GRANMONT, Haiti -- With its rich delta soil and a year-round growing season, Haiti's famous agricultural region seems capable of feeding the entire Caribbean.
But Haiti is a net importer of food, spending about $400 million last year on purchases from abroad. The World Food Programme runs child nutrition and "food for work" operations. And fields in the nation's breadbasket, Artibonite Department, have been periodically swamped by flash floods and mud washed by tropical downpours off barren hillsides.
Farmers in the Granmont agricultural area, just outside Gonaïves, the department capital, say their plight is being ignored by the government and relief agencies focusing on defending urban infrastructure from flooding and strong storms.
"Granmont is the only place now in Gonaïves where you can produce all the food for the town," said Wilson Adeclair, a leader of a local community organization. "This place needs to be protected."
Continue reading here
11.20.2009
11.17.2009
Holidays can really screw things up
There are a lot of holidays in Haiti and everything shuts down for them. The hard part is that sometimes you don't find out it's a holiday untl the day before or the day of.
I NEED to go to Port au Prince to renew my passport, and decided last week I couldn't go, so it meant that I have to go this week. The best day turned out to be Wednesday, so I arranged several days ago to get a drive in and stay overnight and come back on Thursday. The Bos either forgot or thought that it wasn't important to tell me that Wednesday (tomorrow) is a holiday and nothing, including the Canadian embassy, will be open. So, I'll be in Port au Prince early tomorrow with nothing to do until Thursday morning when I can visit the consulate. Ugh. I'm also unsure if I will be able to get a drive back to Fond des Blancs on Thursday, so it may mean more time with nothing to do in Port au Prince.
This post can also serve to show how difficult it is to arrange to do things here. We need to juggle vehicles to travel back and forth to best capacity. Gas is expensive and we don't always have enough trucks to do everything we need to do, so a lot of planning is necessary. Also, it is not easy to go anywhere once you are in Port au Prince. You can't just hop in a taxi and go see the sights...unless you are adventurous. It's a huge city with heavy traffic and it takes a long time to get anywhere.
Okay, so here's the optimistic thought to end my complaining: Maybe I'll get a chance to go the Caribbean Market and buy something different to spice up the menu...and a box of wine or two :)
I NEED to go to Port au Prince to renew my passport, and decided last week I couldn't go, so it meant that I have to go this week. The best day turned out to be Wednesday, so I arranged several days ago to get a drive in and stay overnight and come back on Thursday. The Bos either forgot or thought that it wasn't important to tell me that Wednesday (tomorrow) is a holiday and nothing, including the Canadian embassy, will be open. So, I'll be in Port au Prince early tomorrow with nothing to do until Thursday morning when I can visit the consulate. Ugh. I'm also unsure if I will be able to get a drive back to Fond des Blancs on Thursday, so it may mean more time with nothing to do in Port au Prince.
This post can also serve to show how difficult it is to arrange to do things here. We need to juggle vehicles to travel back and forth to best capacity. Gas is expensive and we don't always have enough trucks to do everything we need to do, so a lot of planning is necessary. Also, it is not easy to go anywhere once you are in Port au Prince. You can't just hop in a taxi and go see the sights...unless you are adventurous. It's a huge city with heavy traffic and it takes a long time to get anywhere.
Okay, so here's the optimistic thought to end my complaining: Maybe I'll get a chance to go the Caribbean Market and buy something different to spice up the menu...and a box of wine or two :)
11.09.2009
Differences
One of the differences between cultures I've noticed is an obvious one, even when you come for a short visit to Haiti - the difference in the need for personal space.
When you live in a place where beds, homes, churches, schools and cities are crowded, you get used to being close to other people's bodies.
As a foreigner, it takes some time to be comfortable with it. People will come very close to speak to you, and even when there is ample space, you will have people sit so close that your arms and legs touch.
This morning I went to the daily community health meeting and arrived as everyone else was coming in and sitting down. The room has many benches in it, and I watched six of the nurses and facilitators come in and sit on the same bench, and then a seventh try to squeeze in on the end. I started laughing and pointed out the five empty benches in front of them.
This morning I went to the daily community health meeting and arrived as everyone else was coming in and sitting down. The room has many benches in it, and I watched six of the nurses and facilitators come in and sit on the same bench, and then a seventh try to squeeze in on the end. I started laughing and pointed out the five empty benches in front of them.
I joked that if they were American (or Canadian), they would be sitting one to a bench as far away as possible from each other.
Renaud's good-natured response was “pa konn viv” meaning “they don’t know how to live”.
I'm tending to agree.
11.03.2009
Ha!
NEW ELEMENT DISCOVERED A new element was discovered: Lawrence Livermore Laboratories has discovered the heaviest element yet known to science. The new element, Governmentium (Gv), has one neutron, 100 assistant neutrons, 435 deputy neutrons, and 10000 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 10536. These 10536 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons. Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert; however, it can be detected, because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A tiny amount of Governmentium can cause a reaction that would normally take less than a second, to take from four days to four years to complete. Governmentium has a normal half-life of 2- 6 years. It does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places. In fact, Governmentium's mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes. This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as critical morass. When catalyzed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium, an element that radiates just as much energy as Governmentium since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.
