Léogâne
Léogâne is one of the coastal communes in Haiti. It is located in the eponymous Léogâne Arrondissement, which is part of the Ouest Department. The port town is located about west of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince. Léogâne has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature, cuisine, and architecture. It also holds importance for archaeological and historical sites such as Fort Campan.
The town was at the epicenter of the 12 January 2010 earthquake. Like Port-au-Prince, it was catastrophically affected, with 80–90% of buildings damaged. As Haiti is very poor, they couldn't afford earthquake-proof buildings.
History
At the time of the arrival of the Europeans in 1492, Yaguana—modern-day Léogâne—was the capital of Jaragua, one of the five chiefdoms on the island of Hispaniola. This province was the last independent holdout during the Spanish conquest of Hispaniola until the Taíno queen Anacaona, who was born in the town, was captured and killed by the Spaniards in 1503. In 1592 the town was captured and burned by an English privateer fleet led by Christopher Newport.As the western part of the island was gradually settled by French buccaneers and filibusters, in 1691 the French court appointed Jean-Baptiste du Casse to succeed Pierre-Paul Tarin de Cussy as governor of Saint-Domingue after he was killed in the Battle of Sabana Real. It was during this time that du Casse had renamed the area Léogâne, with traces of the Taino name Yaguana, as were other names of places that were maintained by the Spanish and transmitted over to the French administration. The French secured legal access to one-third of the island from the Spanish crown by the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697 and established a city. The town was destroyed in an earthquake in 1770. In 1791 and 1792, Romaine-la-Prophétesse, who owned a plantation outside Léogâne and had been influential in the local community, led rebels in taking control of the town and destroying many nearby plantations and freeing their slaves. In 1803, later in the Haitian Revolution, Jean-Jacques Dessalines ordered his men to burn the town to the ground to force out the last of the French colonists. Léogâne was also the birthplace of Marie-Claire Heureuse Félicité, an Empress of Haiti and wife of Haitian revolutionary Jean-Jacques Dessalines.
Charlemagne Péralte, the leader of the Haitian resistance to the U.S. occupation that began in 1915, had been a military officer stationed in Léogâne. He resigned from the military, refusing to surrender to the U.S. troops without a fight. Afterwards, he returned to his native town of Hinche and began leading the Cacos against the occupation forces.
2010 earthquake
Léogâne was at the epicenter of the 7.0 magnitude 12 January 2010 earthquake and a United Nations assessment team that investigated three main towns near Port-au-Prince found that Léogâne was "the worst affected area" with 80 to 90% of buildings damaged and no remaining government infrastructure. Nearly every concrete structure was destroyed. The damage was also reported to be worse than in the capital. The military estimated that 20,000 to 30,000 people had died from the earthquake in Léogâne. People congregated in ad hoc squatter camps and relief took longer to reach Léogâne than the capital.As the municipal buildings were destroyed, city hall was moved to a telecommunications building. Among the facilities destroyed in the quake was the Sainte Rose de Lima School, considered the emotional heart of the city. Buildings on the main commercial strip or Grand Rue, the Saint Croix Hospital, and the tribunal de paix building were all destroyed or heavily damaged by the earthquake.
British urban search and rescue teams with Rapid-UK along with the Icelandic search and rescue team were the first to reach the destroyed town on January 17, 2010. The Canadian destroyer reached the area on Tuesday, 19 January. The Athabaskan crew of 280 were tasked with supplying humanitarian aid to the city and assisting in relief efforts. A Japanese field hospital, Sri Lankan peacekeeper unit, and an Argentine White Helmets field hospital treated survivors, The Japanese and Argentinians arrived on the 18th. The Canadian Medical Assistance Team arrived on the 19th, and set to work performing surgeries.
The missionaries of World Wide Village set up outpatient clinics beside the Japanese Red Cross at the nursing school in Léogâne within days after the earthquake. Volunteer medical personal and teams of volunteer surgeons from World Wide Village and the University of Notre Dame examined and treated thousands of patients. World Wide Village set up a field hospital which began full operation in late February 2010 as the new Hospital St. Croix. World Wide Village and the University of Notre Dame continued to send teams to the nursing school and field hospital to meet ongoing health care needs in Léogâne.
The NGOs Heart to Heart International and Médecins Sans Frontières provided medical aid at clinical sites in the area.
As Léogâne has no airport, the Canadians used the small strip at Jacmel to avoid the bottleneck in Port-au-Prince and had 250–300 personnel there the next day. The Canadian 1 Field Hospital was deployed to Léogâne. The Cuban military set up a field hospital in the region as well.
Canadian soldiers provided security for food distribution points. The Canadian medical facility was located near the Japanese field hospital, which was next to the nursing school, which has been turned into a hospital. Canada deployed the Van Doos infantry regiment to help with recovery efforts. Haitian Girl Guides and Boy Scouts also helped with crowd control at some food distribution points.
