Religious math?

These figures are scrawled on a wall near the MCC office. I'm mostly intrigued by the formulaic attempts to prove...something. Insight, anyone?

The great white wave.

You may have heard about the "second earthquake" that happened in Haiti after January 12, which is what some people call the great influx of foreigners that has appeared in Port-au-Prince. As foreigners here before that moment, I should confess that we feel a certain level of snobbery - so when some hapless white person greets us with a hearty English "hello!" or waves while standing in the back of a passing truck, we're not always apt to respond.

We realized that this is similar to the Jeep Salute or the Motorcycle Wave that happens in American traffic. But really: why settle for a wave?


Yes, that is the word blan finger-spelled out.

Advantage: Creativity. Toughness.
Disadvantage: it takes a bit of wrangling and more than a few seconds to pull this together.

But loads of toughness, right?

"Haiti appears well advanced on the track that the rest of the world seems hell-bent on following."

Yesterday we finally managed to download and listen to This American Life's episode on Haiti, "Island Time." Run, do not walk, your browser to this page, because you do not want to miss this. It points out the incredible complexities of life in Haiti, from the challenges of capacity-building to the difficulties inherent in small business development. This episode is such an interesting, accurate peek at this little country, although it also made me nearly unbearably sad. The longer we're here the steeper the road ahead seems to get.

[Six Degrees side note: the Gary mentioned at the beginning of Act Three is the Depps' sixty-something neighbor, a self-proclaimed curmudgeon who came to Haiti twenty years ago as a Peace Corps volunteer, married a Haitian woman, and stayed. Before his two kids went to the States, they would sometimes come through the broken wall between the yards to use the internet.]

Yesterday Alexis and I also interviewed a group of folks who lost their homes in the earthquake. MCC had been distributing food to the approximately forty families who have set up camp in an open space in their hillside neighborhood, but because MCC ended that phase of the disaster response on April 30, we wanted to see how that change has had an impact on people.

I was trepidatious about having these conversations because saying, "hey, we stopped giving you food and we're not here to give you anything else - does that work for you?" seemed so awkward. However, I was pleasantly surprised. They were not that upset about the end of food aid, since most of them can now afford to buy food nearly every day. They pointed out that free stuff is always nice, but if they had their druthers they'd like to choose their own things.

And how would they like to do this? They'd like jobs. Working for money, not food.

A job is actually the number-one thing the average Haitian wanted before the earthquake. Jobs mean salaries and security. Jobs mean being able to support a family.

It's a perfectly reasonably, perfectly dignified thing to want, but I've always been struck by the fact that even Haitians who run their own small businesses still want jobs. Many people don't seem to think of these enterprises as jobs - or perhaps they want other benefits that come along with being an employee at someone else's business?

Speaking unscientifically, I think there are more entrepreneurs per capita in Haiti than in the U.S. Most of that 70% counted as "unemployed" in Haiti actually work: they are street vendors, or operate one-pot tent restaurants, or build houses as day laborers.

So what is stopping these folks from a.) thinking of themselves as entrepreneurs/ small business owners, or b.) growing their businesses to the point at which they can hire others?* Why would so many prefer to work for an international company/NGO?

* Some are, some do. For example, we talked to 9 artisans in Jacmel a few weeks ago, and nearly all of them run workshops employing 5-15 others.

This situation is a mystery to me (okay, partially due to my ongoing incomprehension of economics and how you "build" an economy). Is there a tax structure that should be changed to make it easier for people to officially start new businesses? Should classes in management and accounting be made more available?

One of my dreams for Haiti is to see thousands of middle managers roaming the streets of every city and small town in the country. Having middle managers means having larger business owners and having workers to oversee. It means people with enough money to pay for things like a casual meal out with their families. It means service industries. It means a wide range of jobs, at all levels of income.

Oh, if it were only as easy as handing out briefcases...

The late-y doth protest too much.

This is the clock that came with our apartment. Look, it's...7:30? 8:03?

For someone like me who, shall we say, struggles with punctuality, perhaps this isn't the best timekeeper.

But whatever. I've got plenty of time to change it.

I think.

Remember when everyone was smuggling suitcases full of blue jeans into Russia?

