A matter of Perspective

I think life is about perspective. As we were driving to the feeding clinic today, I tried to look at Haiti as a "newcomer". My parents are coming to visit in a few weeks and I wondered what they would see, what would stand out, and how it would make them feel to know that we are here. Would their minds be eased at seeing where we are is not as horrible as the media sees it or would they feel more unsettled seeing giant UN tanks like this one. 

I finally decided it just depends on the person. For some people, well lets face it... for everyone who writes anything about Haiti, this is how they view Haiti. Dirty, Dangerous, and frankly full of the Devil.

For us, this is how we view Haiti. Full of future, happiness and beauty.

And how often can you literally walk out your back door and be in a place like this. Beauty beyond words. That is how we see Haiti. 

The Problem in Haiti

Warning: this post is just the opinion of a girl who has only lived in Haiti 2 months.
* First off I have to identify what I term "problem"

1- Economic Orphans- people who otherwise love their children and would probably be good parents being forced to give up their kids due to their financial situation.

2- Restaveks- literally means "stay with". Poor people will often send their children to live with another family they then turn into child slaves ages 4-15, mostly girls, beaten and abused, abandoned and heartbroken.

3- Lack of the Basics- Food, Water, and Shelter. Everyone should have the ability to have these things.

*I just want to make it clear I do not think the problem is a lack of big screen TV's, sport camps, family trips, and cars.

Why the Problem-
1- Political Instability- I watched the other day when I was at the chop shop(think Adventures in Babysitting, dirty Chicago chop-shop) getting new rims with all the kids and the President drove by with his entourage. All these rough and tumble men started dancing and chanting and laughing. They were so excited to see their president whom I think the "common person" truly loves. However, there is such political instability here. I think it is a problem.

2- No God. Haiti is a country with a rich deep history of Voodoo. Just my opinion but, I believe a country not founded on God is in for a world of hurt when it tries to build strong citizens.

3- Work- there are very few large companies here to offer jobs. Most people are selling stuff on the street because that is all there is to do. But when you and the other 6 women around here are all selling mangos how are you going to make a living especially considering most of the population around you can not afford to buy them anyway. Plus a lot of people claim they need "certificates" to be hired to work. But getting a certificate is difficult to get. (See education below.)

4- Too many NGO's and short term mission trips that I am sure mean well, but end up doing more damage. I think it leaves people feeling they are not capable without the "white man" which leaves people with poor self esteem which leads to poor ability to move forward in life. Plus I think that we naturally bring our ways to people who don't always need or want our ways.

5- No respect for Land. People have chopped down all the forest and treat their streets like giant trash cans and oceans like liquid waste depository's. I would not usually consider myself a super "green" person, but there has to be some level of respect.

6- Education- Many of the adults are not educated with an estimated 50% literacy rate, I personally believe this is low. There is lack of ability to go to school as it is so expensive and without an economy where loans can be taken out this is a problem. I do not even want to get started on the economic problems because I don't really understand it all. I am beginning to see the social however.

7- Lack of a strong family unit- I feel this is the basic problem here. Fathers and Mothers have to leave their children in orphanages so they can go somewhere else to work, or at the very least one of them has to go far away to work. At the very worst they may sell their child as a slave or give them to another family who may or may not treat them well. I am in no place to judge this situation and again maybe I am being an ignorant American and would do the same thing if I were in the situation. I just feel like building strong family units is where it all needs to start. Nobody who loves their child and is a good parent should have to give up their child.

Again I write this as we are just beginning this journey and as a person very new to this country. I think probably in a few years when I re-read this I will have to laugh at my perspective at this point. But perhaps I will be less critical of others when I remember I once felt this way too.

Now, not that you can judge a country by its #'s, but here are some.
Total Population (2010)

Haiti
9,993,247

USA
309,050,816

More than 30 times more people


Electric power consumption per capita (2008)

Haiti
23.5KWh

USA
13,653.9 KWh

More than 571 times more per capita


Paved Roads (2008) Pre-earthquake. It is much worse now I am sure.

