This is an email I sent to friends from Deschappelles, Haiti, where I lived and worked for two months each in the fall of 2006 and 2007:
Dear Friends,
Nap boule! ('we are boiling'!--the most common response to "sak pase?" or "what's up?")
Hope this finds you all very well. Sorry if I have not communicated much lately...internet here in Haiti is intermittent. This has been an obnoxiously intense two weeks, but nothing less should be expected for Haiti. I should've known it'd be that way when on the morning of Nov 1 (coincidentally my b-day) after not going to sleep halloween night (dressed in rags and shoeless no less), I got to the airport at 5 AM with about 17 huge boxes of research supplies (including a liquid nitrogen shipper) and managed to leave my passport, of all things, in the cab. So I spent 40 panicked moments figuring out contigency plans, etc, all the while trying to get through to the cab company (the person on the phone saying "ok honey baby" over and over in true nola style...5am in new orleans is not the best time to get things done with any urgency). It somehow managed to work out and I ran the fastest 700 m dash with two huge duffle bags (and various unchecked toothpastes, lotions, etc that were unceremoniously confiscated) and my name broadcoast over the intercom.
Haiti is a crazy and complex world that astounds, fascinates, and assaults you. The moment I arrived at the hospital grounds that serve as a base for our research, I began furious and constant negotiations (and glorious salutations) with the throngs of unemployed workers that had gotten wind of the "return of the malaria study" (we were quite magnanamous last year). The unemployment rate in Haiti is about 97.5%, and the hospital (Hopital Albert Schweizer) has just recently downsized, if you can imagine that.
So now from about 6AM (literally) until about 9pm I am in negotiations with the members of the community of Deschappelles who are selling their gorgeous paintings and offering any service we desire. I'm a bit of a sucker with a sensitive heart, so I've hired a "gardener" to clean up the yard, a fellow to wash the car, a kreyol lesson instructor, a peanut supplier, a coffee supplier, a coca-cola supplier and a beer and rum supplier in addition to the interviewers and translators for the project. I've also bought a few stunning paintings and contracted my favorite local artist to make me another one. Unfortunately I've recently learned that the coffee guy is in prison for stealing someone's computer. The prison is down the road so I think I'm going to go pay him a visit this week.
We've also lucked out in scoring a house next to the market so that we are woken every morning at 5AM by the tortured screaches of dying pigs. I'm now thinking about marketing a "Haitian farmer alarm clock" which would basically consist of those same screaches...they're quite effective. I've also been running back and forth between here and Port-au-Prince to pick up dry ice to preserve samples for our study--no easy feat--which has proven less than effective for the study but is very useful for foaming, steaming rum and cokes.
In all seriousness, Haiti is in a bad spot yet remains fairly forgotten even given its close proximity to the U.S. Virtually every conversation begins with "Adam, Geyen pwoblem" which translates as "Adam, I have problems"...and is usually followed by a request for some funds. Last night we transported a young girl to the hospital because she'd sustained a concussion and was mildly comatose and vomiting. We found her at a voudon neighboring one of our survey households. I haven't followed up yet. My friend Tico's sister just died two days ago, and I'll be attending the funeral this Sunday, as well as providing support for new wardrobes, etc.
If you had to list the top priorities here, they'd probably be Governance, Public Education, Public Health, and Agroforestry. We're doing our best to try to eradicate the malaria problem, but that's a very small step. There's very little civil society and corruption, kidnapping, etc are the norm. Still, the artwork, music, food, and general demeanor of people is incredible and uplifting once you accept the continued assaults on your privacy. Juxtaposed against the squalid poverty are places like "Club Indigo," a somewhat tranquil sliver of beach just over an hour away. It's housed in the old club med (tourists were scared off years ago) and apparently has some crazy pedophile past. Now it's another beautiful Caribbean resort with classic, faded, pastel colors, several pools, a sunday buffet, and ping pong tables. Unfortunately there's a dj who plays loud dance music all day sunday so any shot at true tranquility is about a mile down the beach (but then there's lumps of trash there). Also unlike other Caribbean beach resorts is the high percentage of aging UN brutes on jetskies and their underage Haitian counterparts.
So that's the news for now...I haven't had much time to work on some other project ideas (Jatropha, http://www.haitiinnovation.org/en/2007/04/14/biodiesel-haiti-appropriate-technology-micro-lending, fair trade coffee, etc.) but still hope to before I take off (two weeks or so). I've started to put some pictures on Flickr, my account name is afbennett415. To view some old photos see here, it's worth it, it's a great photo site.
I'll be in touch once I find some more time...
Love to you all,
Adam
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