Sunday, September 7, 2008
Ike's imminent arrival
Thunder in the distance - waiting for the rains to start - and praying for the residents of Gonaives. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2008/09/200896224744581760.html
Friday, September 5, 2008
Taking stock between the storms
Last week I wrote relatively good news about Gustav - the much anticipated hurricane that passed over Haiti without us feeling a single gust of wind here in Port-au-Prince. This week, Hurricane Hanna caught us all by surprise when she hovered just north of Haiti for almost 3 days - bringing an afternoon of seriously high winds and several days of heavy rain.
Tuesday, we were at the clinic when the winds picked up mid-day. Objects were crashing off the roof and trees falling over. We left work early so that people could get home to secure their property. All along the drive home we saw broken branches littering the streets and leaning electrical poles - until finally, about 100 yards from the gate to our neighborhood, we reached a point in the road where we couldn't pass because a huge tree had fallen across the road - taking down a compound wall and several power lines with it. We lost electricity and internet for about a day as they had to repair a broken line to the neighborhood's generator. We aren't likely to get back on the city power grid for a month or more.
The winds died down by the end of Tuesday but the clinic was closed on Wednesday as the director did not want staff and patients to navigate through the dangling power lines and blocked roads. Sporadic rains kept many of the mothers in our project away on Thursday. I'm thankful that as of this morning, all but 2 of the 33 babies enrolled so far are up to date on their visits and their supply of fortified manba. We've been noting a lot of cases of diarrhea this week which are likely related to the rains.
These issues are relatively minor compared to what Hurricane Hanna caused in Gonaives, a city several hours north of Port-au-Prince. Terrible flooding has left people standing on rooftops for more than two days without food or water. The woman who comes one day each week to clean our home is from Gonaives . She told us that her brother and sister lost everything in the floods - their home, their clothes, their cooking pots. I've heard similar devastating stories from others with family and friends in the area. An estimated 250,000 people are in need of assistance. The director of our clinic is urging people to make donations to their local chapter of the American Red Cross with the designation that it should go the Haitian Red Cross. (Photos below from Miami Herald)
Today is back to beautiful (but hot) blue skies above Port-au-Prince. Unfortunately it's not likely to last more than a day. Two more storms - Ike and Josephine - are currently on their way into the Caribbean. Ike, which is currently a Category 4 hurricane, is projected to arrive Sunday morning. While it is predicted to make landfall in the Bahamas, people here in Haiti are very afraid of the heavy rains that may last through the week to come.
Tuesday, we were at the clinic when the winds picked up mid-day. Objects were crashing off the roof and trees falling over. We left work early so that people could get home to secure their property. All along the drive home we saw broken branches littering the streets and leaning electrical poles - until finally, about 100 yards from the gate to our neighborhood, we reached a point in the road where we couldn't pass because a huge tree had fallen across the road - taking down a compound wall and several power lines with it. We lost electricity and internet for about a day as they had to repair a broken line to the neighborhood's generator. We aren't likely to get back on the city power grid for a month or more.
The winds died down by the end of Tuesday but the clinic was closed on Wednesday as the director did not want staff and patients to navigate through the dangling power lines and blocked roads. Sporadic rains kept many of the mothers in our project away on Thursday. I'm thankful that as of this morning, all but 2 of the 33 babies enrolled so far are up to date on their visits and their supply of fortified manba. We've been noting a lot of cases of diarrhea this week which are likely related to the rains.
These issues are relatively minor compared to what Hurricane Hanna caused in Gonaives, a city several hours north of Port-au-Prince. Terrible flooding has left people standing on rooftops for more than two days without food or water. The woman who comes one day each week to clean our home is from Gonaives . She told us that her brother and sister lost everything in the floods - their home, their clothes, their cooking pots. I've heard similar devastating stories from others with family and friends in the area. An estimated 250,000 people are in need of assistance. The director of our clinic is urging people to make donations to their local chapter of the American Red Cross with the designation that it should go the Haitian Red Cross. (Photos below from Miami Herald)
Today is back to beautiful (but hot) blue skies above Port-au-Prince. Unfortunately it's not likely to last more than a day. Two more storms - Ike and Josephine - are currently on their way into the Caribbean. Ike, which is currently a Category 4 hurricane, is projected to arrive Sunday morning. While it is predicted to make landfall in the Bahamas, people here in Haiti are very afraid of the heavy rains that may last through the week to come.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Organic organigrams
If you are a fellow foodie, food systems or food policy type (wanna be's are welcome too) you might find these graphics mapping major US organic brands as interesting as I do. (The video animation showing how the mergers and acquisitions of brands has happened over time is particularly cool but a little hard to see).