Haiti
24.3%

USA
67.4%


Mobile cell phone use (2010)

Haiti
40%

USA
97.2%


Internet use (2009)

Haiti
10.1%

USA
78.1%


Literacy

Haiti
52.9%

USA
99%


Violence Rate per 100,000 people

Haiti
5.6

USA
5.7

Brazil
52.2


Prevalence of HIV, total (% of population ages 15-49)

Haiti
1.9

USA
.6

Washington D.C.
3.0


Physician density

Haiti
.25/1000 (146th)

USA
2.672/1000 (49th)


Hospital Bed density

Haiti
1.3/1000 (131st)

USA
3.1/1000 (73rd)


Births attended by skilled health staff

Haiti
26.1%

USA
99.3%


Mortality rate under 5 years old per 1,000

Haiti
164.8 (48th worst)

USA
7.5


Life Expectancy

Haiti
61.4 years (181st)

USA
78.1 years (50th )


All of the statistic came from either UN Data or The World Fact Book by the CIA.
UN DATA: http://data.un.org/Default.aspx

The World Fact Book: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html

Security

Security: the good, the bad, and the ugly...

One of our biggest questions/concerns in coming to Haiti was about security.

While we have been safe and truly never felt "in danger", Haiti is different than the US. We have had to make some changes since we moved here that I have been wanting to post about, but have not been able to because this blog is public. From the tracker it looks like other people in Haiti are looking at it and you just never know who they are.

So changes-

1- The back wall to our house was only like 6 feet tall so we had to raise it like 3 feet.

2- We added barbed wire around the top of the whole fence.

3- We hired a separate night guard who will be armed as soon as we can get the gun "legally". Apparently in Haiti the constitution gives you the right to bear arms, but the government does not really let people get guns legally so an estimated 80% of weapons on the street are illegal.

4- Our old "night guard" is now going to be here during the day so we will always have a Haitian man on our property.

Why the changes-

1- Basic common sense. While I have no doubt God wants us to here and he will protect us as he sees fit (more on that later), we have to do our part.

2- There is some new construction going on around our house and while the workers have never been anything but nice, the general opinion around here is that Americans are rich and given the situation that a lot of these people are in I do not want to give an unnecessary opportunity to come to our house.

3- Starting around carnival we have been hearing a lot of gunfire around here. I am sure most of it is just kids playing around. But it still a little disheartening to hear while you are trying to sleep

4- We have been learning more about voodoo. It is not good, really not good. It is really evil and whether or not I believe it, they do it and it makes people do and believe crazy things.

5- The changing political climate- The prime minister recently resigned. Basically the government has stopped working now. There are all sorts of scary political rumors going on around here. It makes me again ever grateful for the country I call home. I know it is not without issue, but living here makes me be grateful for the issues we have.

So the good part, we know that we have done and continue to do, all that we can to be safe. This, however, is not what brings peace. As a good friend reminded me and what brings us peace is just remembering Who keeps us here. We are learning a lot about where and who we need to be putting our faith in.

The fence before we raised it.

The wall after, here you can see our banana trees. I hope some get ripe while we are here.

Our new security guy, "Johnny", in his security shack.

What will you do in Haiti

Before we came we wondered what we would do with the kids here. It is different than at home, but sometimes different is good.
Go to the market, but not too often because Rosalie can get a much better price than the Blan. It is just fun to see and it replaces my Costco fix I so often need!

Go on Sunday drives with Vlad up the mountain. Here you can see a little Haitian art, it really is amazing. I bought a nativity from one of the vendors there once also.

Visit with police officers that Vlad brings us to interview for security. CT was really interested in her handcuffs, thank goodness he did not see her gun. She will accompany us whenever we go places in Port-Au-Prince.

We play on the "tractors" as BJ calls them. Until Fred, the gate keeper, who lives here takes the kids down because "they are not safe". I do not think Haitian kids play a lot.

Eat at Epidor. It is the closest thing to fast food here. And it cost less than McDonalds which is AMAZING! It is even close enough that I can drive there safely.

We do Yoga to calm our bodies. Okay, maybe mostly to calm my body. Today Rosalie and Fred joined us and they laughed the whole time. I am sure we seem crazy to them. The idea of exercising for fun must seem crazy to people who walk miles to work, do physical labor all day, and eat very little.

We ride scooters. When we had the "lost bag" we prayed that it would be the one with the scooters as they were the most "unnecessary" thing we brought. After being here a few days I have realized that idea was nuts. These scooters are a lifesaver. We just need our first visitor to bring helmets now!

Visit the "zoo" which has some rabbits, a guinea pig, a one footed chicken, and a crazy monkey!

