From the second lines.

We've again been negligent with our blog, although this time I'm going to plead limited internet access (no power = no internet) and a series of meetings that are flying at us faster than you can say disaster relief.

My time lately has been split between collaborating with Alexis on various advocacy materials and working to get the Haiti Relief Coalition started. Founded as an association of smaller NGOs who were in Haiti before the earthquake and will be here for the long haul, the HRC seeks to support development organizations run by Haitians and to provide a space for and amplify their voices in the international conversation. Discussions about Haiti's future are happening nearly round the clock at the UN logbase, and scant few Haitians are present to be a part of these conversations.

While we have had a few difficulties ourselves getting access to the logbase (still waiting for our security badges), many Haitians face an embarrassingly-racist security mindset that blocks their access to meetings. The HRC envisions "holding the place at the table" for our Haitian partners until they are able to speak directly for themselves (as well as connecting them with the physical supports needed--food, shelter--in order for their staff members to continue doing development and advocacy work).

I find it maddening that the state of the world is this, that Haitians are "ethnocentrically treat[ed]...as tragic objects to be rescued -- [rather than] equals to walk with and learn from" (Jo Ann van Engen, "The Cost of Short Term Missions"). I suppose these are attitudes that we are here working to change, and the earthquake has made all-too-clear the relevance of this approach. It's not perfect yet, and it feels like we spend a lot of long hours in meetings, but the longer I'm here the more I see the value of these collaborative efforts.

It's been helpful for me to remember that Haitians are also people trying to figure out how to work with the new reality that is Port-au-Prince - and who are proving to be amazingly resilient (the vegetable vendors are already back on the streets, the occasional game of dominoes clacks from someone's yard). Even if we as foreign- and Haitian-run NGOs haven't yet achieved true collaboration, I find that the vision of such an inter-respectful and dialogic working model has kept me going in those moments when it seems like it would just be simpler to do the work without asking for input from others. However, I recognize that in learning from one another, we can potentially achieve the "mutually-transformative relationships" MCC values (yes, those values that are so easily endangered by daily minutia). I am not yet fully able to live this approach, but I want to continue striving in this direction.