(Community Matters) On Tuesday, I rode over with Jennifer Jalovec and Brion Loinsigh to Concern Worldwide’s ground up planned camp in Tabarre, a municipality in the “greater metropolitan area” of Haiti. Jennifer is Concern Haiti’s emergency coordinator, Brion a newly arrived program support officer; Ghi was our driver.
Don’t know that I’ve mentioned the tightness of security. You must drive in agency cars with doors locked and always with agency or other hired drivers – like most agency workers, these are employed Haitians paid USD $200 to $400 per month (the highest paid at the UN I’m told). Though not nearly as bad as in 2004/2005, kidnapping is on the rise, particularly of foreign aid workers. Trying to save the agency bother & since I arrived in Haiti on Monday several hours later than others, I tried insisting I’d take a cab and meet up with the group. Evidently, this is a very popular place from where to kidnap foreigners. and, I digress . . . .
Tabarre – so we’ve toured a couple other camps. I’d seen a rather large one immediately outside the airport. According to Concern’s global emergency services director (the acting in-country director during my visit) Aine Fey, the UN estimates there are over 1300 housing 1.5mm to 1.7mm displaced people. Only about 21% of these are agency managed, so about 1,000 are what they call spontaneous camps, you’ve seen them on television & in the newspapers – in the middle of the road, on the side of a busy road, just outside the airport. I’ve assumed the latter or 
sometimes more easily identified by the more rudimentary forms of temporary shelter and the lack of any space between units. I’m told some where given port o toilets but temporary housing grew up surrounding these and there is no way to empty the units (sanitation is a huge issue here. HelpHaiti prioritized its funding along with medical assistance. And, nearly everyone here cites the lack of outbreak of major disease as attributable to safe drinking water and sanitation management – Concern spends USD $7,000 per day on water alone at its 13 managed camps & others to which it delievers safe drinking water).
Community Matters 