Interview: Renato Lima, Cenacid co-ordinator

The worst is about to come

"Countless Haitians were flocked at the large Champs de Mars (Square of March), setting tents up and waiting for aid. By the time we approached, those thousands of people began to chant: "Blanc! Blanc! Blanc! (White! White! White!)" It gradually rose in volume clearly to warn others of our strange presence. Then, some saw the Brazilian flag on our shirts and spread the news like wildfire: we were Brazilians. Unexpectedly, they rushed, clustered around and greeted us warmly"


By LUAN GALANI (luan.galani@wavemagazine.net)
from Curitiba, BRAZIL


The Brazilian geologist Renato Lima is the co-ordinator of the Centre for Scientific Support in Disaster Situations (Cenacid, in Portuguese abbreviation) and consultant of the UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination since 2000. Last year, Cenacid was one of the first-ever-recipients of the Green Star Award, which honoured those that demonstrated outstanding dedication to preventing, preparing for, and responding to impacts of disasters. During emergency situations, like floods, landslides, oil spills, quakes and volcanic eruptions, the Brazilian centre provides scientific and technical support to government and civil defense agencies, both national and international, for them to better respond to the plights.

Cenacid has been to Haiti for nearly ten days at the request of the President of Brazil Lula to help the Brazilian Ambassador Igor Kipman with the responding action. Mr. Lima conceded an exclusive interview to WAVE magazine just after arriving from the Caribbean island. Despite the fact that the tragedy took more than 200 thousand lives and made two million people homeless, he alerts: "Situation in Haiti may become worse".

What is the normal procedure in your assessment?

When occurs a disaster and the centre is called to give assistance, we mobilize highly trained scientists with the purpose of doing a series of emergency studies and give technical information for managers to take better decisions. At the beginning of the group, we used to assist one up to three disaster cases a year. Today we assist 10 up to 15 huge disasters annually. So, returning to the main point, we have the responsibility of assessing the disaster: how many people were hit, the immediate perils, the immediate population needs, how the situation is being managed and what is the international aid needed.

Could you explain what the Cenacid's assessment of the whole humanitarian situation in Haiti is?

Besides all the immediate perils, we pointed out two factors that are not being achieved: co-ordination and information. The almost one thousand organizations which are in Haiti are not managing the work together. Sometimes they find themselves doing something that had already been done or concentrating in one site only, while other areas are uncovered. Concerning information, it is not rare when humanitarian aid organizations do not know what need to be done. Another important thing to highlight is what should be done with the residues. We recommended reusing at least 10% of them and we have already watched people doing that. Haitians picking bricks up, collecting pieces of iron and not damaged washbasins to use in buildings and so on. Moreover, we proposed in person the Prime-Minister Jean-Max Bellerive and the Brazilian Embassy for allowing Haiti to develop its own autonomy. That is the key factor for an effective rebuilding nation.

Can the disaster situation there become worse?

I would like to give you a totally different answer, but it is almost certain that the worst is about to come. Now the Caribbean region is entering the rainy season, so there is a high likelihood of landslides as the soil is weaker after the earthquake. So landslides burying villages can be the next situation there. In addition, small proportion earthquakes are still feasible for a year and popular manifestations may unleash violent clashes.

In a disaster there are plenty of distressing images and poignant accounts. Many of them tend to be shocking. So, what most impressed you in Haiti?

I am a person not easy to get impressed but there I was struck by a lot of things. Two in special caught my attention. One is the unimaginable, out of any standards lack of infrastructure. It is difficult to believe in what your eyes see. But you have to bow before reality. Rivers transformed into disgusting rubbish storehouses. The smell and a closer look provide an insight into the people's habits, or, as it is in this case, the lack of habits. Paradoxically, the second thing I noticed is their boundless happiness. They are not sad at all, despite all they have been enduring so far. Personally, I will never forget those Haitians children playing with water.

According to the Human Rights Watch, most settlements sheltering victims have no one in charge of what happens inside or around them. Also, some rapes were reported. What did you verify?

That is true. There are nobody in charge of most of the settlements, so, not surprisingly, they are not working. There are several things missing and there is no electricity in some sites. The only settlement working successfully is one belonging to the Scouts. It is only because the Scouts' leader was managing everything. Among the 975 different organizations present in Haiti, almost none was responsible for the settlements.

You were at Minustah headquarters with the Brazilian army. Did you notice any sort of rivalry with the US?

Yes. At the very beginning of the international response, with the arrival of the US troops, there were some divergences. However, now they already know which country is in charge of the UN operation in Haiti. The natives never tire of saying they prefer Brazil. Subtle attitudes make all difference. While Brazilian troops give food on their hands, the US throw the food at them from airplanes. There is a curious thing I have been through that illustrates it very well. Countless Haitians were flocked at the large Champs de Mars (Square of March), setting tents up and waiting for aid. By the time we approached, those thousands of people began to chant: "Blanc! Blanc! Blanc! (White! White! White!)" It gradually rose in volume clearly to warn others of our strange presence. Then, some saw the Brazilian flag on our shirts and spread the news like wildfire: we were Brazilians. Unexpectedly, they rushed, clustered around and greeted us warmly.

Changing a bit the focus, Brazil is faced as a country almost totally immune to natural disasters. Has this vision changed?

At least, I hope so. In 2004, the Red Cross made an in-depth study and found out that Brazil is the country with the largest number of disaster victims on Earth. And that is food for thought. The settled idea that we are specially protected leads to a dangerous lack of action. The absence of preparations for disasters make the reactions to them even more difficult. An act of sheer folly that is getting down to change.



(Published: 10.03.2010.)