With no airport in Léogâne, any aid needing to be airlifted in had to be carried by helicopter or through use of small planes on makeshift landing strips. The highway, Route 9, at Léogâne, was cordoned off by UN Peacekeepers to use as such a landing strip.
The Korean government deployed 250 peacekeepers to the region in February, composed mostly of engineers, some medical troops, and marines for security. The mission comprised 120 military engineers, 22 medics and a 1,200 tonne freighter filled with supplies and equipment. By February 18, 2010, the Korean Peacekeepers had started building a hospital. On 27 February 2010, 190 South Korean Peacekeepers left home for deployment in Léogâne and by February 28, 2010, 240 members of South Korean Peacekeepers had arrived.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization started a "cash-for-work" program to clear irrigation canals in the Léogâne area.
By February 9, 2010, the US 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit was rotating out of Haiti, having been replaced by the US 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, in their positions on and Carrefour, Léogâne, Petit-Goâve, and Grand-Goâve.
On March 2, 2010, the IFRC decongested a refugee camp by creating a second one out of the overflow.
Once the victims of the earthquake were cared for, 1 Canadian Field Hospital began to treat patients with other serious illnesses. Many operations were performed on patients who traveled long distances to Léogâne for care. 's mission ended on 10 March.
Geography
Boundaries
Léogâne is bounded to the north by the Gulf of Gonâve, to the east by the commune of Gressier, to the south by the summit of the Massif de la Selle which separates it from the south-east, and to the west by the commune of Grand-Goâve.Climate
Léogâne is a commune with widely diverse microclimates. The average temperature in Léogâne is warm and stays approximately the same throughout the year. Temperatures are almost always high in the lowland areas, ranging from 15 °C to 25 °C in the winter and from 25 °C to 30 °C during the summer. The lowland portion is relatively warm throughout the year; the dry mountains have moderate temperatures; the humid mountainous areas have very mild temperatures and fairly high humidity all year round. The annual rainfall is between 800 millimeters to 1277 millimeters.Dry mountains
The dry mountains in Léogâne receive less than 800 millimeters of rain annually. The areas in this group include Fond de Boudin, Palmiste à Vin, Gros Morne, Cormiers, Petit-Harpon, and Citronnier.Humid mountains
The humid mountains in Léogâne receive more than 800 millimeters of rainfall yearly. This areas in this group include Orangers, Aux-Parques, Beauséjour, and Fond d'Oie.Irrigation
The commune of Léogâne has six rivers (Rouyonne, Momance, Cormier, Ravine Seche, Haut-Saut, and Courbyon, in addition to nineteen streams, two ponds and a lagoon. Despite the abundance of water in the region, only three communal sections are irrigable: Dessources, Petite-Rivière and Grande-Rivière. These sections are crossed by several rivers and streams, some more important than others. The Momance River in Grande-Rivière, for example, is the most significant river in Léogâne, because it is widely used for irrigation purposes. This river also has the potential to generate renewable energy via hydro-electricity.Economy
The economy in Léogâne remains predominately agricultural despite the challenges that are facing the sector in the commune. The sugarcane industry holds the largest share in the economy. The sugarcane industry is closely followed by the banana industry and then grains such as maize, sorghum and rice. Legumes and foodstuffs such as sweet potatoes, cassava, beans, and yams complete this chain. A significant amount of fishing and farming is practiced throughout the coastal areas. Aviculture and apiculture farms have been rapidly expanding in recent years.The Jean Léopold Dominique sugar mill in Darbonne produces surplus cane molasses, some of which is supplied to the smaller alcohol distilleries around the commune. The sugar mill has a production capacity of 375,000 metric tons of sugar; it also has the ability to produce 22 megawatts of electricity.
Coffee is a crop of vital importance to the entire national economy. It is one of the major cash crops for Léogâne's peasants living in the humid mountain areas considered ecologically strategic for the country. Nearly 200,000 households at the national level are engaged in coffee growing with at least 20% of their annual income derived from coffee, providing them with cash income for family expenses including education, health, and investing in cattle and the construction of houses. Tombe Gateau Léogâne is home to the largest coffee mill in Haiti which serves the Southeast region, Center, Artibonite, and Grande-Anse. The Federation of Native Coffee Associations, is the owner of the trademark "Haitian Bleu", a blend of coffee beans.
The production of building materials plays an important role in the local economy and is in fierce competition with the agricultural sector. Construction enterprises are emerging at such an alarming rate that many territories that were once occupied by crops are now restricted to concrete. Two other sub-sectors occupy a statistically relevant role in the economy; transportation and private schools.
Proximity to the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince is also of economic significance to Léogâne. It constitutes a market exceeding two million potential customers, excluding the five hundred thousand people living in the Region Des Palmes or palm tree region. The abundant labor force constitutes another important production factor in Léogâne. The region's population consists of more than 55% young adults who are willing and able to work. Léogâne has the capacity for 100,000 active farmers to enter the labor market, excluding prospective workers coming from neighboring municipalities.