Well, maybe it's time to sneak suitcases full of coolers into Haiti. A local grocery store has priced this model at 29,900 gourdes. For those Yanks out there, that's $747.50 U.S. That's SEVEN HUNDRED AND FORTY-SEVEN DOLLARS. And FIFTY CENTS.

Seriously. You could make a fortune selling coolers at even half that price.

Two week's notice.

Okay, time for some news.

Bryan and I will be leaving Haiti and MCC two weeks from today. The past few weeks have been a mixed time for us as we're sad to say goodbye to the folks we know and love on this little island, but in the end we feel like it is good to be moving on.

So where to from here?

We are moving back to Philadelphia to live with my brother and our sister-in-law for the summer. After a 10-week internship at Art-Reach through the Samuel Fels Fund, I will start a(nother) master's degree program at Vanderbilt Divinity School. I'll be studying Ethics in Society with the ultimate goal of continuing on to earn a PhD.

Bryan was accepted as this year's arboriculture intern at the Morris Arboretum. This program will allow him to study trees and urban areas, and after a year he'll be certified to risk his life 60 feet up in old trees with a chainsaw for pay. ( If you have a tree problem in 2011 and want to pay scads of cash to save your beloved tree, he'll take care of it for you.) To keep the adventurous spirit alive in the meantime, Bryan will be bike commuting and loving every minute of it.

In fact, we're trying to live sans car to keep our living costs low (graduate student and intern...aren't we too old for this?). We're also planning to keep our thumbs green this summer and plant greens and other yummy things. Depending on the good graces of our familial hosts, we would also like to keep composting worms because they are just crazy to watch. (Bryan doesn't even mind if they actually compost - it's like an ant farm or ant lion desktop Zen thing for him.)

In leaving Haiti, we're most sad about leaving amazing friends. We've had lots of great times here - but we're confident that our friendships and our adventures are not ending. Here's to the future, ya'll!

Bon Fet Drapo!

Happy Flag Day!

Yesterday was one of Haiti's national holidays, and lots of people spent the day off doing this:

(Forgive the last-minute drive-by photo of this much-better-in-real-life parade)

We instead headed with Alexis and our friend Megan to the lake at Tomasek:

After a little negotiation, we rented two (ridiculously rickety) boats with two pole-men each and set out against the wind.

Bryan, about to fearlessly risk life and limb in our little watercraft. (While he and I crushed to the left to keep the boat balanced and one man poled us along, the other bailed water. With his sandal. )

Ben is still laid up with a busted knee and couldn't come, but Alexis and Megan made a handsome duo in the second boat:

They had a third Haitian man in their boat, which caused no small amount of distress for the man poling our boat along. I'm not sure why he was complaining to us.

Despite my constant fear of capsizing, it was wholly pleasant to be out on the water with the breeze blowing and no one around:

Well, horses and...

Yes! Flamingos!

I've always thought that flamingos were a little cheesy, but it turns out they're much more impressive in real life. Despite their gangliness, and the outrageous pinkness of them, they were breathtaking.

By far one of the most beautiful things we've seen in Haiti. Wings down.

Addendum: click through to Alexis's blog post for more photos and details about the bird itself.

The article that wasn't.

I wrote this for MCC about a month ago, but since it's still making its way through the MCC publication process (i.e., it looks like it won't be released after all) I've decided to post it here instead.

Perspective: Global aid threatens Haiti’s economy

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti ­­ — Dozens of Haitians, usually young women, crowd together in Port-au-Prince, awaiting food distributions. As they wait for free food, they buy plantain chips, bananas, peanuts and other snacks from vendors selling to those in line.

This tension between free food aid from international aid organizations and Haitian producers and vendors is not new to Haiti, but it has become more blatant since the Jan. 12 earthquake. Many countries and organizations, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) included, have shipped food and supplies into the country.

While emergency food relief sustained affected families in and around Port-au-Prince, where millions were homeless following the earthquake, ongoing free food from outside the country undermines the local economy and makes it harder for Haitian farmers to support themselves and their families.