In his book, The Omnivore's Dilemna, Michael Pollen talks about "Big Organic" - large food companies that are starting up or acquiring organic labels to grab a segment of the growing US market. These graphics really help give you a sense of how that is playing out.
In his book, The Omnivore's Dilemna, Michael Pollen talks about "Big Organic" - large food companies that are starting up or acquiring organic labels to grab a segment of the growing US market. These graphics really help give you a sense of how that is playing out.
Back to blue skies
After a very gray and rainy week we were back to blue skies and hot muggy weather over Port-au-Prince today. A Category 1 Hurricane Gustav passed over Haiti on Tuesday and Wednesday and is currently picking up force as it heads towards Cuba.There was a lot of nervous anticipation about the storm on Monday and Tuesday . The clinic closed early on Tuesday as the rain started to fall. We stayed closed for Wednesday. In the end, we didn't experience high winds here in the city- just 24 hours of steady rain and a 10-15 degree drop in temperature that lasted about 2 days.
24-hours of steady rain isn't much of a problem up on the hill where I live - just some interrupted internet access and a little stir craziness. It can be a huge problem in the slum communities along the coast and on the eroded hillsides prone to mudslides. Imagine trying to feed and put your toddler to bed when there is water coming from everywhere - down through the roof and up from the floors of your one-room structure made from mud, cardboard, tarps and wood scraps. I heard one story of mothers putting kids in garbage bags up to their necks and having them sit under the table in hopes of keeping them halfway dry.
By Wednesday afternoon the rains stopped but most businesses remained closed and the streets were quiet. I read one article saying that recent efforts to clear garbage from sewage canals helped control flooding in Port-au-Prince relative to other storms - very good news. Things were back to normal in the clinic on Thursday.
After two days of canceled flights, the airport was the most chaotic place to be in Port-au-Prince in the wake of the storm. Extra planes from Miami and New York were added to the schedule on Thursday and Friday resulting in way too many people and bags moving through a relatively small airport. A friend traveling out on Thursday morning said she had to pay two different porters $20 each just to get through the massive crowds and police barricades to make her highly delayed flight.
Sadly the Gustav story is very different for those people living in and around the lovely beach town of Jakmel - about 60km south of Port-au-Prince - where the storm made landfall. Estimates are that across Haiti 51 people died and 6,300 people have been displaced as the winds and rains washed out homes, roads and bridges. Damages to crops and livestock remain uncertain - any damage at all is discouraging given the present "food crisis". (see AP article here)
The story isn't over yet - Cuba braces for a much stronger Gustav and I've seen lots of reports about preparations and evacuations in New Orleans and Louisiana. There are predictions of an active hurricane season all the way through November.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Getting to the roots of a problem
National Geographic has an online article on soil which includes this sidebar on soil erosion in Haiti. Extreme widespread deforestation has contributed to the loss of topsoil which in turn greatly impacts the productivity of the land. Even if global trade barriers were lifted, allowing Haitian farmers to get a fair price for their crops, they may still be unable to produce enough to feed the population due to the infertility of the land.
Many people don't realize is that soil quality greatly impacts the nutritional value of the crops group grown in that soil - particularly for minerals like selenium and iodine. Selenium deficiency in humans in China can be traced to the low selenium content of much of the Chinese agricultural land. One of the most effective ways to improve the iodine content of people's diets is to introduce iodine into the water used to irrigate plants.
The good news is that many soils can be restored and renewed - with intentional farming and conservation practices. Farmers rather than clinicians should probably be thought of as our frontline nutritionists.
Many people don't realize is that soil quality greatly impacts the nutritional value of the crops group grown in that soil - particularly for minerals like selenium and iodine. Selenium deficiency in humans in China can be traced to the low selenium content of much of the Chinese agricultural land. One of the most effective ways to improve the iodine content of people's diets is to introduce iodine into the water used to irrigate plants.
The good news is that many soils can be restored and renewed - with intentional farming and conservation practices. Farmers rather than clinicians should probably be thought of as our frontline nutritionists.
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