Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Camp Pinchinat

When I was here in March, I found the tent cities one of the saddest things. At the time, I didn't understand why people were still living in those conditions two months after the quake. At that time, the tents were already ripping apart and with the light, infrequent rains, the situation was already becoming unlivable. It has now been 6 months since the earthquake. Things have only gotten worse.

As I write this, rain is pouring down, flooding paved walkways and roads. I can only think of people in the camps, where there is no paved anything. I think more particularly of Pinchinat.

In Pinchinat, people are stacked practically one on top of the other, many families sharing one hot tent, with nothing inside except a sheet or cot, if lucky. In March, there were about 5000 people in the camp. There are now upwards of 7000 people. There are gaping holes in some tents and others are falling apart because the wet ground can no longer hold the stakes. Children are still running around barefoot, but this time, dodging giant puddles of rain.

The air reeks and garbage is flowing everywhere. The water there is not fit for drinking, but it's the only option they have. Educational programs are spotty. Women and children have to cross the camp in order to get to the washrooms, and at night, this becomes treacherous. Prostitution is rampant, and saddest of all, there is an active trade of humanitarian aid in return for sex - both among the people and among "humanitarian" groups and their beneficiaries. (I was in a training session the other day for combating gender-based violence, and it turns out that one of the biggest contributing factors to the increase in rapes and sexual exploitation is the presence of NGOs here....seems the internationals are to blame for a high proportion of this. INFURIATING AND DISGUSTING.) According to the International Organization for Migration, camp Pinchinat "fails to meet any and all standards".

While waiting for the internet to reestablish after the rains so that I could post this, I got a call from Charlotte, one of the leaders in Pinchinat. A woman had just given birth during the storm, in a tent that was flooding with rain, without even a mattress to lie on. No one could get to them on time because the rain has flooded the roads. A member of the volunteer security team cut the umbilical cord with a razor. We can only hope it was an unused one.

We got the call because they know that we can run in and do what needs to be done without getting bogged down in procedure and red tape. We went to see the baby today and she is a tiny beautiful miracle. We visited her in the tent she was born in and it is swelteringly hot in there. The new mother has a borrowed cot so that the baby could lie comfortably. The mother does not have enough food or water to continue producing milk for the baby. While we tried to figure out where we could move the mother and daughter, we went to the UN Human Rights office to notify them of the situation. They are trying to arrange for the mother and daughter to stay somewhere safer. But, if nothing is done soon, this baby will not make it.

Friends, the conditions here are atrocious and I need your help. My NGO is a small one, and we don't yet have the funds to always help out in these special cases when we are asked. Mona and I keep paying from our pockets when we see families that are in need but we are starting to need help too.

I am making an appeal to each of you for help. If you feel like contributing (no amount is too small), it would mean the world to me. Please help me help my dear friends at Pinchinat. Please help me save this little baby's life.
















Saturday, June 12, 2010

World Cup - Haitian style!

Haiti's national sport is soccer. Haiti has a national soccer team (although about 50 people connected with the team, players, coaches, refs, etc, perished in the earthquake) and they were in the World Cup Finals in 1974. Often, as you speed down paved roads or bump your way into the city, you will see groups of kids playing soccer in makeshift fields, no matter how hot, smelly or dirty the conditions. So it is not surprising that World Cup fever has gripped Haiti.

FIFA calendars are floating around everywhere, and you can be sure everyone is up for those 6:30 am games. Brazil seems to be most people's favorite here, followed closely by Argentina. At the hotel where i am staying, they have set up a flat screen tv near the reception desk, the largest tv I have seen yet in Haiti. Guests, staff and the owners can be found there, lounging around as the commentary rings out in English. As I zipped my way on various errands earlier today, I could hear commentary in Creole blaring out from radios everywhere (obviously most do not have access to a tv here). Every few buildings, you could see masses of people huddled in darkened doorways, trying to hear what's happening.

I caught a glimpse of the game on the flat screen today before heading out to watch the game with my friend Fredo.He has been mentioning to me that he goes everyday to the radio station to talk about soccer (apparently he knows everything there is to know about the sport) and he invited me and my new Canadian friend, Marilyn, to watch a game at the radio station. This sounded like too much fun to pass up. I envisioned a group of people watching another flat screen while drinking beer and discussing all things soccer. But, like everything else here, the experience was nearly the opposite but probably twice as much fun.

It turns out that this radio station is one of 4 in the area commenting on the games, but is the most popular. We climbed steep stairs to find ourselves in a tiny little room with an old-school tv in the corner (the kind with a giant panel and rabbit ears sticking out)....this room was hot and crowded. The guys made room for us by insisting we sit down, forcing half of them to stand for the game. There was a tiny fan in the corner that didn't reach everyone and pretty soon you could smell the sweat and feel it dripping down. The England/US game started as we got there and the guys took microphones and started commenting. It suddenly dawned on me that one of the voices i heard blaring out of lotto stands and barber shops and banks all morning was none other than Fredo's. As we watched the sketchy reception on the crappy tv, with the image winking in and out, Fredo and a couple of his friends gave colourful commentary in Creole, one of them writing down on a paper the names and player numbers, trying to look up facts to add to the commentary, the other two passing the microphone back and forth as their voices tired out..... a far cry from fancy tv studios broadcasting the games around the world. Fredo made sure to keep mentioning his friends in the studio, most notably Marilyn and myself (and incidentally he announced to the city of Jacmel that he is my Creole teacher and that by the end of the World Cup,Ii would be in the studio giving commentary in Creole alongside him!). By halfway through the game, the beer and rum was flowing, and the rest of the guys had taken up chanting our names and making us promise to watch all the games with them.....In my wildest imagination, I couldn't have dreamt up a World Cup game like this. But I have to say, despite fuzzy reception and being hot, sweaty, and uncomfortable, I am a big fan of the World Cup - Haitian style!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

The Real Haiti

Hello friends!

