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Team 2 has safely landed in Santiago. Their transportation did not arrive and,
at this point, they are going to have to take a cab to Santo Domingo and find
a hotel. They briefly linked up with a large aid organization in Santiago, and
obtained water, rice, beans, as well as a supply of IV fluids. They will try
to contact networking people in the Dominican Republic to arrange transportation
tomorrow to Port-au-Prince.
Team 2 has arrived in Haiti! The team consists of Roger, Claude, Grace, Kobie,
Bugz, and Anne. Roger summed up their day today as a "smashing success
with their flight"--scoring a free ride on a millionaire's jet from
Miami to the Dominican Republic-- "and crashing failure with our drive
and pickup." The team is currently 'stranded' for the night, safe and
sound in a hotel in Santo Domingo, and making final arrangements to get to
Port au Prince tomorrow.
The day began with leaving their gathering place in Miami and taking a flight
donated to them by a group called SOS Haiti. The millionaire's tiny jet took
them to Santiago, DR, where Claude had been told by contacts he'd been working
in Haiti and the DR that there would be a van ready to drive them to Port-au-Prince. When
they got on the ground, their contact, Ken, said they were too late so he couldn't
help them. Turns out it was not a land vehicle but an airplane that they were
supposed to catch, and the group they'd planned to get transport with had lost
two airplanes yesterday--one to engine failure and the second to a crash. So,
they rented two taxis for $200 total to take 6 people + 1000 lbs of supplies
to Santa Domingo.
The team is now in Santo Domingo staying at a cheap hotel for $10/person/night
($60 total). They are together, safe, and with all their supplies. They are
trying to contact Elizabeth in SD; she has contacts with DR Red Cross and
national guard. Due to the transportation and lodging problems, though, the
team is seriously low on cash. While ATMs and credit cards work in SD, these
are all against their personal accounts.
Barring contact with Elizabeth, the team will take the bus to the Haitian border
town Jimani. They will get up at 6:30am for the 11am bus. If they can get to
the border, they will be only 40 miles from Port-au-Prince and only 15-20 miles
from Team 1's homebase orphanage. They are trying tonight to arrange transport
from Jimani to Port-au-Prince.
Once in Port-au-Prince, Claude's friends who work for the US can pick them
up and take them to a compound where they have space to stay in a safe compound
with lots of women and children. They have work to do there, or may team
up with Team 1. Team 2 brought a physical therapist ready to administer care
specifically for amputated limbs, and helping amputations heal such that
they can support prosthesis.
Kobie and Grace had enough comms signal strength to participate in the nightly
consensus meeting so everyone coud hear their voices!. Kobie said that today
they got oriented in Bonrepos and made contact with BIC, a group of Haitian
business owners, who got together to run a relief operation. Tomorrow they
will work with them.
Grace said that today was a “big day,” with getting their bearings
and participation in multi-group meetings. She said that tomorrow morning the
team will get together to plan specifics for their day, from morning to night.
Anne and Claude went to 2 different UN meetings today. The “UN is trying
hard to coordinate and regulate NGO’s.” Tomorrow they will go to
BIC to get dispatched to a clinic or hospital.
They also drove around Port-au-Prince in the back of an open truck and spent
time next to the broken truck by the side of the road chatting with a Haitian
guy and “practicing our creole.” Grace made the point that they
are not driving around at night anymore not due to personal safety issues,
but rather due to Haitian safety issues because when driving at night, vehicles
have to shine their headlights right into peoples' 'living rooms', as many
folks are living and sleeping in the streets. Kobie said “this is a country
full of beautiful black people who need our help.”
Kobie and Grace checked in today from Team 2. There are four major updates they
needed to discuss:
- BIC needs: Team 2 is supporting Bureau Implication Citoyenne (BIC) in
their relief efforts. This is a group of Haitian business owners in Petion
Ville who have been doing direct relief work in collaboration with their
local hospital and clinics since the earthquake took place. Grace worked
with BIC to fill out their registration for NGO status in the US.
