Well, a day into my stay in Haiti and the house was blocked off by barricades of burning tyres and boulders that have been rolled into the road.
I suppose that sounds pretty dramatic, and if you are the UN, or anyone stupid enough to try and remove those roadblocks without carefully confronting the men guarding them, you could definitely be in for a rough time. However, we are lucky enough to have flatbed trucks with large vinyl pictures of pumps on the side, and generally once we stop and explain who we are to the guys they let us through. At this point though we have not yet encountered very large crowds, everything could change once the mob mentality takes hold. A World Food Program warehouse was burnt down a little while ago during the riots, which demonstrates how things can easily get out of hand. Our general approach at the moment is to stick to back roads and search for other routes if we see a large group of people. Usually, once they realize who we are, they just tell us where they have broken pumps and ask us to fix them.
The reason for the current spate of riots and roadblocks is that, having held the elections, there apparently became two leaders who will then be voted for in February in a final decision. The problem is one of the apparent forerunners, Jude Celestin, just happens to be the current Presidents son. The President at the moment is required by Haitian law to leave his post, and very strangely, considering the apparent lack of voters for his offspring, his son has still managed to get into the final elections! The other contender is a lady politician, who is very popular, but of course many people are very angry that other much preferred candidates, such as “Sweet Mickey”, a Haitian pop-star-turned-politician, have been knocked out of the running.
I imagine February will bring a whole new level of violence and riots if Jude wins. There has been a recount ordered and I have no idea how the results from that could affect the country’s temperament.
On the 20th I have to fly to Michigan for two weeks of report training (whoopee, paperwork!), and will try to update you before that. For now please pray that there are less barricades, and that the people stay friendly towards aid groups, it will make our work a lot easier and allow us to get many more pumps fixed.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Off to Haiti!
Well, once again I greet you with that strange feeling of "Am I really going to be in Haiti in two days?!"
I have spent an extremely uneventful week in Bromley, Kent! Like much of the rest of the country things seemed to come to a standstill as it started snowing, and we ended up hiking into town to buy essential items, due to the car being trapped.
I received my contract last week informing me of some of my duties, which are mainly focussed around establishing a compound for Living Water International in Cap Hatien for visiting teams. I'll list just a few of them for you now so you have an idea of what I'll be doing.
Installing internet, assembling beds and furniture, general preparation of the compound
Looking after the groups of American volunteers that come out every two weeks
Setting up work for the national team each week
Hiring cooks, cleaners, translators
Writing reports on every pump repair we do, as well as reports on each of the teams that visits.
Just some of the responsibilities that I have been given, as you can imagine it is going to be challenging, and I'm certainly not going to be bored!
I have one more night in a Travelodge next to Heathrow, hoping that all the flights are running normally and not disrupted by the weather. I fly to Miami very early Sunday morning, overnight there, and arrive in Haiti early Monday.
Very excited, but of course a little apprehensive too, not looking forward to my mother drowning me in her tears at the airport again, and wondering just what I've let myself in for.
Well, you may hear from me in a week or two, depending on just how dangerous the slums in Port au Prince are (apparently one of the most dangerous, voodoo filled, cholera ridden places in the world!) if you don't, try not to assume the worst!
I have spent an extremely uneventful week in Bromley, Kent! Like much of the rest of the country things seemed to come to a standstill as it started snowing, and we ended up hiking into town to buy essential items, due to the car being trapped.
I received my contract last week informing me of some of my duties, which are mainly focussed around establishing a compound for Living Water International in Cap Hatien for visiting teams. I'll list just a few of them for you now so you have an idea of what I'll be doing.
Installing internet, assembling beds and furniture, general preparation of the compound
Looking after the groups of American volunteers that come out every two weeks
Setting up work for the national team each week
Hiring cooks, cleaners, translators
Writing reports on every pump repair we do, as well as reports on each of the teams that visits.
Just some of the responsibilities that I have been given, as you can imagine it is going to be challenging, and I'm certainly not going to be bored!
I have one more night in a Travelodge next to Heathrow, hoping that all the flights are running normally and not disrupted by the weather. I fly to Miami very early Sunday morning, overnight there, and arrive in Haiti early Monday.
Very excited, but of course a little apprehensive too, not looking forward to my mother drowning me in her tears at the airport again, and wondering just what I've let myself in for.
Well, you may hear from me in a week or two, depending on just how dangerous the slums in Port au Prince are (apparently one of the most dangerous, voodoo filled, cholera ridden places in the world!) if you don't, try not to assume the worst!
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