Reconstructing Schools in Haiti.

• Author: Pohl, Nelida
• Position: Essay

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Only three months after the earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010, German international cooperation agency Kinder Not Hilfe (KNH) and Chilean urban/environmental planning and architecture firm Habiterra were already working together on rebuilding a school in the rural village of Coupeau. This was the first of the KNH-sponsored schools to be rebuilt.

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Located a three hours walk away from Carrefour, a city adjacent to Port-au-Prince, Coupeau represented a logistical challenge which KNH and Habiterra faced by employing community-based reconstruction approaches. In order to ensure the effective transfer of skills and earthquake-resistant building techniques replicable in the context of rural Haiti, one of the main objectives of the project was to include the community in the reconstruction. The participation of Chilean professionals was also key, since they are from a highly seismic country with some of the most advanced building regulations in the world.

The community was directly involved in the movement of materials--iron bars, wood, and cement sacks transported by foot or mule from Carrefour--and in supplying local materials such as the sand, gravel, rocks, and water used to make concrete. For the latter task, the community-building konbit method was used. The people of Coupeau carried the materials in exchange for coffee and bread in the morning, a bowl of rice and beans at the end of the workday, and the popular sugar cane liquor clairin when the relentless sun demanded a break.

The bustle infected the timoun (children) with boundless enthusiasm. Since their school building was destroyed by the earthquake, they have been going to school under a cheap plastic canvas that collapses during every rainstorm. But at the end of the school day, they hurried to help collect rain water and cart materials in wheelbarrows, which they also used as race cars. Between games, they cheerfully commented on the details of their new school, which will provide space for 80 children distributed in two classrooms. These classrooms will also be able to merge into one large room suitable for multipurpose community meetings.

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The decision to begin the reconstruction of schools in Coupeau was not arbitrary; it reflects a recognition of the urgent need to invest in public education in rural areas where 53 percent of Haiti's population lives. Encouraging rural education is fundamental in...