7:04 AM Tue 23 Feb 2010 GMT
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'Sandwiched between two collapsed building in a neighborhood in which shelter is now in the form of a bus, and tents made out of miscellaneous salvaged scraps is a dwelling made from your used sails. Merci.'
Lynn Fitzpatrick
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From Lynn Fitzpatrick in Haiti.
Awakening to a sunrise on a boat anchored offshore was one of the few pleasures that I could count on every day that I was in Haiti. The fishermen were already plying the waters in their dugout canoes. Pink clouds hung over the mountains. Palm trees lined the beaches. Everything was beautiful, from offshore.
The moment I set foot on land the chaos would start. Something as simple and beneficent as delivering disaster relief supplies to people in need, proved to be difficult beyond belief. At every turn in Haiti, there is a thief. In a society that has been wracked by government changes and a land that has been shaken beyond belief, the basic necessities - food, shelter and potable water are in short supply. Even though over 200,000 people have perished, demand remains insatiable. Prices for the homeless and penniless population are outrageous.
Immediately after the disaster, an American private company, in partnership with a Haitian company purchased 300, 55-pound bags of rice, canned goods and other relief supplies and filled a 20' container to capacity and shipped it to the certified port of Miragoane in southwest Haiti. The relief supplies were destined for the community of Petit Goave, the community in which the joint venture has been earnestly trying to establish a quarry. Some of the relief supplies were designated to go to their establishment, to their employees and to the beachfront fishing community in which they work. Approximately 10% of the supplies were to go to an orphanage in another community that collaborated with the private companies in purchasing and shipping the supplies, the rest of the community would get the balance.
It only takes three days to ship supplies from the Miami River to Haiti. It took more than a month to have the supplies clear through the bureaucrats and thieves at Haiti's second largest and very well established port. Everyone wanted their cut, because in Haiti a 55-pound bag of rice is as valuable as gold. Why would anyone give rice away to starving people when there is a handsome profit to be made? Just think of the profits if you manage to be the recipient of a bag that was totally financed by someone else!
The cargo shrinks each time that the customs inspectors inspect; each time that an employee of the company opens the container; each time that the contents gets moved.
Nearly a month had passed before I got the keys to the container. While I was trying to convince an NGO to take the keys from me and administer the distribution, others who thought they were entitled to their cut were squaring off for battle and local politicians were trying to use their clout to snatch the container, distribute the contents and win votes for the next election.
I've returned from Hades and it sounds as if grenades are going off in my stomach. Hopefully fresh water, bed rest, some antibiotics and homemade chicken soup will speed up my recovery.
As far as sails for Haiti, I haven't had time to digest the new guidelines for NGO's operating in Haiti, but it seems as if new procedures are being put in place to centralize the entry of relief supplies and their distribution. This will all but dash the hope of cutting out the middlemen and highway robbers in moving supplies from Port au Prince to Carrefour, Jaquemel, Grand Goave, Peit Goave and other communities that have been reduced to rubble, where land has collapsed into the sea and garbage continues to pile up.
The saving graces for my mission - an orphanage in Southwest Haiti received its plywood, tar paper and roofing materials; your used sails have been made into dwellings in Petit Goave and food and other supplies made it to some destinations that have not seen any relief from the outside world. Last I heard, the container that had been sitting in Miragoane for so long that we were afraid the non-perishables were going to rot, finally got to Petit Goave and was distributed, even the orphanage got its share.
www.WorldRegattas.com
by Lynn Fitzpatrick
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Double Is Pt, QLD
