Return to Terre-Neuve

By Emmanuel — July 3, 2010 | 1 comment

Port-au-Prince -Last weekend I traveled to Terre-Neuve. My main objective was to meet my grandmother and find out the truth about several rumours. The area is not totally covered by the telephone network, even though lots of people own cell phones back there, and are willing to buy more.

Terre-Neuve is a place I knew quite well before the quake, as I went to school there for three years.  I remember it as cool quiet place with lots of agriculture. I was curious to see how things had changed since the quake, and looking forward to a break from the dust and noise of Port-au-Prince.

As I drove on the road to that place, at first it felt like there was no life at all on this rocky and sandy road behind these scarcely forested mountains. Approaching the place, several parts of the road had been enhanced long ago by some NGOs. The technique they used for these parts of the road is quite simple; the NGOs provided tools like shovels, wheelbarrows, pickaxes and then people came to work. Firstly, they have their road done. Secondly, they receive some food like wheat, oil, beans and even some money.

Suddenly the green forest I discovered surprised me a lot.

This is was exactly a place to look for a break. I enjoyed that natural breeze I felt under these trees, and the free water freshly taken from sources or rivers depending on its usage. I’ve found that the nature in the area is diminishing, which is nothing strange, considering this environment is being exploited, and never has had a real environmental evaluation for its protection.

It is a place where environmentalists and agronomists are needed.  I urge this, as people can’t grow enough stuff to sustain themselves yearly, so they keep on taking trees down in order to make charcoal. The only fertilizer they are using, and have been using over and over, is manure.

On my way back I talked to one of my former teachers. He told me that he had been obliged to organize several meetings with the parents of his students before they could agree about sending their kids back to school.  The earthquake left a certain kind of fear of buildings for the kids, who react as soon as they hear a buzzing sound. I felt pride in him for making a living on his own; the same pride I feel when talking to one of my grandparents.

Here’s a fact to underline: governments seem to be no longer needed all around Haiti now, maybe for other reasons, but not for any distribution. There seems to be more NGOs present than the governments are and the NGOs may have done more for them over there. The people would prefer to receive their help, no matter what it is, directly from the NGOs. Back in the days, NGOs seemed to donate a lot, from bridges to roads to students feeding. Now it seems like all the attention is mostly concentrated on Port-au-Prince and its closest areas.

Port-au-Prince student, fixer and researcher Emmanuel Midi blogs weekly for Inside Disaster from Haiti. You can learn more about him in these blog posts, connect with him on Facebook or through his business, Haiti Fixers.

Emmanuel volunteers with the youth organization Fonds D’Actions pour le Développement (FAD), profiled by Nicolas Jolliet last month.

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