11.01.2009
Conflict
Irish volunteers come together to build a new community in Haiti
260 Irish volunteers are pouring their sweat and money into building homes for hundreds of impoverished Haitian families.
Stories like this always cause conflicting emotions for me. On the face of it, it looks like a tremendous charitable work. 200 families will have a new, sturdy home. That is wonderful, but these kinds of good works always raise questions for me.
In a country where unemployment is extremely high, would there not be a bigger impact if the money was spent hiring local people to not just lay the groundwork but completely build the houses? Much of the work is unskilled labour being done by educated foreigners. If local people were hired, not only would people get new houses, but families would have members with an income to put food on the table, pay school fees, and have money to go to the hospital - with all kinds of economic spin offs from there.
I am not saying that volunteers should not come to Haiti. Not at all - I am one that just happened to stay a little longer than most. But why not pay the Haitians to do the work they are capable of doing, and let skilled volunteers use those skills to train Haitians, or to do work that is in need, like medical care? Or supporting (long-term!) schools for the children who are going to be living in the homes? Or setting up scholarships to go to university for those who demonstrate ability?
Again, I'm not saying that volunteers should not come to Haiti. Every person who comes here and sees the reality of life here - how tough it is, how beautiful, intelligent and resourceful the people are - leaves with the potential of doing more to help out. Their visits are important - the fact that they want to come offers incredible moral support. Most of the Haitians I talk to here understand that our visitors tell their story to the outside world and appreciate all the support that brings, but they don't understand why a doctor or teacher or accountant would come to paint walls when they themselves or their neighbour down the road could do it.
Sometimes I also wonder how much of this kind of work in developing countries is about making ourselves feel good, instead of doing what is really needed and sustainable for the people we are "helping"?
260 Irish volunteers are pouring their sweat and money into building homes for hundreds of impoverished Haitian families.
Stories like this always cause conflicting emotions for me. On the face of it, it looks like a tremendous charitable work. 200 families will have a new, sturdy home. That is wonderful, but these kinds of good works always raise questions for me.
In a country where unemployment is extremely high, would there not be a bigger impact if the money was spent hiring local people to not just lay the groundwork but completely build the houses? Much of the work is unskilled labour being done by educated foreigners. If local people were hired, not only would people get new houses, but families would have members with an income to put food on the table, pay school fees, and have money to go to the hospital - with all kinds of economic spin offs from there.
I am not saying that volunteers should not come to Haiti. Not at all - I am one that just happened to stay a little longer than most. But why not pay the Haitians to do the work they are capable of doing, and let skilled volunteers use those skills to train Haitians, or to do work that is in need, like medical care? Or supporting (long-term!) schools for the children who are going to be living in the homes? Or setting up scholarships to go to university for those who demonstrate ability?
Again, I'm not saying that volunteers should not come to Haiti. Every person who comes here and sees the reality of life here - how tough it is, how beautiful, intelligent and resourceful the people are - leaves with the potential of doing more to help out. Their visits are important - the fact that they want to come offers incredible moral support. Most of the Haitians I talk to here understand that our visitors tell their story to the outside world and appreciate all the support that brings, but they don't understand why a doctor or teacher or accountant would come to paint walls when they themselves or their neighbour down the road could do it.
Sometimes I also wonder how much of this kind of work in developing countries is about making ourselves feel good, instead of doing what is really needed and sustainable for the people we are "helping"?
10.25.2009
10.22.2009
New St. Boniface Haiti Foundation Documentary
Filming for this documentary took place earlier this year. It's fantastic. Thank you so much Pierre Valette and family.
Wisdom
Pa kouri pou lapli epi ou tonbe nan rivye
Don't run for the rain or you'll fall in the river
.
10.20.2009
Zynga’s FarmVille gamers donate to Haiti’s poor via virtual goods
As much as I like to grumble about all the FarmVille updates I get on my Facebook, and I can't understand for the life of me the attraction of playing, this kind of blows me away. Almost a half a million dollars from the players is being given to the poor of Haiti via Fonkoze and FATEM.
Check it out
Now if only we could get St. Boniface signed up somehow...
.
Check it out
Now if only we could get St. Boniface signed up somehow...
.
10.15.2009
10.13.2009
I'm too tired to think of a title...
I spent today working with the malnutrition program. It was chaos. To say we need to do some reorganizing and advance planning before Tuesday comes is an understatement. Today, for some reason unclear to me, we combined the program with vaccinations too.
I worked as all-around gopher, baby-weigher, and interviewer. I love weighing the kids, and especially love it when they've gained weight. Today we had four kids reach normal weight, so we gave a small gift/reward of bath soap to the moms.
Two children went from underweight to severely underweight, so we enrolled them in our Plumpy'nut program (we have switched from Medika Mamba). Plumpy'nut is a peanut butter based supplement that can help children gain weight fairly quickly. It comes in little foil packets and is "prescribed" based on the child's weight, that is for a certain weight they need to eat a certain number of packets each day. Each packet contains 500 kcals, lots of protein and vitamins and minerals..
