Saturday 25 December 2010
Haitian Baroque
Wednesday 8 December 2010
Election Results
Last night the election results were released. It was quiet here at our base just outside Port Au Prince. But inside the city it was different. Demonstrations abound. Today we are on lock down at our base because of the demonstrations. The cholera centers are the only projects we are running today. Much of our Haitian staff were unable to make it to work because the public transport workers are not working due to the protesting. The Haitian staff that did come into work today are glued to the radio.
We have some close friends here in Haiti (Ben and Alexis Depp) who have been following the elections and helped document and monitor the elections. They by far have the most info on the story behind the elections here in Haiti. Check out their post written by a journalist friend of theirs on the elections, it is unreal but true. Prayers needed. The link, (Click Here) On the Goat Path
We have some close friends here in Haiti (Ben and Alexis Depp) who have been following the elections and helped document and monitor the elections. They by far have the most info on the story behind the elections here in Haiti. Check out their post written by a journalist friend of theirs on the elections, it is unreal but true. Prayers needed. The link, (Click Here) On the Goat Path
Sunday 5 December 2010
Lavi byen viv (Life well lived)
This past month has been overwhelming. Death is never easy to process. Cholera death and my grandfather's death. There are many doorways of death... undignified death on wooden beds soaked in diarrhea in Haiti or sterile death on comfortable, movable hospital beds in North Carolina. Death is scary because we fear that we have not lived life on earth well. Every person dies, but not every person lives. My grandfather lived life well.
Robert Denver Miller, my grandfather, is one of my heroes. He is a pillar of our family. He left this earth on November 20th, a day after his 89th birthday. My husband and I were able this past month to return home from Haiti to honor the life of my grandfather. I have only good memories of my grandfather. I love this photograph with my grandfather because he and I were playing on the computer together, which happens to be one of his favorite hobbies. He was gentile, intelligent and good at everything he touched. The fruits of his life are apparent: from raising a family,testing mustard gasses during WWII, lover of nature, building parts of the Blue Ridge Parkway, to being a volunteer firefighter. His legacy lives deep in my family. He served others with his skills. In fact, I feel that he has inspired me and others in my family to be doing the very things we are doing currently. A life well lived on earth and now in heaven. Granddad, thank you for teaching me how to live, you are loved.
Saturday 6 November 2010
Hurricane Tomas- Leogane
Today and yesterday our teams went out in groups divided by the different sectors (eg. shelter, water, hygiene,food, rubble, medical etc.) to do assessments of the camps so that we can better assist with the recovery. The Leogane assessment team reported the most damage of property due to the main river flooding the city. When it rains in Leogane it often floods. But this is the worst flooding we have seen since we have been here. The devastation in Leogane is vast as it was not only the epicenter of the earthquake but now one of the epicenters of the flooding. Our good friend Benjamin Depp, who has lived in Haiti for the past 2 years, has photographed the flooding in Leogane...
Saturday 30 October 2010
Saturday 23 October 2010
Cholera - le rapport de situation
Here is the update because many of you have emailed us:
From Wednesday morning of this week Ian and I were both informed via email from the United Nations WASH Cluster (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene working technical groups) within Haiti of an outbreak of 'acute watery diarrhea' in a nearby community called St. Marc (60 miles northwest of Port Au Prince) in the Artibonite region. In the beginning, there were only about 40 deaths, with a little over 100 people hospitalized at local health clinics, and then the death toll grew to 148 by the end of Friday night. According to the BBC this morning, the death toll has risen to more than 200. Up until Friday morning, many NGOs, as well as the Haitian Gov't were very wary of calling this outbreak 'cholera'. However, on Friday morning it was confirmed that this outbreak was, in fact, Cholera - and it was confirmed by the MSPP (Ministry of Public Health and Population). There are over 1,500 reported people who have been hospitalized due to the outbreak. The reported cases are coming from a few communities along a river basin in the Artibonite region. This area sustained no direct damage from the earthquake. However, it serves a reminder that as we respond to the needs of those affected by the earthquake, we mustn't forget about the rest of Haiti. Clean water and sanitation and hygiene is poor over most of Haiti, and perhaps even more so than the areas immediately affected the earthquake.