Local markets shut down in the wake of the earthquake, and food and water were difficult to find and expensive when they were available. In response to this need, MCC immediately sent 33 tons of canned turkey and beef and 1,000 water filters to Port-au-Prince.

“Canned meat is a good way to provide nutrition to people when local markets aren’t functional,” said Margot de Greef, one of MCC Haiti’s Material Resources coordinators. “It’s especially appreciated in Haiti because meat is an important part of preparing rice and bean sauce in the traditional way.”

In addition to providing canned meat, MCC also actively procured food from local producers to give to earthquake survivors in Port-au-Prince. While international food aid shipments were delayed at Haiti’s only international airport, MCC was able to purchase rice, beans and corn in the countryside and distribute it to disaster victims in the capital within days of the earthquake.

Haitian farmers took pride in being able to help earthquake victims, and recipients took pride in knowing that other Haitians were contributing to relief efforts. Buying food locally also supported Haiti’s ability to feed itself in the long term.

However, local food aid is only a small percentage of the overall relief effort. Because of the influx of international emergency food aid, the prices of Haitian-produced rice and black beans have already dropped to below pre-earth­quake prices. PAPDA (Plateforme Haïtienne de Plaidoyer pour un Développement Alternatif), the Haitian Platform for Advocating Alternative Development, predicts that prices will continue to plummet to the continued detriment of Haitian farmers.

In an interview with Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) at the end of January, Haitian president René Préval said, “We cannot continue to rely on giving food to the population that comes from abroad, because we’re competing against our own national agriculture.”

Although food aid shipments have increased dramatically since Jan. 12, the presence of U.S. agricultural products in Haitian markets is not a new phenomenon. In 2009, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), sent 83,020 tons of food for “long-term development and emergency needs.” USAID pledged an additional 14,550 tons of food as emergency response.

The U.S. has acknowledged the practice of “dumping” subsidized rice on the Haitian market. In the 1980s, and again in the 1990s, the U.S. successfully lobbied to reduce Haiti’s import tariffs on rice to a remarkably low 3 percent (compared to the average of 35 percent for other countries in the region). Haiti has since become the third-largest importer of American rice despite having a population of only 9 million people.

The effects of these measures have been far-reaching, undermining domestic agriculture production and diminishing Haitian capacity for sustainable livelihoods. In a remarkable public acknowledgement of the negative impact of U.S. policy in Haiti, former President Bill Clinton apologized last month for promoting the agricultural policies that have devastated Haiti’s agricultural production.

Clinton is quoted by The New York Times: “It may have been good for some of my farmers in Arkansas, but it has not worked. It was a mistake. I had to live everyday with the consequences of the loss of capacity to produce a rice crop in Haiti to feed those people because of what I did; nobody else.”

These economic measures made it unprofitable for many Haitian farmers to continue working the land, and scores of people chose instead to emigrate to Port-au-Prince and other urban areas. The resulting magnitude of vulnerable people living in urban slums has had drastic repercussions on human life and to the economy, as was made obvious by the earthquake.

Nixon Boumba, an MCC Haiti advocacy worker, says, “Earthquakes are natural phenomena. But the destruction of Jan.12 was not natural.” The high levels of devastation and astronomical death toll reflect structural policies in Haiti that have fostered destructive and dangerous living conditions.

MCC Haiti is working to address underlying issues through advocacy—especially advocacy geared toward influencing North American governmental policies that affect Haiti—and by incorporating livelihood generation measures as part of its overall disaster response. As a result, MCC will stop distributing food aid at the end of April and will move to the next phase of helping Haitians rebuild.

Those in temporary camps currently receiving food aid from MCC will continue to receive nonfood items such as relief buckets, tarps, sheets, tents and first-aid supplies. In response to the needs identified by these communities, MCC will also begin income-generating activities like cash-for-work programs so that people can begin to rebuild their lives.

In the long term, MCC will focus its advocacy efforts on the question of food security, partnering with local organizations to both ensure that international trade agreements protect Haitian farmers and to encourage Haitians to build economic independence by buying locally-produced food. MCC Haiti will also continue providing support to build Haiti’s educational system and its agricultural infrastructure.

What a week.

