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On Shaky GroundFirst Person: Stories from HaitiAlain ArmandWhen I returned to Haitifour days after the quake,I saw destroyed primaryschools everywhere,the telltale smilingMickey Mouse and Smurfmurals toppled.Amy Bracken ’92 interviewing a boy (pictured below) who lives in the background tent camp. He told Brackenthe camp was “beautiful” because of all the colored sheets.C O N C O R D A C A D E M Y M A G A Z I N E S P R I N G 2 0 1 0by AMY BRACKEN ’92When I moved to Port-au-Prince inAugust 2004 to report for Reuters andthe Haitian Times, I described it tofriends and family back home in words that arenow painfully ironic: “It’s like San Franciscoafter a devastating earthquake.”I saw the city’s steep hills, beautiful blue bayviews, and radiant pink, wall-climbingbougainvillea, all offset by its dusty, trash-filledstreets, where pedestrians begged—not forfood or money, but for work, a chance in life.Port-au-Prince had the aura of a place that hadsuffered some kind of terrible blow.The political, economic, and militaryassaults on Haiti began before its birth 206years ago and are too many to list. But onerecurrent problem is the failure of other nationsto constructively engage with Haiti (not inHaiti, with Haiti).This was the case from the start, whenmuch of the world refused to trade with the16first black republic on Earth, and Francedemanded reparations that burdened the youngcountry with crippling debt. To a lesser degree,it is still the case today. Billions of dollars arespent in Haiti through foreign governmentaland nongovernmental organizations, while theHaitian government, beleaguered even beforethe destruction of the Parliament, the NationalPalace, and every ministry, now conducts itsbusiness from under a mango tree in the backyardof a police station.One of the most damaging effects of a weakgovernment is weak education. And this is partof a cycle: weak education fails to produce leaders.By a World Bank estimate, Haiti has thelowest rate of public education in the world.Every fall, parents do what they can—working,praying, and prodding family overseas—to findenough money to send their children to school.Still, most can’t afford to keep them therebeyond the sixth grade.For those of us who have had the good fortuneto attend a school such as Concord Acad-emy, the difference between what we had (andwhat some of us too often took for granted)and what our Haitian counterparts experiencedis almost immeasurable. And that was beforethe earthquake.When I was looking for a place to live ina nice residential neighborhood of Port-au-Prince in 2004, I really liked a comfortable,breezy house on the edge of a leafy ravine. But IAmy Bracken ’92
On Shaky GroundPhotos by Amy Bracken ’92couldn’t bear to move in. By the front door wasthe top of a dirt path, and all day, every day,young school-age children descended into thevalley to fill buckets with water and climbedback up the steep slopes to their homes, theirtiny frames wobbling under the heavy loads,faces glistening in the relentless heat.I saw the “lucky ones”—the high school anduniversity students—in the evenings. Some ofthe generator-powered bright lights of embassyhousing illuminated the sidewalk outside, andyoung men and women would gather, crouchingagainst the wall to read a book or write apaper in that “stolen” light. In the rainy season,those same students would hold an umbrella inone hand while focusing intently on the schoolworkin the other.Before the earthquake, only about 1 percentof Haitians made it to university, and eventhen, getting in was no guarantee of success. Imet two law school students who had beenintercepted at sea in an overcrowded and listingboat while trying to reach Miami. They saidthey couldn’t afford to finish school and hadno hopes for employment. They planned to tryto take the harrowing journey again as soonas possible.When I returned to Haiti four days after theearthquake, I saw destroyed primary schoolseverywhere, the telltale smiling Mickey Mouseand Smurf murals toppled. Many of the schoolswere half-day, and the afternoon shift was insession during the quake. I spoke with foreigndoctors who had worked in war zones but saidnothing had prepared them for the sight of somany very young people with crush wounds.All the primary and secondary students Imet on the street and in camps said theirschools had been destroyed. One motherdescribed her nine-year-old son’s reaction to theearthquake: vomiting when he realized whathad happened, then crying every day and askinghis parents about his classmates. With hisschool destroyed, learning the fate of friendswas that much harder.With almost the entire public university systemfor the country concentrated in Port-au-Prince, the universities were even harder hit.Almost all the academic departments weredestroyed, killing staff, faculty, and students.The survivors, many of whom had dedicatedtheir lives to attaining a degree despite all theobstacles, were suddenly helpless, like everyoneelse, in the face of catastrophe.Walking through Port-au-Prince five daysafter the earthquake, most bodies had beenremoved, but some streets still held the rawsights and smells of the human toll, and onAvenue Christophe, stiff and swollen limbs juttedfrom collapsed buildings. But peoplewalked purposefully down the street, sometimescovering their noses and averting theireyes from the source of the stench.It was Sunday morning, but not a time forrest. On one street corner, a prayer servicespilled out from a basement, with men andwomen singing in their black-and-white pressedsuits and dresses. On the next block, in front ofcollapsed university buildings, scores of youngmen and women watched as two studentswrote numbers on an easel. One of them, fromthe business school, had launched a radioappeal to his fellow students to organize andhelp the government and international communitywith relief and rebuilding. Among thosegathered were engineers, psychologists, agronomists,computer scientists, and others, all eagerto serve their country.I left with a sense of cautious optimism. Iwondered if finally the world would recognizethe need to strengthen Haiti’s foundation bygiving young Haitians the chance to becomethe leaders their country needs.Amy Bracken ’92 is a freelance journalist based inBoston. She plans to spend the summer in Haitibefore returning to school in the fall to studyinternational relations.The author interviewed Gilene Basile, pictured with her ten children, some biological, some adopted, at atent camp after the earthquake destroyed their house.17C O N C O R D A C A D E M Y. O R G S P R I N G 2 0 1 0
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Page 3 and 4: spring 2010EditorGail FriedmanManag
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Page 10 and 11: ALUMNAE IPROFILESLee Lawrence Pierc
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joanmudge.comCatalina Mountainsby J
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