Cité Soleil is rebranding itself and turning its back on an ill-deserved reputation as a "no-go" area in Haiti. It's happening because the impoverished community took its destiny in hand. Volunteer labor crews now clean many of the area's garbage-strewn streets.

It began in a small and blighted neighborhood constantly flooded by an overflowing canal. The way local residents tell the story, they simply grew fed up of being left to their own devices, to live amidst garbage and dirt that floated into the community from neighborhoods further up the hill. Local community organizers started cleaning up the neighborhood. They did more than that. They started a self-help a movement

First, they renamed their community La Difference - setting their sights on a different future. That was a few years ago and every afternoon since then, the community has stopped work in the afternoons to clean the streets. The impact was immediate. La Difference is held up as a model for other communities all around Port-au-Prince.

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Photos of CARICOM work in Cite Soleil
 

Today in Cité Soleil there are many examples of similar self help groups. They come together in a movement called Soley Levey or Rising Sun.

The self-help initiative was noticed by CARICOM, the Caribbean Community, which asked IOM to further support the community in its efforts to build a healthier, cleaner neighborhood. The project came as a response to a request from the Government of Haiti and the water authority the Direction Nationale de l'Eau Potable et de l'Assainissement (DINEPA). Australia funded the project through AUSAID.

After consultation with community groups, CARICOM agreed to fund a public health programme centered on 25 community toilet blocks. The objective was to create sustainable sanitation facilities that would be maintained and run by the local community.

So far twenty community toilet blocks and hand-washing stations have been built and handed over to the population.

Notwithstanding the willingness of community leaders to cooperate, some areas remain a challenge to work in. This is the reality of working in very deprived neighborhoods and a lengthy process of consultation remains necessary to ensure that the community does its part in digging the pits, preparing the area for construction and other preparation.

"It is best to ensure that the community is well organized and behind the project or it is unlikely that it will maintain the toilets after construction," says IOM's project manager Nicole Klaesener.

The community toilet blocks are also equipped with solid waste collection points and free collection has been negotiated with a private company until end of 2012. Community-based organizations are meanwhile advocating for paid household collection services in the future.

With CARICOM endorsement, IOM has also organized for waste removal from Cité Soleil with community assistance. Locals make the effort to load garbage into skips so that the neighborhood remains cleaner.

In addition community leaders sensitize their neighbors on a daily basis to positive hygiene practices, such as washing hands and treating drinking water. Over 14,000 people have now been be sensitized in neighborhoods and schools of Cité Soleil.

For more information, please contact:

Nicole Klaesener
E-mail: NKlaesener@iom.int
Phone: 509 3702 1662

or

Leonard Doyle
E-mail: LDoyle@IOM.int
Phone: 509 3702 5066