Getting started

My son, Adam, has gone to Haiti on a volunteer project to help convert storage containers into dormitories.  I am posting his letters home to share his experiences with others.

Sun Feb 20, 2011

I have been in Haiti for about 72 hours now and I certainly feel like I am in a different world!  Some things are as I expected - many people are poor and living conditions are extremely rough, people are very friendly, and there are tons of people who are happy to help you out.  The country is incredibly beautiful!  Steep mountains with gorgeous views.  The people I have met have been very outgoing and try to offer me any courtesy they have available.  Surprisingly, a number of people know English fluently or at least manageably well.  I am not sure where they learn it as French is more important and is what is officially taught in schools.

As I came in, I passed through Port-Au-Prince and that was insane.  It seemed to be a never ending slum.  People everywhere on very narrow streets and just chaos all around.  Once I got out of Port-Au-Prince the country changed dramatically.  The air felt fresher and life seemed to move a lot slower.  People are very relaxed, often hanging out for long spells and generally the pace of things is slow.  There are signs of the damage from the earthquake everywhere but there are also tons of new structures under construction.  So, things appear to be improving, albeit very slowly.

My first impression is the country seems to be a strange mix of opposite tendencies.  Haitians are extremely resourceful in some ways designing clever water irrigation systems or re-using bottles and paper.  Actually it is common for people to save used toilet paper for paper to burn for starting fires!  But in other ways, Haitians are extremely wasteful.  There is trash everywhere!  Plastic and styrofoam litter the mountains, streams, streets.  Most disturbing though is most of the foreigners I have met seem to be simply adding to this trash, chucking their plastic coke bottles off the side of the road.  There are lots of mismanaged properties - near me there is a building the UN started got 1/2 built and then abandoned for reasons unknown.  Across from the restaurant I frequent there is a torn down hotel.  In my opinion there are things that could be salvaged but I have been told that no one can touch the property because it belongs to someone else.

Still, the most surprising thing is life just does not seem the way it is portrayed in the news.  Most people seem genuinely happy.  I am certain they would enjoy having more money to perhaps improve their living conditions but they do not seem distressed or in misery from their current conditions.  Haiti seems to be in some sort of weird limbo state.  Everyone carries a cell phone and many people have access to watching a DVD on someone's laptop.  But yet it is common to see kids playing with a can because they lack a ball to play with.  Its an incredible contrast and doesn't seem like it could really function.

The best news though, is I have met several great families that have been very open and seem willing to let me practice Kreyol.  Best of all, they seem to be open to answer any of my questions so I have tried to ask them more detailed questions about their living environment.  I am learning a lot from them and I hope in time I will be able to begin to see things more from their perspective.  In the little I have discussed with them I feel the biggest limitation for them to improve their situation is the restrictions placed on them by others.  What I mean is one farmer was telling me he would like to have a bigger farm but he is not allowed to expand even though I could see that the land adjacent to his plot is unused.  Also, he has trouble with irrigation because he doesn't have the right to collect water from the river down below, for a reason I am not clear on but I presume property rights.

I hope everyone is doing well and I'll try to send out another update soon.

Adam

Mar 11, 2011

This past Friday I traveled to Port-Au-Prince.  While I saw the city

upon my initial arrival I was still overwhelmed and did not process

much of what I was seeing.  This visit served much better as I got to

walk around in several parts of the city and enter different stores.

In my opinion, the city is nicer than I expected.  There seems to be

electricity and access to plumbing.  It is definitely overcrowded and

the camps are scattered about in different parks but I was impressed

to see they had port-a-potties near each camp and appeared to be

cleaning them regularly too.  But I didn't get to speak to anyone

living there and I'm sure I would not be thrilled about living in a

tent indefinitely.

