In May 2022, we made our last trip to the country. This time we did it under the protection of the 6 GEOs assigned to protect the Spanish embassy in Port-au-Prince. We had set a date for a final meeting with the Governor and Deputy Governor of BRH – Banque de la République d’Haiti, the client of the 3rd work we were doing in the country, to be able to close the contract economically. The work on the New Administrative Building had been stopped in March 2020 due to the arrival of COVID, which forced us to evacuate the entire expatriate team quickly and at night. Subsequently, with the assassination of the country’s President, Jovenel Moise in July 2021, the country entered the most absolute chaos under the control of very violent armed gangs.

Behind us was the construction and commissioning of two hospitals (Hôpital La Providence in Gonaïves by the UN and Hôpital Saint Michel in Jacmel by the Canadian Red Cross), 10 years since the first trip (August 2012) and a lot of personal and professional experiences that none of us who participated will forget. With the current time distance, all of us who participated can’t help but smile melancholy when someone refers to the works in Haiti, and it always comes up first when we are asked which 3 works you would highlight from your professional career.

So, was it worth it? Economically, we can say no. The effort, dedication, worries and risks assumed (and which we now visualize, knowing the reality of the country) did not have the corresponding economic return. But would we do it again? We certainly would. The personal and professional return for each and every one of us who left behind the Catalan comfort zone to face the Haitian challenge is priceless, even with the best MBAs in existence. And the satisfaction of having left our little bit of sand for the reconstruction of this wonderful country, in the form of two hospitals built and in operation, more than compensates for the effort and suffering along the way.

Currently, Haiti is a country without a state, plunged into the darkest and absolute chaos, controlled by unscrupulous armed gangs who subjugate its inhabitants in areas with impunity. We would not be able to explain the reasons that have brought it here. Experts speak of the remains of its turbulent past starting with the first trade blockade in history, the legacy of the different Western invasions, the excesses of the different dictators who have governed the country, the consequences of the terrible social fracture where a few dominate the entire economy and a large crowd lives in misery, etc.

However, we do dare to point out two more factors that we consider extremely important and that we would never want to forget, those of us who live in the comfort of the First World. And they are the lack of a minimum and universal education and the extreme corruption of the political system. These factors lead to the laziness of its people, to the complete loss of enthusiasm for learning and growing, to discarding any effort to attempt a progress that is practically impossible.

Hopefully the efforts that some international organizations are making to stop the decomposition of the country and to achieve its return to a path of progress can be successful. The wonderful people who live in that fantastic part of the island of Espanyola deserve it. And we hope that this series of publications, beyond explaining the experience of a Catalan construction company outside its natural habitat, has contributed with its grain of sand to putting the spotlight on the terrible human situation that, today, is happening in a point on our own planet.

Tenth part

Part nine

eighth part

seventh part

Sixth part

fifth part

fourth part

third part

second part

first part