Team 2 is very impressed with this group and will work to support their
needs as much as possible. Grace pointed out that the supportive relationship
to this dedicated local organization is the point of the street medic mentality
of providing care. She relayed info of a guy being carried in with a badly
amputated leg and fielded a call from the hospital during the check-in.
They were about to transport a patient and needed a mechanical ventilator.
Grace connected them with a resource to get an immediate ventilator and
said they could help with getting a ventilator for the hospital in the
long-term. In collaboration with BIC below are a list of needs.
- Truck: transportation is a huge issue in Haiti in general and especially
now. With a truck BIC can independently acquire materials and supplies
to serve their neighbors in need better. This is a long-term investment
in this impressive, local organization.
- Funding of $1000: it will cover BIC's needs for an entire month.
- 2 Blackberries with local Haitian numbers - Blackberries provide
the best communication in Haiti right now. (Editor's note: The
local cell provider for Blackberries is Digicel ( http://www.digicelhaiti.net/ )
- 3 laptop computers: 2 for BIC, and one for Manuel, a reporter Team
2 has met and has been working with. Kobie is working on getting them
donated, but shipping them to Haiti may pose problems.
- Future teams
: Grace wanted people thinking of coming to know that most important is:
- Communication - both the necessary equipment such as phones or BlackBerries,
as well as cross-cultural competence. Everyone on the team should know
at least a bit of Creole. Team 2 is listening to Creole language tracks
on Grace's Blackberry at night. (Editor's note: those not yet in-country
can obtain free copies of the Pimsleur Creole language audio from audible.com
at http://bit.ly/d6NsPc and http://bit.ly/a4BTWG .) The
group site also has free creole resources already posted. Be ready
for culture shock. Grace described Port-au-Prince as parts like the
South Bronx, parts like a homeless camp, parts like the west and south
side of Chicago, the wealth is behind walls. Street smarts are needed
just like everywhere else and being culturally aware and competent
will go a long way to establishing true solidarity and mutual aid.
- Getting around: Safest to hire a driver, lots of tuk tuk crashes.
Work this into your budget. Grace said if you want to work in a hospital
only, maybe get dispatched to local areas of need. You can come work
directly with BIC through Team 2.
Grace told a story about going to the UN, she said telling this story
was the first time she cried since being in Haiti. She said that “they
are working their ass off for an extended period of time. The woman who
took our NGO information had bandages on her hands and up to her shoulders.
We are minor players who assist in a minor way. The minor way makes a
big difference if it is in the right place.” She stressed that MADRIH's
purpose is to support local work and extend to places with no help yet.
It is “boring, slow work a lot across cultural lines. People need to
be humble and learn.”
- Money
Team 2 requests $1000 US to be sent to them, for transportation within
Haiti (safest mode of transport is to pay a driver); back up funds (they
have none currently) to move quickly and leave the country if there is
an emergency; and for food.
- Team changes:
Claude has left Team 2. He got a job on a hospital ship that works well
for his skills. Team 2 would like you all to know they part on a positive
note and that “he helped us a lot, we made some really good connections.”
Bugz is taking lots of pictures and is doing some great thinking about how
to most respectfully be in this role. She has been recording a lot of video
as well which she will process when she returns to the US. She talked about “being
conscious about removing images from their context. It will take time to organize
and add captions.” She will send photos to the list and to BIC's website.
(Note from Becca: Interview with member of BIC : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbIWWySuNvw
Link to BIC's facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=254632948662 )
Bugz says that they are eating powerbars all the time and everybody in the
whole country sleeps outside. For the last few nights they have stayed on the
compound of Claude's family. It's a stone house with a big circular driveway,
mango and palm trees, and two Doberman pincer guard dogs that don't “hang out
with people”. She said that Claude lost a couple of cousins, but most of their
family is OK. They will be moving tomorrow. Claude's family “has been very
very good to us. Easy entrance in to potentially chaotic space.” She talked
about differences with respect to the “safety bubble” and added “how can we
actually work with people if we're not talking with them and living with them?” She
is “curious about the UN.” She described the UN workers she's observed as culturally
separated from the people, tactically instead of community oriented, but bringing
many skills to the area. She discussed the possibility of staying longer “to
orient a new team and build something stronger” and discussed the need for
the team to “critique ourselves” in this decision making process.