The impact on our work:
On Thursday morning I, (Monica) called my hygiene staff at the main base, located in Titanyen (about 30 miles from St. Marc - the 'epicenter', so to speak, of the cholera outbreak), and mobilized them to do emergency Cholera prevention training and distribute hand washing soap in our transitional shelter communities in the surrounding area. Many communities had little knowledge of Cholera because there has not been an outbreak in the past century in Haiti - and it is perhaps the only country in the Caribbean to have been affected by Cholera in living memory. I was then flown via helicopter to Titanyen later Friday morning to help in further coordination efforts. I spoke with local officials (police chief) in a neighboring community, produced hygiene training material on cholera in Creole and did sanitation assessments at Samaritan's Purse's Titanyen base. Because there was discussion of an official UN/Haitian Gov't roadblock, which would keep people traveling from the Artibonite region to Port-au-Prince, Ian was asked to represent Samaritan's Purse outside of Port-au-Prince at meetings with Oxfam, Medecins du Monde and others at local health clinics and hospitals in order to discuss how to respond together. Ian also helped coordinate other WASH members regarding their presence at other cholera contingency planning meetings being held in Port-au-Prince. long wiwas at our base going to coordination meetings with other NGOs about Needless to say, we have been a bit busy.
Our main base is one the few international development and relief bases close to this region, as must NGOs are located in Port Au Prince proper, thus our response was rather critical and necessary. Friday morning Samaritan's Purse dispatched a medical team, as well as members of the water and sanitation team - composing something called the 'limited incident management team' to respond to the crisis. Today (Saturday) we are distributing 'PUR' tablets (water chlorination) and ORS distributions (oral rehydration salts) and providing medical assistance to the St. Marc community and medical facilities. The early stage of response is essential in preventing further deaths and the spreading of Cholera. Cholera can kill a grown adult in just a few hour's time if they are not treated immediately. We will keep you updated as we find out more information. Please continue your prayers and support of the Haitian people, hospitals, medical staff and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programs, because this is the harsh reality of Haiti... human suffering that could of been prevented with improved sanitation and hygiene. Thank you for all of your concern and emails you have sent us.
Map of Cholera Affected Region
Further info on Cholera (Click Link Here)
From Wednesday morning of this week Ian and I were both informed via email from the United Nations WASH Cluster (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene working technical groups) within Haiti of an outbreak of 'acute watery diarrhea' in a nearby community called St. Marc (60 miles northwest of Port Au Prince) in the Artibonite region. In the beginning, there were only about 40 deaths, with a little over 100 people hospitalized at local health clinics, and then the death toll grew to 148 by the end of Friday night. According to the BBC this morning, the death toll has risen to more than 200. Up until Friday morning, many NGOs, as well as the Haitian Gov't were very wary of calling this outbreak 'cholera'. However, on Friday morning it was confirmed that this outbreak was, in fact, Cholera - and it was confirmed by the MSPP (Ministry of Public Health and Population). There are over 1,500 reported people who have been hospitalized due to the outbreak. The reported cases are coming from a few communities along a river basin in the Artibonite region. This area sustained no direct damage from the earthquake. However, it serves a reminder that as we respond to the needs of those affected by the earthquake, we mustn't forget about the rest of Haiti. Clean water and sanitation and hygiene is poor over most of Haiti, and perhaps even more so than the areas immediately affected the earthquake.