Part of the enrollment process is an interview, measurements, and letting the child do a taste test of the Plumpy'nut - no sense sending them home with it if they won't eat it. Sometimes the child is sick and does not feel like doing much. Doesn't smile, cries when you do the measurements, and just wants to be left alone. We look at their skin, check for any signs of edema, check if their hair is red.
The most enjoyable part is when you squeeze a little bit of Plumpy'nut in their mouth. It tastes really good and I don't know of any child who hasn't liked it. The first three I gave a taste to today liked it, one even smiled for me, and they sat and waited for the next taste.
The fourth however, was like a hungry little bird. She had been crying, didn't want to be touched and was generally cranky. I put a little in her mouth, she stopped crying and kept sticking her head out to get a little more. I had to pull it away so she didn't take it too fast. I had a nice discussion with her mother while she was eating it - she has 8 other children. We had to refer them to another program closer to where they live, but we got the child started on Plumpy'nut with a few days supply until then.
There's a lot of debate about what is the correct way to approach child malnutrition in developing countries, what foods to give as food aid, and where it should come from. It's a very complex picture encompassing nutrition science, food policy, and international policy. I'm learning more about it, but the more I learn the less clear it becomes.
One thing I know for sure is that products like Plumpy'nut and Medika Mamba work. The kids in our program who receive it will gain weight well if they follow the protocol and there isn't any sharing going on in the household. We don't have 100% success, but we do know it works.
I worked as all-around gopher, baby-weigher, and interviewer. I love weighing the kids, and especially love it when they've gained weight. Today we had four kids reach normal weight, so we gave a small gift/reward of bath soap to the moms.
Two children went from underweight to severely underweight, so we enrolled them in our Plumpy'nut program (we have switched from Medika Mamba). Plumpy'nut is a peanut butter based supplement that can help children gain weight fairly quickly. It comes in little foil packets and is "prescribed" based on the child's weight, that is for a certain weight they need to eat a certain number of packets each day. Each packet contains 500 kcals, lots of protein and vitamins and minerals..
Part of the enrollment process is an interview, measurements, and letting the child do a taste test of the Plumpy'nut - no sense sending them home with it if they won't eat it. Sometimes the child is sick and does not feel like doing much. Doesn't smile, cries when you do the measurements, and just wants to be left alone. We look at their skin, check for any signs of edema, check if their hair is red.
The most enjoyable part is when you squeeze a little bit of Plumpy'nut in their mouth. It tastes really good and I don't know of any child who hasn't liked it. The first three I gave a taste to today liked it, one even smiled for me, and they sat and waited for the next taste.
The fourth however, was like a hungry little bird. She had been crying, didn't want to be touched and was generally cranky. I put a little in her mouth, she stopped crying and kept sticking her head out to get a little more. I had to pull it away so she didn't take it too fast. I had a nice discussion with her mother while she was eating it - she has 8 other children. We had to refer them to another program closer to where they live, but we got the child started on Plumpy'nut with a few days supply until then.
There's a lot of debate about what is the correct way to approach child malnutrition in developing countries, what foods to give as food aid, and where it should come from. It's a very complex picture encompassing nutrition science, food policy, and international policy. I'm learning more about it, but the more I learn the less clear it becomes.
One thing I know for sure is that products like Plumpy'nut and Medika Mamba work. The kids in our program who receive it will gain weight well if they follow the protocol and there isn't any sharing going on in the household. We don't have 100% success, but we do know it works.
10.12.2009
Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain
It's been a pretty dry rainy season. Up until now we had a few light showers that didn't amount to much.
This weekend however, we got a really good soaking each day. I am happy because it means that the cistern at Kay Granmoun will fill and they won't have to carry water again for a while.
Today it was cloudy almost all day, and we had heavy showers all afternoon. While my heart is happy that the cisterns are filling and the dry soil is soaking up water to nourish the corn and millet, I know what the rain means to many people here - it makes a hard life miserable.
A man was carried to hospital from Savanne Henri this afternoon on a makeshift stretcher. They would have had to carry him across a swollen and dangerous river. It probably took them 3-4 hours to get here, which means they walked in the worst of the rain and mud. I saw the men in the yard.
There were many mothers who came today to get rations from our nutrition programs. They waited half the morning for things to start, sitting on the steps and crouching on the ground. The depot doors opened to start dispensing the rations only to have the heavens crack and soak the women who weren't able to find shelter under the eaves or in the doorways. Their food would get wet on the way home, and the mud would be slippery and dangerous in some places.
There are people tonight who are trying to sleep on wet beds, in wet thatch-roofed houses.
This weekend however, we got a really good soaking each day. I am happy because it means that the cistern at Kay Granmoun will fill and they won't have to carry water again for a while.
Today it was cloudy almost all day, and we had heavy showers all afternoon. While my heart is happy that the cisterns are filling and the dry soil is soaking up water to nourish the corn and millet, I know what the rain means to many people here - it makes a hard life miserable.
A man was carried to hospital from Savanne Henri this afternoon on a makeshift stretcher. They would have had to carry him across a swollen and dangerous river. It probably took them 3-4 hours to get here, which means they walked in the worst of the rain and mud. I saw the men in the yard.
