Soccer Anyone? Displaced people evicted from Stadium

Thousands of people were evicted from the grounds of the National Stadium (Sylvio Center) on April 10 when the police came and smashed the remaining temporary shelters. People are now living in the parking lot and the surrounding grounds which were already full. The lives of these displaced people have gone from bad to worse. They are more vulnerable than ever as the parking lot and surrounding grounds flood rapidly when the rains come down. Ben Constant, who has been helping the people in the Stadium since he opened the doors after the earthquake, said, "People will die, no questions about it. When the waters come, and they will come, cars can get washed away. The people are not safe living there, but they were not given any other alternatives."

The National Stadium in Port-au-Prince was transformed into a tent city shortly after the earthquake hit Haiti. Constant, opened the stadium to the public in as orderly a fashion as he could, taking the names of all who moved in and imposing a curfew at night. Ten thousand people were living of the grounds. Rolny St. Louis, the Stadium director, and Constant made the stadium one on the most organized, safest tent cities in the country by providing security, water and getting as much aid from different NGOs as possible. Different medical groups visited daily and set up free medical clinics. That's over now.

The CA-based Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation and other NGOs made the Stadium’s parking lot their prime site for distribution of food and other goods. A shipment of 1,300 tents arrived to great excitement at the end of March. But the tents proved unsuitable. They accommodate three small people. Constant set a few up on the Stadium field so people could check them out. Sentiment ranged from anger and disappointment to realistic acceptance: At least they would have a place to keep their kids dry, one person told me. Tents made for three were given to families of up to eleven. Reports that tents were given out by officials at the Stadium prior to the eviction are untrue.

Rolny St. Louis warned the people they'd have to move after he got a call from the Soccer Federation (a Haitian organization) telling him he needed to clear the people from the Stadium by April 15th. Protests began immediately as people were not told where they could go. AFP quoted St. Louis “We could no longer tolerate people living here. They did everything (in the stadium): prostitution, rape and theft." I asked St. Louis about this comment. ArialMT"">He told me he never said that. There was only one reported rape at the stadium, no prostitution and little crime. He and Constant maintained security for the people. He was not happy at all to put the people out. He made sure to let as many as he could stay in the parking lot though he acknowledged it wont be safe there after a heavy rainfall.

Prior to the eviction, temporary resident Sommavil Rodney said, “We are not animals. We are not savages. But if they try to get us to go, we will show them we can be savage. The Stadium belongs to the Haitian people," he insisted, "and they need to be respected. We will die here before we leave."

Gregory Amazon, who left the stadium ahead of the police eviction, told me that despite the protest that took place early Friday morning, the people had no choice; an elite heavily armed segment of the police department called SIMO came with guns in hand so everyone backed down. Saturday morning the police smashed the shelters to bits as people cried. They watched the little they had destroyed. "I moved back near where my house collapsed and stayed in the second story of a building," Amazon said. "There was another aftershock yesterday and I was scared. We are being treated like dogs."

Over a month ago the Haitian government started erecting a tent city in one of the most dangerous parts of the city, where Cite Soliel, Delmas 2 and Belair come together. The tents are flimsy and are in need of plastic sheeting for waterproofing before they can be lived in. Other alternative solutions are starting to be created out side of the cities limits. A humane civilized solution has yet to be presented. But for now at least, the soccer games can begin.

Click here to see a set of images of the stadium before the eviction Additonal information: A link to a story I did for the Atlantic that includes a clip of the former presidents. And Interview with Anderson Cooper and Sean Penn who talks about relocating displaced people living in a tent city in Petionville. No such alternative option was offered to the people at the National Stadium before they wereevicted. The people outside the stadium are now living in the kind of peril. Sean Penn speaks about that the people in the tent city he has been looking after are in. AFP article that incorrectly reports tents being given away by officials and with a quote the the director of the stadium denies

Port-au-Prince 10 weeks after the earthquake

images top to bottom: Rodney Patrick in Miami field hospital in critical condition from gun shot wounds/Dr. Yvens Laborde treating three- month old Dedumes Christiano at a mobile clinic/Dr. Yvens Laborde treating Anita Buenieville (95 year old) for hypertension/Volunteers with The Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi  Foundation distributing blankets at the National Stadium




Port-au-Prince, Haiti 10 weeks after the earthquake, though the search and rescue work is long over, one can easily find people that need rescuing. No one is alive under the rubble any more, but many people are in mortal danger. Their needs are little different than they were the day after the earthquake.

