Haiti continued

I'm starting my new job in the morning and school starts next week but I want to finish telling you about Haiti so the next few days will be the rest of my journal.

May 8, 2012

We started the day by touring the Healing Hands for Haiti rehabilitation building which is brand new and just barely opened. It is so beautiful!!! We met with the director and Gail gave us a tour of the facility. There is a great room with equipment for physical therapy which is all new and there are rooms for doctors to do exams, classrooms, and one whole end of the first floor is a manufacturing shop for prosthetics with brand new tools, equipment and ovens. It is so fantastic that everything is on site and new. It will make things so much easier for the patients and so much more efficient. It would be so great to see this kind of facility improvement all over the city.

Gail manages the guest house for HHH.

Physical therapy room. Absolutely amazing to see such new equipment!

Offices, classrooms, patient rooms and more.

Prosthetics manufactured on site!

After the tour we went to World Vision where they talked about the problems Haiti is facing and how they are trying to help. They talked about how important education is and how so many Haitians lack education or the ability to get it. They also talked about how many Haitians leave Haiti to get an education but do not return and that they estimate that 80% of Haitian “brains” are living outside of Haiti. This makes it really hard to have progress in Haiti as so many of the people are uneducated. 

World Vision also sponsors CLIO which is a meeting with many NGO’s to try and coordinate efforts and reduce the overlap which is common in Haiti. It is difficult to get anything done though because most NGO’s send middle management and so no real decisions can be made since they have to report back so the CEO’s can decide. They are also trying to enable the government to take over the meetings so that each section of government meets with the NGO’s which are trying to help address those particular needs.

Next up was SOS Children’s Village. SOS has facilities all over the world where children can come and live and go to school. Many of their children are orphans but they also have many whose parents leave them with SOS because they have no money and can’t care for them. The children live in homes with 10 kids and one “mom”, a paid employee of SOS who lives with the children in a family setting. The kids were absolutely adorable and flocked around us for pictures. We were given a tour of some of the homes and the school. Since we were pressed for time it was really hard to see everything and really learn what they were doing.

Mobbed by darling children.

Showing a picture just taken.

This girl was so mad at me for trying to take her picture!

At the end of the tour, the director had snacks and drinks for us to have tea with them. I am afraid they thought us terribly rude as we didn’t eat much, couldn’t stay long, and didn’t have money to donate to them. I really hope that next time the group comes to Haiti, they can spend more time here and maybe even do some volunteering. 

The boys were all quite enthralled with Greg’s hairy arms. They kept rubbing his arms and commenting on how soft the hair was and calling him a bear. Too cute. The kids all called us “blanc” which is how they refer to rich, white people. It is a little unnerving to think that when these kids see our pale faces, they are looking for us to give them something. I so wish I had enough to give. One of the girls kept asking for a doll which just made me sad. These kids are very well taken care of, they are clean, have a safe and comfortable home, and are educated. But they don’t really have families or parents. The other children and the employees become their family.

The boys rubbing Greg's hairy arms.

Preschool

We had to rush away from SOS because a woman from UNICEF came to meet us and take us out to a development they have outside of the city. There are a ton of “temporary” homes built by UNICEF and a school. These shelters were designed to last a year or so but the people still have nowhere to go. All around the UNICEF development are about 30,000 people living in tents and basically squatting on the land. They have no homes, no jobs and don’t know what else to do. We talked with the director of the school who told us that their funding is running out in June and they don’t know what they are going to do. The woman from UNICEF seemed really frustrated too with the situation because here are all these people with nowhere to go and in so much need but there are so many of them and not enough money to help everyone and because the funding is gone, UNICEF is assigning her elsewhere. It seems like this is a continuing problem in Haiti, funds are available, a program gets started, funds run out, no one knows what to do, the Haitian people suffer. It’s starting to be really overwhelming and frustrating.

It's hard to see but out by the UNICEF development is a huge area covered in makeshift homes occupied by about 30,000 people who have no where else to go.

School at the UNICEF development.

