Youth in Haiti Leaders in Reconstruction Effort

by Naba Gurung, PWRDF Humanitarian Response Coordinator

We visited the village of Masson where we were welcomed by the leaders of the local youth group. Working with the Christian Reform World Relief Committee (a partner PWRDF is working with in Haiti through the Action by Churches Together (ACT) Alliance) the youth took charge of doing a door to door survey for the initial assessment of damages and needs. We met with affected families who are living under tents and tarpaulins (distributed by CRWRC/ACT) in the local soccer field. With many concrete houses and schools down, the removal of rubble appears to be a big challenge, for which CRWRC/ACT has provided tools such as wheelbarrows, shovels and hammers to the people in Masson.

We met with Nathan Proper, a Structural Engineer from Guelph Ontario, who is volunteering with CRWRC/ACT in Masson village. With the help of the local youth club, which has been CRWRC/ACT partner right from the beginning of the emergency response, Nathan is color coding all the affected houses in Masson into 4 categories- green (fine), yellow (minor repair needed), orange (major repair needed) and red (demolish and rebuild). CRWRC/ACT plans to help the affected families with permanent housing; so this exercise has become an important first step in the process. Nathan has also opened up discussion with the community about appropriate structures and materials for quake and hurricane resistant houses in the context of Masson.

At around 4:30pm, we were taken to the local pastor’s house, where the youth leaders highly appreciated the support from the CRWRC/ACT and re-iterated their commitment to walk together in the journey of recovery and reconstruction. They asked us to convey their thank you to all our supporters in Canada.

The following photos were taken by Naba a few days earlier in the Port-au-Prince area.