My first day back in Port-au-Prince I was met by Dr. Yvens Laborde who works for Oshner Hospital in New Orleans. He is a one man envoy on the ground for the hospital helping as many people as he can. Our first stop was the Miami University Hospital on the airbase. It has grown in size and was fuller than ever. Laborde checked on Rodney Patrick, who was shot three times in the back by thieves. His odds of survival are slim, unless Labode can get him evacuated to a hospital in America, a feat he doesn’t think he will be able to pull off. Later we went to Champ de Mars, the tent city across from the presidential palace, to check up on Anita Buenieville, a 95-year-old woman who has hypertension, common after the quake. After the house call he helped as many as he could at an on-the- spot clinic he set up with the help of two assistants. He wasn’t sure he could save three-month old Dedumes Christiano. She developed a rash most likely caused by an infectious disease. (See the doctor in action with the baby here.)

The lack of aid reaching the Haitian people as a crime against humanity, according to Laborde. He is watching people die who he could easily have cured. The situation is deplorable. The need on the ground versus the millions of dollars in aid money being donated is hard to reconcile. In the tent cities, need is the first thing on the mind's of everyone I meet. People ask for shelter, food, and medicine, in that order. Elianna Deaguste led me into her tent and showed me her sick daughter. The rain drenched both of them the night before.

The next days we spent trying to get a shipment released from Customs. The airway bill made it clear the shipment was medical supplies, humanitarian aid, yet the cargo area we were sent to after UPS gave the doctor the paper work wouldn’t release it. The doctor was sent on a wild goose chase that lasted two days, and still the medicine was not released. The Haitian bureaucracy is maddening. It takes over 30 minutes to get a "No" and be told to go elsewhere, over and over again. At the Minister of Interior's office where we went to get the first of three signatures, a worker pointed out to me that the man in the office across from us had been trying every day for three weeks to have his packages released. Four days later and Laborde, a man good at working his way through the system here;Haitian born, launage and culture are second nature to him and still has not gotten the medicine released. He wonders if it is this hard for him, what's it like for those less accustomed to red tape?

Things at the National Stadium have changed. Ben Constant, who allowed for the establishment of the tent city there, added another 800 families to the 1,000 he originally opened the stadium to, bringing the population to over 10,000 people. The Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, based in San Dimas, CA, chose to focus their humanitarian work at the National Stadium after meeting Ben. They are giving aid to those living in the Stadium and the surrounding area. They come daily and will do so until early April. Their distribution technique is much different than the World Food Program food surge that was run with help of the US military and the UN forces. They treat the Haitians with respect and love, bowing when giving aid to each recipient. Curtis Hsin, the Emergency Disaster Coordinator, reported that Brazilian UN security guards told him that the way to keep order was to fight. "Why do you think you need to fight?" Hsin asked. "We will show the Haitian people love and all will be peaceful." The UN guards saw for themselves how respectful and peaceful the distribution process can be. Click here to see video cip of Curits.

While the National Stadium is one of the most secure tent cities , the makeshift shelters offer little protection from the elements. Early Friday morning bought hours of rain. People frantically try to protect themselves and their belongings. Tents are on the way proviced by the Buddists, Ben has been told.

There are noticeably few bright spots to be found in Port-au-Prince these days. Bush and Clinton are set to arrive and meet with the ineffective leadership of the country. The whereabouts of the millions of dollars donated to their fund remains a mystery to me and all those I have met, many of whom have still have received no help at all.