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A crisis in lodging in Haiti
Former United Nations Spokesperson Michele Montas is once again serving the organization, but this time in a different capacity. Ms. Montas recently retired from the UN as the Spokesperson of the Secretary-General. Returning to her native Haiti shortly before the earthquake struck, Ms. Montas, like hundreds of thousands of others, was caught up in this tragedy of gargantuan proportions. In the following interview, she explains to UN Radio's Maha Fayek that she and her family managed to survive and that she is now helping the country get back on its feet as the special advisor to the Special Representative of Mr. Ban Ki-moon in Haiti.
man putting tent
Montas: Well, Port au Prince is still a very difficult sight to look at, and it's a very difficult place to live in. For hundreds of thousands of people living in Port-au-Prince it is hell right now. Of course, things have improved to the extent that enough food is being distributed on a regular basis, rice is being distributed to women, and its voucher system that have put some order into the distribution of food. But we have a crisis in lodging. We have one million people without a roof over their heads. We might have rain and we're all worried even though the rainy season is supposed to come in mid-April. If we have rain then it's really going to be a disaster.
Maha: Since people have made the streets of Port-au-Prince their new shelters, what is the health situation like?
Michele: The shelter system is pretty worrisome because right now there are a lot of communicable diseases happening. People, who were healthy before the quake, they are starting to be sick and there is vaccination going on, but at the same time how do you reach people in such hard circumstances? [It's] too difficult for health professionals to really now reach people.
Maha: Is there any action plan for housing in the months to come?
Michele: Shelter is really the biggest problem we are confronting right now because there is so little of it. We have a few tents that were brought in, but not enough - we need 200 thousand tents for people to be able to face the rainy season that is going to come soon. And right now people actually sleep on the outside, but it's a bit cold there and it's a very unhealthy situation. There is a plan, there are plans, but you know plans are one thing.
Maha: Michele Montas, you have been requested to come back to the United Nations by Mr. Ban Ki-moon. Today, you are the special advisor to the Special Representative of Mr. Ban Ki-moon in Haiti. How do you plan to help your people? What would you suggest?
Michele: I am happy to be offered the post. To me it was an opportunity to help my country, Haiti, and to also help MINUSTAH. As you know, both the two Haiti institutions had been decapitated - all MINUSTAH had been decapitated, so it was important for me to accept, to say yes I will do it, and I'm glad I did. We are meeting on a regular basis with the different players on the ground in Haiti, and there are quite a few of them, and we have been helping distributing food and we have been helping - including for instance securing works of art which were in the ruins of the museums and ruins of the art galleries. This seems to be minor, but it is so much a part of Haitian identity and we have lost so much of our identity with everything we know having collapsed. So to us - you know, everything at this point is important, and everything has to be done, and it has to be done at the same time, and I think what I can bring to this is the fact that I know this country well, I know the people well, and I know the problems well. And I know the UN also having been at the UN for so long. So to me it's what I can bring can help - that's all really I want.
Maha: How did your survive the earthquake, Michele Montas?
Michele: In my case, I was luckier than most people. My house shook. There was little cracks in the walls. It was very difficult, a harrowing moment to live through, but I am so much luckier than so many others, and in my case of course I slept in the streets for a few days. I slept in my backyard after that when I was not afraid the house was going to fall on me, and so I am back into my house, sleeping by the door to make sure I can run, but there are aftershocks. We are still feeling extremely insecure but you know I am so much luckier than so many, so many Haitians.
PRESENTER: That was Michele Montas interviewed by UN Radio's Maha Fayek.
Duration: 3'45"