The impact on our work:
On Thursday morning I, (Monica) called my hygiene staff at the main base, located in Titanyen (about 30 miles from St. Marc - the 'epicenter', so to speak, of the cholera outbreak), and mobilized them to do emergency Cholera prevention training and distribute hand washing soap in our transitional shelter communities in the surrounding area. Many communities had little knowledge of Cholera because there has not been an outbreak in the past century in Haiti - and it is perhaps the only country in the Caribbean to have been affected by Cholera in living memory. I was then flown via helicopter to Titanyen later Friday morning to help in further coordination efforts. I spoke with local officials (police chief) in a neighboring community, produced hygiene training material on cholera in Creole and did sanitation assessments at Samaritan's Purse's Titanyen base. Because there was discussion of an official UN/Haitian Gov't roadblock, which would keep people traveling from the Artibonite region to Port-au-Prince, Ian was asked to represent Samaritan's Purse outside of Port-au-Prince at meetings with Oxfam, Medecins du Monde and others at local health clinics and hospitals in order to discuss how to respond together. Ian also helped coordinate other WASH members regarding their presence at other cholera contingency planning meetings being held in Port-au-Prince. long wiwas at our base going to coordination meetings with other NGOs about Needless to say, we have been a bit busy.
Our main base is one the few international development and relief bases close to this region, as must NGOs are located in Port Au Prince proper, thus our response was rather critical and necessary. Friday morning Samaritan's Purse dispatched a medical team, as well as members of the water and sanitation team - composing something called the 'limited incident management team' to respond to the crisis. Today (Saturday) we are distributing 'PUR' tablets (water chlorination) and ORS distributions (oral rehydration salts) and providing medical assistance to the St. Marc community and medical facilities. The early stage of response is essential in preventing further deaths and the spreading of Cholera. Cholera can kill a grown adult in just a few hour's time if they are not treated immediately. We will keep you updated as we find out more information. Please continue your prayers and support of the Haitian people, hospitals, medical staff and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programs, because this is the harsh reality of Haiti... human suffering that could of been prevented with improved sanitation and hygiene. Thank you for all of your concern and emails you have sent us.
Map of Cholera Affected Region
Further info on Cholera (Click Link Here)
Tuesday 5 October 2010
You know you are in Haiti when...
It is said that laughter is medicine for the soul. Sometimes when one does not understand the complex culture they are living in, laughter is all that is left and relishing in the absurdity of mundane things becomes a favorite pastime. Thus, comic relief is key in adjusting to new cultures. One of my dearest friends, Meredith, a lovely lady back in NC, started a tradition while we were in South East Africa together - compiling lists that begin with, 'you know you are in ___________ when(fill in blank with name of country). We had a great time with this in Mozambique- now its time to do one for Haiti.
Disclaimer: To all our Haitian peeps, you know who you are, please do respond back with more, this is just to get the juices flowing, shout out to you who have contributed a bit already...
You know you are in Haiti WHEN...
1. You find yourself using various hand gestures and feel like Malcolm X everytime you gesture something like 'RESPECT'.
2. When everything you try to do takes 5 times longer than it normally does anywhere else you've been in the whole world.
3. You use your left blinker in your vehicle as you make a left turn, not realizing that you almost cream 10 guys on motorbikes - because, in Haiti, using your blinker actually seems to mean 'pass me now'.
4. It ceases to be a random occurence when you see, on separate occasions, a grown Haitian man, and a young boy, walking along the road swinging a dead cat by a string attached to a single paw.
5. Love songs by our favorite Candadian ballad factory, Celine Dion, are the most widely used mobile phone ring tones - and the loudest.
6. When you live so far away from any latrine that you have to urinate outside your tent.
7. Ketchup and Mayo are found in your spaghetti pasta noodles.
8. An entire island of trash, with what looks like a city of scrap metal, banana peels and Viola phone cards perched on top, floats by your front door everytime it rains.
9. The most common men's footwear is bright-pink crocs.
10. You wake up to mice nibbling on your toes as if they were Ritz crackers.
11. When you see numerous and varied retro t-shirts depicting platform slogans of American ex-presidential candidates who did not even make it past the primaries... sorry about that, Ross Perot.
12. Making a pot of coffee takes 45 minutes.
13. You go to the bathroom and check to see if the toliet can actually flush before using it, and waddles away with bug bites on your unmentionables.
