Haiti: The power of konbit honored, too

["Lesley Crosson" <LCrosson@churchworldservice.org>]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
 
In Haiti, the power of konbit honored along with those lost
 
NEW YORK/PORT AU PRINCE -- Thursday, January 12, 2011 -- The second
anniversary of Haiti’s tragic earthquake is first a time to honor those
who died and extend compassion to their loved ones, not simply to turn
critical eyes to what hasn’t been done, says the head of humanitarian
agency Church World Service. 
 
“It is easy to look at the monumental amount of work that has yet to be
done and point fingers at failures, even after two arduous years of
relief and recovery efforts,” says the agency’s Executive Director and
CEO the Rev. John L. McCullough.  “But right now is the time to pay
tribute to those who were lost and to the indomitable Haitian spirit of
those who are carrying on.
 
“It is the Haitian spirit of konbit – that Haitian tradition of
cooperative community labor and solidarity, in which able bodied
neighbors help neighbors prepare growing fields, build and rebuild –
that is making the real difference in Haiti. It is a spirit that took a
mighty blow, yet another of many blows, but it has risen from the ashes
now and it will not fail,” he said.
 
McCullough, whose agency has worked in Haiti for more than 25 years,
acknowledged that since the disaster, while it seemed that the world
came rushing to Haiti’s rescue after the January 12, 2010 quake, there
are still more than half a million people in Port au Prince living in
tents, in dismal, unsafe camps, and that much of the funding promised by
world donors has yet to be provided or spent.
 
 But, he says, “It is also vital and also a tribute to those who were
lost for us to note what has been done—not just by donor money,
thousands of foreign aid workers and volunteers, but by Haitians
themselves – Haitians helping Haitians – because it is in their actions,
their participation, their decisions and empowerment that Haiti’s real
future lies.”
 
McCullough also noted that in honoring Haiti’s survivors today, special
tribute is due to those who are disabled – the many who were disabled as
a result of injuries from the quake and those living with disabilities
prior and who had suffered painful discrimination. 
 
Working with local Haitian partners, CWS is one of the few NGOs doing
permanent house repair in Port au Prince and supports the only program
in Haiti focusing on providing permanent housing for people with
disabilities.
 
CWS says housing programs generally, which were slow getting started in
Port au Prince and elsewhere in the country, are now advancing at a more
encouraging pace. Supporting Haiti’s strategy on decentralization, CWS
has also focused on improving and expanding housing and providing new
housing in rural agricultural cooperative communities in Haiti’s
Northwest and Artibonite regions, to welcome and provide better
opportunities for families to resettle in areas where food security and
self-sufficiency offer new hope.
 
While enormous challenges face the new Haitian administration under
President Michel Martelly and those world donors whose promises and
honorable intentions are still on the line, and while Haitians still
living in tents today are mourning their lost loved ones for a second
year, Church World Service says in Haiti, konbit lives.
 
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Media Contacts
Lesley Crosson, (212) 870-2676, media@churchworldservice.org
Jan Dragin - 24/7 - (781) 925-1526, jdragin@gis.net
 
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