Home

Our interpreter Herold translating what the principal has said about the school.

And then, to finish off a crazy day, we went and ate at the Montana, a ridiculously expensive (for Haiti) hotel and restaurant at the top of a hill. We took our driver (Olin) with us and I couldn’t help but think how the meal cost so much and how little he makes as a driver. I ate a delicious steak and felt guilty about it the whole time. Sigh.

The view is amazing.

The food was delicious.

May 9, 2012

Today began with a visit to the Mennonite Central Committee. They are an evangelical group doing aid work all over the world, have 1.6 million Mennonite/Brethren in Christ members worldwide and are one of the most successful worldwide humanitarian organizations. Their focus is relief, development and peace building and in Haiti they were also working on reforestation until the earthquake hit. This group, although an evangelical group, seemed really genuine in their desire to help in Haiti and not only in converting the people to Christianity. They prefer to make partnerships with Haitian organizations and are focused on cooperation to get things done. They talked about the problems with population in Port-au-Prince, discussing how people come from the country to look for jobs and end up building make-shift dwellings along canals because this is state owned land. In addition to the usual problems which come from people squatting in large cities, then the rainy season comes and floods the canals causing damage to these shelters and leaving people even more vulnerable than they were before.

They also talked about the deforestation problem which has come about because of the Haitian dependence on charcoal for fuel. Groups have come in and tried to get Haitians to change their fuel choice to something else, often a recycled product they can make themselves, but this never succeeds long term. This is because of several factors including traditional use and therefore familiarity with charcoal, loss of work for charcoal makers, and smokier burning from alternative fuels. So rather that trying to get Haitians to stop making and using charcoal, the MCC is planting trees which grow fast and can have limbs removed while they grow, similar to bamboo. By working inside the framework of charcoal use as they make their goals for reforestation, the group is helping Haitians within the context they are comfortable with.

Our next stop was CECI, a group working to develop projects in the community to combat poverty and exclusion. They talked a lot about cooperation and humanitarian assistance and encouraging equity for all. They feel that it is important to encourage citizenship and responsibility so that when an aid group leaves, the community still thrives. They believe in teaching members of the community how to thrive when CECI moves on to another area.

Then this evening we had a man from the Nature Conservancy come and tell us about their work in trying to maintain biodiversity in the marine life of the Caribbean. Biodiversity allows for variety, proper food cycle, pharmacology, bio-mimicry, and human well-being. They are working to get countries to pledge to protect 20% of their coral reefs and make sustainable plans to have access to funds. His presentation was very fascinating and reminded us that it is important to remember that the humans of Haiti are not the only part of this country suffering and that the problems of Haiti impact the land and the marine life as well.

These kids stopped this truck driver and asked him for a ride. Looks like a safe way to get home from school right?

The man bending over for water was literally peeing in it only a few seconds before I took this picture.

Where was I?

Sorry it's been a while but here are some more of my journal entries from Haiti. It has been a crazy summer yet my mind constantly turns to the people in this little country. 

May 5, 2012

Today we took the adventurous bus ride of a lifetime! We headed up into the hills outside of Port-au-Prince to visit a community in Gojan and as we traveled, we found that several of the roads had been washed out or severely damaged by the crazy rain the last two nights. Honestly, I don’t know how our bus driver Olin does it but he managed to get us up the hills and only got stuck, temporarily, once. It was a wild bumpy ride and more than once I thought we would be stuck forever.

Rain in Haiti = washed out roads...

...but people still have to get around.

Olin

A farm which has been partially washed away due to the rain. There is no such thing as crop insurance in Haiti so they will just have to get by on less... or starve.

We did finally make it though and met a woman named Carla, who has been living in Haiti for 28 years with her husband, and has created a foundation, N a Sonje, to draw focus to the need for healing and remembering in Haiti. We visited Carla’s home and the home of her closest neighbor whose home in Port-au-Prince was destroyed in the earthquake. Following the tour, we sat in a gathering shelter and shared a little about ourselves and why we came to Haiti. Several young men from the community joined us and expressed their gratitude that we would travel to Haiti, visit their homes, and share a bit of them and their lives with our families back home.