Today she learned about physical therapy and basic amputee care, exercised
to “keep muscles from atrophying.” She said there is “a lack of physical therapists
and a lack of counselors who need to know how to speak Creole.” She says she
has seen people in the mentality of “we have to laugh, we have to smile to
cope.” She spoke of the 2008 hurricane and that most of these people have been
through trauma recently. She noted that daily interactions are full of issues
of class, language, history, being American, etc. When asked how her Creole
is coming she said “the best phrase ever is 'kembe fem' (stay strong).”
Roger said that today they first went to a hospital in Port-au-Prince, on the
fringe of the city. There were lots of patients and amputees. Claude, a physical
therapist, was talking with staff about exercises for recent amputees. He tried
to get staff to write down instructions because the staff is lacking info on
physical therapy and the importance of long-term effects of therapy. He may
go back to the hospital.
Roger then went to a clinic staffed by 3 American paramedics and one pediatrician.
They got there at the end of the line of patients, but Anne treated a few people.
They took the temperature of one patient and sent then to the pediatrician
because they had an elevated temp. One patient had toes amputated before the
earthquake, but needed their debridement of the wound. They then went to a
tent city where they changed dressings and observed more care. Overall Roger
describes the medical situation as a “shift from immediate injuries to primary
care.” Since his skill set is immediate trauma, he was frustrated that he could
not be more useful.
Grace said her day was “more of the same” since she checked in earlier. She
said “I'm community organizing, I'm in my element!”
In describing the day Kobie said that he “felt a role for myself coming together.” He
is focusing on recording audio and communications. He said it “felt good to
break out of the bubble, make contacts out of the compound. In describing the
surroundings, he reflected on the fact that “we don't have a reference for
how much things have really changed.” He said he was “very tired, I didn't
sleep much. I'm excited but with trepidation because its difficult working
with the language barrier, but things seem like they are coming together.”
He requested an update on what organizers back home were working on, and provided
with this information, suggests that both members of Team 2 that stay on longer
and anyone who would like to come down and work with Team 2 start thinking
now; that some "thinking [be] done on both sides” for the next few days
so if they decide to stay and people want to work with them, this transition
will be smooth.
Team 2's support of BIC could be well-extended with three people with complementary
and varying skill sets. If you are interested in joining Team 2, please contact
our volunteer coordinator with your intention in Haiti, background, skills,
language efforts, etc. The information will be passed to Team 2 which will
coordinate determining what combination of skills would be most useful for
the Haitians they are helping.
Anne says that people are getting infected and graffiti is becoming more political.
She and Roger have been taking supplies to places they know need them. She
also noted that the UN and Haitian Ministries of Health are now asking for
teams to make a “minimum-term commitment” of one month, preferably 6 weeks
or longer. When teams arrive, they should “go immediately to the UN for meetings
for a couple of days and TALK with people afterwards. When people need to network,
they look for it here.” She said the UN is like a convergence space. Some French
and a good deal of Haitian Creole is needed. (Editor's note: Audio courses
in Haitian Creole are available for free from audible.com at http://bit.ly/d6NsPc and http://bit.ly/a4BTWG .) She
recommends flying into the Dominican Republic, spending a night on the border,
and entering Haiti in the morning.
Fuel continues to be difficult to obtain. It is mainly sold by people selling
gas in bottles by the side of the road - “luckily it is all color coded”. Price
is about $15/gallon. There is a lot of rebar mining, which is very “efficient”.
She has seen three story collapsed buildings entirely reduced in a day. The
salvageable cinderblocks are being resold.
