A Day in a life ...
Haiti, Day IXX - 24 March 10 - A Day in a life:
Nineteen days into this Haitian Vacation, somewhat of a daily routine has begun. With the neighborhood rooster’s 4 a.m. wake-up filling our 10-person tent, I roll from my cot to steal one of the five cold showers shared by several hundred. A shower, a shave, a quick work out before walking thru muggy, stinky air to the office by 0530. Once seated in my executive cubicle, The Day begins. Cold instant coffee (Taster’s Choice and bottled water - No Starbucks or Dunkies), and a gourmet selection of Pop Tarts, Breakfast Bars, and / or powered eggs out of a foil bag – yummy!
Our 14-hour-plus days begin with e-mails, Visits, phone calls, Visits, meetings, and more Visits. We share office space at the walled, armed-guarded and bullet-proof US Embassy with US-AID, the diplomatic / humanitarian State Department arm of the US government. As you can imagine, the Embassy is a bee-hive of activity, especially with hundreds of additional personnel assisting this multi-faceted earthquake relief effort.
After picking up our SUV, driver, and armed escort, we hit the streets of Haiti around 0800. Yes, I said “Armed” escort, usually an Army officer carrying a 9-mm handgun. This is more of a precaution due to Haiti’s history of political instability and Port au Prince’s extremely high crime rate (4th in the world). Besides, if I carried, I’d end up being responsible for toppling a government! Only armed with a snack bag for street urchins and a four-star lunch selection of pre-cooked pepper steak in hand, we are off to visit / inspect a broken neighborhood, a dump or sewer, and / or a refugee camp. Essentially we will spend road time coordinating a pick-up of human remains, mediating an issue regarding camp conditions, accessing damage to a home or other structure, scout out property to relocate refugees or place a landfill.
Driving about Haiti is like few places in the world; cars zoom past each other in five lanes on roads built for two; smog is so thick you can taste it, vehicles billowing clouds of black smoke, garbage burns in open road-side fires where pigs, goats and cows wander and eat, people are everywhere, walking, talking, cooking, buying, selling, begging, peeing or pooping for all the world to see. And the backdrop for our work is the utter and total devastation of this country; not only from the earthquake but from itself.
No matter what is attempted, there are many, many, many layers of organizational procedures that must be traveled; first thru the Navy, then to the Army, then to a sub-committee, then to Minustah (UN). Finally, after many hours of debate and investigation by an exceptional group of public servants and volunteers, policy and remediation is forwarded to the Government of Haiti where it becomes lost in a rat maze of bureaucratic and political skullduggery! No wonder Haiti remains a fifth world country.
Our day ends usually by 2200 when the mad scramble begins to find an open cell phone circuit to call home or report in on line. If not held up by an end-of-day brief, we throw our bodies under mosquito, flop on our cot and are asleep by 2300 thinking of loved ones and appreciating just how good life is back home.
Pictures from 24 March 10
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=215477169308:273852303
Nineteen days into this Haitian Vacation, somewhat of a daily routine has begun. With the neighborhood rooster’s 4 a.m. wake-up filling our 10-person tent, I roll from my cot to steal one of the five cold showers shared by several hundred. A shower, a shave, a quick work out before walking thru muggy, stinky air to the office by 0530. Once seated in my executive cubicle, The Day begins. Cold instant coffee (Taster’s Choice and bottled water - No Starbucks or Dunkies), and a gourmet selection of Pop Tarts, Breakfast Bars, and / or powered eggs out of a foil bag – yummy!
Our 14-hour-plus days begin with e-mails, Visits, phone calls, Visits, meetings, and more Visits. We share office space at the walled, armed-guarded and bullet-proof US Embassy with US-AID, the diplomatic / humanitarian State Department arm of the US government. As you can imagine, the Embassy is a bee-hive of activity, especially with hundreds of additional personnel assisting this multi-faceted earthquake relief effort.
After picking up our SUV, driver, and armed escort, we hit the streets of Haiti around 0800. Yes, I said “Armed” escort, usually an Army officer carrying a 9-mm handgun. This is more of a precaution due to Haiti’s history of political instability and Port au Prince’s extremely high crime rate (4th in the world). Besides, if I carried, I’d end up being responsible for toppling a government! Only armed with a snack bag for street urchins and a four-star lunch selection of pre-cooked pepper steak in hand, we are off to visit / inspect a broken neighborhood, a dump or sewer, and / or a refugee camp. Essentially we will spend road time coordinating a pick-up of human remains, mediating an issue regarding camp conditions, accessing damage to a home or other structure, scout out property to relocate refugees or place a landfill.
Driving about Haiti is like few places in the world; cars zoom past each other in five lanes on roads built for two; smog is so thick you can taste it, vehicles billowing clouds of black smoke, garbage burns in open road-side fires where pigs, goats and cows wander and eat, people are everywhere, walking, talking, cooking, buying, selling, begging, peeing or pooping for all the world to see. And the backdrop for our work is the utter and total devastation of this country; not only from the earthquake but from itself.
No matter what is attempted, there are many, many, many layers of organizational procedures that must be traveled; first thru the Navy, then to the Army, then to a sub-committee, then to Minustah (UN). Finally, after many hours of debate and investigation by an exceptional group of public servants and volunteers, policy and remediation is forwarded to the Government of Haiti where it becomes lost in a rat maze of bureaucratic and political skullduggery! No wonder Haiti remains a fifth world country.
Our day ends usually by 2200 when the mad scramble begins to find an open cell phone circuit to call home or report in on line. If not held up by an end-of-day brief, we throw our bodies under mosquito, flop on our cot and are asleep by 2300 thinking of loved ones and appreciating just how good life is back home.
Pictures from 24 March 10
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=215477169308:273852303
posted by Diveshack at 5:11 PM
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