AlterPresse is part of the Ayiti Je Kale initiative for investigative journalism on reconstruction process
Nine months after the catastrophic earthquake which killed some 300,000 and left 1.3 million homeless, as reports and articles denounce the terrible conditions in Haiti’s 1,354 squalid refugee camps, the new grassroots "reconstruction watch" effort Ayiti Kale Je/Haiti Grassroots Watch – led by AlterPresse and Sosyete Animasyon Kominikasyon Sosyal (SAKS) – decided to look into the issue.
• Is there a plan for resettling the refugees, and if so, what is it?
• Who is in charge?
• Will it work?
A dozen interviews, scores of documents and many telephone calls later, Ayiti Kale Je discovered there actually does seem to be a plan. However, it is not readily accessible to the media or the Haitian public, it is so far only very loosely coordinated and thus far, is not overseen by any Haitian agency or ministry, making accountability difficult, if not impossible.
This investigation is comprised of three articles and a sidebar, three videos, a radio documentary and an interview. Content is also available in French. Spanish will be provided soon.