This report back started out full of giggles and laughter! Team decided
they were “too loopy to talk person to person” so they used a speakerphone for this
call and folks headed off bed one by one. They called from the new place they're
staying in, Pelerim #5, a dusty soccer field near the house of one of the staff
members of BIC. It is a “hillside paradise with flowers right out of Avatar
and a view for 10 miles to another mountaintop.” The area has “incredibly steep
winding roads.” Anne said they are “roads that strike fear in the hearts of
stick shift drivers.” The team sounds happy in their new digs: “its just us,
nothing cramping our style.”
Today they worked in two teams. Anne and Roger went back to the clinic they
were at for part of yesterday. They called Team 1 who came and the two teams
worked together for about two hours!! They went out to dinner tonight with
Team 1 and other doctors and nurses. They said “Yesterday it was wound care,
today it was pediatrics.” The regular providers didn't show up for a few hours,
so after assessing the situation and their own skill set, they jumped in and
treated. They spoke about needing to check themselves because much of what
they were presented with were things they had heard about but had never actually
seen or treated before, they were not able to consult with an MD in these situations.
They had to “change our scientific, public health mentality.” They gave the
example of measles, which in Haiti kills children and that “the idea of dying
from infectious disease is a reality here. If someone has a rash and a fever
they need, well they need global poverty to be fixed.” They saw a lot of kids
with fevers and diarrhea and saw how herd immunity is totally different in
Haiti, but said they did not see enough people to get a handle on any patterns
of disease emerging in this area.
Anne said that the Ministry of Health in Haiti is functionally intact and is
busy mostly with coordinating international help. Anne said the Ministry of
Health is where she would look for epidemic information. They said that the “ad-hoc
and semi-permanent organizations are getting better at distributing meds.”
They made the point that Port-au-Prince has 10 times the population of New
Orleans and the earthquake killed 100 times the number of people as the storm,
but the team seems to be seeing the situation on the ground progressing faster
than in New Orleans even though “it's a bigger city, there are more dead, no
port or airport", and distribution of relief supplies is sporadic. They
see a lot of “desperate waiting and lack of resources” which was described
as actually relieving to see because it means the situation is no longer “all
crisis all the time.”
In regards to BIC, team 2 is “forming a lot of friendships and relationships.
. . it's turning out to be a good place to network with Haitian volunteers.” BIC
was described as “a 2 story building with an adjoining alleyway.” It used to
be an auction house, there are 6 indoor display rooms, a balcony, a covered
space in the front. BIC is a “hard place to be if you only speak English.” There
are folks that they run into who are willing to hang out for a while and translate.
Anne learned French back in high school and said “Do your homework, you never
know!” BIC was described as “a clearing house, where people go who want to
help on a grass roots level. BIC folks have “a lot figured out, are good at
finding stuff for people to do.” One example, a staff member of BIC wanted
members of Team 2 to go to the tent city in her neighborhood to help treat
folks. There are “not a lot of international folks, not a lot of white faces.”
There were a few Haitian-American nurses at BIC, who Anne and Grace worked
alongside, observing, learning and helping. They saw one person with a dressed
wound that had not been cleaned in 9 days. The nurse scrubbed it with hydrogen
peroxide, poured iodine over it, applied antibiotic ointment, covered it with
gauze, taped it down, and wrote the date on the bandage. Another person had
chest pain. Anne had an ECG and together with the nurse they decided the pain
was due to a panic attack so the nurse gave her Xanax and a friend took her
to a quieter space to “chill out.” BIC was described as “very noisy” and “crazy
busy.” Folks that are working there can go up to the roof to have a “place
to go to not have the chaos all around me.”
Anne and Roger spent the day going to BIC sites. They worked with a
mobile clinic, including 2 American MD's and a paramedic. They went
to a poorer, more rural neighborhood on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince.
Roger didn't see any overt earthquake damage in this location. The
clinic was set up in a church and treated over 150 people. It was so
busy they actually had to close before they got a chance to see everyone.
