Sgt. Melvain StGeorge, a supply clerk with Company A, 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion, and native of Montrouis, Haiti, debarks a Landing Craft Utility, Aug. 1, in Port-de-Paix, Haiti. Throughout Haiti, StGeorge served as a Creole translator to key leaders from Haiti and the USS Iwo Jima. Marines and Sailors of the Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Continuing Promise 2010, participated in a ten-day mission in Haiti and provided medical, dental, optometry and engineering to the Haitian citizens. Photo by Sgt. Samuel Beyers

The Marine Corps is home to thousands of Marines born in places other than the United States. These Marines are used to deploying all around the globe, sometimes at a moment’s notice. Sometimes these special individuals get the unique opportunity to return to their home country proudly wearing the eagle, globe and anchor.

Six Marines currently deployed to the Caribbean, Central and South America spent ten days in their home country, Haiti, where they served as translators for Marines and Sailors of the Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Continuing Promise 2010 and USS Iwo Jima.

Gunnery Sgt. Felder Domond, Cpl. John H. Michel, and Lance Cpl. Frantz Rosemond, natives of Port-au-Price, Haiti, Staff Sgt. Vladimyr Merci, native of Liancourt, Haiti, Staff Sgt. Vanes Alabre, native of Port-Salut, Haiti, and Sgt. Melvain St George, native of Montrouis, Haiti, traveled from medical sites to engineering sites translating Creole to English and English to Creole to ensure key leaders of Haiti and the USS Iwo Jima knew how daily operations were being executed and ensured the Haiti crowd remained calm, as they waited to seen by a medical provider. Their presence was absolutely essential in the success of the humanitarian mission.

During the CP10 mission in Haiti, personnel aboard the USS Iwo Jima provided medical, dental, optometry, veterinary and engineering services to the people in Port-de-Paix and Saint-Louis de Nord.

Domond from Combat Logistics Regiment 27 and staff noncommissioned officer in charge of the Logistics Combat Element, and Merci, a supply chief with Marine Air Control Squadron 2, Command Element, worked with United Nations Haiti National Police, mayors of Port-de-Paix and Saint-Louis de Nord and leaders from USS Iwo Jima in translating plans and missions of the operations in Haiti.

At the medical sites, when hundreds of Haitians crowded and formed disorganized lines, Domond and Merci intervened and restored order before the scene turned into a riot.

“We needed to calm everyone down in order for (Haitians) to receive the help they were waiting for,” said Domond. “We feel like this is where we were born, and we wanted to help them out by simply talking to them and without anyone causing violence.”

Aside from their translating roles, the six Marines were able to talk among their fellow Haitians. Staff Sgt. Vanes Alabre said many Haitian citizens remembered him when he went out to the different sites.

“We would pack up and leave pretty early and before I left they would thank me and the Marines for what we were doing,” said Alabre, an aviation life support systems technician with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 774, Aviation Combat Element of Special-Purpose MAGTF. “The next day I would return to the same site, and they always said hello. It was very humbling to be there and help them out.”

For some Marines aboard the USS Iwo Jima it was there first time stepping onto Haitian soil during a deployment. For Merci and St George, it was there second time deploying to Haiti in 2010. Shortly after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Jan. 12, 2010, Merci, and St George, embarked aboard the USS Bataan with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit en route to Port-au-Prince for Haiti relief efforts.

“My mom never wanted me to join the Marine Corps,” said Merci. “It wasn’t until I told her that I was going to Haiti after the earthquake to go and help our people. She was proud to know I was going to help our people, and if it weren’t for me being in the Marine Corps, I may have not gotten the chance to go back and help.”

During the time that St George and Merci spent in Haiti from January to April, they served as translators, so they could understand how the Marines were providing aid in clearing out debris and passing out food and water.

“It was extremely rough seeing what the tremendous damage the earthquake did,” said St George, a supply clerk with 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion, Ground Combat Element of Special-Purpose MAGTF. “Helping out was a noble deed, and it was a wonderful experience. I enjoyed my time helping out after the earthquake and helping out the people in Port-de-Paix. They don’t have the same medical options we have in the U.S., and it was nice to see that we can give them a helping hand.”

When the Haiti-native Marines were in Haiti, they were home. They were able to show that they can support their countries … both the United States and Haiti.

“This by far has been the highlight of my Marine Corps career,” said Alabre. “I was able to go home and help my people during a deployment and it was one of the best moments I’ve had so far.”

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Story by Cpl. Alicia R. Giron

Haitian children in Gonaives wait for medical clinic. U.S. Army Photo by Spc. Jessica M. Lopez

Task Force Kout Men moved into northern Haiti in mid June. Over 500 members of the United States military, the National Guard, Reserves and the regulars, will be working in and around the city of Gonaives. The base camp is in the village of Mandrin.

The task force is headed by the Louisiana National Guard who chose the Creole name, which means “Helping Hands”. The exercise is titled “New Horizons – Haiti 2010″ and the men and women rotating through during the June through September time frame will be working on four schools and providing a number of medical outreach services.

At any one time 500-550 Americans will be on the ground but units will be rotating in and out during the mission. It is headed by the Louisiana National Guard and many participants are from Guard and Reserve units in other states, such as Indiana, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New York, North and South Dakota, Texas and U.S. Virgin Islands. Troops from the Central American nation of Belize are also attached to the mission.

In a Bloggers’ Roundtable, we had the opportunity to speak with Army Col. Michael Borrel, the task force commander of the New Horizons-Haiti 2010 exercise, a member of the task force’s engineering team, Maj. Charles “Chuck” Hudson, Louisiana National Guard, as well as a member of the medical staff, U.S. Air Force Col. Thomas Steinbrunner.

Work on local schools is progressing. In addition to structural work, the American engineers are adding wells for drinking water and improved latrines. The SeaBees, Navy Construction Batt. 25, are doing much of this work, assisted by other units and the troops from Belize.

Asked about the earthquake and hurricane resistance of the new construction, Col. Borrel had this to say:

Yes, the system that was selected through the Army South engineers that we’re utilizing is the Royal Building Systems that’s — that has since been renamed the NuForm System. And it’s essentially a concrete-reinforced slab that’s 3,500-PSI concrete with reinforced rebar that is very — with a six-inch slope that’s very strong concrete slab. The walls use a smaller aggregate but at the same 3,500 PSI and the same six-inch slump (sic; slope). So it’s a reinforced concrete building.

And the roof structure facilitates a steel frame J-bolt system that’s bolted steel with the corrugated metal roof. You know, it’s much more better — much better technology, a much stronger system than any of the systems in — being utilized in Haiti. When we came on the ground, essentially, in Mandrin they were using United Nations tents, and they had a pole barn that they were using as a classroom.

So this will be a significant improvement and will enhance the learning capabilities of the children and the instructors as well.

