An assortment.

Earthquake fatigue. I know that we are just starting down a long and hard road - but now, after the immediate aftermath, it seems people around these parts are longing for normalcy on some level. Let's not get lost in pity but rather remember that all those "IDPs" are people who would love to get back to the boringness of everyday life. Camps are starting to sport small restaurants and cell phone charging stations, and today I noticed that you can get a manicure at a camp in Delmas for 75 gourdes.

Hope. Most evenings at the MCC office staff members and volunteers sit down for a few minutes of reflection. On Thursday night, just after the approximately six days of prayer that happened in lieu of Carnivale this year, we took up the topic of hope. "Who or what embodies hope for you in Haiti?"

I have a hard time pointing to any one person as an inspiration of hope. Stories of post-earthquake generosity and bravery abound, but I still feel angry that this catastrophe happened to necessitate that selflessness and courage in the first place. (Is the beauty of a family sharing with others the little food they have left worth losing more than 200,000 people? I know that the scale of this disaster is not natural and that it reflects an unjust economic system, but I can't help feeling like this "lesson" is being communicated with literal overkill.)

Head-bound as I am, the most hopeful thing for me is a statistic. The World Health Organization shows that Haiti's annual suicide rate is exceedingly low - actually, at 0% it's tied for last place (in 2003, the last year for which figures are available). Given that many Haitian families were in dire economic straits before the earthquake, you would assume that suicide might be considered a valid option for those who find themselves at the end of one rope or another. But all that knot-tying and holding on in years past gives me confidence that Haitians will pull through this as well. It's not fair that they have to, and they're not going to be able to do it without a lot of support, but they'll do it.

Relief vs. development. Speaking of support: the line is blurry between these two raisons d'etre for foreign NGOs in Haiti. So many people have been living so close to the edge for so long that any free help is very much appreciated, and there are reports of folks with intact houses moving into tents to qualify for disaster relief or people coming into Port-au-Prince from the countryside to participate in food distributions. This is of course a very small minority, but it points to the fact that earthquake recovery must include a rural development aspect as well - especially as many of those in the countryside have opened their homes to migrants from the city, and especially if the all-important work of decentralization in Haiti will take hold.

I'm still happy to be working with the Haiti Response Coalition, which despite a certain internal chaoticness is focusing on ensuring that Haitian voices are a loud-and-clear part of the mega-NGO reconstruction conversation. There are three meetings scheduled this week in which Haitian leaders and Haitian NGOs will develop a vision statement that will, we hope, guide the overall process. Stay tuned.