There were many mothers who came today to get rations from our nutrition programs. They waited half the morning for things to start, sitting on the steps and crouching on the ground. The depot doors opened to start dispensing the rations only to have the heavens crack and soak the women who weren't able to find shelter under the eaves or in the doorways. Their food would get wet on the way home, and the mud would be slippery and dangerous in some places.
There are people tonight who are trying to sleep on wet beds, in wet thatch-roofed houses.
10.11.2009
Happy Thanksgiving
At home, this is my favourite weekend of the year. When I lived in the US, I just couldn't get into Thanksgiving in November, so I usually worked that holiday.
I am missing the crisp air, the bright orange and red and neon yellow maple leaves. The smell of Fall.
We will have the usual Sunday chicken here today, so maybe I'll pretend it's turkey... but it'll be a stretch to pretend the stuffing, gravy, squash, and apple pie.
So, to those of you who get to celebrate this weekend, remember to savour it. There are those of us who wish we could be there.
** To my family, I wish I could be with you. I miss you all so much.
I am missing the crisp air, the bright orange and red and neon yellow maple leaves. The smell of Fall.
We will have the usual Sunday chicken here today, so maybe I'll pretend it's turkey... but it'll be a stretch to pretend the stuffing, gravy, squash, and apple pie.
So, to those of you who get to celebrate this weekend, remember to savour it. There are those of us who wish we could be there.
** To my family, I wish I could be with you. I miss you all so much.
10.09.2009
Torture
I am torturing myself with magazines. No, not fashion or travel, but Bon Appetit and Southern Living.
What I wouldn't give right now for carmel-pecan-pumpkin bread pudding, or real macaroni and cheese, or sage butter-roasted turkey with cider gravy...
What I wouldn't give right now for carmel-pecan-pumpkin bread pudding, or real macaroni and cheese, or sage butter-roasted turkey with cider gravy...
10.08.2009
Sensations
I woke up this morning, early, to the sound of cicadas. I have two fans on at night and it very easily drowned out the noise of the fans. I thought they were in the tree outside my window, but it went on for a while, fully awakening me, so I got up to have a look.
There was one cicada on the screen of my bathroom window, and a few inches away was the little zandolit (gecko) that lives there. I watched them for a while. I think he was debating whether he was going to try to eat the cicada, which was more than two-thirds his size. I touched the screen and they both disappeared.
It's these little experiences, as silly and trivial as they are, that I hope to remember about Haiti when I leave. Yesterday I was sitting at the peasant bank, Fonkoze, waiting to get called in to see the teller. I was absorbing all that was going on around me. The strong sun and the sensation of sitting in the shade of the galleri with a breeze blowing through. The sounds of the businesses and homes surrounding the bank. The smell of frying food and the sound of konpa on the radio at the restaurant next door. The chatter of the other people waiting. I hope I can remember those sensations, as they are an integral part of my experience here.
There was one cicada on the screen of my bathroom window, and a few inches away was the little zandolit (gecko) that lives there. I watched them for a while. I think he was debating whether he was going to try to eat the cicada, which was more than two-thirds his size. I touched the screen and they both disappeared.
It's these little experiences, as silly and trivial as they are, that I hope to remember about Haiti when I leave. Yesterday I was sitting at the peasant bank, Fonkoze, waiting to get called in to see the teller. I was absorbing all that was going on around me. The strong sun and the sensation of sitting in the shade of the galleri with a breeze blowing through. The sounds of the businesses and homes surrounding the bank. The smell of frying food and the sound of konpa on the radio at the restaurant next door. The chatter of the other people waiting. I hope I can remember those sensations, as they are an integral part of my experience here.
10.03.2009
A satisfying week
We had a very busy week here. We hosted a mini-forum on malnutrition and invited people from our partner organizations and the ministry of health.
We have six community nutrition programs, but I have been focusing mostly on what we call the recuperation program, which is a program for moderately to severely underweight kids from 6-59 months of age (these are the children without medical complications, like kwashiorkor). We haven't been having good results with weight gains, and have been examining the reasons why. We held the mini-forum as a means to learn from our partners and present our situation to them.
Some of our visitors arrived the night before and stayed with us at the residence. There was informative discussion around the table. Dr. Marhonne, the head of nutrition for the ministry of health, was very interesting to talk to. She brought with her a young doctor who is doing his residency at the General Hospital and specializing in nutrition. He and I had a great discussion in my limited Kreyol about nutrition support in intensive care, a topic that we wouldn't be covering at the mini-forum but was fun to talk about just the same. I kind of miss my clinical work.
We also had visitors from Zanmi Lasante (Partners in Health) and their agricultural branch, Zanmi Agrikol. These included their chief of nutrition, their top agronomist and a pharmacist. Part of our presentation at the mini-forum was about agriculture in our region, as it is an important factor when looking at food security.
Our programs at St. Boniface are supported by the generosity of Catholic Relief Services, who sent a large contingent. They presented on their nutrition programs and their partnership with us, emphasizing that we are focusing on nutritional health, not feeding programs. I think that is an important distinction.