At the facilities at the K. Georges and at the Diaquoi (sp), they were existing structures that were projects from the past that were constructed under the guise of USAID, and they are a similar concrete reinforced structure that have withstood the hurricanes and winds of the past. The grade at which we are placing these buildings is consistent with where the grade is of the existing structures and is intended to be above any type of flood area.

Staff Sgt Rebekah Chiarini, a medical provider with the 399th Combat Support Hospital, plays with children from the Vision For A Better Haiti Orphanage at the at the U.S. Army South New Horizons- Haiti 2010 Gonaives medical assistance site July 7. New Horizons, in partnership with the government of Haiti, is conducting various medical, dental engineering missions for the locals in Gonaives. New Horizons also provides valuable experience to learn in a real-world environment for our U.S. Forces. U.S. Army Photo by Spc. Jessica M. Lopez

This region of Haiti escaped the direct effects of the January 12, 2010, earthquake. Gonaives was partially destroyed by Hurricane Hannah in 2008 and suffers from regular flooding. I asked Co. Borrel about the choice of location for the exercise. He told us that up to 100,000 Haitians from the quake zone were believed, by the Haitian government, to have moved to the Gonaives area. The work on the schools provides for more capacity, to allow some of those refugee children to attend school.

Ten medical exercises are part of the overall mission plan. To date, the officers report that well over 20,000 Haitians have been seen at a variety of locations. Col. Steinbrunner described this outreach as primary care only. Serious problems would be referred to the local Haitian hospitals.

Along with medical exams, Haitians are being seen by dentists and other medical professionals. At the request of the Haitian government, there are no immunizations being provided. Steinbrunner described the conditions seen to date as a mix of many things, skin conditions, parasitic illnesses and sexually transmitted diseases being predominant.

The large numbers of American troops that surged into Haiti after the earthquake are gone. Yet, a small, hardworking group of Americans troops continue to make a difference as a part of Task Force Helping Hands.

You can follow these Americans through social media:

Facebook: New Horizons – Task Force Kout Men

Flickr: Task_Force_Kout_Men_New_ Horizons_Haiti_2010′s photostream

Twitter: @tfkoutmen

Click on the image for a larger view.

It has been six months since the impoverished nation of Haiti was devastated by an earthquake. While nearly two thirds of this island nation suffered little or no effects from the quake, the economic, political and population center of the nation was nearly leveled. The effects of the loss of life and the loss of infrastructure are still being felt today.

On January 12, 2010 Haiti was devastated by a massive earthquake. 230,000 people were killed an nearly 200,000 more injured. Over 1.2 million Haitians were displaced from their homes. A simpler illustration of the effects of the earthquake might be the resumption of international mail delivery to Haiti on May 3 after nearly four months.

The loss of buildings is extreme. Homes, hospitals, schools and other institutions are rubble or unsafe to occupy. The homeless are truly that, without anything but a blue tarp over their heads.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has been working in Haiti for 19 years. Here is what they recently reported:

The earthquake destroyed 60 per cent of the existing health facilities and 10 per cent of medical staff were either killed or left the country. MSF had to relocate services to other facilities, build container hospitals, work under temporary shelters, and even set up an inflatable hospital. With over 3000 Haitian and international staff working in the country, MSF currently manages 19 health facilities and has over 1000 beds available at various locations. The organization has provided emergency medical care to more than 173,000 patients between January 12th and May 31st.

Caritas Haiti is the charitable arm of the Catholic Church in Haiti. They have been operating there for some 35 years. Here is a portion of their recent statement:

Providing shelter to the many people who lost their homes in the earthquake remains a major challenge. Over a million people still live in makeshift settlements and camps around the capital Port-au-Prince. More than 250,000 houses were destroyed. Over the last six months, Caritas provided emergency shelter or temporary homes to almost 160,000 people in Port-au-Prince and in rural areas. While things are starting to improve in the Léogâne area, the situation remains highly complex around Port-au-
Prince.

Despite continuous clearing work, the rubble remaining in the streets considerably slows down reconstruction. The camps are so densely populated that no temporary houses can be built there. The problems are often worsened by unclear land ownership.

Only a few hundred temporary shelters have been built in the capital so far. Ahead of the rainy season starting in June, inhabitants from unsafe camps had to be relocated. While people in camps needed to be taken care of with emergency shelter materials such as tents and tarpaulins in the first months, heavy rains flooded these places and made distributions difficult.

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Action Aid has been in Haiti for thirteen years. Its six month report includes this:

Jean-Claude Fignolé, ActionAid Haiti Country Director, said: “The Haitian people must be included in the reconstructions plans. At the moment the plan is more reflective of donor country interests and that is wrong. It is imperative that Haitian people be directly involved in their own recovery and lead the reconstruction process.”

The situation in Haiti remains extremely challenging. The hurricane season which began on June 1 and continues until November has been forecast this year to be particularly severe with a high probability of several tropical storms which could lead to mudslides, landslides, subsidence and flooding.

Most survivors are still living in tents as finding the land to build transitional shelters has been a huge challenge in the densely populated capital Port-au-Prince where land ownership is often disputed and documents have been lost or destroyed.

Jean-Claude Fignolé said: “It is urgent that solutions to the housing crisis are found and implemented before a real storm hits the country.

CHF International has been concentrating on getting Haitians back into their own neighborhoods by paying for rubble removal and constructing shelters.

As of July 2, CHF has completed 1,527 transitional shelters in Port-au-Prince, Leogane and Cabaret, delivering housing to more than 7,600 Haitians. Most shelters are designed for the average Haitian family size of five. Through funding from USAID/OFDA, as well as support from corporations and the public, CHF is building an average of 200 shelters per week and plans to meet its goal of 6,000 shelters by October, which will offer safe housing to 30,000 people affected by the earthquake…

CHF has been able to build so many shelters because they have focused not on building camps, but on returning Haitians to their original communities and maintaining community cohesion. CHF demolishes damaged homes and builds shelters in their place. By keeping communities together, crime and violence are reduced and people are able to continue the job they had before. This is at the core of CHF’s vision of community-based development.

Outside of shelter development, CHF is employing Cash for Work teams comprised of Haitians to help demolish damaged structures and clear rubble from key roads, canals, public buildings, and schools. By July 2, CHF had removed 153,650 cubic meters of debris from nearly 300 sites of major roads, canals, and public buildings. This volume equates to two football fields stacked seven stories high in rubble. Since the earthquake, CHF has employed over 11,000 Haitians in rubble removal, for about 20 days each.

There is this story from GoUpstate.com:

Tents clustered in makeshift cities throughout Port-au-Prince are beginning to show wear. One “city” across the street from the Rescue Children Orphanage houses about 120 people in just 12 tents, Ramantanin said. He and others from Rescue Children dropped off pots, pans and food donations at the camp.