There were not a lot of new wounds, they mostly saw everyday medical problems
for folks in that area. “A lot of kids with skin infections, colds, respiratory
ailments, staph infections.” Roger dispensed medications for most of the time
there and said much of what people needed were over the counter meds like Claritin,
Ibuprophin, and Acetaminophen. He received the wound management documents we
sent and said they are definitely helping. Tomorrow at 10am they will be doing
wound care at a tent city.
Though Roger said he doesn't “really have a reference point for before the
earthquake,” he described the tone of the area as actually “getting back to
normal. People hanging out, cooking, going out.” Daily life in a tent city
with “chronic poverty and minimal access to health care.”
The team spent the night on the roof of BIC.
Team 2 has been sick for the last 2 days, but want you to know that all are
getting better! Anne says, “The context of disease is different in Haiti.” They
experienced some short-term high fevers and stomach problems, but antibiotics,
tylenol, and resting out of the direct sun cured them nicely. As a result of
this unexpected experience, Team 2 would like a tee shirt with a picture of
an amoeba on the front and the words “Hands off my shit!” And on the back for
it to say “Dysentery World Tour 2010.”
When asked how they get water, they said it is “easy to find water, but hard
to get it ethically” because if they take the water from relief agencies for
themselves, there is less for others who work there. They are all dealing with
some amount of dehydration. Water is mostly available in Bio Bags, “water packaged
in the cheapest material possible.”
Bugs and Kobie went to the UN early this morning for meetings with the shelter
cluster and food cluster. She said, “The major request now is for food and
tents, with tents being at the top of the list.” They are attending the meetings
to gather information for BIC and for MADRIH. Bugs has been working with Roxanne
of BIC to secure 501(c)(3) non-profit status for BIC. She is working with BIC
and IFCO/Pastor for Peace ( http://www.ifconews.org/ .)
She is valiantly tackling mountains of bureaucracy both in Haiti and the US
and is reaching out to our group for assistance. She and Team 2 are asking
anyone who is affiliated with a 501(c)(3) organization to consider taking BIC “under
their umbrella” short term to help them gain access to resources needed to
continue the relief efforts they have been successfully orchestrating in their
community.
The rest of this report is from Anne and Grace:
They wanted to speak on the lack of violence. They have “yet to see anyone
injured, beat up, etc.” Violence is “not common enough for them to have heard
about or seen any of it.” They mentioned that schools are supposed to open
up next week as an example of the tone of daily life where they are right now.
Anne had some comments about the airport and seaport. The airport seems to
be running at 70% over regular capacity prior to the earthquake despite the
fact that it has a single runway, no tower, no jet fuel, and no plane parking. “With
a jet fuel depot, another runway, with their tower back, and hangar space,
imagine what they could do.” She said she knows less about seaports, but the
seaport is now a single pier and they are using it to full capacity and then
some.
She also said, “Desperate medicine is bad medicine.” They talked about the
self-feeding cycle of people providing treatment without the right tools or
knowledge because they are unprepared, so they badly mess things up for people
needing care and the next team that come in is not prepared for the mess left
after the first round, so they treat without the right tools or knowledge,
and they mess things up further and the cycle repeats this way.”
Their role at BIC has been shaping up to be one of helping to build the capacity
of this local organization. They basically provide support in both rewarding
medical and boring logistical ways so that the Haitian doctors, nurses, community
workers, etc. can better reach people and places in need.
In response to people's request for relief of Team 2, Team 2 has said that
would be most useful would be a team of 2 or so people with “primary care experience
who spoke French and possibly Creole who could be dedicated to working with
us.” If anyone has these skills and is interested in joining our effort with
BIC, please go to http://bit.ly/a33eeu for
information on volunteering, and mention specifically in the the form that
you want to work with BIC as well as listing your medical, French, and Haitian
Creole skills.
The team is currently planning to leave from Port-au-Prince airport on Saturday,
Feburary 6.
Most of Team 2 was asleep, so this is mostly with Bugz and Kobie
when he chimed in. Most of this reportback is about their experiences
with the UN.
