Port au Prince, 27 April 2010
Dear friends,

I have been here in Port au Prince for the last four weeks. This city is one of great contrasts - from the hillsides around Port au Prince one can just see the sparkling blue waters of the Caribbean Sea, tranquil in the bright sunlight. The ascending streets are bustling, energised by the frenetic traffic, the shouts of street vendors, and the mass of people going somewhere, coming from somewhere. It could be a normal day in this city of some 2 million people.

When one turns away from the coastline towards the ranks of buildings that hug the hillside, a different scene awaits. Lumps of concrete hang perilously from the skeletons of buildings, attached only by iron cords that sway in the breeze. Fragments of furniture litter the courtyards and gardens, mixed with rock and rubble. In places, the remnants of a car can be seen, half-buried under cement slabs. Perched between these mounds of destruction, or on the pavements outside, are small plastic shelters, now home to thousands of people.

Three months after the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti, the physical and human loss is still apparent. I have worked in the aftermath of earthquakes in a number of countries – what I see today in this quarter of Port au Prince is incomparable, shocking, humbling.

Children have lost their schools, their teachers, their friends, their possessions, and their pets. The quake did not discriminate between the affluent or the poor, the literate or the un-educated. 

For UNICEF, battling with the mammoth task of supporting provision of clean water, adequate sanitation, safeguarding the health and nutrition status of those affected, protecting those who have lost parents, or are at increased risk of harm, one important step is already showing a real impact for children touched by this disaster.

Against the odds, children are returning to school. In the face of huge logistical challenges, nearly 3,000 school tents have been made available to provide interim classrooms and school supplies have been delivered to learning spaces in camps and former schools ready to begin classes again. Teachers have received rapid orientation to deliver a new curriculum to help children back into the learning process. Teams of unemployed Haitians have been recruited to clear rubble for tents to be erected.

I recently met some of the young students who are benefiting from these efforts. Twelve year old Gaille is clear about why coming back to school is important to her. “I can play, talk to my friends, and tell them about my little problems,” she told me. And she has a message for others affected by the disaster. "To all the other children, especially the ones whose parents died in the earthquake, I'd like to say 'Don't worry too much about the future.' Try to play a little and to feel at ease." “

The opening of the schools is a symbol of hope – a reassurance to those children who have lost so much that efforts are being made to restart the path to some normality, some degree of confidence and security, despite all that has passed.

Across the street from where Gaille is now studying in a UNICEF-provided tent, a former secondary school stands in ruins. Half the building has fallen into the play area; bricks, desks, chairs are strewn across the ground, a pile several metres high serving as a reminder of what was once a place of learning. Nobody has come yet to look under the rubble. One can only imagine what they may find buried below.

But for the children rushing back to learn, those painful memories will slowly diminish, as they return to classes, back to learn, back to their friends and together look forwards once more. It is a first step, but perhaps one of the most important that Port au Prince has seen in months.

The support that you have provided is reaching Gaille and the hundreds and thousands like her who are getting access to learning, to clean water, to recreation and to better protection from harm. I can assure you personally that UNICEF is working around the clock to tackle the immense challenges here in Haiti. My colleagues – many of whom lost their own homes and relatives in the disaster – are committed to putting your donations to the best possible use.

Your kindness is changing lives, and giving Haitian children a chance of a better future. For that, I salute you.

Kind regards

Edward Carwardine
UNICEF