'Cash for work' helps protect Haitians from floods

As the rainy season gets underway in Haiti, cash for work programs are helping earthquake-affected communities protect themselves from flooding.

Plan Haiti’s Shiba Andre reports:

It is rainy season once again. What for some might be perceived as a blessing following planting season, for most people here it is the exact opposite.

Heavy showers and intermittent rains have already caused the overflow of gullies and flooding of rivers. Overflowing rivers flood homes and fields, often washing away crops and destroying property and livelihoods; in more extreme cases, these waters claim lives.

Pools of stagnant green-black water remain around many houses, and very often the water for drinking and other needs is completely polluted.

Flood threat

For the residents of Dumilseau, a community east of Croix-des-Bouquets, this is all too common. This area is located upstream of the White River. At the slightest rain, the whole town is flooded: tons of mud cover the road making the area virtually inaccessible. Children cannot walk to school and people cannot travel into town to  work.

The canal that runs from the White River is clogged with weeds to the extent that it has virtually disappeared.  Without the canal, Dumilseau cannot withstand the coming rains.

Sustainable, green solutions

Plan Haiti has been working in Dumilseau for 3 months through its cash for work program. This program aims to recapitalize farmers, injecting much needed cash into the community, while at the same time providing them with the opportunity to prepare the drainage canal to reduce their vulnerability to flooding.

On June 5, to mark World Environment Day, Plan Haiti and residents of Dumilseau planted 600 seedlings to protect the canal from the river. Not only will the trees provide shade, they will also prevent erosion along the canal walls.

Vital cash flow

Teams of workers are hired on a 2-week cycle, and more than 100 men and women have already participated in the Dumilseau project. Local authorities and the community have been involved from the very beginning and are deeply committed to the scheme. Dumilseau’s residents have now set up maintenance committees to maintain and protect the canal following the project.

Plan Haiti's cash for work program has so far employed 11,844 men and women on numerous projects in and around Jacmel and Croix-des-Bouquets.

Find out more about Plan's recovery work in Haiti