Open Source Archives

We strive to facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration and the implementation of progressive and  participatory research methods, with the goal of generating tangible, durable changes in the way research about Haiti is conceptualized, implemented and applied.

ABOUT US

Research Hub & Open Source Archives

EKO HAITI Research Hub is a research and knowledge mobilization platform focused on creative, collaborative and interdisciplinary research and associated research-based learning. We aim to become the intellectual “home” for research about Haiti by creating and providing open access to the largest crowdsourced research archive dedicated to Haiti, by fostering cross-disciplinary research and innovation, and by providing support for progressive research in the form of contextual expertise and training.

“The trees fall from time to time, but the voice of the forest never loses its power. Life begins.”

Jacques Alexis, Les Arbres Musiciens (Paris, 1957)
Haiti-bezienswaardigheden
LITTERATURE
HAITIAN LITTERATURE
Haiti is the birthplace of a rich literary heritage that deserves more attention. Haitian authors open a window into this Caribbean nation’s vibrant culture and tumultuous history.

Haiti-bezienswaardigheden
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
ANTHROPOLOGY
EKO HAITI collections include all works, published and unpublished by Anthropologists Gerald Murray, Glenn Smucker and Timothy Schwartz
Haiti-bezienswaardigheden
PHOTOGRAPHY ARCHIVE
HAITI IN PICTURES
Dedicated to the late great, Kreyolicious (Katheline St. Fort), our photographs archives holds a large collection of images dating back to the late 1800's .
Haiti-bezienswaardigheden
DEVELOPMENT ARCHIVE
DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH
40 years of development reports, evaluations and survey databases many of which are not publicly available, are buried in drawers, closets, private libraries of NGOs and government donors.

ORAL HISTORIES

Oral histories are a powerful tool in developing historical understanding

Oral history offers an alternative to conventional history, filling gaps in traditional research with personal accounts of historically significant events or simply life in a specific place and time. Oral histories do more than provide charming details to dry historical accounts. In fact, oral histories help others recapture lived experiences that are not written down in traditional sources.

> Transcripts archive

" Bwa pi wo di li wè lwen, men grenn pwomennen di li wè pi lwen pase l "

The tallest tree says that it sees far, but the seed that travels says that it sees even further.

GET INVOLVED

Support EKO HAITI

As an independent institute, we rely on crowdsourcing and donations to continue expanding the depth and scope of our archives.  Your contribution enable us to provide open access to a vast collection of ethnographic and research material which in turn aims at fostering further research and contribute to a better understanding of the country.

On January 12, 2010, Haiti was struck by a magnitude 7.3 earthquake. An estimated 3 million people were impacted, and original estimates were that 50 to 80% percent of all residential and commercial buildings in the capital and surrounding areas were destroyed or severely damaged, 217,000 to 300,000 people killed, 300,000 injured, and 1.5 million people homeless.

Despite a massive international response with an emphasis on housing and shelter, OCHA and OIM estimated that as of January 12th 2011, one year after the earthquake, 810,000 people– 30% of the metropolitan population–still remained displaced and living in Camps (findings in this report as well as findings of the MTPTC color coded building program suggest this as well as most of the other estimates cited are improbable figures).

To assist and encourage people to return to their homes, USAID funded Rubble Removal Programs including demolition of condemned buildings and the removal of rubble from streets and drainage canals. Between February 2010 and February of this year USAID also supported the Ministry of Public Works Transport and Communications (MTPTC) habitability assessments program in which buildings were structurally evaluated and color-coded green (for safe to return), yellow (unsafe to inhabit but reparable), and red (for unsafe to enter/damaged beyond repair). The precise impact of rubble removal and the assessments on IDP returns was, prior to the current study, unknown.

To determine the contribution the programs made, USAID contracted LTL Strategies to conduct the Building Assessments and Rubble Removal surveys (here on referred to as BARR). The principal objective was to calculate, to a relatively high degree of accuracy and with a reasonably high degree of statistical probability, the impact on rate of re-occupancy of MTPTC assessments and rubble removal on IDP returns.