Saturday, May 2, 2009
lights, camera, action
Back in early March a video team from St. Louis making a new promotional video for Meds and Food for Kids came by to shoot some footage related to our program. They interviewed MM and I and had us repeatedly do all sorts of mundane things for their "b-roll" - like walk back and forth pretending to talk. A small glimpse of film making that confirmed I am not meant to go to Hollywood any time soon... but it was still a fun change of pace.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
elections...well, sort of
I don't talk much about politics in Haiti on this blog because to be honest, I just don't feel like I have a grasp on what is actually happening. The frightening thing is that I'm not so sure that anyone does.
While I spent the last two weeks running around the USA (NYC to Ithaca to Philly to New Orleans to Houston to MIA), Haiti held a national election to fill 11 senate seats (out of 30 seats total) that have been empty for more than a year. The elections were first scheduled for Fall 2007 but were delayed. Then the last Prime Minister was ousted by the President last spring in order appease those who wanted him to take some form of action in response to the April 2008 "Food Riots." The senate more or less went into suspension while they spent months going through three different nominees to fill the vacant PM spot. Just after the new PM came in, the fall hurricanes hit, further delaying the scheduled elections to this month.
People were pretty skeptical about whether or not the elections would happen this time around. Many people assumed that there would be some major backlash when about a month or two beforehand, the candidates from former president Aristide's party where barred from running due to delayed paper work. Unlike US elections, I didn't see much active campaigning going on until about 3-4 weeks before hand (probably due to the uncertainty about whether or not they would even happen). Overnight there were posters with photos of the candidates and their party logos pasted on almost every light post in Port-au-Prince. Several candidates had full-out billboards. As i drove to the airport about 2 weeks before election day, I saw a stream of cars decked out with posters, banners and loudspeakers start their day of campaigning.
Unfortunately the campaigning didn't translate into voter participation - turnout was estimated around 11% of eligible voters - but that can't really be attributed to voter fatigue. The registration and voting process was chaotic. Public transport was shut down in Port-au-Prince on election day in an attempt to maintain order - but also prevented voters from getting around. My friend A works for a human rights organization and served as an official election monitor. I encourage you to read her excellent account of the experience here. The AP report of election day is here.
My friend A does not see a functioning participatory democracy for Haiti on the near horizon. Neither does the guy who drove me home from the airport last Sunday. When I asked him about how the elections went he just laughed and shook his head. Thinking about the moms and babies in our program - and the total lack of basic government services that could do so much to improve their daily lives - it made me want to cry.
This particular election story is not over yet. None of the candidates won the majority needed to win a seat. Run-offs are needed. To be continued....
While I spent the last two weeks running around the USA (NYC to Ithaca to Philly to New Orleans to Houston to MIA), Haiti held a national election to fill 11 senate seats (out of 30 seats total) that have been empty for more than a year. The elections were first scheduled for Fall 2007 but were delayed. Then the last Prime Minister was ousted by the President last spring in order appease those who wanted him to take some form of action in response to the April 2008 "Food Riots." The senate more or less went into suspension while they spent months going through three different nominees to fill the vacant PM spot. Just after the new PM came in, the fall hurricanes hit, further delaying the scheduled elections to this month.
People were pretty skeptical about whether or not the elections would happen this time around. Many people assumed that there would be some major backlash when about a month or two beforehand, the candidates from former president Aristide's party where barred from running due to delayed paper work. Unlike US elections, I didn't see much active campaigning going on until about 3-4 weeks before hand (probably due to the uncertainty about whether or not they would even happen). Overnight there were posters with photos of the candidates and their party logos pasted on almost every light post in Port-au-Prince. Several candidates had full-out billboards. As i drove to the airport about 2 weeks before election day, I saw a stream of cars decked out with posters, banners and loudspeakers start their day of campaigning.
Unfortunately the campaigning didn't translate into voter participation - turnout was estimated around 11% of eligible voters - but that can't really be attributed to voter fatigue. The registration and voting process was chaotic. Public transport was shut down in Port-au-Prince on election day in an attempt to maintain order - but also prevented voters from getting around. My friend A works for a human rights organization and served as an official election monitor. I encourage you to read her excellent account of the experience here. The AP report of election day is here.
My friend A does not see a functioning participatory democracy for Haiti on the near horizon. Neither does the guy who drove me home from the airport last Sunday. When I asked him about how the elections went he just laughed and shook his head. Thinking about the moms and babies in our program - and the total lack of basic government services that could do so much to improve their daily lives - it made me want to cry.
This particular election story is not over yet. None of the candidates won the majority needed to win a seat. Run-offs are needed. To be continued....
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
music to our ears
Had to smile today when a group of moms with 14-month-old kids who already "graduated" from the supplementation program came by for their monthly check-in visit. One of our staff team started singing a song we wrote about how to feed the fortified peanut butter. The moms joined in and then proceeded to sing through all 6 of the songs we developed with messages about infant feeding. They knew almost every word by heart! Of course the bigger question is whether they actually do the thing they are singing about....I'll leave that for the research to try to answer.
