Plop!

In one of my recent trips, I got stopped by a Customs agent before I got to the Customs counter, making me even later for my connecting flight...

"Ma'am, may I see your passport? Where are you coming from? Where are you going? Where do you live? What do you do?

- I work with an NGO
- Is that some kind of work or somethin'?
- Yes, it stands for Non-Governmental Organization. We do humanitarian work.
- I ain't never heard of that

Entourage II

My first job in Haiti was a short-term volunteer position. The Logistician for the project was leaving soon and they needed somebody to cover until the end of the program. I sent my CV, had 3 interviews, received an offer and started working, all in less than a week. After a quick rundown of all the basics by my departing Italian colleague, I had a couple of awkward first couple of days trying to figure out what was going on, the indicators for the project and other important things like where to order lunch.

There was a lot of paperwork to be done; preparation for each team, forms, transport plans for each week, not exactly the reasons that brought me to Haiti. Finally it arrived, a day “in the field”. The team I joined had already been working together for a few months. They knew each other very well, and had a routine worked out. My French was flaky at best, and my Creole non-existent. I didn’t know where I was going. Silence in the car, timid looks exchanged.

The second day was better; by the third I had finally learnt some names. Soon I started participating in the morning planning instead of just hovering around the table while the Team Leader distributed locations each morning. One day I made a comment about the Latin music playing in the car, the next I got some food from one of the guys in the team when I forgot to pack lunch. And then one day I too felt part of the group, and it was like I had been there from day one.

I can’t explain exactly why but this team was the most cohesive and solid group I have ever worked with. Maybe it was the fact that they worked in really difficult areas of the city and they felt they had to support each other. Perhaps they had very strong managers from the beginning of the project. Even though they varied widely in age and work experience, they worked very well together and it was truly a pleasure to have had the chance to work with them for a few weeks in 2010.

This photo is from a small party we organized to say bye to one of our former managers. We talked about the many hot July mornings we spent walking around camps, the endless meetings with community leaders, and our favourite snack stops on our way back to the office. We talked politics, religion, and relationships trouble. The end of the night was bitter sweet. It was the last time we would all be together.

The project was scheduled to end soon after I left to start a job with another organization. One of the managers went back to Canada the weekend after, the other one left Haiti a few months ago. Some of these guys left at the end of last summer and a few others managed to get positions in other teams within the same organization. That was almost 18 months ago. As we move from the emergency into the development phase, our teams keep getting smaller. There will be even fewer of them working with us in 2012.

CFW guys…this post is for you! Thanks for teaching me most of the Creole I know, showing me the main roads, patiently explaining the way things were before the earthquake.

Zanmi mwen, mesi, mesi anpil!

Magic Haiti

Our beloved library had its annual picnic two weeks ago. I will soon write about the library but this time I just wanted to share some pictures of the incredibly beautiful grass that we found on the property. It was PURPLE! Apparently it only happens at this time of the year, and it lasts for 10 days or so, then it turns brown. You can look up the science behind it in Wikipedia under "Chrysopogon zizanioides" but I prefer to think of it as magic.

I would upload a song by Prince to go with these pictures if Haitian internet would let me...

Capisce?

I'm having my team over at my house for Christmas dinner in a few days. Since I hadn't decided what to cook, I asked one of my employees for ideas:

- So you know that I'm cooking dinner for you guys? I'll have some kind of meat, but what else would you guys like? Rice, potatoes, pasta?

Him: Pasta?

- Yes, like spaguetti

Him: Spaguetti, NO

- Why not?

Him: Spaguetti is "nourriture matin"

- What does that mean?

Him: You only eat it at breakfast, everybody knows!

Dear Mexico,

You did not have to try so hard, we love you anyway.

We first developed a crush on you when you kept sending wonderful representatives to our university all those many years ago. They made for entertaining classmates, fantastic roommates, and they always brought the magic potion, tequila!



Dear Mexico, we have to say, we were intrigued, excited, curious ...so we made plans to go see you.

One of us lived there for 6 months, "studying Mexican culture" and having a grand old time.

One of us made plans to go during the school summer, but received a big, fat NO from your government after applying for a visa.

No matter, we persisted, and the love affair continued. A couple of years later, Mr. Day got a job in the D.F. and I was able to go see him. And it turns out you're all that you promised and more!

