reroute

So my very good intentions of doing RAGBRAI with some old roommates where thwarted more than a month ago when I discovered that we missed the group registration deadline . So I've decided to train for a century (100 mile) ride right here in the Finger Lakes. The Southern Tier AIDS Ride for Life is on September 11 this year...which in theory gives me plenty of time to train. I just ordered a new bike from a local bike shop that is supposed to be ready early next week...and then... it will be time to start hitting the road with a little more discipline. All the sudden I find myself noticing just how hilly it is around here!

on the party trail

The celebrations continued through the last week of May. After Haiti/Kentucky I came home to Ithaca for 2 days and then hit the road again for Wichita, KS to celebrate the ordination of SM into the United Methodist Church. While it was great to celebrate S's accomplishment, it was equally great to spend time with 4 dear Wheaton friends...and 1 very cute Wheaton baby. I just submitted the "getting together in Wichita" photo to the alumni magazine - will be interesting to see if ordination of a single female into a mainline denomination makes the cut for the next issue. I'm considering using this as a test to determine whether or not I'll let my own children apply there one day....

My flight back from Wichita was delayed and I ended up having an 8-hour overnight visit with my parents in Chicago (7 of those hours were spent sleeping). Unfortunately the Wichita delay meant I missed the Saturday morning Cornell graduation ceremony for some of my favorite classmates : ( By Saturday afternoon I was on the road again up to Rochester for M and J's wedding reception. I slept in Rochester but managed to make it back to Ithaca only an hour late to E's graduation after party....which more or less continued on to 2 am Monday morning. It's a tough life but someone's got to do it!

Hongera and Kwaheri

On route back from Haiti last weekend, I traveled to rural Kentucky to celebrate the graduation of a dear friend's husband from his Phd program at Asbury Seminary. R and I became fast friends during the 18 months I lived in Kenya in 2002-3. The last time we met in person was when arrived they in the US in summer 2005 to start the Phd program (the same time I started mine - wish I could say we were finishing together too!) Back then their son M was a 10 year old boy with a Kenyan English accent - this time around he was a 15-year-old with a Kentucky twang. We ended our visit with another goodbye (for now) as they are ready to return to Kenya in late June. So thankful for friendships that transcend time and place.

Gates (hearts) GHESKIO

A quick post to share some very good news from my research site in Haiti. Dr Pape and the GHESKIO team have been awarded the 2010 Gates Award for Global Health. You can read about the prize and see video here.

Another Clinton confession

No, not another intern scandal....in early march Bill Clinton testified before the US Congress about the role his former administration's agricultural policies that protected US farmers had in undermining the Haitian agricultural sector.

"It may have been good for some of my farmers in Arkansas, but it has not worked. It was a mistake, I had to live everyday with the consequences of the loss of capacity to produce a rice crop in Haiti to feed those people because of what I did; nobody else."

Economic policies tied to IMF and other global aid in the 1980s and 90s forced Haiti to remove import tariffs on rice coming in from the United States and other global producers. These global producers had their own protective import tariffs and offered subsides to their farmers to produce more than their national markets needed - making lots of low cost rice available for export. The result - in Haitian street markets imported rice costs about half of what locally grown rice costs. Even though many people prefer the local rice's flavor and texture, people generally buy what is cheaper. Haitian farmers can not sell enough Haitian rice to fund their own production and so production falls further -raising the price of Haitian rice even higher. According to this AP article, 80% of rice consumed in Haiti is imported from the United States - Haiti's current production can only meet 50% of national consumption.

Out of trajedy can come opportunity and one of the most exciting things about the current talk around Haiti's earthquake recovery funding is the need to reinvest in local agriculture. In encourage you to check out this AP article by long-time Haiti correspondent Jonathon Katz who interviews some of the key UN players in the reconstruction effort.

That said, it's frustrating that the voices cited are the voices of foreigners. Many Haitian organizations have been tirelessly campaigning for the renewal of Haitian agriculture over the past decades. Their voices are rarely heard - even now when their message is more timely than ever. Check out this video by Kore Prodiksyon Lokal (Support Local Production)