New growth, new hope

In the massive field of coarse gravel that makes up Corail Cesselesse, the green plant outside Nanette Lanoix's tent can be seen a long way off. It's too early to call it a tree—in fact, wilting in the full sun, it looks like a weed—but it represents a new start for her.

"Everything we need for now is here at Corail," says Nanette, "only it's very dry and hot. We thought some plants would make a difference, plus when these get bigger there will be some shade and some fruit too."

Nanette, her husband and three children were living at Petionville Golf Course, an overcrowded, disaster-prone piece of land where more than 50,000 people sought refuge after the Haiti quake. As the rainy season approached and land became unstable, it became clear that more and more lives were at stake.

Safe ground and a new start

The result of negotiations for land, shelter and support for these at-risk families was Corail Cesselesse, a giant tent city built to house up to 5,000 people safely while they wait for transitional shelter to be built.

At first the family was hesitant to come. Nanette's husband decided to go ahead of his family to check whether it was a good idea for them. "He came last Wednesday, and he rang me to say, come tomorrow. And then he planted the first tree."

His tree is a papaya cutting, about knee height. Nanette's teenage daughter rolls her eyes and says the plant won't make it, but Nanette disagrees. "There are some new shoots already," she says. "We think it will live."

Putting down roots

Nanette arrived with the children the next day and brought a few more seedlings with her: a tiny lemon, an even smaller lime, and another papaya shoot. They've been in the ground around a week now. If they're still alive now, they must be putting down some roots.

They won't need to water the plants for a while; it rains for most of the night, every night. Some nights Nanette says her tent has leaked, other nights it has been alright. She's surprisingly cheerful about it.

"We keep our food off the floor to keep it dry. We've had to hang out our clothes a few times. Things dry quickly though. It can't be helped."

Space for a garden

This won't be home for too much longer. World Vision is partnering with two other NGOs to build transitional homes with concrete foundations, roofs, rooms and walls—and there will be space for a garden. World Vision also plans to create small farming opportunities as part of livelihood solutions for the people of Corail community.

Nanette says she will leave her trees here when she moves. "I don't mind doing that," she says. "Somebody else can enjoy them."

She looks around at the stark surroundings, then shrugs and smiles. "We made the decision to come here," she says, "so we may as well make the most of it."