Rebuilding Homes - Rebuilding Lives
The Caribbean island nation of Haïti is intimately familiar with natural disasters. On January 12, 2010, Haiti was struck by a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake while still trying to recover from the Hurricanes in 2008 that left a thousand people dead and upward of a million other homeless. Following the quake, 230,000 more people lost their lives and 180,000 homes were severely damaged or completely destroyed. Faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges it became clear to this small underdeveloped island nation that they would require the assistance from people of the global community for a long time to come.
To appreciate what it means for Haitians to own a home, one must understand that building a home in Haiti is a protracted process over many years. Since home loans are not available to any but the wealthiest of residents, many Haitians construct their homes one load of sand, a few bags of cement, and with a scant number of concrete bricks at a time. Work on a home starts and stops with the availability of limited, discretionary income which leads to a single home taking upward of 10 to 20 years to complete.
Take a moment to imagine an impoverished Haitian family which has invested years of personal time, labor and earned income in order to turn the dream of a home into reality. Continue to imagine this family experiencing the joy and freedom that comes with a home to call their own; no longer having to share with an extended family. Now imagine this same family after yeras of sacrifice, having this dream, this freedom, this home all taken away in a few fateful moments by an earthquake. It is only now that you can appreciate both the financial and physical impact but also the emotional toll that cannot be measured in dollars and cents.
Rebati Kay-la Response
Rebati Kay-la responded to this terrible tragedy by forming a Community Based Organization (CBO) to rebuild homes destroyed in the earthquake. This CBO called l’Association pour l’Entraide et le Développement des Communautés Haïtiennes (AEDCH), which loosely translated means “The Association for Mutual Support and Development of Haitian Communities. AEDCH is comprised of experienced tradespeople, who are committed to helping their Haitian brothers and sisters to restore their homes, their lives and their human dignity.
A Different Approach
Rather acting as another massive, government rebuilding program by imposing processes and values from cultures of more developed countries, the approach employed by Rebati Kay-la is based on the Haitian culture and how the Haitian people work. Home construction and repairs are achieved by encouraging families and the community to work together in what is called “Kombit” - a concept akin to that of barn raising, wherein communities work together to complete the homes. Our goal is to build a spirit of mutual support and cooperation in these communities that will continue long after the homes have been rebuilt.
Current Status
The families currently being targeted by our homebuilding program reside in the mountains surrounding the capital city of Port-Au Prince. These areas were heavily damaged by the earthquake but have been largely neglected by government programs and large NGOs. Since the earthquake, many of these families have been living in makeshift shelters constructed from scraps of tin salvaged from the remains of homes destroyed by the earthquake. These shanties provide minimum protection from the elements and very little security from the occasional thief who wants to profit from the misery of others.
The Conejo Compassion Coalition/Rebati Kay-la/AEDCH home construction program began in February 2012 with the initiation of a Pilot Phase. Four homes were repaired and two homes were rebuilt from the foundation up as part of the Pilot Phase.
