Rosedanie Cadet has barely unpacked her bags from her May trip to Haiti, yet she’s packing them once again. Following three trips to her native country since January, the founder of Haitian service organization Helping Hands Noramise is headed there again in late June. With her on the next trip will be six recent high school graduates from Orcas Island.
The former students are: Jeffrey Blankenship, Emily Diepenbrock, Makala Forster, Connor Pamatian, Stephanie Shaw, and Tika Thorson.
Like the last trips, this one will be focused on the urgent need for food, education, and jobs for the people of Haiti. Cadet founded Helping Hands Noramise after the earthquake in January, in response to those pressing needs.
Most of Noramise’s work has been in the northern town of Limbe, far from the earthquake-ravaged capitol city; though towns like Limbe have also been affected by the quake. Just as estimates of the quake’s death toll will never be accurate because of the lack of a national census, it is also difficult to estimate how many people have fled to their native towns in the wake of the disaster. But places like Limbe are feeling the crunch of more people, less food, and more children in the local schools.
In May, Cadet and her team witnessed corruption among distributors of earthquake aid in Port-au-Prince and near Limbe. On top of the corruption at every level, Cadet is very concerned with the lack of Haitian input on the country’s renewal.
In March, corruption watchdog group Transparency International expressed concern about the small number of Haitians on the “Interim Commission for Haitian Reconstruction” board, which dictates how reconstruction aid is spent. Cadet is incensed.
“This is simply another version of the imperialism that has crippled my country its entire history,” said Cadet. “We Haitians must have at the very least an equal share in the decision making processes that will affect our country, our children’s and our lives.”
During the May trip, team members Gustave Cadet, Delano Cadet, and Tobias Tenenbaum worked on plans for a tilapia aquaculture project. The project was created in response to the need for more protein-rich foods in the Haitian diet. Team Noramise also provided a new canopy, new desks, and school supplies for Bethesda School, a free school for children who would not otherwise go to school.
“What we want to establish more than anything else are this type of partnerships within Limbe. In order for us to move forward as a people we need to trust each other and work together, to return to our core ancestral community values,” said Cadet.
Team Noramise also plans to build a recycling center for northern Haiti, titled a “Resource Recovery” facility, as part of a larger plan to tackle the waste issues that plague the entire country. As it stands, Haiti has one recycling facility in the entire country – in far-off Port-au-Prince.
This June, Cadet hopes to have Team Noramise build a garden at Bethesda School, as well as take part in ongoing street cleanup efforts in Limbe. The Noramise team will also move into the organization’s new home, a house they’ve rented for the next year.
Between what’s fast becoming her two island homes, Cadet says she’s thankful every day.
“Few days go by without someone telling me how amazed they are by how much I’ve accomplished in a short period of time,” she said. “I tell them that I haven’t done that doing that much, which is true. Without the willingness, compassion and generous support and donations of my community near and far, all that has been accomplished by US ALL would not have been possible.”
Nicole Vulcan is a writer, filmmaker and radio programmer in Portland, Ore. She and her film company traveled with Helping Hands Noramise in February, and again in May. Videos from Limbe can be found at www.nicolevulcan.com.
