‘polluted’ both environmentally and socially. This transforms the ‘garbage issue’ into a unique vantage point for observing the dynamic of differentiations and construction of social inequalities in Haiti. The region’s stigmatization also derives from its association with images of violence and politicization and with the presence of ‘gangs.’ Bel Air has been a hot spot in Haiti’s recent history. The political instability experienced by the country in the 1990s and 2000s made the area one of the first settings for the military intervention undertaken by the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), initiated in 2004. However despite the visible reduction in armed conflicts, Bel Air remains classified a ‘red’ zone (highly dangerous) by MINUSTAH, a fact that has direct negative consequences for the region’s economic and social development. VR is the only NGO working in the region. The projects began in 2006 and involve a series of coordinated actions intended to help achieve ‘stabilization.’5 These initiatives were directly aimed either at reducing violence, such as the Tambou Lapé project, or improving the urban infrastructure and the population’s self-esteem, such as the Dlo Fanm Sante project. Other actions at the time of the research included those being launched in the area of solid waste management, or others being planned such as the initiatives relating to recycling and the construction of public latrines and bio-digesters. At the start of 2009 VR opened a center in the heart of the region: Kay Nou, a 25,000m2 site where a series of initiatives began to be implemented, including fish farming, plant nurseries,
construction of bio-digesters, capoeira lessons, community and cultural meetings, and training courses. The site is also the base for the brigades that began cleaning the zone’s streets and canals around the time of the research.6 Within the framework established for VR’s waste-related initiatives, the area covered by our field research was denominated zone ‘Zero.’ During this period the teams were active cleaning up the Pont Rouge canal, the streets and the rainwater and sewage channels, as well as installing waste bins. These actions put VR in contact with government institutions, international agencies and NGOs working in waste management. Consequently the research project’s investigation into the social life of garbage also enabled us to foreground another key area in the structuring of contemporary Haiti, namely the interconnections between state, international cooperation agencies and NGOs, the design and implementation of public policies, and the local population’s perceptions and expectations concerning ‘international aid.’ The preliminary research conducted in September 2008 enabled an initial formulation of the study plan and the questions to be investigated, outlining specific objectives and elaborating the script to be used for observations and semi-structured interviews, coordinated with the fieldwork developed in the area by one of the team members between February and June 2009.7 The ethnography was completed in June and July 2009. Prolonged observations were conducted from fixed points such as residences, passageways and the various sites where garbage is thrown away
4
Helen Moestue & Robert Muggah “Integração Social, portanto, Estabilização: avaliando o programa de segurança e desenvolvimento do Viva Rio em Porto Príncipe,” Viva Rio, September 2009. 6 At the time of field research, VR launched the Bèlè vèt (Green Bel Air) project, intended simultaneously to ameliorate the environmental degradation of the area (planting saplings and cleaning the streets and canals) and mobilize the population to challenge MINUSTAH’s classification of the zone as ‘red.’ 7 The team comprised two main researchers, Federico Neiburg and Natacha Nicaise, as well as a research assistant, Sergo Jean Louis (student at the Faculté d’Ethnologie de l’Université de l’État de Haiti), and a researcher assistant/agent de liaison, Herold Saint Joie.
Samper, O., Chapal, E., Braïlowsky, A. “Analyse de la problématique des déchets solides dans la Zone Métropolitaine de Port-au-Prince.” IADB, Washington DC, 10/12/2006. According to the IADB authors, this figure is in line with other studies, such as those conducted by GRET in 1996 and 2002. The latter studies also indicate that 73% of the waste produced in the ‘unfavoured’ areas of the metropolitan zone corresponds to organic matter. 5 At first VR’s presence in Haiti was linked to the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration initiative (DDR, later transformed into CNDDR) which still today coordinates the joint work of the Haitian government and MINUSTAH. For a comprehensive description of Viva Rio’s actions in the area and its unique role in the field of initiatives designed to help stabilize Haiti, see
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