Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoHAITI / HOUSE RECONSTRUCTION
Download
There is no media available to download.
Share
STORY: HAITI / HOUSE RECONSTRUCTION
TRT: 3.00
SOURCE: MINUSTAH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: CREOLE / NATS
DATELINE: 22 AUGUST 2012, PORT AU PRINCE, HAITI
22 AUGUST 2012, PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
1. Pan right, houses destroyed by the earthquake in the area of Fort National
2. Various shots, house repairing
3. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Eliane Felix, Beneficiary and House owner:
“I went to the office of CARMEN to get some information. A team came to provide me with training. They showed me how to rebuild my house, how the masons should work. When he works, we should look what he does and help him to find water, sand, wash the blocks and prepare the cement.”
4. Med shot, constructing a wall
5. Wide shot, Dieulouis Geneus working with bricks
6. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Dieulouis Geneus, beneficiary and house builder:
“I had some knowledge about the construction of houses, but I had some flaws in the repair. Now I have a new idea about the reparation of houses”.
7. Various shots, UNDP engineers inspecting
8. Pan right, UN car driving up to the CARMEN centre
9. Wide shot, UNDP Officer entering office and greeting colleagues
10. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Guillaume Joachin, communication Officer, UNDP:
“CARMEN not only gives training to strengthen the capacity of workers who work in the field of masonry and plumbing, but more importantly it provides grants to vulnerable families who have agreed to add their support to our grant. We do not have sufficient funds to repair the house entirely.”
11. Med shot, worker taking bucket
12. Med shot, Eliane entering room with children
13. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Eliane Felix, beneficiary and house owner:
“With the money I received from CARMEN, I buy iron, cement blocks, sand. I pay the workers and we start the reparation process.”
14. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Guillaume Joachin, Communication Officer, UNDP:
“The family does not receive the money directly, but from the phone Company DIGICEL. The selected family receives a message.”
15. Various shots, Eliane entering to the material shop and showing her cellphone message to the shop staff
16. SOUND UP (Creole) Eliane Felix, beneficiary and house owner:
“Hi this is a message CARMEN sent me on my mobile”
17. Various shots, Eliane talking to the shop assistant
18. Various shots, assistant getting the construction material for Eliane
19. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Eliane Felix, beneficiary and house owner:
“I am very happy with the Carmen project because I still had no means after the earthquake. This assistance is of a major importance to me. I will add what I have to complete the reparation of my house.”
20. Med shot, engineers arriving in a house already repaired
21. Med shot, engineers walking inside house
Working under the threat of another hurricane season, Haitians, aided by the UN Development Programme, rush to complete repairs to houses damaged in the 2010 earthquake
.
The neighbourhood of Fort National in Haiti’s capital Port au Prince is still marked by heavy damage from the devastating 12 January earthquake two years ago. Underfunding for UN programmes has continually plagued reconstruction efforts.
The earthquake caused structural damage to approximately 80,000 houses and left over 100,000 houses partially damaged, but a UNDP project called CARMEN (Creole: Support Centres for the Reinforcement of Damaged Houses) has been helping home owners to make repairs themselves.
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Eliane Felix, beneficiary and House owner:
“I went to the office of CARMEN to get some information. A team came to provide me with training. They showed me how to rebuild my house, how the mason should work. When he works, we should look what he does and help him to find water, and sand, wash the blocks and prepare the cement.”
The CARMEN project targets the homes classified as those with damage but that can be repaired for safe living.
A few weeks following the earthquake Eliane and her family returned to their damaged home and requested repairs.
Eliane’s husband, a builder, received training from the CARMEN project by engineers of the Haitian Ministry for Public Work (MTPTC).
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Dieulouis Geneus, beneficiary and house builder:
“I had some knowledge of house building, but I had some gaps in repairs. Now I have a better idea of home repair”.
UNDP engineers supervise the work.
Since October 2011 UNDP created five CARMEN centres in 5 communities of Port au Prince. More than 20,000 people are registered in CARMEN and over 5,000 heads of families have participated in the construction training.
Over 600 masons were trained according to the MTPTC anti-seismic codes.
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Guillaume Joachin, communication Officer, UNDP:
“CARMEN not only gives training to strengthen the capacity of workers who work in the field of masonry and plumbing, but more importantly it provides grants to vulnerable families who have agreed to add their support to our grant. We do not have sufficient funds to repair the house entirely.”
So far $500,000 US has already been transferred to the target population identified by CARMEN. This fund allows the families to buy high quality building materials.
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Eliane Felix, beneficiary and house owner:
“With the money I received from CARMEN, I buy iron, cement blocks, sand. I pay the workers and we start the repair process.”
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Guillaume Joachin, Communication Officer, UNDP:
“The family does not receive the money directly, but from the phone Company DIGICEL. The selected family receives a message.”
Electronic vouchers sent through cell phone messages enable UNDP to schedule and transfer eVouchers to beneficiaries that can only be redeemed at CARMEN participating construction supply shops.
SOUND UP (Creole) Eliane Felix, beneficiary and house owner:
“Hi this is a message CARMEN sent me on my mobile”
Beneficiaries receive two instalments of $250 each through a voucher, credited to their UNDP CARMEN account, for the purchase of construction materials from project-certified local merchants.
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Eliane Felix, beneficiary and house owner:
“I am very happy with the CARMEN project because I had no means after the earthquake. This assistance is of a major importance to me. I will add what I have to complete the repair of my house.”
So far, CARMEN has assessed more than 5,000 damaged homes of which 1,000 were subsidized. UNDP is currently looking for partners and funds to be able to continue this project after October 2012.
