FOKAL and Parc de Martissant : An Urban Success
By Joel Dreyfuss
Photo by Yvens Rumbold & Lucie Couet of FOKAL
How do you create a green space in an overpopulated city with a severe shortage of infrastructure? The leadership of FOKAL offered an answer that could be characterized as both unusual and refreshing at an event hosted by Haiti Cultural Exchange at Brooklyn Borough Hall on November 18, 2013. FOKAL , a national foundation that has worked in Haiti since 1995, defines its focus as creating agents of change through children, youth, civil society and the marginalized. The acronym stands for fondasyon konesens ak libète.
Michèle Pierre-Louis, FOKAL’s president and a former Haitian prime minister, Lorraine Mangonès, the executive director, and Thierry Chérizard, chargé de mission, presented a progress report on the foundation’s effort to create the first intentional green space in Port-au-Prince. The session was moderated by New York-based architect Rodney Leon, who recently won the competition to design a memorial to the slave trade at the headquarters of the United Nations.
The FOKAL team explained that it was asked by the Haitian government to develop and manage Le Parc de Martissant, which encompasses 17 hectares (42 acres) of land in a ZAC (zone d’aménagement concerté), an urban development zone of 30,000 residents in a poor neighborhood of the city. The park is anchored in the south of the city by the historic Habitation Leclerc, presumably the property at one time of Napoleon’s sister, Pauline Bonaparte. The property more recently belonged to African-American dance anthropologist Katherine Dunham, who ran an inn and a school of Haitian dance. The property also had brief international renown in the 1970s as a resort and playground for the rich and famous.
FOKAL has instituted programs in waste collection for the zone and health care for local residents. A visually-appealing new community center on the grounds has been named for Dunham and a botanical garden of medicinal plants has also been created. FOKAL has been granting academic scholarships to the best students in the zone since 2008 and more than 100 students now have their tuition paid by the foundation.
FOKAL has developed a process of regular consultations with local residents, who make great use of the park. Pierre-Louis says the project has received strong support from President Martelly, who has expanded the property beyond its original boundaries and urged FOKAL to develop a training program in environmental sciences. She also says the park has been embraced and protected by its community; one example: the grounds were left intact after the earthquake although nearly every open space in Port-au-Prince was invaded by squatters.
However, Pierre-Louis also indicated that FOKAL is seeking an exit strategy from Le Parc de Martissant. She is hopeful that the site can begin generating some revenue and move toward sustainability. FOKAL is looking for support in the Haitian Diaspora for a project that is real, succeeding and very visible.
Contact Joel Dreyfuss at joel.dreyfuss@gmail.com
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