We catch lizards. The boys have "traps" set all over the yard and catch a few in their hands every day.

We try to find the lizards. See if you can see this guy hiding in the tree.

This is the same guy when he was not in camo.

Catch lizards that are so terrifed they can not even shut their mouths.

But what I really want to be doing is serving. I feel like since we have been here it has been all about us. The car, the house, the help, blah blah blah. But that is the impatient part of me again that is just ready to get going.
We are now thinking we will not be able to go to the orphanage until next week and I feel frustrated as we are here for such a short time that I do not want to miss any opportunity to be doing what we are here to do. Of course, I feel like what I am supposed to be doing right now is learning patience.

Laundry in Haiti

I love this picture because it shows the two washers that are here yet not working. If the power goes out when the washer is plugged in, it blows the mother board so washers don't last long.
But Rosalie does a better job at cleaning than any old washer anyway. And the girls love to help/wash. This picture was taken shortly before SF fell in the bucket.

The drying is a different situation. It is pretty humid up the mountain and overcast so drying is a little tricky. It took 2 days to "dry" and dry is a loose term. They usually iron everything to help it finish drying and to take that musty smell out. We do not have an iron yet. However, after smelling our "clean" towels, it is on the top of my list.

A Haitian Shower

This is what a Haitian shower looks like. We do have a small hot water heater, but we need to be careful how much water we use. So we stand in the shower, fill a bucket with water, use a large cup to dump water on us, then wash and finally rinse with water from the same water bucket. The tricky parts are trying not to let the kids step in the buckets with their dirty feet, keeping the water warm while we "shower" and rinsing well with cups of water.

Currency in Haiti

I am teaching TJ and IS money in math this year and now I know how they must feel.

The currency in Haiti is so frustrating.

The Goude- 40 Goudes = 1 American Dollar

The Haitian Dollar- 1 Haitian Dollar = 5 goudes

so 8 Haitian Dollars= 1 American Dollar

Things at the stores are priced in American Dollars, Haitian Dollars and Goudes. There is no physical Haitian Dollar you just know if you have 5 Goudes you have a Haitian Dollar. Some people will only take American Dollars from Americans, but nobody will give those out. They will not take a bill if it has any marks on it or a little rip or anything. And everyone want to be paid upfront. For example the guy we are renting from wanted 3 months plus a months worth of rent for the deposit.

You would think living here would be cheap right? NO! Its all supply and demand there are a lot of Aid workers here and not a lot of suitable housing. So, the price has sky rocketed. A lot of the places we looked at were double what our mortgage is in the States. One thing that is really sad about this economy is that the rich just keep getting richer here. And rich is crazy rich, like nothing you see in the States, at least nothing I see in the states. Maybe I am oblivious.

Questions?

We have had a lot of questions going into this. As we have talked to people about going they have asked us some of the same questions we had. Some of them are being answered, but a lot are still in God's hands. I am going to try to do some posts on some of the questions we had and how they have been answered. I will label them all Questions. Also, if you want quick updates on the blog, I think if you sign up to be a follower on the side bar it will automatically send you an e-mail when we post.

Safety in Haiti?

One of our biggest concerns/questions coming to Haiti was the safety. When we visited we realized there is a large discrepancy between what you read online and see on TV and what people experience down here. I can not say what is online and on TV is not true. I can only say what we have seen, experienced, and talked to other Americans about is very different. There is a heightened sense of watchfulness here, but where we are now we feel very safe.
Here are some of the safety precautions at our house and what we see all over the country.

There are solid fences around three sides of the houses.
All the windows are barred. This picture is actually not a window, but part of the outdoor covered patio.
There are 3 gates that we lock every night. They secure the actual house. They are really great for us because there are 2 on the two sides to the huge covered patio. So the kids can safely be outside, but not running all around. They ride their scooters in the covered patio.
The fence along our front yard. This one is a little unique as it is not solid. Most of them around here are. This is such a secure area that it is not really a concern to us. On the top of the fence there is barbed wire.
The front gate. TJ slammed into it on the first day while riding his scooter and got a bloody nose. Anyone who has seen, or made fun of (you know who you are), the size of his head knows this gate is pretty tough!
Now I am not naive enough to think that all of this offers 100% security, but neither does locking my door in the states. Just like in the states, we pray every day for our family's security. Only a little more vigilantly here. We hope you will join us in this prayer.