Some thoughts looking back on Haiti trip

I was in Abu Dhabi teaching Disaster Management to government officials and national NGOs when the news hit about the Haiti Earthquake. I made an immediate call to my family to prepare my deployment kit and another call to my main employer Islamic Relief Worldwide to book my ticket and prepare for my travel, and I arranged candidates of the DRT (disaster response team) to join the mission. After some struggles considering different options and airlines, we finally managed to get to Santo Domingo in neighbouring Dominican Republic, then on to Port-au-Prince within 72 hours.

Approaching Port-au-Prince on the fourth day after the earthquake was quite an experience in itself. The first thing that struck us was the overwhelming smell, the smell of death, and the scene of dead bodies lying by the side of the road, something I did not like to see and I do not want to see, despite having seen this on several occasions before (e.g. Iraq, Aceh/ Indonesia and Mozambique).

The capital was in a very chaotic state. Everybody was living in the street. This was no wonder as there was no place to go or no roof to hide under, especially with the risk of aftershocks. A huge number of young men and women queuing by the UN Peace Keeper offices looking for a job. I stopped over and recruited Michael, an English teacher, so that he could take us around and help with translation. In the heat we drove over to the heart of the city, Port–au-prince downtown. No single building had been left standing. The smell of death was killing us; everyone was using something to cover his nose and mouth. Looting was ongoing. Some call it surviving, people fighting to survive, which I can accept in many cases. However, what I have seen in this downtown with aggressive fighting and anarchy for surviving, we felt in extreme danger as people started to fight with each other using machetes, steel bars and all other possible means.

Public parks, car parks and even the main roads are occupied by makeshift shelters made from bed sheets and people sleep under it. I have seen so many cases where people made their makeshift accommodation in the middle of the road either to attract attention for help or as a sign of protest against the government and everybody else.

In the base log, based in the airport, from where the UN Peace Keepers and the international humanitarian community are operating, we set up our small camp (2 small tents). The camp was overcrowded and facilities poor due to the overcrowding, as the UN Peace Keepers who used to live outside the camp in houses or flats had moved inside the camp after their houses were destroyed (and it's safer inside).

Humanitarian agencies face a significant dilemma in trying to get the balance right between looking after their own safety and fulfilling their duty, in particular the principle of the humanitarian imperative. As the street in not safe enough and very challenging to deliver aid to the most needy. During the first week, aid workers were in a survival mood, trying to make sense of it all and settling themselves in, finding out where to sleep, where to wash.

Although I've been an aid worker for almost twenty years, each disaster has unique aspects, for example the media scrutiny is now much more intense and immediate (where journalists sometimes have limited understanding that for them to arrive is easy - just take a plane -, getting significant quantities of appropriate response items cannot be achieved so instantly), and each context is different, for example Haiti already had a most weak infrastructure and significant lack of law and order before the quake hit it. Due to the humanitarian situation, many players were already there, but also suffered significant losses themselves, including the head of the UN.

Haiti Aid Efforts: Agencies must Strike the Right Balance
http://www.newscentre.bham.ac.uk/press/2010/02/Haiti_Aid_Agencies.shtml

Haiti - photos updated on Flickr

Added some photos to my Haiti Flickr set.

Let me know what you think.

Haiti - more info in the media

Just arrived back safely in the UK. It's been a hard, but satisfactory mission... being able to contribute to the humanitarian response is great. As need to catch up on some sleep, again just some links to Islamic Relief's work in Haiti where I was as the team leader:

Mention on IOM website
Mention in The Times
Mention in The Independent

Latest from Haiti - via The Guardian

No time for proper post, but I got quoted in an article in The Guardian, so adding that here: Haiti's homeless plead for tents after earthquake

Haiti - update 4

Port-au-Prince (PaP) is slowly coming back to life, this city which only a few days ago was reeling from the devastating effects of one of the worst earthquake this country has witnessed in centuries is making a remarkable recovery. Today in what used to be the market place I witnessed a lady with her husband selling homemade ice, while others sold freshly picked fruit and veg. Micro and small entrepreneurs were back in business today in many parts of the city. However, there is still a long way to go before complete normality can return to this city. There is still huge uncertainty mixed with a real sense of grief, while the real and dangerous potential for a violent flare up makes safety a concern for all (remember the country has been suffering from many challenges for many years before the earthquake).