So now that I have gotten my bearings I can explain more about my

project.  I initially wanted to pursue a volunteer program in

microfinance and so I spoke with Father Joseph Phillipe, the founder

of Fonkoze (Haiti's largest microfinance organization).  To make a

very long story short, he proposed that I focus on a project to help

the university of Fondwa rebuild instead.  I agreed as I am also

interested in supporting education for development and because I

figured it would give me the opportunity to work with Father Joseph

directly and explore later opportunities to get involved with Fonkoze.

 Effectively, I am working independently on the project but with the

support of UNIF staff and several other volunteers who have projects

of their own.

And so my specific project is to help UNIF transform a shipping

container into a usable dormitory with the expectation of being here

for around 3 months.  I should point out that there was a group that

came before I arrived that attempted to transform a different

container into a library, but unfortunately they did not have much

success.  The windows they cut leak when it rains so they had to build

awnings over the windows which has proven to be rather costly.

Interestingly, Bernie, the main welder, wants to repeat this process

on my project.  I have adamantly refused and am pushing forward to

purchase pre-fabricated windows and doors as they are cheaper and I

believe presumably function better.  It was only after I learned that

he gets paid based on a percentage of the materials purchased

(pre-fabricated do not count) that I realized why he is so keen to

create such an inefficient design.

Eventually, the long term goal for UNIF is to transform 8 containers

into different buildings for the university; another for a dorm, one

for a computer lab, one for administrative offices, another for

classrooms etc.  I am trying to keep a strong record of where I will

purchase the materials, how much I pay, who does the labor, how much I

pay for the labor, any equipment that gets rented as well as a list of

useful contacts for subsequent groups that come to finish the other

containers.  Unfortunately, I have not been able to find this

information from the group that came to do the library; even the

president of UNIF does not know how much money was spent as this

information is not being released by APF.  I have been really

frustrated by this lack of transparency and am making it a high

priority with my project.

And thus I have entered the politics of Haitian construction.  Each

party involved tries to maximize the work they are required to do to

take a bigger cut.  My main challenge is to separate what is needed

and negotiate a fair price from what 'is needed and what is a white

man's price'.  I have befriended the engineer and the president of

UNIF as they seem to be neutral (neither can receive any money as they

are not directly involved and have been kind enough to assist me).

Also, both could easily leave the country and work in Europe or US for

much bigger salaries so I strongly doubt they are here to squeeze a

few Gouds from construction.

I have gone to Jakmel, and PAP to look at prices for different

materials.  Madame Cameau, the engineer took me to a neat second hand

district in PAP where I hope to purchase the pre-fab'd windows and

doors.  Granted they are salvaged pieces which raised an objection

until I pointed out that we are installing them into a used shipping

container!!  Also, I have asked several laborers to come to give an

estimate on the work.  It has been really fun to watch Madame Cameau

negotiate on my behalf in rapid Kreyol.  I still cannot understand

Kreyol at conversational speed but I definitely understood negotiating

price.  In Haiti everyone tries to invoke the most impressive image to

support their cause "Like I have 6 children to feed and send to

school" which gets a response like "This is a university project to

help the people so that your kids can go to college" and on and on!

Also, while in PAP we stopped at Mdm Cameau's ruined house and I

walked all around it.  It made me think of the leaning tower of Pisa

as the whole house is on a 10 degree slant and I entered the 2nd floor

from the ground and then climbed up and around to the 3rd floor.  The

destruction there is so surreal because it is not centered in any

location.  You will see one house totally ruined, next door not a

scratch, and then on the other side another devastated home.

By the way the record discussed in the subject is that is the number

of people I have seen riding a motorcycle at one time!  And it was

going fast!  I have heard a rumor that there have been as many as 8

but I refuse to believe it until I see it.

Mar 16

The objective is to transform the container into a suitable living space (dorm) for 12 students.

I have prioritized my objectives and have put the project into phases.  Phase 1 is to cut the holes for the doors and windows and install them into place.  Phase 2 is to build a roof for shade.  Phase 3 paint the exterior white to reduce the absorption of the sun.  Phase 4 is to put up walls and a ceiling inside.  At this point I think I will be out of money but I think it will be livable.

