Haiti Response

How you know there has been an earthquake

•March 20, 2010 • Leave a Comment

Lasting reminders

There are all these little funny reminders of what transpired a few months back. After a while you kind of get use to the surroundings and forget about the massive quake that hit. The rubble becomes invisible, the tent camps and people in the street simply become the norm. But there are subtle nuances that cause an oh yeah reaction. Little folded laminated signs on tables that say please don’t remove the chair cushions… Why would that be an issue, well because two months ago that was prime bedding for aid workers, reporters and everyone else without a place to crash.

Another pleasant surprise is the long-term relief community seems to be comprised of the best looking, most worldly people I have seen in a longtime. I have, as of yet to figure out the social scene but when on the UN Log base (Logistics base where all UN and NGO coordination and planning takes place) it is crawling with people from every corner of the earth with the most outrageous stories and experiences. As for the esthetic, its clean hippy meets eccentric shabby chic, Mad Max style…. I’ll take it.

Posted in On the Ground, Uncategorized

Haiti, a whole new breed of traffic

•March 14, 2010 • Leave a Comment

New Sports car to hit Haiti market, 1HP

Haiti is home to a special type of traffic. It’s not like Ho chi Minh city where the sheer volume of people on scooters is mesmerizing, somewhat beautiful and terrifying at the same time. It isn’t like the traffic in Panama, which is just enough to be frustrating without debilitating. The traffic in Haiti is complete. It is as solid and un-movable as steel. It should be added to the elements chart. Port-au-Prince is a tiny city geographically, that lays in-between a low-lying mountain range and the bay, yet it takes on average 1.5 hours to move 9.6 miles per my calculation.

While people are constantly hurling their cars in front of one another, over curbs and driving on the wrong side of the street, no one is every agitated. It is not like the suburbs of the US where the failure to use a turn single might prompt a heavily armed suburban housewife to chase you down for five blocks. People here are as courteous as safety and space enables them to be. You can cut a bus off and cause the drive to slam on his brakes, yet if you give the thumbs up you will get a huge smile in return.

Forget putting in your I-pod, or blasting the radio. You would fail to hear the hundreds of kamikaze motorcycle driver who somehow manage to squeeze by you always ensuring to stay in your blind spot with horns blaring. It gets to the point where you can’t tell if you have lost your mind and are hearing a constant ringing of their just happens to be a relatively persistent motorcyclist laying on his horn tucked in behind you.

Needless to say a jaunt outside of the house on any day other than a Sunday guarantees the majority of the day to be spent in transport. If a man pulling a hand cart is not blocking your way then one of the tap tap’s (colorful public transport busses) or an excavator removing rubble will be sure to be in front of you at all times.

Posted in On the Ground

Despite it all in Haiti they still joke

•March 14, 2010 • Leave a Comment

There is a common joke amongst the people of Haiti that sums up how Haitians are amongst themselves:

A man comes into town and offers to grant a group of two Americans, two Frenchmen and Two Haitians anything they want. The only stipulation was whatever the first of each pair asked for, the second would get double. With this in mind one individual from each group proceeded to make their request.

The American: “I want to be a million air. The man granting the wish said fine you are a millionaire and your buddy has two, and both walked away ecstatic.

The Frenchman said, “I want the nicest mansion in town.” So again, the man said no problem and your buddy gets a house that’s twice the size but both will be world-class, and both walked away happy.

The Haitian man walked up and says “Poke my eye” leaving his counterpart blind.

You will fail to see the humor in this unless you have had some exposure to Haiti. The people here are incredibly friendly, generous, outgoing and outwardly peaceful, but amongst themselves they can be a bit competitive and selfish. There is a remarkable difference between how they treat foreigners and how they treat each other.

This is not to say at all, that all Haitian people are self-centered and don’t care for their fellow-countryman but it is a bit of a dog eat dog culture, not surprisingly so given the state of the economy, dismal living conditions, and outright poverty. It’s a struggle to always look out for number one on a day-to-day basis, which extends to the family and not much further.

Haiti public market

In my limited experience and time here this cultural element could be a key factor in preventing the population from uniting to take charge for themselves to better their circumstances.

This is probably not the most sensitive post in light of the situation. The positive attributes of this culture are truly awe-inspiring. The people are so incredibly resilient, and jubilant despite all of the endless hardships they are confronted with. From a seemingly endless slew of natural disasters to insurmountable poverty, they keep their heads up and keep on living when many others would simply give up.

In light of the current situation it is important to laugh, and the Haitian people are doing just that. And it’s still a hilarious joke that had me doubled over this morning on the way to look at installing a chlorine injection pump at the Don Bosco IDP camp Hope For Haiti continues to support.

Posted in Culture shock

5 star rice beans and company in IDP tent camp

•March 5, 2010 • 1 Comment

Proud, genuine, and shamelessly generous:

This event has served as a great equalizer, if only for an intermittent period of time lines between social and cultural classes have been blurred. The guy without shoes or a shirt wakes up in a tent next to the family who leaves their tin shack to go into town in their Mercedes. Regardless of prior status the population in the tent camps are as mixed as they come.

Despite the lack of home, business, or general stability, Haitians still manage to be incredibly generous. There is a cognitive disconnect for me coming form the States where people of drastically different social classes rarely meet. The disparity between graciousness and means in Haiti is as drastically different from the US as can be. Interestingly enough this trait, however only seems to extend to foreigners and family members. Haitians amongst themselves are quite discriminating at times.

I was walking through an IDP camp yesterday with Dr. Steve Victor, a close friend and Hope for Haiti’s head healthcare coordinator. The best way to describe Steve is as a jolly green giant with a PHD and cartoon fixation. He is a Haitian who studied medicine in Cuba, speaks French, English, Spanish, and Creole fluently. The rules in regards to masculinity are far different in Haiti. It is a very touchy feely culture amongst men. Long hold handing, hugs etc. It takes some getting use to and just about slashes all pre-conceived notions of big burly violent savage Haitians on the spot, when first identified. Point being Steve always has a protective eye out for me. Whether he is pulling out of the street to keep me from getting slammed by one of the million mad bomber drivers or ensuring all is good with his “Blan” (white guy) he is always there. After eight hours in the field yesterday with no breakfast or lunch he lead me to his aunts tent in a camp close to the one where we had been working. We were greeted with huge smiles, and an overflowing pot of the best rice beans and fish I have ever had. These people were starving, without a home and or any basic amenities and yet here they were entertaining! I felt like I needed a bottle of wine or some flowers as a thank you gift, talk about text out of context.