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Your $780 bought these supplies for the Haitians

Report from Haiti: March 2010
It was difficult to prepare for the sights, sounds, and smells that define life in Haiti today. I recently spent a week there helping my Haitian friends- Episcopal priest, Father Fritz Valdema (Pere Val) and his wife Carmel. Words are simply inadequate to describe what I saw. The absolute and complete destruction of buildings and neighborhoods extends throughout most of downtown Port au Prince. No government buildings survived. All but one hospital collapsed. The remaining structures for miles around are so damaged that they are uninhabitable and likely to collapse on their own. Tent cities have sprung up in every patch of open land (even in highway medians) and extend for as far as the eye can see. Imagine living with 5000 neighbors on an area the size of a football field. This is the density of these camps and they are everywhere. Millions are living in tents and makeshift structures fashioned from bed sheets and sticks. Reports of close to a million persons have no shelter at all and are living in the open. Even the most basic of sanitary facilities are scarce and there is a very real fear of disease in the oncoming rainy season.

see more photos here

By now, two months after the quake, the U.S. and international presence is evident and deliveries of food and clean water are being made with some regularity. One would be proud at the sight of our US Marines doing everything from directing traffic to gently helping the elderly. Clean up is underway. In limited areas there is a return to what the Haitians would consider “normalcy” but it is a thin and fragile veneer. Many with undamaged homes still sleep outside. Carmel and Pere Val’s house was one of the few untouched by the quake; not even a crack. I hoped to convince them of how safe their home was by sleeping inside it myself but Carmel swore she would wait a year before re-entering. The trauma of surviving the quake is still too fresh for her. Everyone we spoke with had a miraculous survival story to tell. Each of these is matched with an equally sad story of missing family or a loved one last seen. I was taken to the site of St. Pierre Episcopal High School where the remains of 300 students and teachers are today still covered with tons of rubble. Carmel’s daughter was pushed through an open doorway as the building came down and survived without a scratch. She still doesn’t know who pushed her to safety.

In spite of these hardships, Pere Val continues to serve his six parishes surrounding Port au Prince. I helped them assess damage to the school buildings, houses and parish halls at each location and develop budgets for rebuilding their facilities. About half are a total loss. Fortunately, the precious water wells, filters and pumps at three locations have survived undamaged. Clean water is priceless in most parts of Haiti. Carmel’s clinic duties have multiplied many folds as she continues to treat the critical nutritional needs of young children and the continuing acute medical care for the injured.

Haitians view January 12th 2010 in very much the same way we remember 9/11. In that poor country, virtually everyone alive, walked out of the fallen buildings and dust to a world forever changed. If you could imagine the twin towers literally falling down around you, that is what 90 percent of their population experienced in 48 seconds.

Carmel and Pere Val have asked me to express their sincerest thanks for your help. The money donated by Birmingham AIA was used to help re-stock the clinic pharmacy with supplies including 100 pounds of chewable children’s vitamins and the purchase of vaccines and other medicines. Forty pairs of aluminum crutches were also delivered. I was fortunate enough to see this assistance put to immediate use. Your vital support has made a tremendous difference in many lives and will continue to do so.

There are no short term fixes for this recovery. I have been in communication with “Architects Without Borders” about starting a chapter in Birmingham. On the heels of the Asian tsunami, chapters of AWB have formed in Seattle and Portland, and are loosely affiliated with their respective AIA chapter membership. With the current needs in Haiti and the ever present potential for hurricane related destruction in our part of the country, AWB might be a worthwhile endeavor for service-minded architects here. In this difficult economy, I would not expect to put any added drain on our chapter’s reserves or resources. However, anyone interested in becoming involved in this way, feel free to contact me directly: Phil_black@krebsae.com

In the mean time, please continue to remember my friends Carmel and Pere Val, their parish families, and the people of Haiti as they recover and rebuild from this devastation.

Phil Black, AIA 2006 President