I presented an overview of our program and some statistics. I also presented on the process we've undertaken to identify our problems, the things we would like to improve, and how our overall goals fit into the mission of St. Boniface Haiti Foundation.
One thing I liked best about the day is that our whole community health team got to participate. We had some of the community volunteers, health agents, and even a few of the mothers from the program come. They got to see, most for the first time, what is discussed at forums like this.
Our other staff worked very hard too. We fed approximately 50 people a mid-morning snack and a large lunch. The food was wonderful (we had grapes!!!!!) We've never held a function like this before, and every chair and utensil in the residence was used. Everyone worked so hard to make it a success.
I sometimes forget why I am here. I struggle with whether I am a missionary or a humanitarian aid worker. Usually, I think I'mjust doing aid work. As we were opening the forum yesterday and singing the Kreyol version of How Great Thou Art before praying, I realized that I am both. I am here because God loves me, and he is asking me to show that love to others. Somewhere in the spreadsheets, cheque requests, market lists, and running up and down the stairs to the nutrition center, I am showing that love even without knowing it.
We have six community nutrition programs, but I have been focusing mostly on what we call the recuperation program, which is a program for moderately to severely underweight kids from 6-59 months of age (these are the children without medical complications, like kwashiorkor). We haven't been having good results with weight gains, and have been examining the reasons why. We held the mini-forum as a means to learn from our partners and present our situation to them.
Some of our visitors arrived the night before and stayed with us at the residence. There was informative discussion around the table. Dr. Marhonne, the head of nutrition for the ministry of health, was very interesting to talk to. She brought with her a young doctor who is doing his residency at the General Hospital and specializing in nutrition. He and I had a great discussion in my limited Kreyol about nutrition support in intensive care, a topic that we wouldn't be covering at the mini-forum but was fun to talk about just the same. I kind of miss my clinical work.
We also had visitors from Zanmi Lasante (Partners in Health) and their agricultural branch, Zanmi Agrikol. These included their chief of nutrition, their top agronomist and a pharmacist. Part of our presentation at the mini-forum was about agriculture in our region, as it is an important factor when looking at food security.
Our programs at St. Boniface are supported by the generosity of Catholic Relief Services, who sent a large contingent. They presented on their nutrition programs and their partnership with us, emphasizing that we are focusing on nutritional health, not feeding programs. I think that is an important distinction.
I presented an overview of our program and some statistics. I also presented on the process we've undertaken to identify our problems, the things we would like to improve, and how our overall goals fit into the mission of St. Boniface Haiti Foundation.
One thing I liked best about the day is that our whole community health team got to participate. We had some of the community volunteers, health agents, and even a few of the mothers from the program come. They got to see, most for the first time, what is discussed at forums like this.
Our other staff worked very hard too. We fed approximately 50 people a mid-morning snack and a large lunch. The food was wonderful (we had grapes!!!!!) We've never held a function like this before, and every chair and utensil in the residence was used. Everyone worked so hard to make it a success.
I sometimes forget why I am here. I struggle with whether I am a missionary or a humanitarian aid worker. Usually, I think I'm
9.29.2009
Getting out, Part 2
So I made it to Cayes, got dropped off close to where Marcia and Greg were staying and chatted with a couple of street kids for a few minutes while I waited for Marcia to come get me. They were sitting on the front wall of a hotel and asked me for money. I told them I didn't have anything (not small enough anyway) and wished that I had some candy or crackers to give them. They didn't give me a hard time for saying no, and continued to chat with me anyway.
Marcia came and took me back to the house where they were staying not too far away. It's a beautiful home, owned by an elderly pastor and his wife, who are the parents of very good friends of theirs from Minnesota. I also got to meet those friends, Nick and Madeleine, who have founded a community development organization outside of Camp Perrin, called COFHED.
The visit was too short. I don't know how to say this without making it sound as though I'm unhappy here, which I am not, but I sometimes feel very isolated. I live and work with three Americans and I love them all and am blessed that we get along as well as we do, but we are all different ages, at different stages in our lives, and I miss the company of my peers. I'm also a protestant living and working in a Catholic organization. I have met wonderfully spiritual people here who have many of the same beliefs as I do, but it was simply nice to be with a woman friend close to my age who is also a protestant.
I really enjoyed hearing about the work they are doing in Haiti and what some of their experiences have been. It was fun to compare the different things that we've learned.
Marcia came and took me back to the house where they were staying not too far away. It's a beautiful home, owned by an elderly pastor and his wife, who are the parents of very good friends of theirs from Minnesota. I also got to meet those friends, Nick and Madeleine, who have founded a community development organization outside of Camp Perrin, called COFHED.
The visit was too short. I don't know how to say this without making it sound as though I'm unhappy here, which I am not, but I sometimes feel very isolated. I live and work with three Americans and I love them all and am blessed that we get along as well as we do, but we are all different ages, at different stages in our lives, and I miss the company of my peers. I'm also a protestant living and working in a Catholic organization. I have met wonderfully spiritual people here who have many of the same beliefs as I do, but it was simply nice to be with a woman friend close to my age who is also a protestant.
I really enjoyed hearing about the work they are doing in Haiti and what some of their experiences have been. It was fun to compare the different things that we've learned.