Confused by the size of your capital city, in awe of your wonderful food, and struggling to keep up your flowing cactus-based alcohol, we fell head-over-heels for you (sometimes literally). Though we made it to the riches of Acapulco and Oaxaca, we still wanted more.

And then, you cheekily offered jobs there to two of our best friends. We promised we'd visit, but we couldn't say when. We had brief detours through Bogota, Italy and Port-au-Prince, you see, but as if to really make your point, you had to arrange for us to meet one of your diplomats here in Haiti. He told us stories, cooked for us, made us laugh, and so, once more we said we'd go.
And then we finally did! Bought our tickets, rang our friends - we were coming!! Of course we both thought we'd have time to plan, research, download bus schedules... It was not to be. We showed up each with a bag and zero knowledge of what we were going to do for the next 8 days in Aztec-land.

Of course, we shouldn't have worried. Our wonderful friends took care of everything for us.
We ate amazing things constantly, at times whole meals blending together as we went from morning to evening feasting on delicious shapes and sizes of sauce-infused tortillas, cooked and shaped in 101 different ways.
We saw impressive ruins, smoking volcanoes and the most beautifully painted colonial houses lined by cobbled stones.






Oh your hot chocolate, your myriad cheeses, the little pots of sauces that accompanied every meal...

You might think we use for your food, but that's not true! We also love your drinks. Yes, there was tequila pretty much every day, but there was also pulque - peach flavored pulque to be precise. Whole half-littre cups per serving. We loved it and it loved us, but then we had to sleep for the next 36 hours. But that's what vacations are for, right?

And if all that was not enough, you also were the top pick for our friends to have their first baby. We met her on this vacation. What a sweet little angel she is, and now she too has joined the ranks of our favourite Mexican passport holders.






So dear Mexico, as you see, you really didn't have to be so crazy good for us. We love you anyway, and we'll be back!

Work in the times of Cholera - a year later

"MIREBALAIS, Haiti — The family from a nearby village arrived at the small hospital here vomiting and with uncontrollable diarrhea, at first glance maybe a typical case of consuming bad food or water. But the fluid loss was tremendous and unstoppable; two of the three brothers were already near death, and within hours the entire family would be dead. Meanwhile, a nightmarish stream of patients filled the small reception room, as doctors and nurses scrambled to rehydrate them. It was the evening of Oct. 15, 2010. Cholera, the doctors with the Cuban medical mission that treat most of the patients here would soon confirm, had arrived in Haiti."

This is the opening paragraph of a New York Times article that highlights the work of the Cuban medical mission in Haiti. The Cubans as well as countless other NGOs have been fighting the Cholera outbreak for over a year now. On top of all the post-earthquake hurdles, this past year was packed with unexpected complications including hurricanes, the return of an ousted president, elections violence and more. However, none of these events had a bigger impact than the Cholera outbreak.

Photo by Moises Saman / Magnum for Time Magazine

Looking back, experts had been issuing warnings for the spread of waterborne diseases ever since the earthquake itself in January, 2010. Yet, six months later, when Graham and I arrived in Haiti, we often heard humanitarian workers say with relief that "at least there have been no major disease outbreaks."

Four months later when the first cases of cholera were officially reported, Graham was working with the Haitian Ministry of Health and I had found a job with a medical NGO. The government had to draw up a national strategy quickly and my co-workers had to prepare a response plan for our camp. The first outbreaks were reported about 50km away and we were told it was only a matter of days until it would reach us in the capital. Time was in short supply.

Entourage

This was Graham's team of drivers when he was working in Haiti. They really liked working with Graham. Actually they love Graham. Every time I run into them our conversation goes something like this:

"Hello Madame Graham (yes, that is what they call me!). - How are you? - Fine, thanks. And you?

- I'm well. How's Mister Graham?"
- How's Mister Graham's family?"
- Have you talked to Mister Graham today?"
- Is Mister Graham Happy where he is?"
- When is Mister Graham coming to visit?"
- When is Mister Graham coming back to Haiti?
- When he comes, will he stay here for a long time?"
- Tell Mister Graham I say hi. We miss him"

Yeah, yeah, I miss him too...

Giving thanks

Colombians have so many days off every year, but only Canada and the US celebrate my favourite holiday: Thanksgiving!

