When life gives you a cinderblock house, paint it?

Jalousie, a cinderblock shanytown in Petionville, Haiti

I’ve been under the weather the past few days so I’m a bit behind on my blog post. But I’ve wanted to talk about the colorful community of Jalousie. My first time driving by, I was struck by the beauty of all hues of yellows, pinks, purples and blues. So it was a surprise to me when I inquired about this community on the side of the mountain, to learn that Jalousie is one of Haiti’s biggest shantyowns, a slum of 45,000 residents.

Earlier this year, the Haitian government spent $1.4 million in an effort entitled "Beauty versus Poverty: Jalousie in Colors". The project included both the colorful makeover of Jalousie and the relocation of people from the displacement camps that sprouted up after Haiti's 2010 earthquake. Haitian painter, Prefete Duffaut’s, “Friends of Haiti”, inspired the colors of Jalousie bringing to life his “cities-in-the-skies.” 

Prefete Duffaut's Friends of Haiti

Jalousie has no traditional sewage system or electric grid. For water, residents must make there way to either an outdoor spigot or up the mountain to water stations where they can purchase 5 gallons of water for about 60 cents. As I referenced in a previous post about Miragoane, this is a pretty consistent theme around Haiti.

There is no denying the reality of poverty in Haiti.  It’s in your face all the time. Statistics estimate that 80 percent of Haitians live on less than $2 a day. But how do you change this?

Haitian protest in Port-au-Prince

Over the past 3 weeks I’ve meet with former prime ministers, heads of ministries, NGOs, foreign investors, business leaders, US agencies, parents and working professionals and the answers vary … reform, investment, culture, education, jobs, infrastructure, master planning, etc.  A better Haiti means all of these things, but included in this discussion needs to be a specific strategy to achieve equity. Albeit, the term “equity” has become bit of a buzzword lately in the debate for how to achieve sustainable cities, but what good is making the pie bigger if it can't be shared by all.  

So life may have given Haiti cinderblock houses, but Haiti's prosperity hinges on economic development as a means to create a prosperous and fair society.