Penn responded to the January 2010 earthquake almost immediately, booking planes and bringing doctors and medical supplies into the chaotic conditions. A year later, he remains deeply involved in running a camp via J/P HRO that is home to 11,000 displaced residents. Here, he helped unload boxes of Ringer's lactate, a treatment for cholera.
When he first arrived, Penn lent assistance to a group of Haitian residents who had sought refuge at a golf club where the U.S.' 82nd Airborne was based. "They said, 'You can stay if you're effective. If you stop being effective, we kick you out,'" said Penn. He was so effective, he became camp manager.
Penn at an elementary school in the Bel Air district of Port-au-Prince, the nation's capital and epicenter of the earthquake's destructive impact.
The actor expressed harsh views of the United Nations' efforts in Haiti, criticizing the fortresslike walls that surround the U.N. operation. Penn sniffed at "the amount we're getting done, versus what they're doing — which is nothing. Quite honestly, if you want something done, do it yourself."
Penn paused for a moment in the closet-sized room that he know calls home. “There’s no end point," he said. "This is where I’ll be when I’m not working, for the rest of my life."
Penn at a meeting with associates. About 50 volunteers and professionals adminster the camp along with a Haitian staff of 108.
55,000 residents live in 11,000 temporary shelters at the Petionville encampment, spread out over several hills of a former nine-hole golf course.
Penn stopped to share a moment with young residents of the encampment he administers. The children and other residents of the camp know Penn as the camp manager, not as a Hollywood celebrity.
Filmmaker Paul Haggis' interest in Haiti goes back to 2008, when he learned of the work of Rev. Rick Frechette who had long toiled in country's slums. Haggis formed Artists for Peace and Justice and has raised more than $7 million, securing commitments from an impressive list of celebrities to donate $50,000 a year for five years.
Bello in the slum of Cite Soleil with local children.
Bello at a meeting with Cité Soleil residents organized by We Advance, where the topic of sexual assaults on girls living in the slums was raised. We Advance was founded in the aftermath of the earthquake by Bello, Aleda Frishman, Alison Thompson and local activist Barbara Guillaume.
Bello and Guillaume in Cité Soleil, where Guillaume — a folk singer and former Haitian exile — is a candiate for mayor. "I have a lot of hope for Cité Soleil," Guillaume said.
Haitians conduct a market amid cargo containers in the city's slum.
Sean Penn, center, passes a box of Ringer’s lactate — a cholera treatment — to The Hollywood Reporter’s Stephen Galloway.
The earthquake that struck Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010 affected an estimated 3 million inhabitants, killing tens of thousands — the Haitian government puts the figure at upwards of 230,000 — and leaving much of the infrastructure in Port-au-Prince in ruin.
Rubble is all that remains of one of Port-au-Prince’s few movie theaters, each of which is now closed.
Empty now, this waterway becomes a raging flood whenever it rains. City residents occasionally fall in and are swept to their deaths.
Thousands of Haitians still live in camps and other temporary dwellings a year after the earthquake struck.
Despite the 80% unemployment rate, Haitians somehow manage to survive by creating work for themselves like this.
A sign in the background of this bustling market offered help with repairs and equipment for sale.
Removing trash is just one of the problems Penn has to deal with as camp manager. Keeping residents safe from gangs targeting supplies is another. There are gangmembers in the camp, but "We hardball the shit out of them," said Penn.
Locals crowded into a tent housing a makeshift theatre, paying a few cents to watch movies on a television screen.
Residents have turned part of the camp into a bustling local market. The camp also offers a 24/7 medical unit, a tent for treating cholera victims and a measure of security from criminal gangs.
An outbreak of cholera began in the wake of a recent hurricane. The disease, spread by water-borne bacteria, kills by causing diarrhea but is easily cured if treated early. This tent provides doses of hydrating fluid to cholera victims.