This time we do not plead laziness for our lack of blogposts - au contraire, we've been super-busy over the past seven days.

Last Friday my brother Danny came to visit for a long weekend. A whirlwind tour of our life in Haiti ensued, complete with a hike up the river to our favorite canyon ever.

In fact, Danny ranked this as a highlight of the trip (that, and a cookout in which we introduced him to most of the rest of the MCC crew). Lowlight: buying groceries in the Dezam market (too hot, too many people).

He left Monday, and we returned to Dezam on Wednesday for the weekly team meeting and Fritzner's wedding (!).

Only in Haiti is a wedding held on a Thursday morning at 8am...in the spruced-up MCC office.


Our entire team was dressed to the nines, Nahomie (left) and Denise especially. Even Jides, MCC's helper-kid, spiffed up for the occasion.


Frantzo (right) was the best man, and Fritzner and Frantzo looked great in their matching new suits.


They tried to keep it a small affair (so small, in fact, that Bryan and I were nearly not invited because we're in Port!), but people came in droves anyway.


After the ceremony the crowd filled four vehicles and drove up the mountain to the home of the bride's family. They were worried about having enough food for everyone, although the spread was impressive:

Felisitasyon, Fritzner ak Melita!

On our way back to the city yesterday afternoon, Ben and Bryan stopped at a national landmark for a little bike-video action.

To our entrance contribution we added an hour of entertainment for the gaggle of boys who came along.

I don't know if riding through an amazing waterfall has been a dream of Bryan's, but if so, check. Dream come true.

Sometimes God appears in papier-mache form.

"But you too, good Jesus, are you not also a mother?
Are you not a mother who like a hen gathers her chicks beneath her wings?
And you, my soul dead in yourself, run under the wings of Jesus your mother and lament your griefs under his feathers.
Ask that your wounds may be healed and that, comforted, you may live again. Christ, my mother, you gather your chickens under your wings; this dead chicken of yours puts himself under those wings . . .
Warm your chicken, give life to your dead one, justify your sinner."

—Anselm of Canterbury, Prayers and Meditations

Gras a agribusiness.

A friend recently pointed out that in the manner of saying grace, thanking God for food from the earth, it makes a certain sense to thank Agribusiness for meals that come straight from the chemistry lab.

Confession 1: I love cereal. It's my all-time comfort food.
Confession 2: I love cheap things...er, saving money.

So 1 + 2 =
Oh yes, we did, last Thursday night. It was a second-tier anniversary for us (the day we started dating, EIGHT years ago!), so we celebrated with cereal from Argentina. Pay Only for Taste indeed, since I think this cereal was nutritionally valueless. Hello, food desert in a box. Add a little soy milk, though...irresistible.

Saturday we atoned for our sins by making pasta from scratch:

Basic pasta, as it turns out, is the simplest recipe ever:

3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoons salt

Mix, let rest 30 minutes, roll super-thin, cut into noodles, dry. To cook, boil for 5 minutes in lightly salted water. Can be stored for weeks. Easy peasy.

We embellished ours with greens from a local tire garden, tomatoes and garlic from the street market, and feta from...well, far away. Delicious. Recommended. I'm not sure if you actually save money by making pasta, but a sense of accomplishment is really one of the best seasonings you can use.

So, the lesson for this week is:
Celebrate humanity. Cook food.

And now a word from our sponsor: MCC Action Alert

Support immediate assistance for Haiti

Urge your members of Congress to move quickly to pass a supplemental funding bill for Haiti.

Background: On March 24, President Obama sent his request to Congress for a supplemental spending bill to support relief and reconstruction efforts in Haiti for the remainder of 2010. Given the extent of the devastation and more than 3 million people affected by the January 12 earthquake, it is vital that Congress votes to support this funding.

With more than 230,000 people killed, 300,000 people injured, and at least 1.7 million forced from their homes by the earthquake, Haiti will require ongoing support throughout 2010 to address emergency needs in health, nutrition, shelter, sanitation, rural livelihood and food. The rainy season, which has already started, and hurricane season, anticipated for later this year, will only exacerbate this situation.