Mar 17

They [the containers] are 40 feet x 8 feet x 8 feet.  They have been raised onto blocks about a foot off the ground to avoid water damage.  

I do not think they have a good strategy to help the students find employment after they graduate.  The original plan was for equal number of students to come from all over the country study agriculture, veterinary, or business management.  Then they could return to their hometowns and start businesses and whatnot.  Due to lack of funding they have switched and virtually all the students are from Fondwa pop. ~8000.  So, if they graduate they will have 30 experts all in the same town. 

Mar 21

Hello everyone,

The 'O O' is a ubiquitous expression here in Haiti.  Its used whenever someone is surprised (either good or bad) sort of like our 'woah'.  

I'm throwing out the O O as I am very pleased to let everyone know I have hired my construction crew.  I brought in 4 construction managers to take bids on the work.  All were incredibly high (the lowest was around $400 US).  Fortunately, Madame Coicou gave me some valuable guidance and told me $125 US would be a fair wage.  So I wrote a contract for the work and dug my feet in the ground.  After some fun Haitian negotiating I am happy to report that yesterday, the construction guy I happen to like the most accepted my bid for $125.

We have decided to wait until Wed. to purchase the materials (the election was on Sunday so we figure we will let things cool down a day or two) and then start that afternoon or Thursday.  I have been told the work can be completed relatively quickly.  So, I am excited that things should be progressing and I may complete my project ahead of schedule.

Also, for the entire time I have been here there are 2 large tables with a mountain high of books, which I have been told is the 'library'.  The stack is completely unusable because unless you happen to want the book on the top you are guaranteed a wonderful workout.

Anyways, I kept looking at this pile of books and wondering why no one was doing anything about it.

Last Thursday, after a month of stupidly staring and noticing that I am the only person who has checked out a book I decided to re-build the library.  I started building shelves and organizing the titles when I suddenly stopped.  I realized the last thing I wanted to do was perpetuate the stereotype that Haitians sit around and wait for the White to show up with a handout or do work for them.  So, I approached Ruth, one of the students at the University, and told her "This is your library.  I want you to take charge and I want to congratulate you when we have a meaningful library."  I am very pleased to report that she has responded admirably - directing the other students and me =) - and today we are about 50% done with the job.

The last project I have recently adopted is I have taken over a course to teach the students English.  It is a lot of fun and as I have spent the last year studying Kreyol I am trying to now reverse the process so to speak.  Also, Ed, one of the other volunteers here, has done a great job and set up Skype so we are hoping that sometime soon students can begin receiving lectures from remote professors. 

Finally, I wish to share an fascinating story about Madame Coicou (note she shared the story with me in Kreyol so its possible I might have some of the finer details incorrect but we verified all of the major points in English):

During the 1990's Madame Coicou created a forensic analysis team in Port-Au-Prince.  At some point in the mid 90's bodies were discovered in a rural field and she led her team to investigate.  She followed all the regulations of Haitian law including having a member of the Haitian police present to observe.  Midway through the investigation a higher ranking police official arrived on the scene and completely shut down the investigation.  He confiscated the documents and forced them to return the bodies.  Sadly the investigation was halted.  

Several years later, a French organization came and started a different investigation that included searching the home of the suspicious police official.  Through an intermediary the police official requested to use Madame Coicou's incinerator.  At some point, she discovered that the evidence they were trying to destroy was related to her original investigation.  Apparently, the police official had decided to hide the evidence somewhere in his mansion.  Unfortunately, as she renewed her original investigation, unidentified men attempted to kidnap her daughter from her school.  Consequently, Madame Coicou left Haiti and moved to Canada where she continued as an international forensic specialist (just not in Haiti) until about 6 months ago when she returned to become the president of the University of Fondwa.

The most devastating part of the story:  O O the suspicious police official went on to become the chief of all the police in Haiti!  

Best wishes!

Adam