As we’ve been watching events unfold in the US over the past two weeks our hearts have been heavy. While it would be natural to want to speak out immediately, we’ve also been watching our friends in the black community asking that we first listen and learn, then be active in standing with them in the fight against injustice towards people of color. And by standing with them they are asking for more than words, they need us to be DOING.
I’ve been thinking and praying a lot about what our role as an organization is in the fight against injustice and standing with people of color. As I’ve been rolling all of this over in my mind and heart, and Chris and I have been talking together, I keep coming back to the place of knowing that this is the very reason that Clean Water for Haiti exists. It IS the root of why we do what we do. The organization was started to fight injustice that deeply affects people of color.
Haiti, as a nation, fought for, and then claimed its independence from slavery in 1804 – over two hundred years ago. It was the first black republic to be founded on a slave revolt. While that is amazing, we still, over 200 years later, see the scars and effects of slavery on this nation. People of color have been trying to rise out from under the oppression of slavery for centuries all around the globe, but here in Haiti the struggle has been so difficult for so many reasons.
The core of why we exist is, yes, to help provide access to clean water, but we do this because we know that the reason people in Haiti do not have access to this very basic thing is because of centuries of broken systems that continue to keep them in a state of poverty and oppression. We do it because we believe that every person has value, and yes, we want to physically work towards connecting people with a means to improve their health and situation, but more so because we believe they matter. The black lives we see around us every day, and interact with every day, they matter.
Chris and I are also Christians, and while we don’t talk about that on this platform a lot, it is the thing that drives us in everything we do and in how we lead. We believe that God has called us to love people first, no matter what. For us that means we are always coming back to that as we lead, as we develop programs, as we employ local people, as we work with our board and donors, and in how we communicate on behalf of the organization. It affects how we raise our children and how we interact with our community. We are also broken people who often make mistakes, but we try to be aware and have soft hearts so we can change and grow through those things, and ask for forgiveness when needed.
As I’ve been thinking through these things, I realized that my first thoughts about writing this were to go and list off all the things that we do as an organization to work towards justice and equality, but that’s not what’s needed right now. Right now we need to continue to listen and learn how to be a support to our brothers and sisters.
If you’re looking for resources that can help you learn and understand this Google document is a great place to start. For the month of June the movie Just Mercy is free to stream on all platforms. I had already had it in my mental list of things I wanted to watch so we’ll definitely be checking it out this month. I also just started reading White Awake, which isn’t on the list but I believe should be required reading for anyone who identifies themselves as a Christian. Another book that Chris and I both read several years ago is The Book of Negroes, which is fiction but based on a historical document by the same name.
And, while CWH is registered in both the US and Canada, we know that our greatest area of impact is here in Haiti, working to support the black lives on our staff, in our community where we live, and in the communities that we serve. It’s our commitment to do that not only in how we shape our programs, but in our employment practices, at the board level as we work on governance, in how we welcome visitors here in Haiti, in communicating with our support base, and on platforms where we share about the work that we’re doing. If you have questions about any of those things I hope you’ll reach out, and we hope you’ll join us as we continue to learn how we can fight injustice and racism.
Chris reads the Economist religiously. Every Thursday night he downloads the latest copy and then hunkers down and pours over it for the next few days, taking it all in. He has this amazing mind for details and facts, all the overwhelming and important things that most of us don’t feel like we have the time or headspace for on an average day.
Back in January, after reading the latest release, he started talking about Coronavirus, this thing that was spreading through China, and how the world needed to pay attention, because it could become something. Something big. I smiled and nodded and we left it at that.
A week or so later news started breaking more widely that it was spreading around the globe. We had some hard conversations that involved me trying to remind him of the stats and him realizing it was stressing him out. During payroll around the end of February we talked with our staff about this spreading illness, and that we all needed to be aware of it and the fact that it may come to Haiti. We talked about things we could be doing to help prevent it – hand washing, coughing into our arms, etc. One of the guys said, “It won’t come here if you believe in Jesus.” We had to inform him that a virus doesn’t care what you believe in, and that Jesus would still be with us in sickness.
We kept going as usual and watched COVID-19 spread through Europe. Then cases started in the US. Haiti put measures in place to be screening people as they arrived, starting back in mid-February. I applaud the government for that because it was ahead of most nations on that front.
A couple of weeks ago we had another meeting with our staff to talk about the fact that it was definitely going to come to Haiti and we needed to be prepared. We all kept doing life as usual but started making slight changes, like not holding hands when we did morning prayer. Haitians are very social, so this felt strange, but we adjusted.