9.28.2009
Getting out
Yesterday I left Fond des Blancs for the first time since July 19th. Time goes so quickly and I hadn't realized that it had been two months since I ventured away. Why don't I go crazy with cabin fever? Because I am obviously very easily entertained.
I had the wonderful opportunity to meet face-to-face with a woman I had met online through our Haiti blogs. Marcia and her husband Greg have a ministry called Providence Ministries in Cayes. They were going to be in country, so I arranged to go to Cayes to see them for a couple of hours.
One of the reasons I don't go to the cities or anywhere else unless I have to is because it just isn't easy. The drives are long and the roads are bad. To give you an idea of how it went yesterday, I'll do it in point form below:
I had the wonderful opportunity to meet face-to-face with a woman I had met online through our Haiti blogs. Marcia and her husband Greg have a ministry called Providence Ministries in Cayes. They were going to be in country, so I arranged to go to Cayes to see them for a couple of hours.
One of the reasons I don't go to the cities or anywhere else unless I have to is because it just isn't easy. The drives are long and the roads are bad. To give you an idea of how it went yesterday, I'll do it in point form below:
- I asked Bos Raymond if I could go to Cayes with him when he went to pick up some staff that needed to return to the hospital. He said yes, he'd leave at 11:00.
- At 10:10 he arrived at my door and said he was leaving. NOTHING ever happens EARLY here, so I was not ready to go. I pulled some things together, and went down to the yard. No time to eat.
- YAY!!!! The ambulance was empty and I got the front seat. Was psyched to not have any other passengers (I know this is entirely selfish of me, but keep reading - I was hoping to avoid the typical trip)....
- ...until we backed up to the hospital and took on a discharged patient and two family members. The poor guy didn't look so hot. There were a couple of other people who were going too. As we were pulling out, a guy knocked on the window to see if he could get a drive to catch the bus to Port au Prince (in the other direction). Bos took him in. That's when I realized that not everyone was going to Cayes and we would be adding about 30 minutes to the trip with a detour to Diraso (Desroussieux).
- We drove down to the nurse's residence. We were early there too, so no one was ready. Bos honked his horn and we sat and waited. We took on four or five more people - and two large empty water jugs, several market bags, a couple of duffel bags, and a potted tree (no kidding). At least there were no live chickens. I ended up with a very nice visiting female pharmacist squeezed into the front seat with me. Good thing she was petite.
- We left the village. The trip between Santon (where our hospital is) and Route Nationale is about 50 minutes on a very rough road. I had been relieved to see that the patient we had on board was carrying a basin because what I had been afraid would happen did. The poor man vomited and wretched for about ten minutes on the way to his house. Bos drove carefully to avoid any bumps that would throw people (or the basin) around until we arrived at the family's home to drop them off. All the more reason to be happy that I had the front seat.
- There was now more room in the back, so the pharmacist moved out.
- We reached the Route Nationale and turned toward Port au Prince, drove to Diraso as I expected, to drop two or three people off to take the bus the rest of the way. We then took another short detour to fill up the big water bottles that were rolling around the back, adding another 10 minutes to the trip. Now I understood why Bos Raymond decided to leave earlier.
9.25.2009
Causes of Child Malnutrition
It is tempting to think that child malnutrition is simply caused by lack of food. The picture is actually much more complex. The diagram below shows the different levels that impact whether or not a child will get enough to eat. Providing food alone doesn't always give the results you seek and that approach is simply not enough.
*click on the diagram to see it more clearly
*click on the diagram to see it more clearly
9.24.2009
Learning Patience
I've been getting practice in patience since I first arrived in Haiti. Sometimes just getting simple things done is SO hard. Anyone who lives or has lived here knows what I'm talking about.
Today's frustration is this:
None of this is a complaint against the people who work here. It's just that sometimes the logistics and difficulty of travel and communication make everything much more difficult.
Today's frustration is this:
- I am the moun reskonsab (person in charge) for our elderly home and we have six employees, whom I care about as much as I do the residents. They work hard for the most part and even though they are fortunate enough to have a job, they still live very difficult lives.
- Our cistern is leaking at the faucet and won't hold water.
- They do laundry there almost every day. The residents get bathed every day. I have a new resident who is incontinent and needs to be bathed more frequently.
- To get clean drinking water and water for cooking, Ones has to take a wheelbarrow and buckets a 1/2 mile down the road to the pastor's house and pump it, and push it back.
- To get water for the laundry, and because the cistern is empty, they have to go down to the ravine and dip water from the stream and carry it back up the steep hill.
- The laundry woman sprained her wrist badly last year. She has difficulty doing the wringing of the sheets (all laundry is done by hand) but the others help her. She is not able to carry water. One of the other workers has a very bad hip and already walks almost two miles to work and back. She cannot carry water up from a ravine.
- The water in the ravine is sometimes muddy and not good for washing clothes and linens.
- I have been asking for our maintenance man to go and have a look at the cistern to make an estimate and then hire someone to fix it. I've been asking for a couple of weeks. Our maintenance guy is in charge of all of our hospital and buildings. He is very busy. I am not a priority and this is understandable.
