I.P.N. ASSEMBLING EMERGENCY SHELTER PROGRAM FOR HAITIAN EARTHQUAKE SURVIVORS
By Aton Edwards, I.P.N. Executive Director
In the four days since my early morning post last Thursday (January 21, 2010) the rescue operation in the shattered city of Port-au-Prince, Haiti has formally ended and, the recovery process has begun. The weary residents are beginning to file out by the tens of thousands, squeezed into impossibly crowded buses, rickety leaking boats, bicycles, carts and many in their bare feet.
Earthquake survivors squeezing into bus in Port au Prince, Haiti. Photograph: SHAWN THEW/EPA
They are headed to nearby rural areas, in hope to find safe shelter in their relatives homes. Many have traveled to Gonaives, a city that was batted by back-to back hurricanes in 2008 and still has not fully recovered. While this exodus takes place, several international agencies struggle to locate and prepare safe sites to build tent cities to house the survivors.
As I mentioned in my previous post, tent cities will present a major problem for the survivors. The stormy season will begin in early spring and the high winds, flooding, mud and, possible hurricanes could create another disaster that could claim even more victims. In addition, some geologists believe that it is entirely possible that Haiti, the Dominican Republic or both may experience another earthquake.
It is for these reasons (and many others that I don’t have the space to list here) that I, along with my colleagues at I.P.N believe that the good people of Haiti have suffered enough. They are in need of, and deserve an emergency shelter program that will provide them with dwellings that are safe, secure & dignified. In short, only Geodesic domes will do.
Geodesic Dome Graphic
The current situation in Haiti would require a very large and well-coordinated dome-building effort with a number of companies, international relief agencies, the Haitian government, United Nations, and the great people of Haiti. It also needs funding.
The I.P.N. is working around the clock (literally!) to complete a program that will provide many of the survivors with sturdy geodesic shelters that will withstand the strongest storms. Once the Haitian mechanism is built, and the situation settles down, we plan to use it in the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Many who live there are still without homes nearly 5 years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the area.
Over the past few days, I’ve been pulling together a coalition of individuals & organizations that will help us to build the domes, promote the program & provide the resources & volunteers needed to assist this effort. Some are listed below:
N.O.A.H. National Organization for the Advancement of Haitians
Bedford-Stuyvesant Volunteer Ambulance Corps
BFI.org Buckminster Fuller Institute
WRKS-FM’s “The Open Line” (my NYC radio family)
One Dome At A Time (division of Monolithic domes)
Afrika Bambaataa & the Universal Zulu Nation Bambaataa has been a very strong proponent of geodesic dome construction!
Phil Sauers, Water Not Weapons
Legendary Activist/Photographer/Author Ernie Paniccioli
Radio Personality/Producer/Gia’na Garel
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