When a natural disaster destroys the built environment of a country with 80% of its population living under the poverty line, options for recovery are limited. Ideally, when a natural disaster hits, three steps are carried out in very distinct phases of emergency response, relief and rebuilding. Emergency response takes place within the first 24 hours, emergency relief is over the first year, and rebuilding goes on for an additional ten years after the event. Rebuilding can create jobs in construction and manufacturing which can increase the amount of skilled labor, and decrease unemployment rates. And most importantly, new building efforts can provide schools for the children.
This is a perfect scenario of rebuilding but Haiti's lack of money and minimal government action slows the process further, and currently their next generation is facing the reality of a future without education. Several social and political obstacles contributed to the nation's poverty level before the earthquake and are now magnified, threatening Haiti's existence.
In 2008 the mayor of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital, stated that 60% of the buildings were "shoddily built and unsafe in normal circumstances." It is no wonder why, with a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, their buildings crumbled killing thousands. This was a known problem that was not responsibly dealt with by the government, similar to the levees that needed to be replaced in New Orleans, but was ignored the proper funds to rebuild until it was too late.
A major problem in Haiti is the absence of construction standards, thus buildings are often erected with simple blocks of concrete, and on January 12th when the earthquake hit, their buildings turned to rubble. Due to their inadequate building techniques, Haiti was more devastated by this 7.0 magnitude earthquake than Chile was on February 27th with an 8.8 magnitude earthquake. Chili estimated less than 500 causalities where as Haiti is suffering from over 200,000 causalities. The major difference between these two areas is the use of reinforced concrete. Because of the expense of steel and nonexistent building standards, Haitians are not required to use reinforced concrete and thus these frail buildings are responsible for the large number of casualties.
Additionally, the earthquake was extremely destructive because so many people were concentrated in one area. As the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, the little opportunity that the country does have is centralized in the overpopulated capital Port-au-Prince, a city made for 500,000 people, is now congested with over 3 million inhabitants.
But the citizens of Port-au-Prince are not organized or skilled to make a positive impact on the situation. Four months after the disaster, the recovery process is not evident. One cannot tell the difference between the images of the dilapidated structures on January 12th and now. Katie Couric reported that President Rene Preval estimated that it will take at least three years to clear away the rubble and debris from the earthquake and only then will Port-au-Prince be able to begin rebuilding. It will take this long because there are no development companies in Haiti, therefore, no machinery or construction tools to haul away the rubble. In addition to the absence of physical tools and skilled labor, Haiti does not have access to building materials nor do they have any government organizations in place to orchestrate disaster relief or rebuilding. Likewise, the nation has no trade to generate their economy to pay for such necessities.
At this point Haiti is completely dependent on aid and relief from surrounding nations. But even the United States, one of the most developed nations in the world, government relief has not proven to be practical or reliable, as evident in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In this case, the over-priced formaldehyde trailers that FEMA purchased in response to the disaster, are now being sold for “pennies on the dollar” to the middlemen who will resale the toxic mobile homes to those who are still without shelter years after the event. Additionally, the U.S. Government spent over $7 billion on the trailers, an extremely expensive temporary shelter that in no way assisted in rebuilding the area. These were loaned for a set period of time, and were recently confiscated from the inhabitants because the time period had expired. Although this did provide shelter for a period of time, the money spent did not help ignite redevelopment or employment after the crisis.
Cameron Sinclair, founder of Architecture for Humanity, states that a majority of aid funds are acquired within the first two months of a disaster. After that, the event disappears from news headlines and the area’s progress is halted. Just as in 2001 when the United States diverted funds from updating New Orleans' levees to help fund the war, it is only a matter of time until there is another project that needs aid and Haiti will stop receiving money altogether. If this happens in the near future, it will leave Haiti with nothing but a few tarps. There economy will not have been developed and a majority of their population will not have any guidance towards employment or education.
With this said 40% of the nation is under 18 years old, therefore aid and relief funds need to focus on educating the youth to give the country any future at all. According to USC Architecture Professor Scott Mitchell, children must get back into school within the first two years, otherwise the area will result in what we see now – children flooding the streets with no where to go.
Most of the school buildings have been deemed unfit for occupancy and now tarps drape wooden frames on sites close to where schools once stood. As of April 6th, schools in Haiti reopened abiding a government mandate. Unfortunately, the amount of children attending these morning school sessions varies dramatically. According to one of the program managers for Architecture for Humanity, the physical situation of the schools is uncomfortable and the make-shift classrooms are unequipped with teaching materials. The wooden frames were nailed together so close that once the tarps were placed on top, the enclosed area resembled a maze. Additionally the tarps trap heat, increasing the temperature several degrees above the external temperature.
The remaining schools that were not demolished in the earthquake have been turned into refuges for the homeless. But the buildings that are still standing seem to be the government's only option for providing necessary shelter. The Ministry of Education has been receiving petitions for the removal of homeless and for the schools to be re-possessed for education. But the amount of schools still standing are not enough to educate the city's children and it is estimated Haiti will need a six to ten year rebuilding phase, leaving the majority of an entire generation uneducated.
Because there are limited funds and temporary housing is just that, temporary, every project needs to move Haiti towards economic self-sufficiency for the future. Haiti's society needs to be completely restructured to provide jobs, housing, economic stability and most importantly, education for the nation's next generation.
Peter Haas, founder of Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group (AIDG), claims that architecture can spark an economic miracle and revitalize the Haitian nation. By immediately using emergency funding to implement building projects such as schools, local jobs will be created and help natives learn skilled trades. As Cameron Sinclair stated, the amount of funding is limited and will not continue to be fed to Haiti much longer, thus money needs to be spent wisely on projects that will benefit the future rather than serve as a band-aid. Instead of sending temporary relief shelters that will be turned into inadequate permanent homes in the future, aid relief should focus on designing architecture to rebuild the communities by identifying individual goals and national pride which will in turn lower unemployment rates and break the cycle of poverty.
An option being explored for this congested and over populated city is decentralization. In order to decentralize the mass of Port-au-Prince the relief funds should enact building and transportation projects to provide a means of employment to lure people to the outskirts. Ideas expressed by Frank Lloyd Wright and Ebenezer Howard provide the basis for creating functioning multi-centered cities, which can be applied to redevelop and rebuild Haiti from the ground up with a system of organizing the populous with employment and education.
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