Haiti update

One of our last weekends in the DR was spent in the Barahona area, and we stayed at Casablanca. We met Teja and Mihael from Slovenia at breakfast the first morning, and they told us that they had worked in Haiti for a little while. We talked more with them later, and Teja sent me some pictures they had taken. I thougt it would be nice to write a bit about their project here, and give people a little picture of how it is in Haiti now, 1,5 years after the earthquake. 

We were on the border of Haiti a couple of times, but we never crossed the border. 

 "Already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with 80% of the population living under the poverty line and 54% in abject poverty, the damage to Port-au-Prince caused the country's GDP to contract an estimated 5.1% in 2010. Two-thirds of all Haitians depend on the agricultural sector, mainly small-scale subsistence farming, and remain vulnerable to damage from frequent natural disasters, exacerbated by the country's widespread deforestation." from CIA, the World Factobook

This is a picture from Port of Prince, the capital of Hait. You don't see it that well in this picure, but the buildings in the back are completely destroyed, and have not been rebuilt.

Teja and Mihael worked in Carrefour, a suburb of Port of Prince. The population there is about 1 million.The project they worked on is called "Slovenia for the children of Haiti". The Slovenian goverment sent material to build a school, and Teja and Mihael was sent over to activate the children. When they got there, they realized that the school was not yet built, and that they had to get that done first. '

The school was built within a month in June and July 2011, and they were just done with the work when we met them in the DR. They were on a little holiday before returning back home to Slovenia. 

ADRA International (Adventist Development and Relief Agency) built these tiny shacks, and they house one to two families. 

Lots of people live in the area, but there is not not much to do for the people, who are very depended on help from the international society. Some are lucky and and get "good"  houses like these. 

This is a picture from the hotel that Teja and Mihael stayed at. The contrasts are huge! 

Some of the workers. The project used lots of local labor. 

Here are some of the workers, on the roof, with their pay check! Especially some of the women are very proud! Teja and Mihael are nr 3 and 4 from the right!

It's not the easiest area to work in. In addition to the physical conditions, the people are extremely poor. Many will try to improve their situation by taking things they find, included stuff that was supposed to be used for the new school. 

The classrooms almost ready!

Inside one of the classroom, with a big lizzad as the only decoration yet! The school is scheduled to open in September.

Kids doing artwork. There are way to many children in the area for them all to be allowed to go to the school. It is up to the mayor, I think, to decide what will happen next. There is also some money for food in the project, but we were told that it is so difficult to decide who gets the food. Shall the children accepted into the school, and therefore have better chances in the future, also get the food? A double bonus? What about the children not accepted? So difficult to deal with  aid.

Thanks a lot to Teja and Mihael for the information and the picures, and I'm very sorry if I've got it wrong here. Just let me know and I will edit it!