Another kind of HOPE for Haiti
Two weeks ago UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon made a joint visit to Haiti with Haitian-American musician Wyclef Jean and Bill Clinton - whose Clinton foundation is potentially shaping up to be a major donor here. In follow-up this op-ed by Ban-Ki Moon was published yesterday in the NYT along with another article about economist Paul Collier's influence on the UN policy in Haiti. Moon's hope for Haiti is rooted in a piece of US trade legislation passed in 2008 - the HOPE II bill. Ashamedly (for someone who says she is into these things) this op-ed is the first I had heard of it. The bill provides duty-free and quota-free access to the US market for goods coming from Haiti for the next 10 years.
Theoretically, in our globalized world, bills like this one should not be needed at all. According to WTO conventions, we are supposed to be moving towards a global free market economy where quotas and limits do not exist in the first place. Many developing countries have been forced to adopt such open trade laws as a condition to receiving money from the World Bank under structural adjustment policies. However the United States and Europe continue to put protectionist trade policies into effect and create bilateral and regional trade agreements that benefit/ protect their own economies while often harming/limiting producers/exports in less preferred markets (e.g. much of Africa).
To effectively take hold of this trade-related HOPE, Haiti's government will have to take some concrete actions to lower port fees and reduce other internal obstacles (e.g. terrible roads) to getting products out of the country. While the European Union has been giving lots of money for roads in recently years with some visible results, it's hard to believe that the necessary government action will happen any time soon. We are still waiting for the senatorial elections scheduled for April 2008 to take place.
That said, in Haiti you should never take any hope (or in this case HOPE II) for granted.
Theoretically, in our globalized world, bills like this one should not be needed at all. According to WTO conventions, we are supposed to be moving towards a global free market economy where quotas and limits do not exist in the first place. Many developing countries have been forced to adopt such open trade laws as a condition to receiving money from the World Bank under structural adjustment policies. However the United States and Europe continue to put protectionist trade policies into effect and create bilateral and regional trade agreements that benefit/ protect their own economies while often harming/limiting producers/exports in less preferred markets (e.g. much of Africa).
To effectively take hold of this trade-related HOPE, Haiti's government will have to take some concrete actions to lower port fees and reduce other internal obstacles (e.g. terrible roads) to getting products out of the country. While the European Union has been giving lots of money for roads in recently years with some visible results, it's hard to believe that the necessary government action will happen any time soon. We are still waiting for the senatorial elections scheduled for April 2008 to take place.
That said, in Haiti you should never take any hope (or in this case HOPE II) for granted.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
trying to act my age
I had two conversations at the end of last week that I haven't been able to get out of my head. On Thursday one of the moms with a 13-month-old baby boy who already graduated from our program came by our office. She told me that she needed to talk to me but then sat down and chatted with the other mothers who were hanging around. After an hour or so, she pulled a chair up extra close to mine, looked me in the eyes, and then turned her head and started to cry. She, her 3-year-old daughter and the baby boy have been living on the street for the last 2 months. Between sobs she repeated "I am giving you my baby Rebecca".
Over the last several years, I have had a number of mothers ask me to help care for their kids. This was the first that it was someone I know fairly well - someone I will certainly see again. I said what came to mind - that she is a good mom, that I do not love her children as much as she does, that I want to find a way to help her care for her children, that I would do my best to find out what we might be able to do. I kind of regret saying the last two things. The mom is coming back on March 30th expecting me to provide some hope for her children's futures. The truth is, I have no idea of what we can do. There are no social services here. Unemployment is at 80-90%. For the hundreds or likely thousands of missionary projects and other non-profits working in Haiti, there are tens of thousands of people trying to get something from them.
The next day I had another mother approach me. M pa byen avek ou Rebecca - I'm not happy with you Rebecca. Why? I asked. Two weeks earlier, as I was walking out of the office, she had stopped me and asked me to be her 11-month-old son's godmother. I laughed it off - telling her that I was leaving in 6 months and I wouldn't be able to be there for all the important events that a godmother should be there for. She didn't push then but on Friday, she wasn't going to take no for an answer. For every excuse I gave, she had a logical comeback. It wasn't a problem if I wasn't there physically. I could wire money for his clothes and other things through my coworkers. I told her there were 82 kids in the program and I could not be godmother to just one of them. "Of course you can" she said - they already have godmothers but my son is 11 months old and he still doesn't have one!
I know that I won't give either of these moms what they want. If they were not clients at the clinic, I might be ready to offer something more - a little money or even agree be the godmother. But I can't make it even appear like I have favorites at the clinic. Word travels too fast. Precedents get set. I leave town and the staff here is left to deal with the expectations I created. At least this is what I keep telling myself. I am doing the right thing by not helping more, right?