Cases started to spread in the US and Canada. We had a visitor here at the time, and we made the decision together that she should probably head back to the US before borders closed. She flew out the afternoon that Haiti’s President announced that the borders would be closed at midnight and that flights would no longer be able to land in either of Haiti’s airports.
We talked with family back home to check in on them and see how they were doing with the now imposed “shelter in place” advisories. We kept talking with staff about government mandates here in Haiti, and how that could affect our work. We talked about potential issues with foreign organizations just because people won’t have enough knowledge to know how this is affecting the whole world, and will want someone to blame. Foreigners are the natural place to point fingers, even though recent months have seen few flying in, and many have left, because of the unrest for the past year. The bulk of people traveling in and out of Haiti are Haitians.
Last week, we collectively made the decision to continue working with safety measures in place. Our prayer circle got a lot bigger in the mornings as everyone worked to keep 6 feet between them and the next person. Some of the guys started arriving wearing their own masks, and I went to work making masks for everyone else. We stopped sending the delivery truck out after the government said no transport truck can have more than 2 people on it. Staff wanted to continue doing filter follow up visits, but had to wear masks and gloves while out. During their visits they distributed flyers with infographics about Coronavirus that showed preventative steps, and what symptoms to watch for. People were very grateful to get this info, many saying that they thought it was a joke or rumor.
We watched Haiti’s cases go from 1, to 2, to 5, to 8. This weekend cases were confirmed at 15. The Dominican Republic, which shares this little island with us, has almost 900 confirmed cases. We can’t help but wonder how accurate Haiti’s numbers are. We suspect there are many more cases here, but because of lack of testing facilities and resources people either aren’t getting tested, or won’t get tested. We’ve heard that some places are reporting threats to those that test positive for COVID-19, so it would be a major deterrent for anyone getting tested. Haitians are also constantly dealing with respiratory illnesses at this time of the year from various colds, flues and dust, as well as a long list of maladies that are fever based. It wouldn’t be a surprise to find out that many have COVID-19, but wouldn’t even know it or know the symptoms to be different from other things they’re used to seeing. And, there’s a different acceptance of death here, sadly.
Last year was hard and discouraging. In the midst of rising political unrest we had the accident with the truck that left 6 of our guys injured, and a woman lost her life. We were down a vehicle and have been for the past year. One of the guys is still recovering after needing long-term care.
Last fall we spent about 4 months at home, only leaving a handful of times because of the political unrest. During the first few weeks we kept thinking that something would shift, because it wasn’t sustainable for the country to keep going that way. No fuel, roads closed, schools closed, people not able to move around, etc. When we reached 6 weeks we realized that we didn’t know what to expect, and shifted into a mindset where we couldn’t plan anything with any amount of certainty. We had plan A, B, C, and sometimes D. Our staff were amazing and kept pushing, but we could see that everyone was weary and struggling for so many reasons.
One thing that I can honestly appreciate about what we went through last year is that we got used to being home and isolated. Many of our expat friends left the country, and we couldn’t go places, so we got used to being at home. One day when supplies were getting through I made a trip into St. Marc to go grocery shopping and bumped into friends at the store. It had been about a month and a half since I’d seen other people outside of our staff and community. I almost cried, and felt ridiculous for it. But, it felt so good to see people.
We got used to having to think about all possible sides, to buy supplies when the opportunity was there, and to lay low when needed. We valued each day that we could be working. We valued each day that was safe enough for anyone to be out doing work in a normal way, or to travel to do things that had been put off, whether that was getting fuel, or being able to get to Port au Prince to run errands.
By the time Christmas rolled around, and things were open enough for us to leave for a few weeks of vacation in the US with family, we were tired. It wasn’t that we were physically drained, it was weariness and being drained emotionally. You see, that waiting and watching takes its toll.
And here we are again. And I already feel weary. This life has brought so much in the years that we’ve been here, and I just feel weary right now.
We’re watching things happening around the world, and have been watching for weeks. We’re worrying about family and friends back home as we see cases daily increase. And we’re waiting and watching to see what will happen here in Haiti.
In a place like Haiti social distancing isn’t an option. People live day to day, whether it’s working to earn enough money to feed their families, or going to the market to buy that day’s allotment of food. People don’t have electricity to have refrigeration, so they can’t stock up and stay home. Kids have literally lost an entire year of school between the political unrest and now COVID-19. The government is trying to educate the population, to enforce things like putting space between people on tap taps and other public transit, but we know that’s futile because as soon as the machine is out of sight from the police they’ll be loading up again.