14. You are referred to as 'Blan, Blan' more than you're actual name.
15. It is normal to see a cow's leg sticking out of a tap-tap (Haitian taxi), as it thumps, again and again, like some sort of strange rubber extremity, into oncoming traffic.
16. You notice that the most common pet is a crab on a string.
17. The temperature drops to 86F, and you catch a cold because, after all, its freezing!
18. Donkeys are a common mode of transporting blue plastic tarp for shelters up the mountain.
19. Your internet stinks.
20. You have to check the shower before using it for fear of stepping on a giant tarantula.
Disclaimer: To all our Haitian peeps, you know who you are, please do respond back with more, this is just to get the juices flowing, shout out to you who have contributed a bit already...
You know you are in Haiti WHEN...
1. You find yourself using various hand gestures and feel like Malcolm X everytime you gesture something like 'RESPECT'.
2. When everything you try to do takes 5 times longer than it normally does anywhere else you've been in the whole world.
3. You use your left blinker in your vehicle as you make a left turn, not realizing that you almost cream 10 guys on motorbikes - because, in Haiti, using your blinker actually seems to mean 'pass me now'.
4. It ceases to be a random occurence when you see, on separate occasions, a grown Haitian man, and a young boy, walking along the road swinging a dead cat by a string attached to a single paw.
5. Love songs by our favorite Candadian ballad factory, Celine Dion, are the most widely used mobile phone ring tones - and the loudest.
6. When you live so far away from any latrine that you have to urinate outside your tent.
7. Ketchup and Mayo are found in your spaghetti pasta noodles.
8. An entire island of trash, with what looks like a city of scrap metal, banana peels and Viola phone cards perched on top, floats by your front door everytime it rains.
9. The most common men's footwear is bright-pink crocs.
10. You wake up to mice nibbling on your toes as if they were Ritz crackers.
11. When you see numerous and varied retro t-shirts depicting platform slogans of American ex-presidential candidates who did not even make it past the primaries... sorry about that, Ross Perot.
12. Making a pot of coffee takes 45 minutes.
13. You go to the bathroom and check to see if the toliet can actually flush before using it, and waddles away with bug bites on your unmentionables.
14. You are referred to as 'Blan, Blan' more than you're actual name.
15. It is normal to see a cow's leg sticking out of a tap-tap (Haitian taxi), as it thumps, again and again, like some sort of strange rubber extremity, into oncoming traffic.
16. You notice that the most common pet is a crab on a string.
17. The temperature drops to 86F, and you catch a cold because, after all, its freezing!
18. Donkeys are a common mode of transporting blue plastic tarp for shelters up the mountain.
19. Your internet stinks.
20. You have to check the shower before using it for fear of stepping on a giant tarantula.
Thursday 1 July 2010
Rainy Season Living
It has rained almost everyday since the beginning of May. With the rains come sadness as we think about the hundreds of thousands (UN estimates 1.3 million displaced) of people that are still living without shelter here and it is a constant reminder of the earthquake, which is the hazard that has displaced them. The dry riverbeds are now rising and the fields are bright green with new growth. Most IDP camps still lack rainy season necessities. There is still little adequate shelter. Few clean water sources. There is little food. Many Haitians have to start over in empty lots of land. Haitian makeshift shelters consist of sheets and whatever scrap tin or wood they can find. No human being should live under a sheet. It still shocks me how this is possible for a country to live this way and be so close to one of the world's wealthiest countries (less than 2 hour flight from Port Au Prince to Miami).
Since the 1980s, NGOs have been in Haiti. The 1990s brought a massive increase in their numbers, from 6,000 worldwide in 1990 to an estimated 60,000 by 1998 (Economist, cited in Regan 2003:3). Currently, there are so many NGOs that one could not estimate at their number (Riddell, 2007:53). NGO logistics and politics of the country have slowed the process of disaster recovery. Yet the people of Haiti continue to amaze us. Somehow, through their innovation and vast social networks they are finding creative was to recover and rebuild. Perhaps, this should count more than the work that the NGOs do.
