out-of-compound experience

            My Haiti summer 2012 is coming to a close, and that means its adventure time. Why wasn’t the entirety of Haiti summer 2012 adventure time? That is the question I have asked myself every day. Maybe it’s the people I am with, maybe it’s the people I am working for. Maybe it’s our location or maybe it’s the financial cost of adventure. Maybe I need to accept that I’m way more boring than I like to think. Most likely it is because I have been spending so much of my time at the beckon call of my intestines. Whatever the reason, it has not been the constant adrenaline rush I remember from my last time in Haiti.

            Recently that has improved; we have had out-of-compound experiences. I would not trade leaving the compound for anything! (except maybe a salad or a plate of veggies right now…its been too long) However, that does not mean that my out-of-compound experiences were all good. I had fun each time, but they often left me feeling confused or upset or generally irritated. Unpleasant things happen. I see things that make me uncomfortable and sad.

            Last weekend we went to a club in Petionville. It was one of the greatest nights of the summer. We ate pizza and french fries and drank rum sours and danced until 4 am. But this club was frequented by ex pats, pimps and prostitutes. Trafficked teenage Dominican girls approached “humanitarian” ex pats. “150 if you see something you like” said the pimp to one intern. 150 what? American dollars? Doubtful. And I wonder how much of that 150 the women get to keep. Based on some research, it seems that the pimps use most of that money to buy fake breasts and lips and weaves for these women. Somehow that is the same as actually paying the women for their work. As the night wore on the women seemed more desperate for attention. It made me wonder what lay in store for the women who were unable to make a sell that night. It depends what kind of pimp this man is. Is he the kind that keeps them all in line through violence or though brainwashing “kindness”?

No one can fake that exuberant flirtatious happiness without some help; prostitutes using uppers is not a new concept. And no one wants to pay for sex with a sad prostitute; with a prostitute who actually seems upset that she has been sex trafficked. That tends to ruin the illusion.

            And why were the most sought after prostitutes from the DR? Is it because they have lighter skin eyes and hair than the Haitian prostitutes? Their pimps knew how to pick teenage girls who would attract that target rich white audience. The global politics of beauty are such that these women struck the perfect balance between western ideals of beauty and exotic eroticism. Good marketing.

           

Another out-of-compound experience: arguing with the guard at the lake about charging white people more to get in. Our van was divided. Was this reverse racism? Was it wrong? Was he stupid to assume we would be dumb enough to pay more? Was he a smart businessman who had successfully “exploited” NGO workers in the past? Personally I do not feel comfortable using the word exploited in this manner, especially in a place where exploitive economic policies have been so devastating. Can you blame this guard for trying to get a little extra from rich white people? How do you think rich white people got rich?

True, most of us do come from really hard working families. Maybe no one in our family histories intentionally exploited the developing world, but everyone born in the U.S. benefits from these economic policies in some way. That is a privilege we have, and a result of that is people will try to take some of our money. I doubt anyone in our van would rather be on the other side of things.

And there was one in-compound experience worth mentioning. The party with the gun. No one is sure of the specifics but there were shots fired, scared interns, a policeman and lots of stress eating. I don’t know why this didn’t have greater impact on me. I was much more upset about the two other events. I just wanted to keep eating birthday cake and dancing, so that is what I did. I figured the same thing is not going to happen twice in the same night; after the angry man left I felt like it was safer than usual.

            Sex trafficking and neoliberal economic policies scare me more than a rando with a gun. That probably seems naive to some people, but it’s the way I feel. Guns are scary, no doubt. But for me, the oppression that stems from sex slavery and exploitive economics is worse, and it hurts exponentially more people. 

Q44 Would you like you learn more?

             As  a Jewish American feminist from a liberally arts college, I have to check myself when it comes to family planning. Trying to be culturally sensitive in 80% catholic but 100% very religious Haiti has been a challenge. I don’t want to push my agenda, but I do think family planning is incredibly important. Unfortunately, Higher up in the Haitian-American Caucus hierarchy they seem to be resisting sexual health trainings. I think a direct quote was “we don’t want some kid going out and giving HAC a bad reputation.” (I tried not to take that one personally) Again and again sexual knowledge and health have been put in the backseat.

            Whatever. I’m right. Three things happened recently that vindicated me. 1) The women’s focus group mentioned several times the need for smaller families. 2) The men’s focus group specifically asked to learn about different types of birth control. 3) So far I have entered the data from about 100 needs assessment surveys.  Q44 is “Would you like to learn more about family planning options?” EVERY SINGLE PERSON said yes.

            It makes sense. People here know first hand the cost of having a child. So many larger issues could be addressed by having more manageable family sizes. Family planning is one of the most obvious ways to increase financial security. So yeah. I’m right.

            On a less self-congratulatory note, the surveys have been incredibly sad and happy and interesting and important. I’m so glad to be working on something I believe in.

One single mother lives with 8 children. They have no source of income and none of them have ever been to school. I only entered data of one family with a refrigerator. About 90% indicated that violence against women is a problem in the community. They circled hitting, kicking, molestation and rape as examples they have experienced or witnessed. What infrastructure exists in Haiti to address issues of gender based violence? I highly doubt there is a rape crisis center anywhere near here, and if there was, there is no transportation. The justice system is a joke, that is the main reason there is a travel warning out for Haiti.

            There are families that drink untreated water from the “rivers” that run through trenches of garbage, but most people circled response 7; they buy their water. That’s why disposable water packets litter the streets, or in fact the trenches where less fortunate people get their water.

            Obviously we will wait until the surveys are complete to draw any conclusions; these are just some preliminary observations.