The Baptist Standard gives us this information:

The rain, sun and wind have taken their toll on the shelters. Edges of the plastic tarps hang in tatters. Many have begun leaking during storms.

“One interesting thing about the homes is that people have a phobia now. They don’t want to live under concrete roofs anymore,” Shehane said.

In addition to Haitians’ concerns about the safety and durability of new houses, new home building is made difficult by issues related to funding, land ownership and government restrictions.

“It’s always difficult to work through the bureaucracy here, and that’s true in many, many countries,” Brendle said. “First of all, because we have competing interests. We have the international aid community that wants to come in and have everything just flow in without any tariffs, without any bureaucracy, and that worked for a while after the disaster. But one of the major sources of income for this government is its tariffs from imports.”

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The Christian Science Monitor did a story about the camps and forced evictions.

Of 1,241 refugee camps here, only 206 are officially recognized, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Only the official camps are monitored by NGOs, meaning that the majority lack protection. …

This past spring, the government Commission of Damage Assessment, Temporary Shelter, Demolition and Reconstruction reportedly identified several sites totaling 6 million square meters (some 1,500 acres) for relocating people to the perimeters of the capital. Lengthy negotiations to secure the land have yet to secure relocation options for the 2.1 million people left homeless from the Jan. 12 earthquake.

Now, forced evictions from refugee camps are on the rise, officials say. With landowners exasperated by the slow pace, some are taking matters into their own hands.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Sarah Perry, medical coprsman, Operational Health Support Unit, celebrates with two children at the closing ceremony of the Medical Readiness Training Exercise, May 20. The MEDRETE provided more than 4,100 patients in the Les Cayes area with basic, immediate health care over a period 10 days. Facilities for the doctors, dentists and optometrists were provided by the American University of the Caribbean in Les Cayes. More than 40 Navy service members, several Haitian doctors, Uruguayan Soldiers assigned to MINUSTAH and Haitian Coast Guard members assisted in the exercise. Les Cayes is the second MEDRETE to be conducted in the southern region of Haiti. The first was in Port Salut several weeks ago.

On January 12, 2010 Haiti was devastated by a massive earthquake. 230,000 people were killed an nearly 200,000 more injured. Over 1.2 million Haitians were displaced from their homes.

160 days have passed, over five months. Here are some of the current facts and figures from the governments and agencies continuing to assist the stricken nation.

• Since February, the U.S. Government has helped vaccinate more than 1 million people against diseases such as polio, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, measles and rubella. (1)
• USAID cash-for-work programs that employ approximately 24,000 people every day (2)
• In the long term, mobile money could help millions of Haitians improve their lives through easy access to savings accounts and other financial services. Just three years after its launch, Kenya’s M-PESA mobile money service now has more than 9 million users (40 percent of all adult Kenyans), who pay for everything from taxi fares to school fees via mobile phone. The transactions are much safer than carrying cash, and rural households using M-PESA saw their incomes increase by 5 to 30 percent, according to early results of a recent study by the University of Edinburgh. (2)
• Flooding control and prevention – IOM reported that land ownership presents a significant obstacle to mitigation work, as 60 percent of assessed sites are located on privately owned land where a number of landowners have resisted proposed mitigation activities. (3)
• As of June 10, assessment teams had evaluated approximately 120,000 of the 800,000 planned structures and continue to assess approximately 3,000 buildings per day, according to MTPTC. Preliminary results designated 45 percent of structures surveyed in central Port-au-Prince as green, or habitable, and 30 percent of surveyed structures as yellow, signifying that the structures require minor repairs. (3)
• United Nations peacekeepers have this morning helped local police in Haiti capture 30 criminals who had escaped from prison in the wake of January’s catastrophic earthquake and subsequently infiltrated a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the capital.
  Working with the Haitian National Police (HNP), more than 350 military and police staff serving with the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) raided the Jean-Marie Vincent camp for IDPs near the notorious Cité Soleil neighbourhood of Port-au-Prince shortly after 5 a.m.
  The operation was the largest security action conducted by MINUSTAH since the 12 January quake, which killed an estimated 200,000 Haitians and destroyed or substantially damaged the homes of millions of others. Many prison inmates also escaped from jail in the aftermath of the disaster.
  In a press statement MINUSTAH said the raid was conducted following an upsurge in violence inside the IDP camp that was linked to the prison escapees. (4)
• Total FY 2010 USAID, State, and DoD Humanitarian Assistance to Haiti for the Earthquake …..$1,092,894,368 (5)
• As of June 11, Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) Cluster partners had registered 371,039 households, comprising nearly 1.6 million individuals, through the displacement tracking matrix (DTM). The DTM records internally displaced person (IDP) data, including on fluctuating site populations, to develop an accurate picture of the humanitarian situation to tailor assistance to identified needs. As of June 9, the CCCM Cluster had identified 1,342 settlement sites in affected areas. (5)
• As of June 9, the DTM indicated that Delmas municipality, in the greater Port-au-Prince area, contained at least 200 settlement sites and the highest IDP population of all earthquake-affected areas. Of the 200 sites identified in Delmas, 11 sites hold more than 1,000 households each, 129 sites host between 100 and 1,000 households each, and 60 sites have fewer than 100 households each. (5)
• During weeks of May 30 and June 6, health authorities reported a total of 39,186 clinic visits, with the most common illnesses comprising acute respiratory infection, suspected malaria, watery diarrhea, fever of unknown origin, suspected typhoid, and bloody diarrhea. (5)

1. USAID Responds to Haiti Earthquake
2. Gates Foundation and USAID Announce Innovative Fund to Incentivize Mobile Money Services in Haiti
3. USAID Fact Sheet #58, Fiscal Year (FY) 2010
4. UN peacekeepers help to arrest 30 criminals on the run since quake
5. USAID Fact Sheet #59, Fiscal Year (FY) 2010

Spc. John W. Peterson, of Fargo, N.D., spends time with a local boy in Haiti before posing for a photo with the Haiti flag the boy was carrying. Peterson was part of a group of 21 Soldiers with the North Dakota Army National Guard's 191st Military Police Company who volunteered for a three-and-a-half week humanitarian mission to Haiti. They provided force protection as part of U.S. Southern Command's New Horizons program while assisting in the aftermath of the Jan. 12 earthquake there.

Soldiers working in Haiti returned home yesterday after spending more than three weeks there on a humanitarian mission. The Soldiers, who serve with the 191st Military Police Company, left May 19 to take part in the U.S. Southern Command’s New Horizons mission.

“The North Dakota National Guard does an outstanding job of serving our state and nation, and these Soldiers have proven that the Guard’s dedication and preparedness extends far beyond the borders of North Dakota,” said Gov. John Hoeven. “The important work they have completed in Haiti will have a beneficial impact on the people of that country as they continue to rebuild their lives in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake.”