It is important to Bugz that folks reading this know that the following
information is her own opinion gleaned from her experiences at the UN for
the past few days. She said that she may have an experience tomorrow that
could change her mind about some of this but wanted you all to know what
they're seeing on the ground to help better use our resources as a network
and get help to folk in Haiti efficiently.
Today Kobie and Bugs went to the Shelter cluster and Food cluster meetings
at the UN as well as to Promess Tent (Medical tent where Team 1 has gotten
supplies). She is “getting familiar with the space” and today said she found the UN “disorganized,
frustrating and inaccessible.”
Bugs said that by far the most frustrating this was being told that the
UN is “running
out of supplies.” She's seeing “lots of stuff, some, but not enough for millions
[of people.]” She is also seeing “big cargo planes flying in and out of here.
Big cargo shipment containers go into the compound, tractors moving stuff around” but
all she is seeing coming out of the compound are “empty trucks or trucks full
of UN soldiers with assault weapons.” She has “not witnessed or heard any rumors
or stories of UN forces being anything other than tactically aggressive.” She
said it seems “everyone's hands are tied at the UN” not sure why “possibly the
assumption of looting.” She expressed the total frustration of this, since the
supplies are for folks the UN seems to be keeping the supplies from. “Let them
have what they want to take, it's for them anyway.”
Kobie said the meetings are horribly disorganized. Many others there were
also frustrated. The leader of the shelter cluster was “useless and inaccessible.
He was not receptive to being challenged by people. He gave no response to anyone's
questions and couldn't deal with being challenged.” They had to “chase him down
to get more information.” He was “vague, elusive, and it was hard to get him
to focus.” At one point he “pretended to be on the phone,” they interrupted him
anyway. Bugz's personal reading on him was that “ he couldn't deal with the
position he has and was trying to escape it.”
A note that Bugz said she never expected any thing from the UN, that this
is not surprising to her, just very frustrating.
“BIC is starting to see their supply of water becoming less reliable so they
are less able to distribute it. Food distribution is confusing everywhere.
There is food on the streets. Rice, a little fruit, chicken and sugarcane,
but prices must have gone way up. Eating prices seem like New York prices
[for everyone, not just foreigners].” The leader of the food cluster was
vague with statistics. “Stats on work they had done [how many people they
have fed] kept going up” as the food cluster leader got criticism from others
at the meeting on how little they had actually done. He said that food distribution
would be “organized on a grid based on existing NGO's.”
Bugz reiterated the need for “#1 Food and #2 Shelter”, including “tarps, tents,
sanitation stuff showers, porta-poties, etc.” She put an order in with the shelter
cluster to get tarps but got “NO specifics on when they would be available, how
much would be available, etc. They said they first have to give to the government
and there is no government!” When asked about the rainy season and what it would
look like on the ground for folks, Bugz said “people are saying the rainy season
starts any day now. It will start slowly and rain intermittently . . . People
will get wet and cold and will not be able to get dry. There is no space to
dry things off. People will be wet all the time.”
Bugz suggested that it would be most helpful a resource other than the
UN to get stuff from. “BIC's ability to function is tied up in weather resources are
there.” When asked for a number for folks back home working on this, Bugz said “the
encampments in Petion Ville are about 5,000 people. “Needed a steady supply
route yesterday.”
They have a list of supplies needed by a few hospitals in Petion Ville
and tomorrow (1/31) she is going back to the Promess Tent to complete the
order for supplies on behalf of the hospitals.
From Anne:
In response to the web chatter about being builders:
- first, there is no shortage of highly skilled builders in Haiti who are familiar
with the local materials and techniques used here. Most families
build their own homes.
- Secondly, and this is most important- a primary political issue in Haiti
is land claims. The question of which buildings get rebuilt depends on whether
the land was confiscated under Duvalier and given to his patrons, or
whether it was permitted for construction of homes by residents under
Aristide, or whether it was owned by the prior occupants (who are probably
politically sketchy to own their own land in Port-au-Prince) or whether the
local neighborhood political organizers want it rebuilt, etc. There
is fifty years of bitterness against "squatters" or "thieves" (squatters=people
given land for houses under Aristide, thieves=people given land for estates
under Duvalier, etc) and I would strongly advise against any Americans
getting involved in the decision of how to rebuild Haiti.
