davis says. “What we saw on CNN and other news reports didn’t capture the scope of the damage.”
The Davis’ were sent to a hospital 120 miles outside the city in Bonne Fin. Farther from the epicenter, the hospital was able to survive the quake. Marie Davis, an ER and surgery nurse from Dallas, Oregon, worked in the makeshift recovery unit. Curt Davis worked as an electrician and helped the medical team when he could. He also became the adopted “poppy” of a twenty-year-old patient, Sherley Peltrop, who arrived from Port-au-Prince with both legs paralyzed from the knee down.
Peltrop had been in school with sixty-five other students when the quake struck. She, her brother, and ten other students were the only survivors. Her legs were trapped under fallen concrete for twelve hours until she was rescued. The prolonged pressure caused permanent nerve damage to her lower legs and she could neither feel nor move them. Through patient rehabilitation she learned to balance on her lifeless legs, like prosthetics, and even use a walker.
“To see her have no hope of ever walking again, and then to be able to walk was impressive,” Marie Davis says. “It was because of courage.”

Starting from Nothing, Again

Could the earthquake be a turning point?
At first glance, the earthquake that decimated Haiti’s fragile capital city wouldn’t appear to have a silver lining, but that may be the case. The outpouring of support from countries, companies, and individuals toward the relief effort has been unprecedented.
The United Nations released $10 million in emergency funds while Germany, Sweden, Spain, and Canada provided search and rescue teams, medical supplies, tents, water, and volunteers. The U.S. sent marines and supplies to help aid U.N. peacekeeping forces and reopen the airport and seaport.
Sol Inc., a Florida-based solar powered outdoor lighting company, designed and donated 100 lights to the relief efforts. Trained employees were also sent to install the lights. “Looking at the country and the challenges, we believe that by installing lights now, we can help make a difference in the long term,” says Audwin Cash, vice president of marketing for Sol Inc.
The lights were placed in relief camps and along two-lane streets to improve security. According to Sol Inc. employees returning from Haiti, a curfew currently is in place as the problems with violence and safety at night continue. Cash says the lights address an immediate need and have a vital impact by providing light and security.
At King’s Hospital things have slowed down for the doctors. Most of the patients are quake victims returning for check-ups, and the hospital’s partner, Lumiere Medical Ministries, has resumed its regular rotations of missionary volunteers. According to the president of Lumiere, Hank Haskins, the damage to the structure appears minimal. A team of architects and engineers are being sent to do a final evaluation and give the facility a clean bill of health.
Officials looking toward rebuilding the country are faced with an array of immediate needs. Schools need to be reopened, hospitals rebuilt, and an estimated one million people are without permanent homes. The first steps are being taken. In early March, the U.S. Senate passed the Haiti Recovery Act that will forgive all Haiti’s debts to the U.S. Haitian President Renè Prèval says that the November presidential elections will go forward as planned.
As the Haitian government and the international community discuss strategies for reconstruction, the biggest question is: How can Haiti be rebuilt and improved? With the current wave of support and attention, this could be Haiti’s chance to become a stronger, more stable nation.

Gallery • 6 Photos

A Journey Toward the Future