The North Dakota Army National Guardsmen provided force protection at four locations in Haiti, primarily to facilitate the construction of a base camp near Gonaives, about 95 miles north of Port au Prince. That construction is wrapping up this week, said Sgt. 1st Class Troy Skelton, of Bismarck, the noncommissioned officer in charge of 20 other North Dakota Soldiers in Haiti. The group also provided some convoy security for medical personnel assisting in the aftermath of the Jan. 12 earthquake.

“These Soldiers embody the characteristics that make the North Dakota National Guard great,” said Maj. Gen. David Sprynczynatyk, North Dakota adjutant general. “Despite the primitive conditions and long work days, they all volunteered to go on this mission. They realize that what they did there will have lasting impacts on the people of Haiti, as well as on their own abilities since they were able to refine their skills while operating as part of our global environment.”

During the 26-day mission, Soldiers subsisted entirely on meals ready to eat and bottled water. The bottled water also was their only means of bathing while in Haiti, where the temperature regularly pushed 100 degrees.

Spc. Lindsay A. Suko, of Mandan, N.D., and Spc. Amanda G. Weninger, of Grand Forks, N.D., pose for a photo at the sea port in Haiti. The sea port was one of four locations where Soldiers with the 191st Military Police Company provided security during the past few weeks as they took part in a U.S. Southern Command New Horizons humanitarian mission there.

“I see the mission as a success,” Skelton said. “The Soldiers completed the mission with professionalism and no complaining. The Soldiers who went down to Haiti were up for the challenges we faced, and they all did an incredible job.”

Skelton’s group worked under the guidance of the Louisiana National Guard and side-by-side with Soldiers from Indiana, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New York, South Dakota, Texas and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Together, they focused on construction projects and humanitarian and medical assistance as part of New Horizons, which gives participating military personnel the opportunity to help communities and individuals with humanitarian needs while enhancing their ability to deploy overseas in support of military operations.

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The Louisiana National Guard is scheduled to lead a New Horizons humanitarian assistance exercise in Haiti beginning June 1, U.S. Southern Command officials announced, April 25.

“We are proud to have our National Guard step forward to be a part of this important recovery effort,” said Gov. Bobby Jindal. “Louisiana received so much support from across the country and around the world after hurricanes Katrina and Rita; we stand ready to lend that same assistance to other parts of the world in their times of need.

“These brave men and women know firsthand the type of hard work and perseverance it takes to recover from a disaster, and I know that they will serve the people of Haiti well.”

The exercise in Haiti will provide critically needed medical and engineering services to the country’s capital of Port-au-Prince and surrounding communities, such as Gonaives. The country was ravaged by an earthquake, Jan. 12.

“In three months, we’ve planned a significant exercise in Haiti where there wasn’t one previously,” said Army Lt. Col. Scott Jonda, the exercises branch chief for the Army Guard’s operations division.

“Our engineer units will provide some … new construction of schools and clinics, and there will be medical units that will go out and provide various medical tasks in the community.”

SOUTHCOM officials said that free medical care will be provided at various sites, and that U.S. military medical personnel will be stationed at each site for 10 days to provide general medical, dental and optometry services for about 700 individuals daily.

Engineering projects will include not only new construction at three schools, but also construction of a sports recreation area and water well improvements, said SOUTHCOM officials.

Army Lt. Gen. Ken Keen, SOUTHCOM’s military deputy commander, said that the military humanitarian assistance mission would consist of about 500 Soldiers, led by the Louisiana National Guard.

“The Louisiana National Guard is excited about leading the New Horizons mission to Haiti,” said Army Maj. Gen. Bennett C. Landreneau, the state’s adjutant general. “While our Soldiers and Airmen are very proud to join the relief effort, this mission [will] also be an excellent training opportunity for them.”

Jonda said the Louisiana National Guard will provide the duration staff, while eight other states and one territory will contribute Soldiers to this mission, including Missouri, Nevada, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, California, Indiana, Massachusetts and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Specifically, North Dakota, Indiana and Nevada will provide military police support. Nevada and Montana will provide aviation support; and South Dakota will provide engineering support.

New Horizons missions began in the mid-1980s as an annual series of joint and combined humanitarian assistance exercises that SOUTHCOM conducts with Latin American and Caribbean nations.

New Horizons exercises typically last several months providing medical and infrastructure projects. These missions give deployed U.S. military forces invaluable training opportunities to work with partner nations.

The assistance from New Horizons is in addition to the over $1.03 billion in emergency humanitarian assistance already provided to the Haitian people by the U.S. government since the devastating earthquake.

DVIDs
Story by Spc. Darron Salzer

Two Colombian Armada tender boat operators, crew members from the Cartagena de Indias, pilot their craft towards a small port in Killick to the awaiting U.S. vessel, landing craft utility 2026, the Hobkirk, April 22, near the conclusion of a 6-day mission with the U.S. Army and other non-government organizations. Cooperation between the U.S. Army, Colombian Armada and Army, along with Red Cross groups from both Haiti and Colombia, resulted in several thousand tons of humanitarian supplies reaching the Haitian people. Photo by Capt. Jose Emperador

It’s almost as if the multi-national team of Haitians, Colombians and Americans, who began working less than one week ago to offload humanitarian cargo inbound from Colombia, have been working together for years.

The complex effort of transferring cargo from the anchored Colombian Armada Navy ship, Cartagena Indias, to two alternating U.S. Army landing craft utility vessels, the Matamoras and the Hobkirk, near a small port at Killick, Haiti seemed like a routine effort to the novice mariner. Representatives from all organizations credit teamwork, cooperation and motivation as the catalyst for the successful operation which ended April 22. And no matter which language was being spoken, be it Creole, French, Spanish, English or a mangled combination of all four, everyone involved seemed to agree that the cooperation was “excelente.”

Colombian Armada ship Commander Jose Guillermo Rodriguez says a chance meeting at Port-au-Prince’s main port with U.S. Navy and Army officers began the discussion of a possible joint cooperative mission between the two allies. Rodriguez, skipper of the Cartagena de Indias, a ship used by Colombia primarily for counter drug patrols off the South American country’s coast, said the partnership began forming during the initial encounter. “As soon as I met the officers from the [U.S.] Navy and Army, we began discussing how we could help each other,” Rodriguez said. “After further discussion, we determined they could help us offload cargo from the Cartagena and get it ashore to waiting representatives from the Colombian Red Cross.” Rodriguez added that the partners between the various organizations were motivated and committed to the effort.

“The Colombian Red Cross in conjunction with the Haitian Red Cross and your Soldiers [U.S. Army] came with the LCU of the Army …and every day they came to help unload,” Rodriguez said.

The Hobkirk’s vessel master, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Willis Allen, says the small, damaged port facility at Killick isn’t conducive to a ship the size of the Cartagena. Allen says his vessel, with a flat bottom and shallow draft, is capable of pulling up right to the beach if needed. This quality, unique to LCU-type boats, allowed him to complete those final legs to shore that the Cartagena previously had to do with its utility skiffs.