On the humanitarian side, in response to the media pressure and criticism in addition to the news of the extra troops deployment in the city to keep law and order, it seems to me that the humanitarian actors and aid workers have moved into full action. The UN is also deploying its highest ranking officials to add to the momentum of the aid effort and ensure enough resources are being allocated.

There are slight improvements in services for aid workers, for example the canteen is now fully functioning, and there is talk of setting up a separate camp for aid agency workers.

Photos from Haiti humanitarian response

For some photos from my humanitarian mission to Haiti, please check:

Haiti

Lots of work left to do!

Haiti - update 3 (19 Jan '10)

General:
I've seen looting is going on, people are out in the street, especially young people looking for food jobs, or anything to get back to their family with. There is a severe shortage of food in the city; the market is empty and not even one restaurant is available. The private sector is not active yet due to the lack of security. We expect the private sector will be activated and the market will be functioning as soon as the security improves.

Electricity: The city still sinking in the dark at night, the government seems reluctant to repair the power station and get the electric power back, in order to avoid any further damage as a result of any further earthquake or tremor/ aftershock.

Water: still severely under supplied due to the damages to the water sources. People get their water either from a hand pump or purchased water trucking. Some NGOs are distributing water via trucking.

Shelter: I haven’t seen any tents having been erected so far, probably due to bottle necks in distribution? People still live in the street in the middle of the road, in the public parks or close to their houses, in makeshift huts made of cloths. There is a huge need for tents and shelter materials. The Government is planning a huge settlement out of the city for 70,000 affected persons or perhaps even much more. They will be concentrated in camps in order for service providers to reach them, so one of the ideas that we are considering is to provide emergency tents to those settlements.

Security: this remain one of the biggest challenges in the city, groups of American army fully dressed in army armour are patrolling the streets now to keep law and order under control (this is exactly as we used to see in Baghdad on the TV). Yesterday some armed vehicles from the UN peacekeepers started patrolling as well. No one can move freely in the city after dark.

Fuel: a severe shortage of fuel is affecting life here to a certain extent. People are queuing long hours to get their cars filled.

Prices: prices of all commodities are rising to an alarming level, as most of the goods come from neighbouring countries, and the life supply line have been disrupted by the quake and the (lack of) security.

Programme: a quick rapid assessment has been conducted in two areas where a severe need for clean water has been identified. A daily trucking will be arranged starting today, where a large number of IDPs will benefit from.

Our Camp: we still live in a tent in the UN camp. We are looking forward to move out so that we can have better facilities, especially access to a shower and washing clothes and wash facility ....etc. It seems to me it is a bit early for this move at the moment to be feasible. We have been advised not to move out now due to the lack of security and poor services outside, so we are assessing the situation on a daily basis and will make a move as soon as we get better option.

Media and communication: we hade done several interviews yesterday, including BBC Arabic TV, Aljazeera English TV, Islamic Channel Radio UK.

All the best for the rest.

Haiti - update 2 (18 Jan '10)

Day three, Port –au-Prince

General: Security is a major concern which hinders the assessment efforts by expatriates as movement can be restricted. People still live in the streets occupying the streets, closing roads close to their destroyed houses and with the hope to attract assistance. The Haitian Government has started cleaning some roads. They have, however, a very modest capacity. People have not started to clear up rubble from the street for many reasons, including waiting for the government or other party to help them in cleaning up, still in shock from the earthquake, to show graves for the lost loved ones and maybe not in the mood to have a new start yet.

Most of the people are living in makeshift tents made of blankets, bed sheets and other materials; others are living in public parks. Some distribution of NFIs and food is ongoing but far less than needed. Some families (the better off) have fled the country to the Dominican Republic (next to Haiti).