- I need to purchase a large, plastic water barrel with a small mouth. They are only available in Port au Prince. I've been trying all week to find out who is going to Port au Prince so that I can arrange to have one bought. I talked to our purchasing agent on the phone yesterday and he said he would come see me. He was sent to the city urgently and didn't get the chance. I called him this mornign to see if he could pick one up. He doesn't have any money with him to buy one, so I will miss the opportunity.
- Many times I just wish I could hop in the car and go to Home Depot.
None of this is a complaint against the people who work here. It's just that sometimes the logistics and difficulty of travel and communication make everything much more difficult.
9.23.2009
Wily little so-and-sos
I sometimes get mosquitos in my room, even though I have good screens on my windows. It can be any time of the day but I seem to get the most bites in the morning when I start working at my computer.
The mosquitos here are a lot smaller than the ones we have in New Brunswick and Maine. And they're sneaky. They don't go for the wide open spaces of your arms and legs. No. They go for the hard to scratch places - like between your toes, on your heel or the arch of your foot.
I get bites almost every day, and just can't wear bug spray all the time. I'll probably jinx myself, but I think it's a minor miracle that I haven't gotten malaria or dengue by now.
The mosquitos here are a lot smaller than the ones we have in New Brunswick and Maine. And they're sneaky. They don't go for the wide open spaces of your arms and legs. No. They go for the hard to scratch places - like between your toes, on your heel or the arch of your foot.
I get bites almost every day, and just can't wear bug spray all the time. I'll probably jinx myself, but I think it's a minor miracle that I haven't gotten malaria or dengue by now.
Observations
I know I've written about confidentiallity but can't for the life of me remember if I've ever written about privacy and gossip before. Maybe I've just thought about writing about it.
There's an aspect of the culture that is intriguing, maddening and contradictory all at the same time. It's the attitude toward privacy.
There's an aspect of the culture that is intriguing, maddening and contradictory all at the same time. It's the attitude toward privacy.
- It is nothing to have people overhear your medical information in the hospital, and no one thinks anything of it. Sometimes they might even jump right in and "help" with their own suggestions. *The exception to this is when doing HIV/AIDS testing and counseling. The stigma here is decreasing but is still prevalent so all of our programs make every effort to assure confidentiality for those patients.*
- People are used to living in very close proximity, either by having a dozen or more people in a small house, or having houses that are close together. Everyone knows everyone else's business.
- If you are a blan (foreigner) you most likely will not hear much of the serious gossip, at least not right away. You are not in the loop.
- The grapevine is amazing. I hear bits of local gossip from my friend who is now living and going to school in the US. Admittedly, he doesn't tell me much, and when I ask him "who told you that?" he will never tell me.
- The desire for privacy shows itself in funny ways. You know how we have white plastic grocery bags? Here they are black - so no one can see what you are carrying.
- There's a vagueness to most of the responses I get to questions. No one likes to give away the whole story. I'm not sure if this is because I'm a blan or if Haitians respond to each other that way too. Maybe I'll figure that out in time.
9.22.2009
Sugar rush
I'd like to thank Melissa, who came with last week's surgical team, for helping me gain at least five pounds :) She thoughtfully left about a couple dozen Cow Tails behind...there's one remaining.
Photo courtesy of goetzecandy.com
Back to bugs, again
I thought it was a tiny moth until I looked closer. Kind of funky lookin' little thing.
9.21.2009
Catch Up
I just checked my site meter and I can't believe anyone is still checking this blog - I've been so bad at updating lately!
As usual there's been a lot going on and I've had very little desire to write about it. I think I've gotten too used to being here, not much strikes me as interesting enough to write about, at least not lately. The same seems to have happened to my desire to take photos :(
It's Monday morning, so the it's the beginning of a new week. Monday is always hectic. I spent some time in the depot early this morning mixing the corn meal and beans together in the correct proportions so that the guys can make the akamil for tomorrow. It's a great way to start the day - covered in sweat and corn dust, red faced from the exertion. Needless to say I didn't shower before I started the job. The cold shower feels like heaven after.
What else is on the agenda today, you ask? I need to work with the community health nurses to find out how we do reporting to CRS for our programs, I need to get an estimate for some work at the elderly home for varnishing the doors and fixing the cistern (again), I need to find clothes for our new resident at the home, I need to find a way to buy a water barrel, some buckets, heavy duty gloves and masks for the workers there, and I need to do some writing. I also need to work on doing a literature search for a presentation I am doing with one of the nurses and set a date for my presentation on how to use the internet for research.
I'll get it all done today, si dye vle (if God wants), but I'm suspecting that God will not want because I NEVER get my whole list done in one day. There are too many weird things that pop up and throw the whole thing off.
Onward and, maybe not necessarily, upward.
As usual there's been a lot going on and I've had very little desire to write about it. I think I've gotten too used to being here, not much strikes me as interesting enough to write about, at least not lately. The same seems to have happened to my desire to take photos :(
It's Monday morning, so the it's the beginning of a new week. Monday is always hectic. I spent some time in the depot early this morning mixing the corn meal and beans together in the correct proportions so that the guys can make the akamil for tomorrow. It's a great way to start the day - covered in sweat and corn dust, red faced from the exertion. Needless to say I didn't shower before I started the job. The cold shower feels like heaven after.