“We moor alongside the Colombian ship… we tie up, they take a crane and put a gang way down to our vessel and we just start a chain and start the food down to the vessel,” Allen said.

Allen joined the consensus of opinions in saying there was excellent cooperation between all the agencies involved.

“It shows a lot of hospitality between two countries to make things happen,” Allen said. He also said the Haitian workers, the Colombian Red Cross and the crew of the Cartagena, along with his Soldiers, worked extremely well and efficient together. Prior to the use of the two LCU’s, the Colombians off-loaded a load similar in size but that effort took 18 days.

“It is my understanding that when they unloaded the first shipment they had to unload everything to small boats all by themselves by hand.” said Sgt. 1st Class John Gaviria, who coincidentally is Colombian as well as the Hobkirk’s 1st mate. “The experience that I’ve had with the Colombian Armada, the Colombian Army, and the volunteers of the Colombian Red Cross has been excellent.”

Representatives from the Colombian Army, who helped with transportation on the cargo was offloaded, also shared similar sentiments. Colombian Army Maj. Diego Pastrana, second commander, equivalent to an executive officer, of the Disaster Awareness and Prevention Battalion, said their job has required a lot of effort taking into account that they could have used some much-needed resources. “Here, the American Army has been the fundamental logistical part to all the support necessary,” Pastrana said. “At this moment, we’ve been supported greatly and thanks to that, we are able to continue our support for the Haitian people.”

Jose Estrada Charis, director of area relief for the Colombian Red Cross says all the agencies involved formed a strong team. “Responding to emergencies and natural disasters often create a fraternal bond between various nations in the world involved,” Charis said. “The Colombian Army and Armada [Navy] with the American Army have formed a team with the Colombian Red Cross.”

“The humanitarian supplies that the Colombian Red Cross is providing to the Haitian Red Cross as well as the interaction with the American Army and that great friendship and great team that we’ve now created has created an excellent rapport between us all,” Rodriguez, said. “As the commander of this ship, it is one of my hopes that all our crew remember the images we see on land and learn to better appreciate what we have back in Colombia because, in reality, we all live in paradise.”

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Story by Capt. Jose Emperador

Haitian citizens remain in the street afraid or unable to return to their homes. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Candice Villarreal

And it grinds on.

AlertNet / Reuters

Around a quarter of a million Haitians living in precarious tent camps could face a “catastrophe” unless they are moved quickly to safer areas ahead of the approaching rainy and hurricane seasons, the United Nations has warned.

More than two months after the Jan. 12 earthquake that wrecked Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince and surrounding cities, rain and storms threaten to turn some of the city’s squalid tent camps into toxic rivers of mud and human excrement, and protecting the 250,000 residents who are judged to be most vulnerable is a race against time.

As of last week, only around 200 families had been moved to temporary shelters outside of the capital approved by the government.

“We just can’t let people continue to live in these conditions,” France Hurtubise, public information officer for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told AlertNet by phone from Port-au-Prince.

“Some sites sit on flood plains and on hills, which is very dangerous and could lead to landslides. That would be a disaster. These people will have to be moved or it will be a catastrophe if they remain in these sites.”

The government wants some quarter of a million people in around seven of the capital’s 461 camps considered at high risk of flooding and landslides to move by mid-April.

It says relocating people to new temporary sites is the last resort, and is encouraging quake survivors to return to their homes or seek shelter with host families in and around the capital.

The plans mean finding at least 600 hectares of land for alternative settlements, which is hard to come by in an already crowded capital city, says OCHA.

Only around a third of the land needed for resettlement has been identified by the government so far, according to a recent OCHA report.

“We are urging the government to identify more land. Work needs to move faster to move people out of harm’s way before the rainy season starts,” OCHA spokesperson Elisabeth Byrs told AlertNet from Geneva, echoing growing frustration among aid agencies.

Progress has been slow in moving people to safer sites because of difficulties in finding rubble-free land to build on, agreeing land deals and obtaining government approval and building permits, the United Nations says.

Tension between landowners and displaced people settling on private land is also a growing concern, according to OCHA, and in some cases people have been forcefully evicted.

“A strategy to address the legal rights of land owners while also protecting the affected population needs to be developed,” the U.N. agency says in a report.

As members of the services flight for the Connecticut Air National Guard's 103rd Airlift Wing, Tech. Sgt. Chris Jones (left) and Tech. Sgt. Bambi Putinas volunteered to do search and recovery at the destroyed Hotel Montana in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The four-star hotel collapsed during the Jan. 12 earthquake trapping many of its guests in the rubble. The two worked with search and recovery teams from France, Mexico, Canada and other branches of the U.S. military. Photo by Staff Sgt. Jon Soucy

The earthquake that rocked this city left many of its structures damaged or destroyed, including one landmark that many say represented a sense of stability within the city.

The Hotel Montana, a four-star hotel where diplomats, dignitaries and other world leaders often stayed, collapsed during the Jan. 12 earthquake trapping many of its guests in the rubble.

A few made it out alive, and the task of finding and identifying those who didn’t fell to a variety of organizations, including search and recovery teams from France, Mexico, Canada and members of the U.S. military.

As a member of the services flight for the Connecticut Air National Guard’s 103rd Airlift Wing, Tech Sgt. Bambi Putinas said her job encompasses not only personnel issues, food services and lodging, but also mortuary affairs.

“We all volunteered to come here, but we had no idea what we would be doing,” she said. “In the back of our minds, we all thought possibly mortuary affairs.”

When a call for volunteers to assist at the Hotel Montana site was put out, Putinas was one of many from her unit to volunteer for the mission.

“We would help with the preliminary identification of remains and make sure they got back home safely and also any articles, luggage, personal effects,” she said. “We helped to document what we found, and those also would be shipped home.”

Putinas said it was an important job to do, but also a difficult one.

“It was hard,” she said. “Sometimes you could actually put a face with a name or an article or something that was inscribed.”

For many who worked at the site, it was an opportunity to provide a sense of closure to the grieving family members of those who died in the hotel.

“…we were recovering those that had fallen at the (Hotel) Montana, so that they could be returned to their loved ones and bring closure,” said Tech Sgt. Chris Jones, also with the 103rd AW. “We were sending them home.”

That was part of what made many who worked at the site go back day after day.

“Some people wanted to go out every day, no matter what,” said Putinas. “You think that you’re going to find somebody one day and you just keep on searching hoping to find someone.”

Though it is part of the services mission set, mortuary affairs is not a skill that unit members use on a regular basis.

“It was a lot of nerves the first time we went out there,” said Jones. “We do a lot of training, but this was our first real-world experience handling this aspect of our career field. It was a lot of nerves, a lot of anxiety, but everyone got out there and did their job and handled it very well.”

Unit members also relied on each other for support during the recovery operations.

