Operation HAMLET: CIMIC activities in Haiti

By Lieutenant-Commander Jocelyn Nadeau

With only five members, Task Force Port-au-Prince, the team deployed on Operation HAMLET to serve with the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), is one of the Canadian Forces’ smallest operational missions. MINUSTAH comprises more than 7,000 military personnel from 17 countries, but Canada’s team of five has a strong influence on the mission, not only because of the positions they occupy, but also because of their contribution to the people of Haiti. Every day, their impact is felt in operations, security and humanitarian assistance.

The current members of Task Force Port-au-Prince are: Colonel Bernard Ouellette, MINUSTAH Chief of Staff; Commander Christian Haché, Chief of the Strategic Planning Branch; Lieutenant-Commander Jocelyn Nadeau, the co-ordinator for the MINUSTAH Chief of Staff; Lieutenant-Commander Shekhar Gothy, a planning officer; and Major Justin Schmidt-Clever, responsible for Logistics Reporting.

When you are deployed in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, and confronted every day by extreme poverty and failing government infrastructure, you feel compelled to do more than just your assigned military duties. Responding to that feeling, the officers of Task Force Port-au-Prince have helped improve the lives of hundreds of Haitians, young and old, through activities undertaken in their off-duty hours.

We try to make a difference every day, even through small things like a wave, a smile or a treat given to a child. We always wish we could do more, and in recent months some task force members have done just that.

Maj Schmidt-Clever, a logistician from Ottawa, is a St John Ambulance First Aid Instructor-Trainer. During the first week of August 2009, he joined a small international team of U.N. Police to prepare a class of 22 firefighters and members of the Haitian National Police for certification as First Aid Instructors by St John Ambulance Canada. The course focused on providing the Haitian students with the skills, confidence, and experience required to deliver comprehensive First Aid training in their own organizations.

LCdr Nadeau travelled all around the country to locate a project suitable for support from the Commander’s Contingency Fund. On 12 September 2009, work began in the village of Pikas, where the Canadian team is overseeing the renovation of a school with new benches and two new classrooms. Education is the foundation of every country, and this project will ensure that 60 students will not have an hour-long walk to school, and hundreds will enjoy a better learning environment. On Day One of the project, we also started the students’ school year with the gift of an exercise book and a pencil each. These materials were donated by students of a Quebec high school who were touched by the shabby condition of Haitian schools and the scarcity of supplies their Haitian counterparts face.

The impact of each Canadian-staffed position in MINUSTAH is undeniable, and it is most rewarding when you can do something that affects people directly now and will continue to do so for years to come. Haiti is a beautiful country that needs all the help it can get.