You smile, he smiles, they smile, and I ….don’t sleep

It all started on Monday night. I wanted to get at least 7 hours of sleep so I went to bed at 10.30pm. The music outside our window was a bit louder than usual. You see, we live close to what looks like a shack with a small stereo and some really really big speakers. We are not really sure if there is space for dancing, and it’s possible they don’t even sell alcohol. They just play music, mostly loud music. Though it can get a bit noisy on the weekends, it’s never kept me awake. My 50 or so roommates over the past 10 years can attest to the fact that I sleep through anything: music, lights, dancing all around me…when I’m tired I sleep whenever, wherever. On Monday night that was not the case.

Ti Sourit on the dark streets of Petion-ville

An hour after we went to bed, whistles and loud cheering woke me up. The music had gotten louder, and it was now coming from more than one source. To make things even worse our nice and quiet fan had stopped working and there was no AC. So there we were... 1am, it was extremely hot, I had to get up in 4 hours, and the music just wouldn’t stop. Finally we decided to bring in a really old and loud fan into our room to cool us down, but mostly to drawn out the music. It kind of worked and we were able to get some sleep.

The next morning Graham asked the house staff about the noise. Was it a party? Or a soccer game perhaps? "Championat" -a championship! They said. We figured they were having a soccer tournament and the previous night had been the final game.

Alas, when we got back from dinner last night a big crowd had once again transformed the street into a soccer field. Obviously the car could not get through so we got off and walked. Graham’s bodyguard was unimpressed. However, instead of having to avoid being hit by a soccer ball we found ourselves surrounded by a happy crowd that was just hanging out and dancing. Apparently much more than a football championship has been keeping awake us this week. We now know this kind of street party is called "Ti Sourit" translated as "little smile" or "you smile" or "everybody smiles" according to my co-workers. It is an end of summer celebration, an invitation to do whatever you want on the street. There’s drinking and partying but mostly dancing and playing soccer all in the same space (!)

I have been told it will last all week. If only we could remember where we packed the earplugs….

(by Tania)

Sweet Mickey – the other Haitian singer who wants to become President

Late last Friday, the electoral commission finally the delivered the news that everybody was expecting: Wyclef Jean, the presidential front-runner, would not be participating in the November election because he had not fulfilled the constitutional requirement of living in Haiti for the last five years. Wyclef’s supporters have behaved rather well since the disappointing announcement, but they are not expected to give up the fight to get their candidate back on the list.

In fact, it turns out that Haitians seem to be particularly fond of supporting politicians who are barred from running for office.

Graffiti reads "Have a good trip home Jean-Claude Duvalier"

“The old support the Duvalier regimes and the young support Aristide” said my driver yesterday in a matter-of-fact voice.  Though this is a bit of a simplification, it is true that these figures still loom large over politics today. But of course nobody can cast a ballot in their favour.

The result seems to be that the vast majority simply don’t vote. Time and time again Tania and I have asked our Haitian friends and colleagues whether they are planning to vote. It’s as if we’re challenging them to walk to the other side of the island – they give you a perplexed and painful look. Jean-Pierre, a supervisor for the Cash-for-Work program at Tania's NGO said, “I’ve never voted because it may be dangerous to vote. Also, why would I stay outside in long lines under the sun?” Others we talked to just conclude that their vote makes no difference, whether it be because the election could be rigged, or because all presidents do the same thing: push the country further back in time.

Though Haitians will continue to pine for past dictators and disqualified hip-hop artists, they are now also beginning to look through 19 candidates who they will actually have the chance to elect. The most entertaining figure of this bunch is undoubtedly the other singer-turned-politician, Michael Martely, better known as “Sweet Mickey”.

Martely is considered a pioneer of Haitian kompa music, which began as a fusion of Afrolatin Jazz and African folklore rhythms. Apparently, his performances were full of obscenities and social political satire which used to cause quite a stir. His career began with the hit single “Pa Manyen” (Don’t Touch) in 1989 (see video) and he went on to churn out a new album almost every year during the 90s. Running out of steam, he settled to Florida in 2006 with his wife and their four children. It’s still not very clear why he wasn't restricted by the residency requirement that ousted Wyclef. It seems like the Hip Hop Fugee-Gangster was outmaouvered by the self proclaimed “Bad Boy President of Kompas.”

Nobody really thinks he has a chance at the presidency, but for the millions of Haitians who have nothing good to say about politics, at least “President Sweet Mickey” might give them something to smile about.... temporarily.

The Enchanted Waterfalls

Last Sunday we visited Sodo (Saut d'Eau in French), one of the most important spiritual sites in Haiti. As explained by Wikipedia, "the area holds cultural significance to both Catholic and Voodoo practitioners. In the 19th century, it is believed that the Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (or the closely associated Vodou Lwa, Erzulie Dantor) appeared on a palm tree there. A French priest, afraid of the superstition this would inspire, cut the tree down, but it nonetheless became an important religious destination for Haitians, akin to the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico. Annually, the falls are the site of a large, important religious pilgrimage, during the festival of Our Lady of Carmel, from July 14–16. A Eucharistic rite is held during the festival, as well as various voodoo rituals, but the penultimate devotional activity is bathing in the waters of the falls, and asking favors of the Virgin or Erzulie"

And bathing we did. Under the falls themselves, the pressure was so strong that we could only bear it for a few seconds at a time. Most people are content to simply sit in the little nooks found on the rocks to enjoy the cool water going by (see photo on the left).