“We kept an open door policy and set rank aside if anybody needed to talk or had any questions,” said Jones, who added that there were briefings and other opportunities for those at the site to discuss or work through any issues.

“We’re a pretty strong group to begin with,” said Putinas. “I think it was a great team that we put together, and we were there for each other.”

Jones recalled the day the remains of an Air Force officer were recovered.

“They said he was still in his uniform,” said Jones. “His body was covered, and he was moved out of the rubble and all of us stopped working and we went to attention and saluted as he was moved past us. It was our way of paying final respects to him.”

For those at the site, doing the job was something they took great pride in.

“We received a great sense of fulfillment in the job we were doing,” said Jones. “We had an extreme amount of pride in the job that we had done.”

And that is something that will stay with them long after they return home.

“I think I’ll be telling my family members about the team I worked with,” said Putinas. “And how great it was to work with the Army, the Navy, the French, the Canadians, and how people from all aspects of life could come together for one mission, in a country that none of us ever thought we would come to, and pull together and do a mission that needed to be done.”

DVIDS
Story by Staff Sgt. Jon Soucy

Over 60 articles about the Haitian earthquake, U.S. military assistance to Haiti after the quake, American giving to earthquake relief and other related topics can be found at the link Haiti Quake 2010.

An Airman with the 118th Civil Engineering Squadron, gives candy to a child at the New Life Children's Home in Port au Prince, Haiti, March 12, 2010. Members of the squadron have been working at the home, a local orphanage that has also taken in many children injured by the January earthquake, building cabinets, storage areas and a medical clinic. Photo by Staff Sgt. Jon Soucy

The U.S. military response to the January earthquake in Haiti was almost immediate.

Within hours, equipment, supplies and personnel began to arrive in Haiti to assist those affected by the earthquake and its aftershocks.

Many Air National Guard units and personnel were among the first to respond to the disaster.

For some, it was a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Air Force Staff Sgt. Oscar Trevino of the 190th Civil Engineering Squadron of the Kansas Air National Guard was with his unit in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as part of its two weeks of annual training.

“People said they felt the earthquake,” said Trevino. “I grew up in Southern California, and I didn’t feel anything. I just rolled over and went to bed. Sure enough, we found out the next day they had a massive earthquake over here.”

Trevino’s unit arrived here a week later.

“We waited for a week to get transportation,” he said. “Really, they needed us as soon as they could so we could get the camp going and get the other people housed.”

When Trevino first arrived in Haiti, service members were sleeping wherever space was available.

“The first week I slept on some lumber, because I didn’t want to sleep on the ground,” he said.

Building a tent city is a bit more involved than simply erecting a few tents. It means leveling ground and setting up living, shower and laundry areas.

“We initially brought in what is called a ’550 kit,’ which consists of tents and will house roughly 550 personnel,” said Trevino. “We were at the north end of the airport, and it was nothing but tall grass. And we came in with our heavy equipment and leveled the place. We put up tents and then our shower and laundry and built it up to as you see it today.”

These operations are all part of what a civil engineering squadron does.

“When we hit the ground in an expeditionary or contingency environment, our job is to set up a bare base,” said Air Force Lt. Col. Craig Bradford, commander of the 118th CES in Nashville, Tenn., and commander of the 24th Expeditionary CES in Port au Prince, Haiti. “So, if we have a water source and an airfield, we’ll come in and bring in all the material to build a tent city.”

But that still means hitting the ground running.

“We got here Jan. 29, and I haven’t had a day off since then,” said Bradford. “But we’ve been working hard to build a tent city for all the joint members in the task force.”

Members of Bradford’s squadron have been responsible for building more than a tent city. They worked on other projects around the airport and were directly involved with getting it re-opened to commercial traffic on Feb. 19.

“We built a diversionary road around the airport, otherwise traffic would be worse than what it already is,” said Bradford. “We also fixed a water leak that was just outside the major terminal that was going to be used for the commercial re-opening. Without our work, that terminal would not have opened at all.”

They also fixed the landing lights on the runway.

“The airfield lighting has gone down multiple times while we’ve been here,” said Bradford. “The first night it happened, the president of Haiti couldn’t even make it in. They had to divert his flight to another Caribbean island and our folks stayed up until that system was working and ready to go and he landed in the morning.”

The squadron’s ability to get the airfield lights back up and operational came about, in part, because of the civilian backgrounds of many of the squadron members.

“From the civil engineering standpoint, most of our folks are craftsmen on the outside,” said Bradford. “They have the abilities and they are working in the crafts. They’re carpenters, they’re electricians. Those are some of the unique qualities that the active duty force doesn’t have that we bring in our squadron.”

Because many buildings within the city have been destroyed or damaged by the earthquake, local residents have been wary of returning to their homes or entering various structures, said Bradford.

So, the squadron provided structural assessments of those properties “to give people the warm and fuzzy that they can go back and live where they lived before and that’s just as important as providing food and water,” said Bradford.

Providing these services is what makes the mission worthwhile. “Morale has been fantastic,” said Bradford. “This is a different sort of mission than going to Iraq or Afghanistan. If the shops can afford to lose a few folks during the week, then we go ahead and send them out on a mission to help an orphanage or work in the clinic or wherever we can.”

And that’s all part of the squadron’s mission.

“There was a humanitarian mission before the earthquake and there will be one long after,” said Bradford. “At most, we can put a dent in it. We’re here to help as much as we can.”

DVIDS
Story by Staff Sgt. Jon Soucy

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Locals sit by their stands, filled with everything from rice, to cigarettes, to Revlon lipstick. Men carry enormous bags of fruits and vegetables on their heads, zigzagging through the maze that makes up the “orange market.” It was dubbed this by the U.S. soldiers in the area because of the massive amount of oranges that lay in piles by the side of the road, waiting to be peeled by Haitian women, stuffed into plastic bags, and sold to locals as they walk the streets.

The market is a bustling place, as are the areas of Port-au-Prince where vendors fill the streets, selling second-hand clothing, beautiful paintings and hand-carved wooden sculptures. Seven weeks after the earthquake that devastated Haiti’s capital, and life is ever so slowly returning to normal.

Many citizens have spent these few weeks cleaning and restoring their places of business, just wanting to get back to work and restore some normalcy to their daily routine after the traumatic events following the disaster.

Medics from the Colombian army and air force are working side by side with U.S. Army, Air Force, and Navy doctors at an intermediate aftercare facility in Port-au-Prince. They are in here to assist with the ongoing humanitarian aid their country is providing to the people of Haiti Feb. 27. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Richard Andrade)

Medics from the Colombian army and the air force are working side by side with U.S. Army, Air Force, and Navy doctors at an intermediate aftercare facility in Port-au-Prince.

The fact that the IAF is so close to the port makes it easy for the medics to transport patients to and from the USNS Comfort.