What else is on the agenda today, you ask? I need to work with the community health nurses to find out how we do reporting to CRS for our programs, I need to get an estimate for some work at the elderly home for varnishing the doors and fixing the cistern (again), I need to find clothes for our new resident at the home, I need to find a way to buy a water barrel, some buckets, heavy duty gloves and masks for the workers there, and I need to do some writing. I also need to work on doing a literature search for a presentation I am doing with one of the nurses and set a date for my presentation on how to use the internet for research.
I'll get it all done today, si dye vle (if God wants), but I'm suspecting that God will not want because I NEVER get my whole list done in one day. There are too many weird things that pop up and throw the whole thing off.
Onward and, maybe not necessarily, upward.
9.12.2009
Food Waste
9.07.2009
Land of the Acronym
Nutrition, as a career, is a very broad field. There are countless directions you can go in. Some of my university classmates have gone on to work for food companies doing product development or quality control. Some have gone into sports nutrition, others into program development and administration.
I've been a dietitian - a credentialled and registered nutritionist - for about 9 years. All of my experience until I moved to Haiti was clinical, meaning I worked in hospitals doing various things from diet education to calculating IV feeding and tube feedings in the ICU. I worked with sick people trying to get well. It was interesting and mundane, frustrating and rewarding.
The work I do in Haiti is totally different. I've been involved a little with the programs since a I arrived, but recently have been asked to take over the nutrition programs. I am trying to get up to speed with how things work. As a person without a public health background or training, it's been a challenge. I'm doing a lot of reading to learn how programs are designed, how they are evaluated and monitored, and comparing them to what we are doing.
Since I've come to Haiti, I've noticed how many acronyms are used. Now that I'm doing some more intense reading, I have to keep a list of them close by. We have CTC and CMAM, MYAP and SYAP, OTP, SFP, MUAC and WFH. And then there are the NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) UNICEF, USAID, ACF/AAH, CRS, FAO, MSF, PIH, ZL. To eat we have CSB, WSB, AK-1000, RUTF, F-75, F-100, and SFB.......YUM :)
Oh my aching head.
I've been a dietitian - a credentialled and registered nutritionist - for about 9 years. All of my experience until I moved to Haiti was clinical, meaning I worked in hospitals doing various things from diet education to calculating IV feeding and tube feedings in the ICU. I worked with sick people trying to get well. It was interesting and mundane, frustrating and rewarding.
The work I do in Haiti is totally different. I've been involved a little with the programs since a I arrived, but recently have been asked to take over the nutrition programs. I am trying to get up to speed with how things work. As a person without a public health background or training, it's been a challenge. I'm doing a lot of reading to learn how programs are designed, how they are evaluated and monitored, and comparing them to what we are doing.
Since I've come to Haiti, I've noticed how many acronyms are used. Now that I'm doing some more intense reading, I have to keep a list of them close by. We have CTC and CMAM, MYAP and SYAP, OTP, SFP, MUAC and WFH. And then there are the NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) UNICEF, USAID, ACF/AAH, CRS, FAO, MSF, PIH, ZL. To eat we have CSB, WSB, AK-1000, RUTF, F-75, F-100, and SFB.......YUM :)
Oh my aching head.
9.06.2009
Ideals
I think I've touched on the differences in what is considered attractive here in Haiti compared to the US and Canada before. A fellow Haiti blogger, Kim, has recently written a good post about it here.
After I had been in rural Haiti for a few months, where the women are slim, strong and graceful, I had the opportunity to go to the Olaffson Hotel in Port-au-Prince for the Thursday night RAM show. We were sitting on the verandah having a pre-show Coke and I was watching all the people come up the front stairs. The style of dress was not only different than rural Haiti (of course, more wealthy) but the size of the women was strikingly different. They were all heavy, some obese, and very curvy. Most of them were accompanied by handsome men.
If you watch any Haitian films, you get an idea of what the ideals of attractiveness are. The women are large, curvy, and wear tight fitting clothes.
I've been heavy most of my life, and at first was taken aback when people here would say I had a gwo bounda (big behind). I asked a friend how I should respond to it. He told me if a man says it, I should say thank you. If a woman says it, I should ask if she is jealous :)
After I had been in rural Haiti for a few months, where the women are slim, strong and graceful, I had the opportunity to go to the Olaffson Hotel in Port-au-Prince for the Thursday night RAM show. We were sitting on the verandah having a pre-show Coke and I was watching all the people come up the front stairs. The style of dress was not only different than rural Haiti (of course, more wealthy) but the size of the women was strikingly different. They were all heavy, some obese, and very curvy. Most of them were accompanied by handsome men.
If you watch any Haitian films, you get an idea of what the ideals of attractiveness are. The women are large, curvy, and wear tight fitting clothes.
I've been heavy most of my life, and at first was taken aback when people here would say I had a gwo bounda (big behind). I asked a friend how I should respond to it. He told me if a man says it, I should say thank you. If a woman says it, I should ask if she is jealous :)
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