IR team: we have established a small camp (2 small tents) within the UN camp, which was a base for the UN peace keepers. The camp is overcrowded and facilities are poor due to the overcrowding, as peacekeepers who used to live outside the camp in houses or flats have moved inside the camp after their houses were destroyed (and it's safer inside).

We are having regular meetings (on daily basis) to divide the tasks between us and have a follow up meeting in the evening everyday.

Priorities and plan:
1.Find a decent and safe place to stay in as a team (at least to secure our belongings as the current setting requires one person to be in the camp at all times to protect our belongings)
2.Recruiting additional local staff and hire additional vehicle to facilitate movement into two teams.
3.Implement a quick impact project
4.Identifying an implementing partner to implement our project

Note Birmingham University's IDD have published a little article on my mission.

In Haiti

My apologies for the lack of updates on this blog... have been focusing on my new website (check out Osman Consulting). However, thinking of keeping this blog as it complements the slightly more static website.

Anyways, I've left for Haiti following the recent destructive earthquake and thought I'd share some news from there:

Day one: 16 January 2010
What happened so far:

We have arrived safely alhamdullah (thank God), to Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic, next to Haiti). We have made some very relevant connections here; vehicles and drivers have been arranged to take us by road to Port-au-prince by road. We have been told that the road from the border to Port-au-prince is very unsafe due to looters and gangs. Unfortunately this is the only way available now to get to Haiti as quickly as possible (the airport in Haiti has been rendered all but useless and though emergency work is being done, it can't really be used at the moment). We will take all the necessary measures to keep safe. We had a very short team meeting to review plan and priorities.

Current Situation:
So far it seems to me it is very classic scenario: desperate needs for everything, shortage supplies, then very soon there will an oversupply of everything (sent with all the best intentions!). We have to thus be careful though when identifying an area for intervention.

The humanitarian community are still gathering themselves; aid workers are still pouring in every hour from all over the world. The presence of USA-based humanitarian agencies is obvious in this case (geographical proximity and historic relations obviously have to do with this). Priority at the moment is still for search and rescue effort which has been taken care of by governmental teams from USA, UK, UNDAC (United Nations Disaster Assessment & Coordination) and some other European countries (especially by sending military and other people who have special experience in such work). UNDAC have a presence at the Santo Domingo airport, apparently to facilitate humanitarian aid coming to Haiti via DHL and maybe others. The logistics cluster has yet to meet formally. I believe their presence is crucial at this point of time, both in Santo Domingo and Port-au-prince. I will send inquiries to WFP in this regard to learn about plans.

People here, especially the muslim community I have spoken with are gathering relief supplies from shops, supermarkets and houses and send them by road to Haiti on an ad hoc basis. Though this is again of course well-intended I pray it doesn't cause internal strife (e.g. due to jealousy) if not well targeted/ coordinated.

As for logistics: lots of supplies have came in by charter via USA, Panama and Dubai; the cost of such supply routes has become very expensive though, e.g. a charter flight carrying 72MT has gone from $250,000 on 14 January to $500,000 yesterday (15 January). These are good times the for private sector. I believe sending further supplies from Africa, Europe or Asia should be avoided, suggesting instead that most of the supplies should come from neighbouring countries (US and Latin America), both to limit transport costs and for environmental reasons.

Our plans and priorities:
- We are leaving now by road to Port–au- prince
- Establish a safe base for Islamic Relief (most likely UN reception camp at the airport)
- Establish reliable communications, especially with Islamic Relief Worldwide's Humanitarian Department (HD)), IR UK and and IR USA (main IR donors so far)
- Implement a quick impact project (any distribution)
- Send media materials to HD (to also share on within rest of IR family), IR UK, IR USA
- Will try to capture media opportunities for publicity to highlight humanitarian emergency (TV, radio,... etc [update 17 Jan: have e.g. done internview with BBC Arabic])
- Other things we could try to achieve

Note, due to the damage to the communications systems I may not be able to communicate regularly. It is, however, one of the top priorities for the team here.