Columbian army Col. Pedro Segura arrived to assist with the ongoing humanitarian aid their country is providing to the people of Haiti Feb. 27. He is in charge of the Columbian contingency that is in Port-au-Prince working with U.S. forces.

“We will be in Haiti as long as it takes,” said Segura.

“We will do our best to collaborate with the U.S. forces to help the people of Haiti,” he said.

The Colombian Red Cross is also in Haiti, handing out water, first aid kits and hand crank radios at many food distribution points. The newly arrived medics are eager to be part of the Haitian mission.

As the vaccination posts are installed, the Red Cross gently reminds people that by vaccinating themselves and their children, they are fighting back against the extreme vulnerability into which the earthquake threw them.

“We have done everything we can to support our community,” says Noel Ylmond, leader of Villambetta’s displaced.

“Our priority has been to put children first from the very beginning. But it’s difficult for people to accept that when other priorities seem more pressing.

“These children are our hope, our future”.

Five vaccination teams have been operational since 8 February, vaccinating as many as 10,000 in a single day.

The vaccination consists of five different components: measles, diptheria, pertussis and tetanus, as well as albendezol – a deworming agent – and vitamin A.

“We still have 50,000 more people to vaccinate,” says Dr. Guilbert, a former professor at the university medical faculty and the nurses school, both destroyed in the earthquake.

Thirteen dead. Submerged houses. Fields and banana plantations waterlogged. Drowned livestock. Impassable roads. Fresh trauma for quake-displaced thousands. This is the plight of Les Cayes, a city on Haiti’s south coast, after an unseasonal deluge. And hurricane season is not far off.

Trucks loaded with 4,030 meals left Port-au-Prince on 2 March for emergency distribution in and around Les Cayes. Food has also been sent to Nippes region, north of Les Cayes, which has experienced bad flooding.

The UN World Food Programme, with local authorities and NGOs, plans to supply 10-day rations to affected populations, including some 3,000 people evacuated from their homes.

“The poor state of the sewers caused flooding in every [district] of the city,” said the regional president of the Haitian National Red Cross Society, Jean-Yves Placide.

“In some places the waters rose to ceiling level in people’s houses,” he said. “The situation will be really worrying if it continues to rain. The sun is out now, but the storm clouds come and go.”

“People are used to dealing with floods, just not this early,” one aid worker in Les Cayes told IRIN.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) yesterday “decongested” an improvised settlement on the outskirts of Leogane where 635 families who lost their homes in the 12 January earthquake had taken refuge.

It’s believed to be the first exercise of its kind in the international humanitarian response to the quake.

The Danish Red Cross relief Emergency Response Unit (ERU) has resettled 126 families in a new tented encampment on privately donated land alongside the old site.

The other 509 families were given a choice of a family-size tent or emergency shelter materials – timber, tarpaulins and toolkits – and are returning to the general areas from which they came.

It was all done on an entirely voluntary basis.

The number of sites identified by the UN as priorities for decongestion in Port-au-Prince has now risen to 21, but an acute shortage of land is making this difficult.

The Military Sealift Command crane ship SS Cornhusker State docks peirside at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Cornhusker State is providing logistical support for Haiti as part of Operation Unified Response. (Photo by: Petty Officer 2nd Class Marie A. Montez)

More at the links

Port repairs

The main port of Haiti suffered severe damage during the earthquake. The largest North pier was destroyed, and the piles under the South pier crumbled leaving only part of it fit for use. With the assistance of the US Coast Guard, Navy and Army, who took over management of the port in support of the Autorite Portuaire Nationale, two crane ships were deployed which can load and unload cargo without facilities and then transport to shore on smaller landing crafts or lighters. The US Military has now completed the installation of two barges and placed them against the old wharf to serve as floating docks. These will be critical to operations following the redeployment of US assets. Interim repairs to the South pier are ahead of schedule and are expected to be finished as of the second week of April, after which full repairs will begin.

“I sat at home, on alert, hearing that aircraft one, two, three, then four, departed in front of me.

“By the time aircraft number four had departed, Haitian airspace was becoming dangerously congested with the vast number of aircraft trying to get to Port-au-Prince to provide assistance.

“The team of ten combat control team operators, using a picnic table as their air traffic control desk, were landing and departing aircraft as quickly as they could clear space on the ground; however, with a multitude of aircraft arriving unannounced, this was taking longer and longer.”

Whilst all of this was going on in Haiti the first aircraft returned to base to be swiftly turned around and reloaded so that it could make another return trip. Flt Lt Bailey continued:

“Finally, just prior to 1000 Central Standard Time, I alerted my crew and we headed into work. It took us about an hour from arriving in work to being sat in the aircraft with 18,000lbs [8,000kg] of medical supplies and equipment, the 20 personnel from the 1st Special Operations Wing’s specialist medical teams, and now I was ready to start the engines.

“The airspace was surprisingly quiet, the chaos during the day having abated, but most of the arrivals hadn’t informed the combat control team of their arrival, and in the dark of the night, amongst the mountains, the aircraft jostled and duelled for airspace whilst the controllers tried to ascertain where exactly each asset was, using only their observations and the charts they had with them. We sequenced in easily, allowing the fuel-critical arrivals in front of us.

“As we taxied in, the congestion was hard to believe. Each aircraft was parked with minimal wing-tip clearance, and in front of the parking line there was a throng of journalists, rescue teams and potential evacuees.

“Special Operations aircrew travel light and all the crew get involved in ground operations, assisting the offloading of the passengers and freight, reconfiguring of the airframe and the loading of the outbound freight.

“Typically, what we expected to extract had changed, and the whole crew found themselves assisting the loadmaster to set up the casualty evacuation stanchions at the rear of the aircraft so that we could take some injured people to hospitals back in the USA.

“Missions of this kind can be emotional; whilst my crew worked to adjust the aircraft configuration, I spoke with the surgeons about the passengers they hoped for us to move.

“Whilst there, my attention was drawn to one young boy who was almost inconsolable. The medics briefed me that he had lost one of his parents in the earthquake and asked if we could take him to Fort Lauderdale where arrangements would be made for him to be reunited with his father.

“I tried to console him with small-talk about flying and aircraft. I gave him my union patch and a chocolate bar and he seemed slightly less agitated, but the episode affected me emotionally and I found myself rather teary-eyed.”

It took the team approximately 30 minutes to convert the aircraft from a cargo plane to a medical support platform with stretcher stanchions, and so before they knew it, they were preparing to leave:

“As we took off I looked down into the deep black void where there should have been a well-lit town, and wondered how my seemingly inconsequential effort would actually improve the situation and lives of the people that must have been sheltering in the darkness,” Flt Lt Bailey said.

Feb. 23, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) donated a Federal Medical Station, valued at approximately $577,000, to St. Damien Hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The pediatric hospital survived the 7.0 magnitude January 12 earthquake relatively unscathed, but was quickly overwhelmed by patients of all ages and unprepared for the numbers of adults requiring urgent care.