An exit plan is being solidified for Ekip Bon Fwa. Anne, Kobie,
Bugz, and Grace plan to fly out of Haiti on Thursday night or Friday morning.
Anne, Kobie, and Grace tonight expressed individual opinions about what is happening
in Haiti now, in the past, and in the future, observations, folks they have met
and worked with, and their feelings of the experience. This will all best expressed
in their own words, when they are ready.
Kobie and Bugz spent the day with the Haitian media guy they met a couple days
ago and described the experience as “flying with superman!” They got footage
of the strike at U of Miami Hospital. They tried to interview the man responsible
for paying medical professionals at the U of Miami hospital, but he said he was “leaving
and going on vacation.” They will process their audio, video, and still footage
when they return to the states. Bugs and Kobie also were able to bring
requested medications from Project Medshare, to a hospital they have been working
with.
They said that the UN shelter cluster is funneling its aid through the government
and have said that “government and law are non-existent here, there is lots of
corruption.” Members of the team expressed the sheer absurdity of what is going
on in Haiti saying that it is difficult to “make sense of it.” They stated that “Haiti
has no civil society” and are exploring and have been discussing the implications
of this reality.
All members of the team plan to spend their final days continuing the work they
have been doing, “with a few key people,” and beginning the process of putting
into context all they have witnessed and been part of.
Roger has made it safely home to the states and is on his way north.
Tomorrow will be the last day in Haiti for the rest of Ekip Bon Fwa. They plan
to catch an early bus to Santo Domingo Thursday morning and fly back to the states
Thursday evening.
Kobie and Bugz have a busy day of interviews scheduled for tomorrow. They hope
to interview residents of a nearby tent city as well as continue the work they
have been doing the past few days. Bugz described driving today through downtown
Port-au-Prince past building after building that was leaning over and stated "a
tiny little shake and it all falls down, what are people going to do?" Bugz
also relayed the information that today in Petion Ville the very first statement
made by a government official will take place. It has been 3 weeks and this will
be the first time a representative of the Haitian government will be communicating
with the Haitian people. She is quite curious to see how this is received.
Grace drove through downtown Carrefour today. She attempted to get "rations
for the people working at BIC and to distribute to disaster survivors." They
took pictures of the wreckage and Grace stated that they were "looking at
wrecked up places and don't know what it looked like before." She said that
she is "seeing people start to rebuild stuff" and is seeing people
selling sticks and conduit by the side of the road. She described driving through
a "protected" water catchment area and suddenly noticing 2 wireless
signals indicating that behind the walls she was seeing were likely the homes
of the very wealthy, who likely paid Duvailer to live there. In addition, she
saw poor neighborhoods destroyed in the earthquake in this same protected water
catchment area. She remarked that the "poor folks probably moved in because
they saw rich folks living there."
All members of Ekip Bon Fwa hope to return to Haiti to both visit friends and
continue the work they have started over the last 2 weeks. It looks like they
are going to have a very busy day tomorrow!!
Tomorrow
Ekip Bon Fwa plans to take a 7am bus to Santo Domingo, where they will wait
for their flight to Miami Friday morning again at 7am. Anne plans to take
a 9pm flight to Philadelphia; Bugz, Kobie, and Grace will drive to New Orleans,
after which Bugz and Kobie will begin their slow and steady trip northward.
Kobie said that he and Bugz spent the day doing interviews. They “interviewed
people in the public park. People were very willing to talk with us, maybe because
they want to be heard.” In describing the park, Kobie said it is about the size
of a city block, with about 2000 people living in it, under tarps, bed-sheets,
and curtains hung from ropes on trees and light posts. They have no access to
food, water, or sanitation. He said that when food comes, “the younger more aggressive
people get it and are sharing it or selling it.” Grace also spoke about this
and said that people in this tent city have said that they “have not gotten any
food. Organizations come and have them fill out paperwork, but never come back.”