            And I’m right about family planning. It’s the path that makes the most sense for progress, I swear to god. Quote me on that. 

Larry

This is a story about a parasite named Larry. Larry is quite the lady-killer.

This story is not based in fact, but it is based in reality. It is based on experience and guesswork from many non-medical-professionals.

We believe that Larry originally entered the body of a lovely blond intern through a questionable mango.

From that point his charm and charisma spread. Not only through the body of said intern, but onto door handles, faucets, water bottles, and into the bodies of other lady-interns. Larry doesn’t discriminate; all lady-interns are equally vulnerable to his charms.

That being said, Larry does have a special relationship with each of us. The lovely blond intern is in a long-term relationship with Larry. She can’t seem to get out of it no matter how much anti-parasitic medication she takes. Our resident ginger was lucky enough to have Larry interacting with two holes.

It comes as no surprise to me that my personal relationship with Larry was short and intense. Fevers and chills racked my body; I was constantly dripping cold sweat. At one point the feelings were too much to handle; I passed out and came to in child’s pose on the concrete.

The moral of the story is that we need to get out of these destructive relationships. We deserve more than Larry. 

a skirt & combat boots

          Haiti is a country of extreme contrasts. This is something the interns have been talking about a lot, and I cannot think of a better way to explain or visit to Ti Goave. The location; a drastic juxtaposition of mountains and ocean. My outfit was a nice contrast between me trying to be professional and wearing a skirt, yet trying to protect my feet from poop and trash and thus wearing combat boots. There was some kind of lunch mix up, so we were hungry from 4:30 am until 7:30 pm. At 7:30 pm we gorged ourselves on the biggest meal we have had so far; prestige, coke, pizza and crazy bread.

            But for me, the most important contrast was between what I felt was the most productive part of my experience here, and the worst, least organized failure. Starting with the good news:

Yesterday was a GREAT day for the public health program. We had a successful toothbrush training, in which the kids identified what was bad for their teeth “COCACOLA” and what was good for their teeth. (although “LEGUMES” doesn’t really roll off the tongue the same way.)

            We surveyed Ti Goave women about their maternal health experiences and needs. We found out unsurprising things, like most women give birth at home, money is the biggest obstacle to care etc. Collecting this data is the first step in the public health program here, there is no way to actually improve upon something if you can’t identify what the problems are. And you can’t accurately assess what the problems are without talking to the people in question. That seems obvious but is so often overlooked.

            Those were the highlights. It was exactly what I came here to do and it happened without any complications. We finished in time for what was supposed to be our lunch break. It transpired that lunch was not ready (at any point) and that we were supposed to entertain kids (150 kids!) for an undefined amount of time. In the sun. With no water. (the water was supposed to arrive the same time as lunch.) We attempted some games with the kids, but our Creole communication skills are severely limited in the best of situations. We attempted soccer, but the hot sun and the “field” (a dirt road) proved too harsh.  .

That’s when we noticed that the toys were disappearing. So we handed out toothbrushes and prenatal vitamins, both of which painted a vivid picture of the “aid” system that is in place. Women who had not been pregnant when we asked before were suddenly hording the prenatal vitamins; one woman accidently dropped about 10 extra toothbrushes from underneath her shirt. I wrestled prenatal vitamins out of the hands of a 10-year-old boy.

This is the pattern of assistance that aid organizations have unknowingly (and sometimes knowingly) set up. It’s a pattern of dependence. Is this any different than international monetary policy pushing open market competition to “stimulate the economy” of the developing world? These global systems create dependent populations while crippling the demographic they are trying to “help.” It’s the same as food aid hurting local agriculture.

The failure of our Ti Goave visit, for me, was that we fed right into the system. Because what choice do we have when people are suffering? Weighing unknown long term risks against imminent threats of sickness does not usually come down in favor of allowing imminent sickness.

            The more involved I become with this kind of work the more apparent it is that good intentions are NOT enough. Good intentions alone can be devastating.

            Long term vs. short term. That is another extreme juxtaposition in Haiti. I hope that our short term prenatal vitamin distribution can work in tandem with the long term results of the surveys, but that all depends on sustainability of the program, and I’m not sure we are set up for that. 

Moto Ride

Obviously there are challenges, being in Haiti. For me there are a few things that stand out.
1) Fecal Matter (more specifically its proximity to EVERYTHING and its permeating smell)
2) Haitian Time : This means that my type A punctual personality is constantly on the verge of a nervous breakdown. (also called Caribbean time; its not limited to Haiti.)
3)"security" precautions: This translates to very little freedom, and zero sense of adventure. Basically this cuts off my main sources of travel adrenaline.

And then there are the general things that get you down. Like obvious nutritional deficiencies in the school children, scary sounding coughs and people gathering their water from a ditch in the road. And then feeling that as a public health and nutrition intern I am somehow supposed to fix these problems.

All in all its been a stressful few weeks. However, yesterday we visited Double Harvest Clinic, a private clinic that gets most of its funding from Baptist missions in Maimi and Kansas. This was a good clinic. Its well staffed and clean smelling. But services there are expensive, thereby relegating the poorer patients to sub-par care. On the way back all the negative energy I was feeling started to melt away. That is because our driver was late and we got to take moto taxi's. (Look below for reference, but in my case it was thankfully just me and the driver)

The moto ride changed everything. All the challenges didnt matter anymore. I tried to explain this to the driver with "Mwen renmen moto" (I love moto) and "Mwen vle moto" (I want moto). He laughed and shook is head at me like I was crazy but really I was just so happy to feel free.