New ARC Blogger

Thank you so much to Leora for sharing with all of us what she and the team have been doing for the last several weeks. You guys are doing great work, Leora!

But, alas, we need to give Leora a break. ARC Haiti Relief Team Member Simona Palenga will share her experiences and thoughts for the next couple weeks.

Simona Palenga, joined the team in Port-au-Prince at the end of January.
A natural born networker, she has worked in various sectors and is now managing the coordination of the activities in Terrain Acra camp. The settlement is currently home to about 8,000 people who lost their homes in the earthquake.

Welcome Simona!

Life in Terraine D'Acra

Today we were in Terraine D'Acra, a settlement that is holding up to 8,000 displaced people, and met with some of the leaders of the community. The area is very widespread with different neighborhoods and communities seeking space in whatever area they can find.


There are many groupings of people and although they lived in the same neighborhoods previously, they have never before been forced to live so close to one another and in such harsh conditions. We were hearing from the people that they needed water, latrines, shelter, and food. They are also worried about the land that they were squatting on and whether they will be kicked off or forced to move elsewhere. Luckily, we talked with the landowner and he was willing to grant them temporary space although a long-term plan is yet to be figured out.

The search and rescue teams, as of today, have been sent out of the country. Although the neighborhoods have all been cleared, the population is clearly traumatized and asking for help. There are some families still looking for bodies. Many are choosing to live in settlements, where it is safer and further from the gangs that roam the streets at night.


Others, however, are worried about their land and are sleeping in their front yards or anywhere they can find space on their property. Those that were renting and those that owned their land are all in the same situation--nowhere to go and no means to start over.

There are many places throughout the city that have been completely demolished. Families are living on the roads, in parking lots, or on open ground throughout the city. Women and girls are showering in the broad daylight with no privacy and the city streets are filthy and littered with trash, making the environment almost unbearable.


That being said, children are flying small kites, playing with makeshift yo-yos, and making small plastic cars out of things they have found. The people here are clearly surviving.

More Team Members Join Blog

Now that I’m back in Minneapolis, our relief workers on the ground in Haiti will continue to post updates on our response. The first contributor will be Leora Ward, Emergency Protection Officer. Leora is based in Washington, D.C., and has been working in Haiti the past couple weeks. Her job is to ensure that women and children, who are more vulnerable in emergency situations, are protected and their needs are being met. Leora’s posts from the past couple weeks will go up tomorrow.

Thank you for continuing to follow this story. Even though media coverage has decreased, the needs in Haiti are still incredible. And they won’t go away any time soon.

We’re still working in Fond Parisien and Terraine D’Acra — giving medical care, providing clean water, setting up shelters, and managing the settlements. We intend to stay as long as we’re needed.

Sights, Sounds, Smells at Terraine D'Acra

I realized I never described Terraine D'Acra. The land belongs to a factory nearby. It's at the convergence of a few different neighborhoods in the Delmas area of the city. 5,000 people are living there, organized based on the neighborhood they are from.

When you walk through the doors to the settlement, there is trash. Trash everywhere. No one lived in this area before the earthquake, but it seems like it may have been used to dump garbage. A small stream runs through the camp, clogged with trash. The stench is very unpleasant.

People have located their makeshift shelters far enough away from the stream that you can't smell it. The whole area is very hilly. Shelters meander up the hill, with structures on each side of a 'main street'.

If you look at the settlement from the top of the hill, you see sticks driven into the ground in all of the open areas. People have searched for wood wherever they can and begun building the foundation for shelter. But there's not enough wood to complete these shelters, and it doesn't seem people have anything to create a roof with.

Some things about life here are normal. Kids are running around playing everywhere. People are trying to support their families. Women are cooking food to sell to others in the camp.

But people here need help. There's no latrines. People need help building shelter. Access to water is limited. And many people need medical attention. We're getting started by distributing shelter supplies and opening a clinic in the camp. But, there's still a ways to go to get all the essentials for this settlement of 5,000 people.

Stay tuned for more updates from D'Acra.

Clinic Day at Terraine D'Acra

Photos:
1) Doctor sees a mother and child at the clinic.
2) A woman waits with her child for care.
3) Community leaders plan the layout of the settlement (Latrines, safe spaces for women and children, etc. ..) With American Refugee Committee relief worker Eric James.

Yesterday was a big day at D'Terraine Acra settlement in Port-Au-Prince. We set up a health clinic in D'Acra and saw our first 90 patients - some who had quake-related injuries, who had some health issues related to the conditions in the settlement, and some who simply needed care for everyday issues. Along with our partner organization Egale Aimer serve and another local organization, We Were Able to treat patients and distribute medications to those who needed them. But, at the end of the day the line for the clinic was still very long. Our team has returned there this morning to continue providing care to all who need it.

There was significant progress on planning the Terraine D'Acra settlement, too. In all our work, the American Refugee Committee strives to involve the community in our work from Step 1. The people are living in this settlement, they need to have a voice in how it will function. They know best what they need.

Eric James, our Director of Program Development, sat down with the community leaders and hashed out what should be located where in the settlement. He offered our own expertise in managing such sites as well. After a couple of hours they had a rough plan that everyone was happy with.

Steps like these may seem cumbersome, but without them we might end up creating settlements and programs that do not make sense or function the way the community needs them to.

Today, we'll begin working with the community to develop spaces that are safe and friendly for children living at Terraine D'Acra.

Terraine D'Acra

Internet has been a major difficulty here in Port-au-Prince. I actually texted my last blog post to a friend to post.

There have been lots of developments since I last wrote. Yesterday, we began managing a settlement of 5,000 at Terraine D'Acra in the Delmas area of the city. I toured the very hilly settlement yesterday. (Wish I could send video, but it would certainly fail. Maybe a photo.)

People have begun putting up their own shelters in this area. Wooden stakes and tree branches stick up out of the ground everywhere. People are trying to get whatever materials they can to create shelter.

Fortunately, we had a shipment of tarps arrive from the United States yesterday and today by plane. (There has been an outpouring of support from companies in the form of tents, tarps, medicines, etc. It's terrific!) This morning, we're distributing tarps to the community so that people can get a roof up over their heads. Since the earthquake happened, no rain has fallen in the city. But the situation will become even worse if we begin getting rain and people have no shelter. We'll continue distributing tarps until all in the settlement have shelter.

We're also doing a clinic today. Dr. Bill Markle from Pennsylvania, an American Refugee Committee volunteer, has recruited a medical team to help him stage a clinic at Terraine D'Acra today. With medicines from our shipment, they'll be able to see patients who really need care.

In the coming days, we'll be working to construct latrines in the settlement and create spaces that are safe for women and children.

Yesterday, I met John, a 3-year-old boy living at the settlement at Terraine D'Acra. He offered our team a lick of the lollipop he was enjoying. We politely declined. John was goofy, fooling around, and having a lot of fun, as a 3-year-old should. It was a great thing to see. The hardship of what has happened to his family hasn't quite reached him yet. Our goal is to help John's family get shelter, water, essential supplies, sanitation and a safe environment so he won't have to worry about his family's situation.

Here is a photo of Perry Witkin, an American Refugee Committee board member who helped us organize the cargo plane shipment and distribution, traveling with it from Minneapolis to Haiti.