May and June have been months of transition for us as we have moved to a new homestead just outside of Leogane, finished our emergency grant and are now beginning new projects within the temporary shelter communities. We both are still working with water, sanitation and hygiene. Now we have to work between two different locations Titanyen region, which is near Port-Au-Prince, and our current location in the Leogane/Grand Goave region.
Yes, we are living now in army tents, a few steps in reverse from our nice room with flush toilets in a 2 storey local NGOs base in Grand Goave. Can we say rustic living? Our tents are sandwiched between sugarcane fields and the sea. Tarantulas and mosquitoes abound. Mud and dust live with us. We have no door to our quarter of a tent room and have to share with 3 other married couples. Needless to say, we have no privacy. We still have no kitchen, yet one is currently in progress. Hmm, this is not the beach house we had envisioned. Haiti on its own is hard enough to live long term but now having to rough it presents a new stress and challenge even for well-seasoned travelers. Not to mention we have barely had enough time to breathe as our projects are expanding. This current living situation begs the question, is it possible to live and work in 24-7 community with no privacy long term? More on this later. Yet we are grateful to live in a tent that keeps us dry and protected for the most part from the weather. A majority of people in Haiti can not say the same.
Indeed reconstruction is happening in our area (Leogane and Grand Goave). Thousands of metric tons of rubble has been removed. Shelters are being built. Water sources are being rehabilitated. Small business are opening back up. And schools are back in session for the most part. This side of Haiti is seeing the relief. There are many glimmers of restoration and hope even in the rainy season.
Some glimmers of hope: Creativity and attention to beauty and detail are part of the heartbeat of Haitian culture. Check out this
Haitian Solutions to Reconstruction and Recovery....
This is Wilson, age 21, with no formal carpentry training, he built his home out of local materials
Wilson is recreating his house because of the high demand for just $170 USDs per house
Since the 1980s, NGOs have been in Haiti. The 1990s brought a massive increase in their numbers, from 6,000 worldwide in 1990 to an estimated 60,000 by 1998 (Economist, cited in Regan 2003:3). Currently, there are so many NGOs that one could not estimate at their number (Riddell, 2007:53). NGO logistics and politics of the country have slowed the process of disaster recovery. Yet the people of Haiti continue to amaze us. Somehow, through their innovation and vast social networks they are finding creative was to recover and rebuild. Perhaps, this should count more than the work that the NGOs do.
May and June have been months of transition for us as we have moved to a new homestead just outside of Leogane, finished our emergency grant and are now beginning new projects within the temporary shelter communities. We both are still working with water, sanitation and hygiene. Now we have to work between two different locations Titanyen region, which is near Port-Au-Prince, and our current location in the Leogane/Grand Goave region.
Yes, we are living now in army tents, a few steps in reverse from our nice room with flush toilets in a 2 storey local NGOs base in Grand Goave. Can we say rustic living? Our tents are sandwiched between sugarcane fields and the sea. Tarantulas and mosquitoes abound. Mud and dust live with us. We have no door to our quarter of a tent room and have to share with 3 other married couples. Needless to say, we have no privacy. We still have no kitchen, yet one is currently in progress. Hmm, this is not the beach house we had envisioned. Haiti on its own is hard enough to live long term but now having to rough it presents a new stress and challenge even for well-seasoned travelers. Not to mention we have barely had enough time to breathe as our projects are expanding. This current living situation begs the question, is it possible to live and work in 24-7 community with no privacy long term? More on this later. Yet we are grateful to live in a tent that keeps us dry and protected for the most part from the weather. A majority of people in Haiti can not say the same.
Indeed reconstruction is happening in our area (Leogane and Grand Goave). Thousands of metric tons of rubble has been removed. Shelters are being built. Water sources are being rehabilitated. Small business are opening back up. And schools are back in session for the most part. This side of Haiti is seeing the relief. There are many glimmers of restoration and hope even in the rainy season.
Some glimmers of hope: Creativity and attention to beauty and detail are part of the heartbeat of Haitian culture. Check out this
Haitian Solutions to Reconstruction and Recovery....