One of the young men, nicknamed YaYa, then took us to his home where he and some of the other men taught us Creole. They also talked about how greetings are very important in Haiti, much of which was similar to the message Djaloki shared with us the first day. We had planned to stay long enough to enjoy roasted coffee and lunch but unfortunately it began raining and our driver was very worried that we would not be able to get back down the mountain. Of course, YaYa chased us down with packed lunch for us to enjoy! The people here are so kind and loving and generous. I am beginning to question everything I have ever heard about Haiti and how dangerous it is always made out to be.

YaYa teaching us Creole.

YaYa, another young man, and Carla

YaYa's grandmother roasting coffee.

Some of our group.

May 6, 2012

Today was a pretty low-key day, church, lunch, and a little shopping. We went to a local non-denominational church which was all in english. It was led and run by white men but attended by many Haitians. I don’t know if the Haitians attend to work on their English or what but it did seem a bit odd that it was run by all white people. Anyway, everyone was really nice and seemed happy to meet us.

I like going to church in other countries and worshipping with people who have a common belief in Christ but do not practice the same religion as me. Some of the group went to the LDS meeting and then met us at our meeting and I would have loved to do both but could not get up early enough as it is hard to sleep in a room full of girls, especially when the fan gets turned off. Anyway, it was a nice experience to visit this church. I am always fascinated by the similarities in religions and would love to study worldwide religion in greater depth.

After church we went to a restaurant/shop for lunch and a little souvenir shopping. I found a beautiful metal wall art which I purchased and will now have to figure out how to get home as it is way to big to fit in a suitcase. It was a rather delightful and relaxing day.

May 7, 2012

Today we met Corinne who is with a group called SOIL (Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods). They make toilets which turn human waste into organic compost. Corinne talked to us about their small program which is helping to manage waste in a sustainable way. They build toilets with drums which collect feces during use while the urine is diverted to cut down on liquid and smells. Sawdust or sugarcane is added to help with smells, keep flies away and help with composting of the feces. It takes a long time, about a year, but when everything goes right, the drum is opened and beautiful, clean compost comes out. They have struggled a bit with trial and error to get their system to work right but are making progress.

We also visited a site in Cité Soleil where they are using the compost to grow gardens so people living in the slums have access to food. Corinne seemed really excited about the work they are doing and the progress SOIL has made over the last few years. I think it’s a really good idea to have human feces become something useful and safe. I can see how it would be hard to get locals excited though because the end product takes so long to make. Haitians seem to live minute to minute, especially in the slums and tent cities, so it feels like it might be hard to convince people to care about the toilet. But by improving the area and teaching people I can see how at least it is getting everyone to go to the bathroom in the same place which can cut down on contamination.

Cité Soleil

Planters!

Food growing in former poop!

In the afternoon we went to the US Embassy which was quite the ordeal in itself. It is very fancy and air-conditioned and is just like checking into the airport, no liquids allowed and they take your passport until you are ready to go. They also would not let Herold come with us which bugged me. Probably because they cleared all of us before-hand and wouldn’t have had time to check out if he is ok.

We met with a man named John Pachouski who is basically a kind of PR guy and he is very good at his job. He talked about how the US is helping Haiti but how difficult it can be to make progress because of difficulties such as the many steps it takes to get a business license, the instability of electricity, and problems with shipping to name a few. 

Some of the interesting facts he shared include:

• 60% of mangoes are damaged during transport for various reasons such as overloading, rough handling, and inadequate shipping vehicles.
• When the earthquake hit 1/3 of Haitians were living in Port-au-Prince and 1/2 of the countries jobs are located here so the impact has been devastating.
• There are 10 million square meters of rubble in Port-au-Prince which still need to be removed.

