Abstract
Abstract The article situates the theme of help and generosity by examining responses of communities in Grand’Anse province to the 2010 disaster in Haiti. This emblematic case reveals how oft-unmentioned familial and community mechanisms that go beyond the reach of state and international institutions were essential to the survival of Haitians, and constituted a highly effective emergency response, despite the scarcity of resources and despair caused by the destruction. Drawing on the literature on humanitarian aid and development, through a processual approach, I suggest that the ways in which Haitian society dealt with the aftermath question the notions of disaster and help, offering unique guidance about how the problems and challenges presented by critical events might be addressed more effectively.
Highlights
After a few months of gathering information about what happened in Grand’Anse, Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, I was convinced of the potency and importance of stories I had heard daily from an eclectic group of informants1
By examining a community-based response, this study demonstrates how these overlooked communities and local actors played a crucial role in disaster management, and became a refuge for thousands of survivors
It is important to draw on the concept of “disaster”, within the context of longstanding social processes related to repetitive crises, to understand how Haitian society, despite the scarcity of resources and despair caused by the destruction, dealt with the aftermath of the earthquake
Summary
After a few months of gathering information about what happened in Grand’Anse, Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, I was convinced of the potency and importance of stories I had heard daily from an eclectic group of informants. I was impressed with the extraordinary help found by these survivors in those places where people and entities quickly and efficiently offered them shelter and relief These stories–part of a larger and poorly visible social process–remained almost inaudible compared to reports of the heroic efforts of professional aid workers and the dramatic suffering of disaster victims. Some anthropological work on the aid industry, focused mainly on aspects of economic logic and power relations, has offered severe critiques of the international aid system (Schuller and Morales 2012, Schuller 2012, Farmer 2011) These critiques often emphasize the complexity of humanitarian endeavors and document the topography of power relations. Focusing on the perspective of the Haitians themselves about mutual assistance, solidarity, cooperation, and the different ways the concept of “help” (or èd in Haitian Creole) is shaped by their experiences, I examine how in this context, the actions taken to help others may, not have even been perceived as extraordinary acts
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