It feels futile, but we’re trying to set an example by putting measures in place at work to keep everyone safe, but we all know that they’re coming in contact with any number of people through their day and time at home. They’re traveling on public transit, and their family members are out doing life as well. Most of our staff are taking things seriously, but there’s an element of knowing that we can all only do so much.
I feel weary in the waiting and watching. We have no idea what to expect when COVID-19 really starts moving here. Actually, I think we DO know what to expect, but we’re praying that there will be some sort of miracle that will happen here. The truth is, people live in very close quarters, and there aren’t enough resources to go around. Haiti has over 11 million people living here, and I’ve heard there are only about 50-70 ventilators in the whole country. Families are used to knowing they won’t get the care they might need, and seeing a government that is always looking to see what kind of advantage can be found in a situation versus trying to do the right thing. I think most people will resign themselves to the fact that people will die, and there won’t be a thing they can do about it.
It’s so hard to sit in that place of waiting and watching. It’s emotionally exhausting. But, I can find things to be grateful for in this season.
Our years here in Haiti have taught us to dig in for the long-term, and I’m grateful for that knowing what is to come over the next weeks and months. Here in Haiti we’re used to working on a different time table. Things always take more time than you think they will. We don’t always like it (ha!), but it is what it is. I never would have thought we could stay home for weeks, let alone months, but last fall showed us that we could. And that we didn’t suffer. As we look at the progressing pandemic, we’re not thinking weeks for this thing to move through Haiti, we’re thinking months. We’re planning with that mindset. It’s hard, but we know that’s the way we need to go now.
I know too, that it’s much easier to plan for the harder way, than it is to expect it to be easier. If we plan and think long-term, willing to dig in and hunker down for months if need be, then we’re prepared and wrapping our hearts and minds around that. If we expect it to be anything less, we will struggle and fight more, and deal with more disappointment and be more distracted, than if we take a long-term view.
We know how to be flexible, and when we need to release things too. It doesn’t mean it’s easy, we just know that it needs to be done. We normally plan our annual vacation for the summer. We’ve already been talking to our kids about the reality that it might not happen on that time line either because borders will still be closed, or it might not be safe to travel at that point. If that’s the case, we’ll just bump it back to a point where it is a good time to take it. We started homeschooling it the first part of last year, and it’s been a huge blessing for us because it meant we could continue with the kids school all last fall when all other schools were closed down. Again, this is a think of stability for us, and thankfully I listened to my gut and ordered the last bits of our school books to a friend’s airmail address rather than planning to bring them back during our vacation. They arrived at our house on the weekend and I let out a sigh of relief. If we can’t leave, we can continue on with school and our kids don’t lose anything, and it helps us have some routine and stability when everything else feels uncertain. Our kids actually ask if we’re doing school every day because they rely on that routine, and we’re so thankful for that.
Most of all I think our years here have taught us that we’re much more resilient than we think we are. We can get through more than we think we can. We can feel deeper, process more, grieve deeply and still come out the other side. It may be hard, but we know we’ll be okay. Yes, we worry about our staff, about our mental and emotional health, and about our kids and their hearts, but we try to leave those things in God’s hands and trust that he’s walking with us, carrying us when needed.
So yes, I feel weary right now. But, I am not without hope and peace. This season is going to be a hard one, there is no doubt. There will be loss and pain, grief, anger… all the things. I pray that through it we’ll still be able to keep hope and find joy in things too. To appreciate the small things in our days, to remember how fortunate we are to have each other. I pray that we’ll learn through this and choose to do some things differently when all is said and done. All in all I hope it makes us better people.
The topic for today is Haiti’s current socio-political
situation. It’s a very complicated situation, and there are many things we
don’t know, and can’t know. With such limited information and contradictory
information in the media, the simplest thing to do is to grab onto an
interpretation of the situation that falls into a narrative we can all relate
to – that there are “good guys” and “bad guys” and that things will get better
when the good guys win. The one thing I’m sure of in this situation is that
there are no “good guys”. Corruption is virtually universal amongst Haiti’s
leaders, and political struggles are largely about how the spoils are to be
divided among them.
The president:
Jovenel Moise was elected a few years ago. He is the chosen
successor of the previous president, Michel Martelly. Martelly may or may not
have known Moise before picking him as his successor to run the Tet Kale (bald
head) political party. In Haiti, the president can serve two, five year terms
but not consecutively, so one strategy is to have a close associate serve a
term in between your two terms as a seat-warmer of sorts. There is little more
than speculation about the relationship between these two presidents. I have
heard that they have almost no contact, and I have also heard that they meet
once a week.
