Last Tuesday I was in Leogane Haiti, a small town about 2
hours outside Port au Prince, two hours on a good day; It can take up to four
hours or more depending on the rain, traffic, protests and what-have-you. Actually it can take up to two hours just to
get from one point to another within Port
au Prince. Our first meeting in the city was at 8:00 am so I had to leave the
guest house at around 5:00. The electricity went off the night before in the
guest house so no fan and extremely hot sleeping…well, really no sleeping. 4:30
am rolled around and all I wanted, needed
was a cup of coffee…not to be had! No
Starbucks along the route to Leogane.
The sun was coming up as we got in the car and with the sun
came many of the people along the way. One of the things that struck me on this
trip versus the last was the commerce; everyone seemed to be selling something.
My last trip I was much further away from the capital and people had nothing,
literally nothing. But all the way to
PaP people were selling something…mangos, bananas, beans, corn soap, combs,
sunglasses, bags of water and juice, and even some books. Most of the non-perishables come from the
Dominican Republic and many of those things come from the US. Some of the stuff
includes clothes that those of us in the States throw into those donation boxes
around our towns. Companies sell that stuff either for rags or in bulk for
re-sale to the developing world…so tons and tons of old clothes are cleaned and
made ready for re-sale in Haiti. Everyone was busy selling something but of
course no one was selling coffee. It was kind of amazing.
Only a few items are sold each day by these vendors so
despite the constant commerce only a very little income is generated. But
this is the only job in town. Everyone
is busy borrowing some money to buy stuff so they can sell it…All along the way
were small huts, wheelbarrows, or baskets-on-heads serving as shops. The closer we got to PaP the more clogged the
streets became with these individual “shopkeepers.” Unfortunately, this vast system of commerce
exists outside any formal infrastructure. Understandably there will be no
taxes, no rents, no real way of using this system to help rebuild the
country. It will keep families alive but
do little more than that.
Here in NY you can’t swing a short stick without hitting a
coffee shop (be it Starbucks, a diner, or deli). Just across the border in the
Dominican coffee is grown and sold. But
“just across the border” is an entirely different world; while of course there
is poverty there is also wealth, a middle class, lots of baseball, and great
coffee. So I was forced to travel in the early morning hours without my trusty
to-go-cup. But what I was missing was
made up for by the rich views of Haitian and Creole culture. In some respects
my cup did in fact “runeth over” with some humility for all I had including
constant access to quite a variety of drinks such as clean water (which makes
good coffee).
All along the way was evidence of the earthquake: piles of
rubble, houses missing walls, small tent communities. The closer we got to PaP you would see more
and more people missing a limb or in a wheelchair—victims of the quake. And
dust and mud was everywhere…dust was constant and the evening rains turned the
dust into mud making travel even more challenging. We had a number of meetings so lots of in and
out of the car…by the time I returned to the guest house that night I was
pretty much covered in a film of Haiti’s brown dirt.
Answers to rebuilding Haiti are complex and well beyond my
ken. But I do believe that education will key if not the key. Unfortunately,
few Haitians complete even primary school as the school fees are too costly for
most families. At best, many families are able to afford the fees for one their
children to complete high school. Despite
the challenges or maybe because of them, Haitians revere education. All primary school students and even some high
school students wear uniforms. As I was driving around I got to see a couple
hundred kids heading off to and coming back from school. For the little ones,
their uniforms included a white blouse and white sox. And boy were they WHITE! Amidst the dirt and poverty, no electricity, little
water…somehow mothers made sure those uniforms sparkled. This is not out of
vanity but out of pride in sending off their kids to school….I don’t really
know how the clothes stayed so white, I felt it would be really condescending
to ask…but all those kids in their uniforms…that is the hope of Haiti.
I was in Haiti in part to help support a nursing
school. All of those students were also
in uniforms. This is a country where
nurses still wear white at the hospital including their white caps. There are about 100 students at the nursing
school…all are the first in their families to attend college…for many, probably
the first to compete high school. When I
was there they were preparing for the “capping” ceremony. At the end of their
first year, they would get their caps and be able to wear them when they
started their clinical experiences in the local hospitals. Parents and grand-parents from around the
country would attend this ceremony; it would be almost as important as their
graduation.
When employed these nurses would probably make around $650 annually.
With that they will be expected to help support their families and extended
families as many of these family members chipped in to send them to
school. But these students would also help
create a middle class in Haiti…a key sign that a country is stabilizing. A large middle class anchors a country…turns
out it really is all about the 99%!!
I am not sure Haiti will be stabilized in my life time,
sorry to say. But individual families will be better off because of these
nursing students. They will provide amazing healthcare and they will be able to
support their families…it’s a multiplier effect. These nursing students will
probably never get the credit they deserve for really helping to transition
their country, but I believe that is the case and now you know it too.
(oh by the way, our first meeting was at the US Embassy. As
I passed through security and entered the main building…what was that lovely
aroma? Ah yes, coffee… I headed to the vendor and bought a large cup of
Dominican coffee and NOW I was ready to face the rest of the day…)