Several times Mr. Pachouski made sure to say that congress makes all of the decisions about Haiti. He also talked a lot about how the Haitian government doesn’t work enough with outside businesses to help Haiti fulfill the capitalist dream and even stated at one point that it is “un-American” to dislike what the US is doing in Haiti. I could tell that no one really wanted to fight but some in our group asked really great questions about what is being done. Overall though, I got the sense that we are supposed to appreciate the US machine and all it is doing for Haiti. It was kind of creepy. Plus I was really annoyed by how crappy the roads were out front and yet here is this fancy building with perfect landscaping, air-conditioning, and huge security measures.

continuing Haiti...

May 3, 2012

Today we went to the Port-au-Prince headquarters of World Relief, an evangelical organization which is mostly funded by private, religious donations. We started out with lectures by the current director and the incoming director. They are trying to focus on having a sustainable impact in Haiti by making sure that the changes they implement can be carried on by Haitians. They are well known worldwide for their disaster relief but in Haiti they are trying to move to development rather than relief.

One of the things I thought was interesting is that they work with local churches and religious groups to build relationships because they feel like pastors often know what the needs of the community are. World Relief seeks to empower local churches to serve and help the most vulnerable, integrate values in the community, and using the example of Jesus as they serve. 

World Relief is very organized, they gave us several power point presentations outlining their goals and the stages they use to implement their changes. They also discussed agribusiness which is a big focus they have because most Haitians live in rural areas and half of those work in agriculture. Unfortunately agriculture is a difficult way to make a living in Haiti because of imported food, rainy seasons causing floods or hurricanes, lack of processing centers, and inadequate transportation. Insurance is rare both because it is not available and because it is cost prohibitive and so when a farmers crop is destroyed, he and his family have no food or income. One of the men lecturing stated “we need to cooperate even though cooperation will always be the harder option”. Excellent words to live by.

Following the lectures, and a delicious lunch including cold bottled Coke, we went to see some farms that World Relief is helping Haitians to develop. World Relief helps with financing and helps people work together to share portions of land for agriculture. While we were there we ran into some women and men who were harvesting and sorting corn and okra. They were so sweet, letting us take their pictures, hugging us, and giving us a huge bag of corn to take home. They were very poorly dressed and so I am sure they did not have much to spare but they were so kind. We also went to another man’s plot and he showed us what he is growing. It was so impressive to see how proud they were of the food they are growing and the support that it means for their families.

Visiting the farm

After our long day, we stopped at a grocery store for sandwich makings and snacks. The store, inside, looked like any store you might find in the states. The food was pretty expensive though so most Haitians can’t afford to shop there. There are even armed guards at the parking lot entrance and exit and they walked us to our bus when we were done. It is kind of horrifying to think that this is necessary.

May 4, 2012

Today was my favorite day so far, minus the long bus ride. We traveled to a city called Mirabalais out in the countryside and met with a group called Fonkoze who manage micro-finance and banking for women. This group is absolutely incredible and the help that they are giving to women is truly life changing. They help women at different levels beginning with the lowest income situations by giving them the resources, goats, pigs or merchandise, to sell and make money for their family. Fonkoze also gives these women metal roofing materials and nails needed to build a house thus improving the living situation of their families. Fonkoze will also help to build a sanitary latrine for the family because they recognize that simply giving a woman a way to make an income is not enough if she and her children are not safe and healthy.

The next step in the Fonkoze micro-finance plan involves having 5 women in a community take a loan out together to expand an existing business or start a business together. By having 5 women work together Fonkoze finds that the women take an active role in helping each other succeed as well as raising the accountability of the women in the group. Fonkoze also provides education, access to health care, individual loans for graduates of the group loan plans and other individuals who are able to obtain credit, and also offers disaster insurance to help offset costs when disaster strikes.

Our group was able to travel to visit several women who are currently using the financing available through Fonkoze. First we stopped at a meeting where several groups of women were making their payments on their loans. The women there sang to us and were so gracious to allow us to sit in on this private financial matter as even others from the community are not allowed to go to the meetings. The women were all in their best clothes and it was easy to see the pride they had for the ability to make their families lives better.

