On January 12, 2010 at 4:53pm, Haiti was rocked by a devastating earthquake. In October of 2010, thousands of Haitians succumbed to the world’s worst cholera epidemic. Haiti rose to the top of the list of humanitarian hotspots because after decades of political instability and corruption, economic and social underdevelopment, and environmental degradation, the majority of the population was poor and extremely vulnerable to natural disasters. But, even as they dealt with family tragedies, Haitians proved to be quite resilient and overcame the most adverse conditions to begin the long process of recovery. With an outpouring of aid from the international community, the Haitian people shifted their immediate response from life saving to pursue a more ambitious and endurable plan to ‘build-back-better’.
By the time I arrived in Haiti in mid 2013, the initial recovery work had taken effect, and the end to suffering from the earthquake and even the eradication of cholera were in sight.
Compared with conditions in 2010, the achievements made are easy to see. Of the million-and-a-half people displaced by the earthquake, 89% have left the camps. Thousands of families moved from tents into wooden houses, then laid new foundations and built more solid cement brick homes. To the uninitiated visitor, the piles of gravel and sand that still dot the sides of narrow, winding streets may look dirty and disorganised, but they are clear signs of steadily advancing long-term construction.