To help Haiti reset, support province-based solutions like #KPK, HTAs | Part 2

This is the second installment of a 2-part opinion piece. Click here for Part 1.

NEW YORK—As promised, I’m back with the specifics for engaging Haitians living in the provinces as Haiti is yet again at another pivotal point. But first, a family update. 

Out of those relatives I mentioned were biding their time to safely leave behind the violence in Port-au-Prince, one had made it out as of last week. It cost her 10,000 Gourdes (about $80 USD) to go from the capital to St-Michel de l’Attalaye, our town in the Artibonite Department. 

In my mind, I can see the lush landscapes she would’ve passed on the way north. Thoughts of the tranquil rivers, verdant valleys and majestic mountains of Haiti’s topography alone make me optimistic about the potential laying untapped all around the country. So I really hope this long overdue internal migration isn’t just a moment for Haiti, but a movement.

If we look beyond the Caricom-led transitional council farce playing out, we can appreciate and harness the possibilities that the provinces present geographically, socio-culturally and economically. We can be inspired to support efforts that Haitians are leading, planning and implementing for themselves. Replicable solutions where politics take a supportive role instead of being the end-all, be-all. 

Uplift the #KPK model

Take, for example, the way that Haiti’s newest canal in Ouanaminthe came into being over the past six months. As Ariel Henry, Jimmy Cherizer, Guy Philippe and their kind were busy positioning themselves as the one true savior of Haiti, the canal committee forged ahead with the project, one of several that stalled as the government fell apart.

Undeterred by threats from the Dominican Republic, a border closure, lack of resources and sideshow elements, the committee insisted the local farmers needed the controversial waterway for their livelihood and lives. In so doing, their effort became about Haiti’s sovereignty and they rallied people far and wide to support “kanal la pap kanpe.” Before you knew it, #kpk was trending worldwide, online and offline.

Water is fully flowing in the canal now, The Haitian Times has confirmed. News of this achievement has been overshadowed by the mass prison break and death and disaster coverage, understandably. Also, we still have questions about how the water will be distributed and the canal maintained long term, as new disputes over its management surface. Still, the canal has the ingredients to ignite similar efforts across the country at a minimum. It can also serve as a model for public works across Haiti to survive and thrive.

The canal features the kind of unsexy, day-to-day slog that Haiti requires to go from zero to hero. For people who care about Haiti, it’s worth following because it comprises geographic, sectoral and inclusion elements required for success long term. It can serve as a model of local-led efforts, with state and outside support to build out more essentials for Haiti. 

Putting on my change communications strategy cap, the elements that helped it succeed are so clear:

• It had a clear purpose: Get water people need to live, grow food and raise livestock.
• It engaged key groups, including construction experts, physical laborers and broader public.
• It showed the way with visuals of the canal’s progress, best-guess timing and other information. 
• It embraced support – financial, material, emotional and engagement – from all sides.
• It prioritized transparency, going so far as to commit a designated spokesperson for updates.
• Last, but not least, the actual work kept going. Politicians and posturers came, got their sound bites and TikTok reels, then left. The canal builders kept building.  

Most importantly, the canal shows that everyday Haitians have the will and the skill to turn the country around by leading these types of life-altering works, with help. 

“Even after the construction work ends with this canal, I will continue working on other projects because we need to see a change in our country.” That’s what Merlande Tanis, one of the masons on the canal, told The Haitian Times last fall. The world needs to listen to people like her.

State still needed to scale location-specific efforts

More aptly now than our battle for freedom, the canal shows how Haitians can work together in this day and age. And it’s not just the canal. Look at the array of locally-minded efforts we see in organizations like Anseye Pou Ayiti, Capracare, FIDA-PCH, Fonkoze, Prodev, Care 2 Communities – to name a few. Even with supporters based outside Haiti, these groups have a place in a decentralized model to serve Haitians.

Look also at the role of hometown associations (HTAs). If you’re Haitian, you’ve probably been asked to donate money for a school, church, orphanage, clinic or micro business in your family’s ancestral hometown. Some of these groups – including my own family’s education project – are registered in the U.S. as nonprofits to better raise funds. According to a Migration Policy Institute brief, international development groups also work with HTAs at times to improve lives in specific towns. They do great work, but their performance is uneven since it’s difficult to sustain them mostly out of pocket. 

Therein lies the hitch in this model: Government must still be involved. That’s what Dr. François Pierre-Louis told me when I asked him about bypassing Port-au-Prince to develop Haiti. A political scientist, Pierre-Louis has studied HTAs and served for a bit in the Haitian government. He said the provinces must be empowered and equipped for success long term, a process that the government must facilitate by decentralizing administrative tasks. 

“This is where the hometown associations, [other] local groups can come in and push back,” Pierre-Louis said. “People can form their own corporations [to handle distribution], while the State provides the infrastructure.”

Instead of a top-down approach where Port-au-Prince dictates projects, he said local entities can decide, create their committees or select private enterprises to help receive funding or other administrative support from the government. With the canal, which he emphasized was a State project originally, the government – not donations – should be paying for the water, labor and gas for machinery.  

Now’s the time to prioritize the provinces

Finally, Pierre-Louis said, as the provinces see an influx of people, the government should build roads and hospitals, provide jobs and curb crimes in those areas. Otherwise, they’ll end up with the slums too. Meaning that, there’ll be a repeat of the factors that contributed to the rise of the gangs in Port-au-Prince in the first place.

Pierre-Louis’ take is a sobering reminder that no one part of Haiti can work long term without the others. Going it alone is nearly as bad in the long run as letting a select few run amok. 

While I would love for the funds flowing into Haiti to bypass the criminals in suits or the goons literally holding Port-au-Prince hostage and go into the hands of problem solvers in the provinces, that’s not doable – yet.

However, we can insist on a version of government that works for most of Haiti’s 12 million, not just the few with means. As part of this latest reset, we can insist on finding new ways to integrate the youth forced into gangs or disqualify certain bad actors. Now is the time to lay on the table the preliminary plans for deconstructing and rebuilding the capital, while building up the provinces. Waiting for elections and then a government that won’t be a reality for years means these areas will go ignored for another generation. 

Since the PTC is at play now, I encourage the figures and figureheads involved to prioritize that path to the provinces and the opportunity the internal migration represents. I encourage them to actually respond to the needs of the citizenry, not the wants of the few “civil society” entities put on paper to pacify diplomats in Washington or Kingston holding the purse strings. 

And I encourage all Haitians at home and abroad to insist on such representation for the provinces at the highest levels. We must elevate the models that work for all Haiti even if they’re not perfect – yet.