Bugz said that she was able to get “all but one of the interviews I wanted.” She
spent the day doing “lots of interviews and lots of walking around.”
Grace noted that the street market where they are has gotten huge. It was only
a couple blocks square when they first got there, but it is now “12 blocks long,
by 6 blocks wide. People selling rice, flour, beans, chicken, cooked food, clothing,
cell phone cards, a few radios, candy.” She said the old normal of Petion Ville
was an upscale neighborhood with shops and banks. The new Petion Ville is “lots
and lots of homeless people.”
Grace spent the last day exchanging contact information and said folks are “sad
to see us go.” Sophie, an RN from Australia, and a foreign pediatrician she met
along the way arrived at BIC. Grace showed them all around, introduced them to
key people and got them all plugged in.
Grace talked about the “room for further work” and gave the example of Dr. D'Argout,
a Haitian MD at BIC, who would like to be able to feed his staff of doctors and
nurses at least one meal of rice a day. This costs about $4 a day and Grace hopes
to be able to pitch in with this cost “independent of MADRH.” There are lots
of ways like this for people stateside to remain involved. In reflecting, she
stated “this will all lead to more important work down the line with a bigger
impact if we all take care of ourselves.” She also said, “the disaster was as
bad as it was because of neoliberal globalization, the response was as bad as
it was because of neoliberal globalization, we were able to come down here because
of neoliberal globalization, and Dr. D'Argout wants to come to work in New York
because of neoliberal globalization.”
Grace told a story of a girl of about 6-7 years old named Anaika, who is “the
sweetest little girl in the world, who got a lot of good parenting and a lot
of love in her house. She needs and wants that now.” In talking with a psychologist
at BIC, Grace learned that Anaika's mother brought her to the compound and said
that she had found this little girl in the street. “Her mother is in front of
her saying she found her in the street. Anaika is hearing this.” They did a maternity
test, which came back positive, and when confronted, her mother said, “a house
fell on my 14 year old and killed him. I can't feed myself, I can't feed my daughter,
please take her.” After consulting with the psychologists to see if it would
be all right, Bugz and Kobie interviewed Anaika who among other questions was
asked, “What do you want to say to kids in the United States?” She responded, “I
want them to give me lots of candy and I want to play with them.” When asked
if she is ready to go to the orphanage, Anaika said, “Yes, I am tired of being
here.”
Grace wanted to post a few notes from the campaign letter BIC will use for fundraising:
Campaign Ayiti Leve Campe (Help Haiti Stand Up)
BIC will be launching its fundraising campaign . . . [they] have
received national donations. Our goal is to provide assistance to victims
with:
- Medical supplies, food, shelter, water, clothing, etc.
- Collect and relay information to the public
- Assist mayors in their communities
- Assist international organizations
- Facilitate the reunion of families
- Provide psychological care
- Place orphans in orphanages and with families
We provide:
- water daily to shelters, unreachable communities, hospitals, orphanages,
etc.
- Group therapy with special attention paid to children
- Live radio shows to assist people with grief
- Screen children for psychological support
- Cleaned public spaces to prevent the spread of disease .
In the next weeks and months, the demands for basic needs will increase
and we will need assistance. We will need goods from the international
community to meet these demands. We need you to play a key role to lift
Haiti from ruins, be a part of BIC's fundraising campaign.”
Grace noted that “this is one snapshot of one group doing its part in one corner,
outside of the NGO's”
Ekip Bon Fwa will be checking in by text and phone throughout the day tomorrow
as they travel by land back to the DR and will give a final reportback as the
team departs from Miami on Friday.
The team sent text messages throughout the day as they made it onto the bus,
were still on the bus hours later, and as they arrived at the airport. The
team is now (11:21 PM HT) at the airport in Santo Domingo, where they will
patiently wait until their flight to Miami tomorrow morning at 7am!
They hope to give a full, final reportback before they all part ways in Miami
tomorrow.
Page last updated: Sunday, February 28, 2010, 10:02 PM HT
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