I know I promised to write about how things are here, but I must first write about some really nice things that have happened to me this past week.

As many of you know, I hate traveling alone because I get really homesick. I was a little worried about my three months here, since I knew things were going to be so different from last time....most notably, my best friend and constant companion, Jo, was not going to be here, leaving me with a lot of alone time. I knew I would be with my colleagues during the workday, but I wondered how I would fill the rest of the space. Happily, it turns out that I forgot how many friends I really did have here!

It's quite a feeling to run into people as if you have lived here forever. I was on the back of a moto today, coming home from work, when I heard my name being called across the street....a firefighter friend of mine was on his moto calling out to me. The other day I was walking in the hotel grounds and passed a man who stopped me....it was the big beefy Haitian policeman I used to attend logistics meetings with. I was in Pinchinat, the IDP camp, the other day and visited Charlotte's tent (she is the feisty leader of one half of the camp). I hadn't told her I was returning to Haiti (we had exchanged emails while I was in Canada) and when she saw me, she jumped up and ran to me and hugged me tightly for about 2 minutes. It's hard to feel lonely at times like this.

I have also been overwhelmed by everyone's generosity towards me. Ephisien, a hospital administrator that I met only briefly last time, has offered to drive me anywhere when needed. He has a car and driver that he could be renting out for $60/day, but has made them or him and his moto, available to me whenever necessary. My young friend that I have promised to help sponsor for school (an update on this in a later blog) has also offered to drive me around anywhere. He has no job and no vehicle of his own, but always manages to borrow one if he needs to come get me (he is also giving me Creole lessons as we speed home). Both have refused my offers of paying them for gas. The other night, Ruth, my colleague and friend, spent two hours in the car with me as I tried to find a hotel room (every place in town was booked solid) even though it was really late at night and she was wanted at home. When she heard that lunch was not included in the rate, she popped by the hotel the next afternoon with a plate of food she made for me, just before I headed off to PAP for meetings. And of course, there was Mona, who cheerfully brought her houseful of guest to my rescue when I called her in the middle of her dinner party because I had no lights. What friends!

I have found it - the real Haiti...the Haiti that exists when disaster recedes...unwavering generosity from the people that can least afford it.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

My first week back in Haiti

I am back! In Haiti! At last!

As many of you know, I quit my job back home to come back here to work for the summer. I am hoping to make a career shift into humanitarian work, and since I already know people here, I thought I would come back to solidify my contacts and try to get a job with one of the larger agencies. Fingers crossed!

I have come back as Haiti Village Health's in-country manager. I spent my first two days trying to download everything from my new boss's brain into my own, since she will stay in Bermuda and concentrate on fundraising while I manage everything from here. I was supposed to be based in Port-au-Prince this summer, but things seem to be a little chaotic and disorganized in this city and it's tough for a small organization like ours to break into things here, so we decided that I would go back to Jacmel. THANK GOD. Tiffany and I flew from PAP to Jacmel in those tiny 6-seater planes. It's a beautiful plane ride, as you cross over the mountains of Haiti....except for the IDP camps you see littered across the grounds. They are, as before, everywhere. (It is astounding that this is the case, especially with hurrican season around the corner. More on this in another post.)

As the plane approached Jacmel, I saw our tiny little airport where I spent so much time last trip and I broke out into a huge grin. It felt so good to be back in my city, seeing my friends, running into people I already know. Things have changed a bit, especially within HVH. Jo, my closest friend from last time is in Brazil with his family (but there is a chance he will come back in August..fingers crossed!), and Fredo and Gaby are no longer working for the organization. We have no truck (it's broken) and no driver (he is.....let's say MIA). The guesthouse currently has no electricity, internet or any other guests. I stayed there alone for the first few days, but considering the sun sets at 6:30pm, after which there is nothing to do (especially sans lights), and that I can't really go out alone because of security issues, I have decided to stay at a local hotel for the next month, until we start bringing teams in July.

The few nights that I did stay at the guesthouse were hideous. Without electricity, I didn't have any fans to keep me cool. I felt like I was melting into a puddle while invisible mosquitoes ate away at me. I slept maybe 2 hours a night. My friends tried to hook up a generator to the house to supply electricity, which worked for a bit. I was in bed, reading a book when all of a sudden, the whole system went down. I lit my way to my Haitian cell phone using the light of my Cdn cell phone to call my friend for help. She told me she would be right over. She showed up 20 minutes later, with 5 of her friends, all dressed to the nines, since they were in the middle of a dinner party. I was in my pyjamas. It was 8:30pm. It makes me giggle now but I was pretty miserable then, esp since they could only get the generator to work for 6 minutes at a time. The next day I checked into the hotel.

It's been an amusing first few days, but because we have been running around, trying to get things sorted out for the house, I haven't been able to do much work. Hopefully this will change soon.

I realize this post has been all about me, but I promise the next one will be all about Haiti!