The reality is that I've come to a stage in life where it's getting harder to feel justified with not doing more. I can't say I'm not old enough. Several of my close girlfriends have 2 or 3 kids already. I can't say I don't have the money. I may be on a graduate student stipend but I have more than enough for my present needs and the promise of a good earning potential in the near future. I have friends with really big financial responsibilities - who are paying a mortgage or medical bills for kids and/or their parents - on not too much more than what I make now. I can't say I'm not ready or willing to be responsible for kids. I really want kids. I totally expected to be responsible for more than just myself by this age.
Several years ago, when I was representing WR at a conference for university students, I met a wide-eyed 22-year-old Midwestern girl who asked me whether or not my organization was willing to hire a single mom for a job based in Africa. Then she started to cry. It turns out that she was the single mom. She had spent a year in Tanzania during college where she befriended an HIV-positive woman. Her friend became quite sick and asked whether the American college student would care for her 2-year-old if she were to die. She agreed. Her friend died. She brought the baby back to the USA with her. When I met her, she and her beautiful 3-year-old now son were living her parents in Michigan. She was trying to find a way to move back to Africa with him. The representatives from the evangelical missionary organizations she was meeting at the conference frankly didn't know what to do with her.
I've found myself thinking about that 22-year-old a lot these last few days. I deeply admire her compassion and that she is being faithful to her promise. I also think that she was naive and immature when she agreed to care for the baby. I know it's complicated. These situations are always complicated. I don't feel like I am making a wrong decision in the way I am choosing to respond to the two mothers at the clinic.... That said, I want some assurance that I will be open to / able to recognize / ready and willing to do something equally as costly as the 22-year-old girl did if/when the time comes. I want to act my age.
Over the last several years, I have had a number of mothers ask me to help care for their kids. This was the first that it was someone I know fairly well - someone I will certainly see again. I said what came to mind - that she is a good mom, that I do not love her children as much as she does, that I want to find a way to help her care for her children, that I would do my best to find out what we might be able to do. I kind of regret saying the last two things. The mom is coming back on March 30th expecting me to provide some hope for her children's futures. The truth is, I have no idea of what we can do. There are no social services here. Unemployment is at 80-90%. For the hundreds or likely thousands of missionary projects and other non-profits working in Haiti, there are tens of thousands of people trying to get something from them.
The next day I had another mother approach me. M pa byen avek ou Rebecca - I'm not happy with you Rebecca. Why? I asked. Two weeks earlier, as I was walking out of the office, she had stopped me and asked me to be her 11-month-old son's godmother. I laughed it off - telling her that I was leaving in 6 months and I wouldn't be able to be there for all the important events that a godmother should be there for. She didn't push then but on Friday, she wasn't going to take no for an answer. For every excuse I gave, she had a logical comeback. It wasn't a problem if I wasn't there physically. I could wire money for his clothes and other things through my coworkers. I told her there were 82 kids in the program and I could not be godmother to just one of them. "Of course you can" she said - they already have godmothers but my son is 11 months old and he still doesn't have one!
I know that I won't give either of these moms what they want. If they were not clients at the clinic, I might be ready to offer something more - a little money or even agree be the godmother. But I can't make it even appear like I have favorites at the clinic. Word travels too fast. Precedents get set. I leave town and the staff here is left to deal with the expectations I created. At least this is what I keep telling myself. I am doing the right thing by not helping more, right?
The reality is that I've come to a stage in life where it's getting harder to feel justified with not doing more. I can't say I'm not old enough. Several of my close girlfriends have 2 or 3 kids already. I can't say I don't have the money. I may be on a graduate student stipend but I have more than enough for my present needs and the promise of a good earning potential in the near future. I have friends with really big financial responsibilities - who are paying a mortgage or medical bills for kids and/or their parents - on not too much more than what I make now. I can't say I'm not ready or willing to be responsible for kids. I really want kids. I totally expected to be responsible for more than just myself by this age.
Several years ago, when I was representing WR at a conference for university students, I met a wide-eyed 22-year-old Midwestern girl who asked me whether or not my organization was willing to hire a single mom for a job based in Africa. Then she started to cry. It turns out that she was the single mom. She had spent a year in Tanzania during college where she befriended an HIV-positive woman. Her friend became quite sick and asked whether the American college student would care for her 2-year-old if she were to die. She agreed. Her friend died. She brought the baby back to the USA with her. When I met her, she and her beautiful 3-year-old now son were living her parents in Michigan. She was trying to find a way to move back to Africa with him. The representatives from the evangelical missionary organizations she was meeting at the conference frankly didn't know what to do with her.
I've found myself thinking about that 22-year-old a lot these last few days. I deeply admire her compassion and that she is being faithful to her promise. I also think that she was naive and immature when she agreed to care for the baby. I know it's complicated. These situations are always complicated. I don't feel like I am making a wrong decision in the way I am choosing to respond to the two mothers at the clinic.... That said, I want some assurance that I will be open to / able to recognize / ready and willing to do something equally as costly as the 22-year-old girl did if/when the time comes. I want to act my age.
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