The Global Fund For Children

Weather and Hope

• By Sandra Macías del Villar on August 30th, 2011
• Category: Blog, Latin America and the Caribbean

Port-au-Prince, Haiti – Hurricanes and tropical storms are events that people in the Caribbean are all too familiar with. Every year during hurricane season, the region’s countries experience heavy rains; cloudy days become the norm; and local authorities begin to warn about the risks of this particular time of year. While some people are prepared and used to the drill of the season, others just hope for the best. In the case of Hispaniola, the island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, natural disasters can be experienced every year in both countries, but their initial impact and the severity of their aftermath are often aggravated by Haiti’s already fragile state. As residents of the eastern United States were recently reminded, flooding, wind, blackouts, and storm landfalls all pose an imminent danger to people’s lives, but in the United States the risk can be minimized by going to a shelter or, often, by simply staying at home. Unfortunately, in Haiti, where hundreds of thousands of people are still living in tent camps, even a small flood can be devastating. It is hard to describe the injustice of this situation and the vulnerability of those who are still living outdoors over a year and a half after the 2010 earthquake, and who have no protection other than that offered by a piece of tarp or plastic.

During my recent trip to Hispaniola, where The Global Fund for Children counts 14 grantee partners, a tropical storm was forecast to hit the island. The main purpose of this trip was to facilitate a GFC Knowledge Exchange workshop for our Haitian and Dominican partners and to visit our partners located in Haiti’s provinces near Lhomond, Petit Goâve, and Jacmel. Halfway through the visit, and two days before the scheduled Knowledge Exchange, a red alert was issued throughout Haiti because of tropical storm Emily. With this news, I came to the realization that not only was there a potential for major damage throughout the country, but our Knowledge Exchange could be cancelled. Due to the extreme and widespread erosion in Haiti, rain is not easily absorbed by the soil, and as a result even a small amount of rain has the potential to cause major flooding and mudslides.

On the first day of the red alert, approximately six inches of rain was expected, which caused major worry for those living in vulnerable conditions such as the tent camps, and also for the children and youth who are directly served by our grantee partners. Immediately after the news, I contacted all our grantee partners in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and they all seemed calm but vigilant—after all, this was certainly not the first time they had to deal with a tropical storm.

The day after the warning, I went to Jacmel to visit our partner Pazapa (Step by Step), an organization doing great, innovative, and much-needed work with disabled children and youth, and also to talk with one of GFC’s Haiti consultants and enlist her assistance with assessing the threat of the tropical storm. On our way to Jacmel, three hours south of Port-au-Prince, some landslides were already visible and the sky began to be overcast. After careful discussion, consideration of all tentative scenarios, and a new warning predicting six to 12 inches of rain, it was clear that our Knowledge Exchange would have to be cancelled. Although this was a hard decision to make and was a source of much disappointment for our partners and myself, we knew that we could not compromise the safety of those attending, and that their time was better spent preparing their communities and taking necessary precautions.

On the day that the storm was forecast to arrive, the sky was gray; heavy winds were beginning to blow; and the lulled streets of Port-au-Prince conveyed a stillness that is rare in this usually hectic city. Finally the evening came, and while the winds continued, there was no sign of rain. The next day, there was a sense of joy throughout the capital—Haiti had escaped the storm! Although this was clearly good news, it meant that we had a cancellation and no meeting on a day that appeared almost as a gift: beautiful clear blue skies, warm temperatures, and not overpowering sunny weather. The beautiful day had to be salvaged somehow, so I proceeded to call the leaders of all our grantee partner in Haiti to find out who could come to a small lunch meeting. After hours of calls and efforts to find a location convenient to all, I was able to gather nine of our 11 grantee partners for a successful lunch meeting in the heart of downtown Port-au-Prince.

During our meeting, partners were able to learn about each other’s work and meet one of our two local consultants. After the lunch, our partners expressed how happy they were to have the opportunity to meet the leaders of other locally led organizations that also work for children and youth in Haiti and how sorry they were for not having the opportunity to meet our partners from the Dominican Republic. Days later, I visited our grantee partners in the Dominican Republic, and while all were disappointed about the cancellation, they were very hopeful that our future Knowledge Exchange would be a great opportunity to strengthen the linkages between the two countries.

Despite having to cancel our Knowledge Exchange, there is no doubt in my mind that we lit a spark among our grantee partners in Hispaniola. Since 2005, we have been able to successfully conduct Knowledge Exchange workshops throughout the world for our grantee partners and have seen the lasting impacts of the resulting relationships. Soon our partners in Hispaniola will have the opportunity not only to share their successes and challenges but also to forge a bond between individuals whose countries tend to be politically and racially divided. Through our future Knowledge Exchange in the region, our partners’ hope, in both Haiti and the Dominican Republic, is to go beyond the differences and focus on the commonalities to work together and create a better future for the children of both countries.