Father Rick Frechette, who runs St. Damien Hospital, said, “This gift from USAID gives us the chance to take the first few giant strides towards organizing a medical and surgical program for adults, especially those victims of the earthquake.”

The Federal Medical Station includes the components to stand up a 250-bed, acute-care facility, with an extensive medical cache to care for both inpatient and outpatient needs. This includes resuscitation kits for both adults and children and supplies to provide temporary stabilization for patients with respiratory failure. It also contains necessary items to stock a full pharmacy along with nursing, administrative, and housekeeping stations.

Residents of an isolated community on the outskirts of the town of Leogane, Haiti, on Thursday were overjoyed at receiving medical attention and supplies of food from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) contingent.

Led by the Jamaican Defence Force (JDF), the contingent carried out a medical outreach exercise in their neighbourhood as part of an on-going daily programme that began forty days ago.

The town of Leogane and its environs were earmarked by Haitian authorities for CARICOM’s health intervention following the 12 January earthquake.

The community which was targeted on Thursday was identified by the Mayor of Leogane and is about five miles from the town. Some 90 percent of Leogane itself has been devastated by the earthquake. Many persons made homeless by the earthquake have sought refuge on the outskirts of the town, fearful of the continuing tremors.

Haitian volunteers help unload supplies from a U.S. Army landing craft at a Haitian Coast Guard station in Carrefour, Haiti, Jan. 19. Photo by Cpl. Bobbie Curtis

Since the beginning of Operation Unified Response, one of the primary missions of the Navy and Marine Corps civil affairs teams attached to the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit and the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group is to unite the people and governments of earthquake menaced Haiti together with non-governmental organizations and international aid workers.

Children from Carrefour, Haiti, gather as local leaders conduct a humanitarian aid distribution in the city, Feb. 18. The Marines and sailors of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit transferred primary responsibility for humanitarian aid distribution to the local and national Haitian government throughout the month of February. Photo by Cpl. Bobbie Curtis

Using a facility called a civil military operations center, Marines from 4th Civil Affairs Group, attached to the 22nd MEU and sailors from Maritime Civil Affairs Team 207, worked diligently to bring all these factors together to help organize a combined local and international effort to stabilize the Caribbean nation.

“The mission of the CMOC was to act as a bridge between the people and the local government,” said Staff Sgt. Jerrick D. Croston, a civil affairs team chief with 4th CAG and the 22nd MEU.

The CMOC is located in the town of Carrefour, just outside the nation’s capital city of Port-au-Prince, on Landing Zone Argonaut, a small encampment operated by the Marines and sailors of Battalion Landing Team, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 22nd MEU.

At the facility, civil affairs personnel met with town leaders and NGO officials to plan distributions and combined operations for the people of the local area.

“As local Haitians and organizations had needs, they brought them up to the CMOC,” Croston, a Philadelphia native, continued. “The major achievement of the CMOC was getting the mayors [of Carrefour] and the local government to work with the community leaders of Carrefour.”

Croston explained that many of the one million strong population of Carrefour have strong loyalty to a few key leaders in the community, who are mostly pastors from local religious organizations.

“After the earthquake people looked to them,” he added. “So we brought the local leaders and the local government together.”

Bringing the local leaders and their followers together with the Haitian government and several NGOs, the Marines and sailors of the CMOC streamlined the aid process for the people of Carrefour, transferring the primary role of providing humanitarian aid, from the U.S. Military to the Haitian local and national governments.

The civil affairs personnel conducted the operation in multiple-steps, beginning with an assessment phase where the Marines and sailors found out what problems were occurring in the area. Once problems were identified, the personnel worked with Haitian leaders and NGOs to solve the issues.

“At this point we have transitioned the role of the CMOC to the Haitian government and are back in the assessment phase,” Croston explained. “We are making sure the needs are being taken care of.”

Chief Petty Officer Charlotte Reijo, a team leader with Maritime Civil Affairs Team 207, meets with children from Carrefour, Haiti, Jan. 18. Sailors with MCAT-207 and Marine civil affairs specialists with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit conduct operations from a Civil Military Operations Center in Carrefour, aimed at uniting the people of Haiti and the Haitian Government with non-governmental organizations to transfer primary humanitarian aid responsibilities in the area from the U.S. to the local government. Photo by Cpl. Bobbie Curtis

Captain Rebecca A. Popleiski, a civil affairs team leader with 4th CAG and the 22nd MEU, said the group of civil affairs specialists have come a long way in the month they have worked in Haiti.

The Marines began their operations in the towns of Petite Goave, Grand Goave and Leogone before moving to Carrefour. Those three areas had less involvement with community leaders and worked more specifically with NGOs, where as the Carrefour area of operations had a lot more grass-roots involvement, she explained.

“When we pull out of here, all the cities are going to be able to stand on their own,” Popleiski, a Washington D.C. native, explained. “Whether that’s local government or national government … they have stepped up and taken charge.”

With the aid of the Navy-Marine Corps civil affairs teams from the 22nd MEU and Bataan Amphibious Ready Group, the government of Haiti has taken primary responsibility for humanitarian aid distributions in the Carrefour area. Marines and sailors from the 22nd MEU have become a supplementary force as the Haitian Coast Guard and international NGOs take over.

DVIDS
Story by Cpl. Bobbie Curtis

Members of the local Haitian fire department dig for missing children at the La Petite Ecole school in Cap-Haitien, which was hit with a mudslide, Feb. 15. U.S. Special Operations service members assigned to Cap-Haitien also responded to the scene. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communications Specialist Robert J. Fluegel/Released)

Four children are dead after a landslide hit an elementary school in Cap-Haitien around noon, Feb. 15.

Members of the Nepalese police force working for the United Nations secured the scene at the Petite Ecole Francaise school while seven members from the Joint Forces Special Operations Component Command operating out of Cap-Haitien worked to pull the children out from under the rubble, according to one of the U.S. Special Operations service members who responded to the scene.

The team worked with members of a Haitian fire department and doctors from a non-governmental organization who also responded to the incident.

After recovering the first child, another landslide complicated efforts to reach the others, said the U.S. Special Operations member.

Four hours after responding to the scene, all of the bodies were recovered, and school administrators said all the children were accounted for. The four children were seated along the back wall of the school at the time of the incident.

The two-story school stood at the foot of a tall mountain in the northern city of Cap-Haitien. Both floors were crushed by the landslide, and a large boulder sat on all the rubble, according to U.S. service members.

The city has been experiencing heavy rain for the past two days. Members of U.S. Special Operations Civil Affairs teams continue to work with NGOs, U.N. representatives and the government of Haiti to assist citizens following the Jan. 12 earthquake.

DVIDS
Story by 2nd Lt. Victoria Brayton