We really enjoyed the visit and were more than happy to talk to our co-workers about it the next day. To Tania's surprise some of her colleagues said they would never go because people there might curse you for life. Though we did see a few lit candles and other remnants of the July festivities, nothing looked too intimidating! Indeed, for us and for a few of the locals that were there, it seemed mostly like a nice place to relax and cool down on a Sunday afternoon .

We were joined on our trip by a few friends, including my fellow Bologna SAIS classmate, Ian. Together we decided this would be a great place to stage our summer dance. What, you ask? Well, our Masters class has decided to encourage everyone to submit a dance video from whatever part of the world they find themselves in. With our class spread over five continents, the full montage should be quite a spectacle once it gets put together.

Below is Ian and my contribution.

Profile: Charles the bodyguard

Tania and I hope to begin profiling some of the very different people we are meeting. We hope to bring you a glimpse of their unique stories through these posts.

Charles and his DVD player

We'll start with Charles the bodyguard, one of the favourites of my NGO. He joined us last weekend on a hike up into the mountains. Not knowing that he was getting himself into a 3 hour adventure, he brought his backpack full of heavy items, including a small DVD player. At our lunch stop, he proudly took it out (determined to justify its trip) and played us some choice Dominican salsa hits from the 90s. He can be full of surprises. He can also be very serious when talking about the problems of his country. But rarely much time goes by without his trademark smile.

 

Name: Charles

Age: 39

Immediate Family: Father, Mother, Wife and Daughter (7 months). All have lived in New York off and on since 1986. Charles has stayed mostly in Port-au-Prince to watch over the family’s three clothing stores.

Languages: Creole, French, some English and Spanish

Job: Bodyguard with a major foreign-owned security company. Finding few job options after graduation from law and agronomy school, Charles went to the Dominican Republic in 2003 to attend a escort training program. He came back to Port-au-Price and has worked ever since as a bodyguard during the week (earning ~$25/day), and helping the family business on the weekend.

Worst part about job: 1) The stress of escorting a client during protests and demonstrations 2) Waiting around at gas stations.

Best part about job: Chatting to clients during drives.

Dream in life: Become a doctor. Charles already studied one year of medicine before switching into a law program to appease his mother. But despite having the degree, Charles has never practiced law. In fact, he then took another program in Agronomy which eventually led to a job with the Ministry of Environment for two years. Unhappy with the salary and the few career opportunities, he decided to become a bodyguard to save money to re-enroll in medicine. Now 39 years old with a new baby, he’s not sure it will ever happen.

Earthquake story: His wife and daughter were visiting in Port-au-Prince. Eleven family members were on the 3^rd floor in their house when the earthquake struck. Only minor damage occurred, and all of them were left uninjured.

The job search

Apologies to our frequent readers for the lack of posting over the last couple of weeks. The good news is that I have started volunteering!

I started sending resumes to organizations in Haiti the moment Graham accepted his job offer back when we were still living in Bologna. As a quick search on the major job listings will show you, there were and still are plenty of vacancies with all sorts of agencies and organizations. This is because every major NGO and quite a few of the small ones have post-earthquake projects going on in Haiti at the moment. Another reason is that living conditions are difficult, and starting salaries are not very high so Human Resources departments are struggling to fill their positions.

Given the number of vacancies and the fact that I am already here you would think that it would be easy to find a job! What I have found is that when it comes to jobs the development world is very very small. The people with experience jump from continent to continent, meeting in all corners of the world, accumulating foreign language upon foreign language, sometimes living in tents, often without internet or contact with the rest of the world. Their shared struggles and most of the time successful “in-country” experiences make them a very solidary, tight group. Like in any other clique that is great news when you are already part of it, but quite challenging if you find yourself outside of it.

Most people think that my education and my professional experience should be valuable to a lot of these organizations, plus I’m already here! But if you do not have professional full time experience within the development world, or in this case, previous experience in Haiti, it is very hard to get through the recruitment stage.

I have sent many resumes to international headquarters but those files do not ever seem to make it to their offices down here. During the past few weeks I have met several HR staff from quite a few of the organizations I have applied to. They repeatedly tell me that they are looking for people with my profile and ask me to apply again through their website. This all means that I spend countless hours on NGOs websites re-submitting seemingly endless applications.

On the positive side, some of the people that we have met have been extremely helpful. They have helped me tailor my CV, and then personally taken my resume to their HR departments. That resulted in three interviews so far, and one internship!!

I am still looking for a job but for now I have accepted to work as a volunteer for a European NGO. I am currently a Logistics Officer for their Cash for Work program. The work has been very challenging but extremely rewarding. The program aims to inject cash into the most vulnerable areas of the city by paying community members to remove rubble from their own streets and schools. We provide most of the equipment needed, and collect the rubble once it has been piled up. This has allowed me to visit some of the hardest hit areas, meet community leaders, and see some progress in the local economy.

As for the practical details… I get picked at 6.30am,I have been issued with a cell phone, a laptop and a GPS tracker, I have to follow their very strict security restrictions Monday to Saturday, 6.00- 6.00 (that’s right I also work on Saturdays!). I work with about 20 other expats, and approximately 150 national staff. I get a small stipend that buys me lunch every day, and I have been told that there might be job openings in the near future that I might be eligible for.

So far the best part about it has been working with some very smart and incredibly kind young Haitians that work as monitors for the program. Most of them had been attending university up until the earthquake, and they hope to go back to classes and graduate once the universities reopen. I will write more about them in my next entries. Thanks for taking the time to read all this!!!