I try to celebrate it every year regardless of the country I'm in, and of course I celebrate in October which is when Canadians have theirs. Wikipedia says that "the first Canadian Thanksgiving celebration was not for harvest, but in thanks for surviving the long journey from England through the perils of storms and icebergs. On his third and final voyage to these regions, in 1578, Frobisher held a formal ceremony in Baffin Island in present day Nunavut to give thanks."

And on that same spirit, my housemates and I had a wonderful dinner the second week of October. A few of us said our Thank Yous out loud. I let them know I was thankful for their support through the very difficult last few weeks, their kindness and understanding. I am also thankful for having Graham in my life, my family, wonderful friends, and all the opportunities and experiences I have had over the years. I am very lucky, and have a very happy life and for that I like taking at least one day a year to say Thanks.

So Thank YOU! My friends and family and friends of friends that check these posts months after months, even when we go weeks without writing. Your comments, love and support mean a lot to me (and to Graham, who is currently very busy with school, internship, conferences and a few more things he manages to fit into his very long days in DC).

For some reason I didn't manage to take any photos during our candle-lit, patio dinner, but here are the links to the recipes we used for our Haitian feast:

• Shepherd's pie (No turkey available, plus a handful of British/Irish housemates made this a wonderful substitute!)

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/2335/classic+shepherds+pie

• Sausage, apple and cranberry stuffing (apples brought from my hotel in Miami the weekend before, and dried cranberries purchased during my last visit to Vancouver!)

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/awesome-sausage-apple-and-cranberry-stuffing/detail.aspx

• Roasted butternut squash with Maple Syrup Glaze (the crowd's favourite!)
  

http://kitchen-parade-veggieventure.blogspot.com/2007/10/roasted-butternut-squash-with-maple.html

• Orange glazed carrots (recipe picked up last year when our friends hosted us in New York)
  

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1850,149167-237196,00.html

• Green beans with sesame oil

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/sesame-green-beans-recipe/index.html

We also served some peas, bread and a simple salad. Our guests brought beer, wine and delicious Swiss chocolate that we had as dessert. Overall, a meal and an evening to remember!

In memory of Julia and Reneilwe

Two years ago a member of the SAIS community died after being hit by a drunk driver in the streets of Washington DC. Julia had been with us in Bologna during they year before. and she was just starting the second year of her program.

Last month the Red Cross Nordic UWC lost a beloved member of our community also in a drunk driving accident. On the other side of the world, Reneilwe was training for a marathon in Johannesburg. She died with four other members of her running team.

Just like many SAISers then, and many UWCers now, I am at a loss for words. Instead, I have copied below the kind words that one of our friends posted on his facebook wall:


"Like everyone else I still cannot quite believed that Reneilwe Lesenyeho has left us. I did not know you that well when we were at the RCNUWC. Nevertheless, seeing you at the reunion in August and talking about your long-distance running project made me think that I would start practicing more. This way maybe I could stand a chance that you wouldn't outrun me completely on the Flekke trot of our 20th year reunion. Sadly I will never know... But I can bet that now I will be thinking of you every time I'll go running in the coming years.

Trying to remind myself of the fragility of life, I often tell myself that the world we live in is not as safe as we wish it were and that we could die every time we take our car or we cross the road. How I wish I were wrong !

Once again I feel like picking up the phone and calling all these people I haven't seen in so long and lost touch with.

Reneilwe, you, your joyfulness and your smile, a smile that could warm your friends' spirits even in the cold of the harshest Norwegian winter, all of these will be sorely missed " Remi Gau

Home again

Last time I came back to Haiti without Graham I felt absolutely awful, empty, lost. This time I expected to feel the same way but it was actually very nice to come back. My Slovakian colleague had brought a lot of delicious food from her R&R and she had kindly waited to cook it all until I got back. We had a fantastic dinner on my patio that Sunday evening.

Back at the office the next day, as expected, there was lots of work accumulated, and the days just flew by. Unfortunately, 4 days later I got a call from home to tell me that my grandmother had passed away that morning. My supervisor was kind enough to offer some days off so I could leave again. 6 hours later I was at the Port-au-Prince airport on my way to Miami, and then to Bogota again.

While it was incredibly sad, I was so glad I could be there. For the first time in years, I was able to help my parents through a very difficult time.

Grandma was a very lovely and happy 90 year-old. I will miss her smile and very kind words. Here is a photo from a couple of years ago.


Graham and I took part in a tomato-war at a local festival