This is Wilson, age 21, with no formal carpentry training, he built his home out of local materials
Wilson is recreating his house because of the high demand for just $170 USDs per house
Tuesday 1 June 2010
Hygiene Team Video
This week our hygiene team was featured in a video done by a former missionary to Haiti, who works with Samaritan's Purse videography crew. This is a quick snap shot of the work I have been doing the past 4 months in all of the displaced persons camps in the Leogane, Grand Goave and Petit Goave areas...
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Saturday 29 May 2010
Hygiene Festival: May 18th -Flag Day
May 18th is a day of celebration in Haiti. It is recognized as flag day. Yet this day for our hygiene program was more significant than just a celebration of the flag. It was also a day of recognition of the great work our hygiene team did in the area. There were no massive disease outbreaks in any of our camps we were doing hygiene promotion in. Our hygiene team was even selected from various NGOs as one of the key hygiene teams in the area. May 18th marked the day where the team was invited to a big hygiene and sanitation festival. We marched, danced and sang hygiene messages through the streets of Grand Goave. Our team brought a wave of hygiene stickers and songs. Myriam, one of our team leaders, even wrote a hygiene R&B song. The more we are in Haiti the more we realize how important it is to celebrate any successes in Haiti. With the joy of celebration comes hope. Needless to say, this day has been one of my favorite days in Haiti.
The Team
Our Hand washing Stickers - that people loved to put up all over town
The Team
Our Hand washing Stickers - that people loved to put up all over town
Thursday 20 May 2010
Haitian Farmers Commit to Burning Monsanto Hybrid Seeds
A new Haiti is possible. Check this story out (click on link below for full article and an amazing organization working in Haiti)...
Haitian Farmers Commit to Burning Monsanto Hybrid Seeds
Haitian Farmers Commit to Burning Monsanto Hybrid Seeds
Friday 30 April 2010
G.U.A.T.E.M.A.L.A.
When working in Haiti, one needs a break from the sun and heat. We know that we are especially fortunate to have this break from time to time. Antigua, Guatemala. This morning we awoke to an overcast day, with the clouds acting as a foggy lens for the sun to shine through, dispersing a bright, gray light. Breakfast at an old Spanish palace built in the 1500's while chatting, shooing away a very determined black crow that was fixed upon gobbling my whole wheat toast and delving into various articles in the Economist. While Monica has gone to get her feet dolled up, I am happy to find a nice, restful place to sit and drink un Moca Caffe. I find myself sitting underneath a roofed terrace in the courtyard of a coffee shop a few minute's walk from our bed and breakfast, and appreciating the fact that it is still raining. Trickling fountains, large tropical plants and bright textiles adorn most spaces, both indoors and out. The architecture is beautiful here - it is strange to see buildings standing upright and I have to remind myself that there aren't large piles of rubble or rubbish in the streets to dodge. The last major earthquake to occur in Guatemala was in 1976, which killed 23,000 people and injured another 76,000. It is difficult not to think about earthquakes sometimes. However, the destruction of the last major earthquake in Guatemala does not compare to the Civil War here, the longest civil war in Latin American history (1960-1996), which claimed as many lives as did Haiti's January 2010 earthquake - not to mention the 45,000 Desaparecidos. Despite its history of hardship, there is reason for hope in Guatemala. Just look at what we saw...beauty, culture, thriving local agriculture and tourism...we wish this for Haiti.
Lago de Atitlan
Kayaking Lago de Aitilan
Finally, a Cafe!!
The Ecohouse we stayed in at Lago de Atitlan
View from our Ecobed...
Our Ecobed
Bathroom
Sustainable Fair Trade Coffee Farm Tour
Antigua, Guatemala
View from room...
Lago de Atitlan
Kayaking Lago de Aitilan
Finally, a Cafe!!
The Ecohouse we stayed in at Lago de Atitlan
View from our Ecobed...
Our Ecobed
Bathroom
Sustainable Fair Trade Coffee Farm Tour
Antigua, Guatemala
View from room...
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