Singing Fonkoze women

We then stopped to visit two women who are in the most basic level of Fonkoze micro-finance, one who has a home and latrine built and one whose home was under construction. Compared to the women in the loan groups, it was easy to see that these two women were just beginning their financial journey to independence as they did not want to make eye contact and were obviously not confident in themselves. There was also a noticeable difference in their level of care and cleanliness for themselves, their children, and their living space. Their children were not in school as they could not afford it and some didn’t even have clothing. These women have been living such hopeless, desperate lives and you can see it in their faces.

The last three women we met were graduates of the Fonkoze loan program and were selling their product at their market stand. They each had their merchandise neatly stacked and ready for sale and one woman was weaving a saddle while another fried bits of dough. Their small children were well dressed and clean and the older ones were all in school. The confidence and happiness of these women was palpable. It was so fantastic to see the amazing good that Fonkoze is doing to empower and strengthen women and through them, their families and community.

Watch this video for more about Fonkoze and their amazing work.

Let's go back to Haiti for a while

I'm compiling my journal so I thought I would post it here. Since I put up pictures of the first few days there aren't many in this post but I will add them as we go on.

May 1, 2012

There is no way to describe your feelings when you land in Haiti. It is hot. It is crowded. It is dirty. After a short bus ride across the tarmac, the arrivals terminal starts with a tent where a band serenades your entrance to the country, complete with cd’s for sale and a collection hat. We were ushered into an un-air-conditioned warehouse which was a veritable mosh pit of men in blue pants and red shirts all scrambling to be the first to lay a hand on your luggage so they can help you to the car and get a tip. We had been traveling for almost 15 hours by that point and were running on the bits of sleep we were able to get while on the plane since we took the red eye to JFK. And did I mention it is hot in Haiti? Gratefully we were able to get away from the airport without too much drama and onto the roads of Port-au-Prince.

What a crazy city! There are no traffic lines, or lights, or rules for that matter, and our huge, white bus had to shove it’s way through the mass of cars and people. There is destruction everywhere. You are almost bowled over with the sights of damaged buildings and roads, piles of rubble, makeshift homes, and masses of people. I have been to big cities before and I have seen poverty, but in Haiti there is just no end. Every street, every corner, everywhere you look there are shacks made of boards and tarps, men and women are selling things on the streets, and roads are in a state of disrepair. Many places have sights just like these but in Port-au-Prince, it never ends. There is no part of town which is immune.

We are staying at the guest house of Healing Hands for Haiti and it is pretty nice. I’m not sure if the heat will kill me but I am trying to stay positive. There are no screens and all of the “windows” are slats that open to allow the air to flow so I already have about 3 million mosquito bites. This will get old fast. Thank heavens for Deet and mosquito nets to sleep under. All of the girls are squished into one room (I snagged a non-bunk bed) so we will get to know each other much better than we want I am sure. I am overwhelmed but really excited about the next two weeks and the things I will see and learn here. I am already enchanted by this wild place.

See the slatted windows? No screens. None. We should add a welcome sign for the mosquitoes.

Me, in the net of safety.

Mallory (in her net of safety), Hilary (seated) and Abi. Some of my new friends.

May 2, 2012

Did I mention it’s hot here? Yeah, I thought so. It is already interesting having so many girls in the same room. We have one bathroom to share. There is another down the hall but it means going down the hall. I am not good at going without a shower and I really don’t like starting the day without one. Gratefully some of the girls prefer to shower at night.

Today started with a local priest, Djaloki Dessables, coming to speak to us. It was an excellent discussion and he dispelled many myths that surround the Haitian culture. He talked about how important people are to Haitians and that people are always more important than time. In part because of physical circumstances (traffic, crowding, rain, road conditions) time is more fluid to Haitians. There is no easy answer when you ask how long something will take or how long until you arrive and this leads to a relaxed attitude about time which many outsiders find infuriating. I think also a long history of not being able to plan for the future due to lack of structure has left Haitians with a “live in the moment” outlook on life.

