Rebuilding Haiti
July 21, 2010
Gail Martin - Independent Editor


Marilyn McIlroy wants to help the people of Haiti rebuild.
McIlroy, who works with Evangelical Missionary Church of Canada World Partners/Global Initiatives, was in Haiti on the day of the fateful earthquake on Jan. 12. She was there as part of a medical mission team that claimed the life of Alma-area resident Yvonne Martin.
Since then, McIlroy has returned to Haiti once, in a “scouting mission” to determine how best to house the internally displaced people (IDPs) of Haiti.
It was April, three months after the earthquake, and Port-au-Prince was still like a war zone.
McIlroy said that Wall’s Guest House, the building in which Yvonne Martin lost her life, was still a pile of rubble. It’s only been in the last month or so that the rubble has been taken away, wheelbarrow by wheelbarrow.
During her trip, McIlroy connected with the villages that Martin’s team had intended to visit, and attended a memorial service in her honour.
“I had mixed feelings when I went,” said McIlroy. “But I had to go.”
Many of those who had expected Martin’s arrival mourned her passing, said McIlroy. In fact, at the time of the earthquake, villagers who were expecting the medical team tried desperately to get in touch with McIlroy and Martin, and feared the worst when they could not reach them.
They turned out to be right.
For McIlroy, returning to Haiti not only helped her with her own mourning and sense of loss, but also helped the Haitians who knew and loved Martin.
It was still tremendously difficult.
Smelling the cement dust that is still in the air, for instance, would bring back memories of the moments after the earthquake, said McIlroy.
“I had a heaviness in my chest, and my heart would beat rapidly,” said McIlroy.
Still, it was good to have the chance to return to Haiti and say a formal goodbye to her friend and colleague.
“It was a lovely memorial,” said McIlroy.
The second part of McIlroy’s visit, however, was designed to find ways to help Haitians recover from the earthquake. First and foremost, they need housing.
McIlroy said that when you reach the rural areas of Haiti, you can’t necessarily see the impact of the earthquake. Many of those who have left Port-au-Prince have moved to the rural areas. Some are living with relatives, while others have been taken in by various organizations. A few are in tents — a difficult place to be, considering the sweltering heat that is the norm in Haiti.
And all of these IDPs are living in crowded, difficult conditions, and many do not have any means of income.
EMCC hopes to help change that, by building pre-fab homes that will offer a permanent solution to the housing crisis — rather than “temporary” dwellings that are still being proposed by many aid agencies.
“It’s been six months,” said McIlroy. “Why are we looking at temporary housing, when these people need permanent housing?”
The houses that EMCC are proposing would be made of structural insulated panels that can be initially made in Canada, and shipped to Haiti, where they will be assembled. The total cost is $8,000 per home, compared to $2,500 for an average temporary structure. These houses are hurricane and earthquake-resistant, and are expected to last up to 30 years.
They also have an added advantage — they aren’t made of concrete.
“At this point, Haitians aren’t too keen at living in cement houses,” said McIlroy.
During her April visit, McIlroy checked with EMCC’s Haitian partners, to see if Haitians would be willing to live in these houses. She received approval, and the project is now at the next stage.
This week, four pre-fab houses will be shipped to Haiti, as prototypes that will be built as examples.
If EMCC is able to partner with other agencies working in Haiti, they hope to eventually build more than 1,000 homes in this manner, using local contractors in the construction of the homes. If the project is a success, they hope to eventually have a factory set up in Haiti, giving more employment to local workers.
McIlroy said that all of this work will be based on the premise that they are coming alongside the Haitian people — and not “helping” in any paternalistic role.
“We are working with them, not ‘supervising,’” said McIlroy. “It has to be something they want.”
For more information on the Homes for Haiti project, contact Lou Geense at EMCC Global Initiatives, at lgeense@emcc.ca, or by phone at 519-894-9800.
elmiraindependent