nature's warning

Yesterday, an alarming storm ripped through Port-au-Prince, killing five people and destroying thousands of tattered tarps and tents, already on their last collective breath after enduring over eight months of Caribbean sun and rain. Before the rain came, I was on the top level of the building where I work when I looked outside and joked to my co-worker that it looked like the world was about to end outside. After a typically hot, sunny Port-au-Prince day, the sky had suddenly turned eerily black and the the wind started to pick up. Before I knew it, I was running for the window, trying to keep out the buckets of horizontal rain that were intruding in my workspace. After that, I had nothing more to do than watch the hundreds of people down on the street try to find shelter or just give up and get soaked.

Naturally, all the radio stations and people around me started claiming that it was a tropical storm, but a quick check of the National Hurricane Center's website showed nothing of the sort. As the above AP link describes, gusting winds reached an estimated 60 m.p.h. - significant, but not enough to qualify the storm as anything name-worthy, for example. It was, in fact, nothing more than "a standard early-fall Caribbean storm caused by cold and dry conditions in the upper atmosphere." Not comforting.

Of course, as with most things that happen in Haiti, people like me (read: people with money, houses made of materials other than blue plastic and some twine, private transportation, etc.) weren't affected in any sort of meaningful way. My normal half hour commute home instead took me three hours, which I guess was sort of annoying. But my end destination was a dry house, a warm meal, and a comfortable bed with clean sheets.

So, what's the point? Why recount a story about some 45-minute storm that slightly delayed my arrival home on a Friday night?

I remember quite vividly after January 12th how the international community was scrambling to mobilize a few hundred thousand tents for the millions of people who lost their homes in the earthquake, lest they become victims again, this time of a hurricane. Well, here we are eight months later and the tents are falling apart. We have so far been spared from this supposedly "hyperactive" hurricane season, but it only took 45 minutes yesterday afternoon to show the whole city how awful it will be if a big storm decides to cross our path. Many people will die, and many more will be left homeless for the second time in a year.

I, like many people, donated a little money after the earthquake, just like everybody from Paul Farmer to Bill Clinton told me to do. It was the single biggest collective outpouring of resources, well wishes, prayers, and everything else that I've ever been a witness to. And yet, here I am over eight months later, and hundreds of thousands of people are just as vulnerable as they were a few weeks after the quake. Where did the money go? Here is a list of the top 30 donors who pledged aid to Haiti - take a good look. You'll notice that only 35.7% of pledged money has actually been disbursed. Take a trip down here, have a look around, and you'll be surprised the number is even that high.

What can you and I do about this? First of all, call up whatever organization you donated to, and ask them how they've spent your money. It's your hard-earned money - make sure that it's going to the right place. Secondly, encourage your representative (<--really, click here! - it takes three minutes) to support the HEAR act. Here is a little background (courtesy of my friends Ben and Alexis, fellow Haiti residents):

Eight months have passed since the devastating earthquake in Haiti and progress toward development and reconstruction remains slow. More than 1.5 million people are still living in camps and makeshift shelters in and around Port-au-Prince. U.S. development efforts in Haiti need a plan and a framework that promotes sustainable long term development.

The Haiti Empowerment, Assistance and Rebuilding (HEAR) Act has been introduced in the Senate by Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Robert Corker (R-TN) and in the House by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI). The HEAR Act articulates U.S. priorities for aid to Haiti and sets up benchmarks for success. It also includes a transparent reporting and accountability system so both U.S. taxpayers and Haitians can see where money is going and whether or not it is achieving the desired impact. The bill also includes provisions for strengthening Haitian civil society voices and for ensuring that the Haitian government and the people of Haiti are at the center of development efforts.

The Senate version was marked up and passed by the Foreign Relations Committee but the bill in the House needs more co-sponsors.

Thanks for sticking through the link-heavy post. And thank you for continuing to follow along here, staying informed, and standing with Haiti.

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Here are a couple pictures of a concert that I went to a couple of nights ago. The band is called RAM, and they play every Thursday night at the Hotel Oloffson, a Port-au-Prince landmark. The show is great, the only problem being that they start at midnight and finish around three in the morning, if you're lucky. It makes for a long Friday, but it's a must-see if you're going to spend any time in the capital.