Faith Reflection: As the situation in Haiti becomes more desperate with the start of the rainy season and due to uncoordinated aid delivery, Christians in the United States can respond to the urgent need. The biblical vision from Micah 4:1-5 implies access to basic human rights, such as food, health care, meaningful employment, security and education, as central to the establishment of God's Kingdom. It also illustrates how necessary justice is to the fulfillment of a vision of peace. Empowering Haitians helps to assure that they will experience healing after the earthquake accompanied by meaningful development that allows them to access those basic rights.

Action: Urge your representative and your senators to move quickly to pass a supplemental funding bill for Haiti. Click here to send a message to Congress.

---

Alert prepared by Theo Sitther, Legislative Associate for International Affairs.

Lotsa kaka

On Friday, Sharon, Ben, and I went to Kenscoff to "camp out" in the guesthouse there. When we arrived, the dog was jumping around and waiting for us as usual. It looked like the barrier that I constructed last weekend had worked and she couldn't get into the house any longer.

We unlocked the door - and could see that, contrary to our belief, the dog had gotten inside as there was kaka everywhere. Nothing like arriving to a house full of dog crap and urine....on hardwood floors. Ugh. We cleaned it up and proceeded unpacking - and then I realized that my bike had a flat tire. Hmmm. And Ben's bike was not where we had left it - it was in the little room off the kitchen with a water bottle canteen-thing tied to it.

We scratched our heads and wondered who had been in the house. Maybe someone else from MCC came up and borrowed the bike(s)?

I went to get something from the truck, and the boy who lives under the house in a room that looks like a hostage bunker (seriously, if I ever disappear under mysterious circumstances check that room first) approached me. He asked me how everything was. I responded, "Not good - it looks like someone has broken into the house, used our bikes, and is generally not respecting our property."

He was shocked, because he is there a lot and thought he'd know if someone broke in. Then he asked about the bike. I said that yes, for sure someone borrowed it without permission.

He responds, "Yeah, that's bad. I don't know how it got a flat tire."
Me: "What?"
Him: "The flat tire."
Me: "I didn't say anything about a flat tire."
Him: "Yes you did!"
Me: "No, I didn't. How do you know about the flat tire?"

Et cetera. Accuse deny accuse deny. Back I went into the house, somewhat furious but trying to stay cool. Home invasions are near the top of my list of Things That Make Me Angry. At the very top of the list might be messing with my mountain bike, and this was double trouble: a bike invasion, if you will.

I tried to let it go, and we started a campfire.* Amazing. We lost track of time, mesmerized by the sheer magic of the fire.

* A dream come true for me. I've been scheming about how to have a fire ring on the porch, and finally we just used an old half of a steel drum and drum lid and burned a huge branch trimmed from a tree in the Depps' yard.

Around 11:00pm I went inside to use the toilet, and since it was dark my ears told me that I was not urinating into a bowl of liquid but a bowl of...kaka. Ewww gross. So, now someone has broken into the house, borrowed bikes, flattened a tire, and used a toilet several times and did not flush?! Could it get worse? I flushed it all away and poured bleach into the toilet.

The next morning we put the pieces together. It looked like a window had been left unlocked - one of the few unbarred windows in all of Haiti - and if one were determined enough, it would be possible to inch across the narrow ledge on the outside of the house, above a 20-foot drop, open the window, and hop in. One of the doors was only locked by a deadbolt from the inside, so once in, he/she had easy access. It seems that our criminal friend found the spare key and kept it for more easy access. It is indeed a scary ledge.

To further incriminate our non-hostage hostage-room resident, the gardener stopped by and told us he had seen this kid riding our bikes around. He went and found the kid (okay, who is actually a nearly-full-grown 17-ish-year-old) who denied the whole thing again. I told them that it doesn't matter who it is, just tell that person to throw the key(s) back into the house after we leave and never do it again. The kid left and we're hoping the case is closed.

For prevention of future unauthorized indoor kaka production, I re-blocked the space the dog had been using to enter and installed new padlocks on all the doors. Our bikes came down the mountain with us, so that if by some stroke of luck the intruder returns he/she can no longer borrow our bikes.

Weekends in Kenscoff, sigh. It seems there's always drama up there - and it lately involves kaka.