We were also taught about Vodou (not voodoo, like in the movies). This religion has a lot in common with many other religions. Haitians believe that their ancestors are literally all around them and that all of life is interconnected. The practice of Vodou is a relationship between people and spirits and each person decides whether their religion will be used for good or ill. For example; voodoo dolls: we think of the pin stabbing to kill or hurt someone, in the Vodou religion they think of it as remote acupuncture and use the practice in a similar manner as those who pray for healing for a loved one; animal sacrifice: during a Vodou ceremony the people are connecting with their ancestors and provide an animal so that the people can partake of the meat and the ancestors can partake of the spirit. Unfortunately there is a lot of misunderstanding about the Vodou religion and so people think it’s evil. But religions all have a lot in common if we are willing to look for it.

Want to read more of what Djaloki has to say? Find it here

For the second half of our day we went to the UN base to meet with some people from UNICEF. They focus a lot on children, young adults and women. Some of the things they talked about include how Haiti has always been vulnerable but the earthquake made things worse, lack of government makes it nearly impossible to make progress, and the lack of infrastructure (roads, health care, sanitation, regulations) makes it hard to implement change even when there is money available.

The group also talked about the cholera epidemic and how it occurred in rural areas but that much of the humanitarian aid was centered in Port-au-Prince due to the earthquake and that this made the response much slower. Haiti never had cholera before but it was brought by UN employees and found it’s way into the streams and rivers because of bad plumbing and sadly, Haiti is one of the few places in the world where sanitation and access to clean water is getting worse, not better. Although malnutrition is a huge concern, especially for children under 5, the percentage of malnourished children is decreasing so that is really hopeful.

Haiti has almost no social support for families and so children are often abandoned when parents can not afford to feed and clothe them. There are over 800 centers for children, similar to orphanages, but most are not registered and therefore not subject to regulation. Some not only feed, clothe, and educate the children but also facilitate adoptions whether the children have living parents or not and occasionally they participate in child slavery or human trafficking. 

UNICEF

(I stole this photo from my friend Anna. She wrote about Haiti too.)

Makes me awfully grateful for government...

Memorial Weekend

We started our Memorial weekend on Sunday evening at Jonah's grave. We left the dinosaurs which Jonah would love since his dad digs for their bones.

We followed that with a visit to Britton where we enjoyed a fantastic view of the mountains.

Monday found us in Spanish Fork visiting my paternal grandparents. My grandma died right after my parents were married and my grandpa died when I was one. Since I am named after her, I am curious about what she was like (everyone always says she was a wonderful woman so I feel like I have a lot to live up to).

We always go find grandpa's flag. He was a Major in WWII.

After the cemetery we always stop for twist cones at Glade's. A tradition I am happy to pass to my boys.

This summer marks 10 years since Scott's dad died. Amazing how it feels like yesterday and forever ago at the same time.

I am always grateful that Memorial Day is a reminder to share our appreciation for the men and women who sacrifice by serving in the armed forces.  And a good day to think about our family and friends on the other side.

And the answer is...

I'm a little afraid to talk about Haiti face to face.

I am afraid that people don't want to hear some of the things I will say and I don't want to hurt any feelings.

For example:

The US Government is making things worse.

Sometimes humanitarian aid ruins the local economy.

Haiti is not a scary place and the US "do not travel" recommendation is not necessary.

The military presence serves only to intimidate the most poor.

So, if you don't want to hear these things, and others, you may not want to ask me about my trip. From the minute Christopher Columbus landed on the island of Hispañola, the people have been exploited to benefit the wealthy. Haiti does not have a happy history and it is a mess the people did not create for themselves, it was forced upon them.

I love this crazy, messy, beautiful place and I will have a hard time holding back from telling you things you may not want to hear.

Because the people of Haiti need a voice and I want to tell the story.

It's a complex issue

I have a lot to process.

Haiti is such an amazing, broken place.

The people are so vibrant, giving, beautiful.

It is hard to even know where to start so I am thinking this will come out bit by bit.

I have gained an incredible appreciation for all that I have. My life is abundant. Not just in "things" but also in love and support. I am truly grateful.