Moise was elected as president largely because he was seen
as a successful businessman. He started an organic plantain plantation to produce
for export, so he became known as Neg Banan (Plantain Man). The plantation is
now defunct.
Opposition:
Confusingly, the opposition is loosely led by Jean-Charles Moise, so there are two Moises involved, not related to each other. Jean Charles was a main candidate in the last election, which was disputed and needed to be re-held.
The head of the senate, Youri Latortue, is also a leading
member of the opposition. Wikeleaks published an intercepted a communique from
the U.S. ambassador which stated Youri Latortue was “one of the most brazenly corrupt of
leading Haitian politicians.”
Venezuela & PetroCaribe:
With the PetroCaribe program, Venezuela sold fuel to the
Haitian government for credit, to be repaid later. The idea was for the funds
received from fuel re-sold by the government to the various gas stations around
Haiti to be used for building roads, social programs, and the like. A LOT of
the money has been stolen, but we don’t have all of the information about where
the money went. The program is now over.
Recently, the U.S. put pressure on Haiti to come out in
opposition to Maduro’s government in Venezuela at the U.N. This upset a lot of
Haitians, who saw the PetroCaribe program as a huge help to Haiti. It’s common
for people to say that the people stand with Maduro, even if the government
doesn’t.
USA:
The USA has been heavily involved in Haiti since the fall of
the Duvalier regime which lasted from 1958-1986. The Duvalier regime was a
period of autocratic stability without democracy, and the U.S. hoped to see a
stable democracy begin after Baby Doc’s departure. After an interim period when
a new constitution was written, Aristide was elected by a landslide – not
America’s choice at all. However, after the military coup d’etat in 1992,
Aristide took refuge in the USA and continued to control a large amount of
Haitian government money which he used to lobby the US government and the
Organization of American States to put an embargo on Haiti to force the
military regime to collapse and accept Aristide back. The Clintons have a
sentimental attachment to Haiti (they honeymooned here) and Bill backed the
effort with redoubled effort when he became president, bringing about his
return. The US remained heavily involved, along with a U.N. mission in ’94-’95
after Aristide’s return. Aristide finished his first term, helped Preval get
elected under his Lavalas party banner (as seat warmer), then was elected to a
second term in 2000.
Aristide upset the Americans in many ways. He was not America’s
favorite candidate. It’s surprising that he was brought back, until you
consider both the lobbying money being spent and the growing power of the
Haitian-American voting block in the US. There are about 3 million Haitian
Americans living in the U.S., and many of them saw Aristide as a hero. After
his return in ’94, he went back on a number of promises which he made to the
U.S. officials as they negotiated his return.
In his second term, Aristide continued to upset the
Americans. In 2003 they backed an uprising against him with the aid of Guy
Philippe, who led an armed group around northern Haiti, chasing the police away
from each town they came to, until eventually marines from the U.S. embassy
knocked on Aristide’s door and whisked him off into a plane headed to the
Central African Republic. Three days later 2000 marines arrived along with the
French foreign legion to quell the massive rioting that accompanied Aristide’s
departure.
The U.N. took over for the marines, and stayed for 13 years.
In 2010 came the earthquake, and planeloads of do-gooders arrived from the U.S.
The 101st airborne came for a while. As far as I can tell, they were
basically here for photo ops while Haiti was the main item in the news cycle,
but I digress. (An airdrop on the Petionville Golf Club? Seriously?)
That brings us to now. The current U.S. administration is
NOT interested in being involved in Haiti – a major departure from the past 43
years. I’m not sure that this is a bad thing. In any case, they are not getting
involved.
Canada:
Canada will follow whatever the USA does, probably. They
won’t get involved.
France:
France is Haiti’s old colonial power. Haiti is the only country in the world to be founded on a slave revolt, and won independence from France in 1804. Some time later, the Haitian government agreed to pay France reparations for the value of the slaves which they stole from them (plus land, other properties) at the threat of attack by the French military. That’s pretty messed up. Payments on this “debt” were made for over 100 years, and only ended in the 1940s. Aristide gained enthusiastic support in Haiti by demanding this money back in his second term. It didn’t go over so well in France.
I heard recently that France is continuing to support
Jovenel Moise because they are worried Aristide could come back to power if he
leaves. I have trouble believing that this is really an issue with the French;
surely they know that Aristide will never come back to power again. Even in
Haiti, people think that two coup d’etat against the same president is too
many. It’s also against the constitution to run for a third term.
The point though, is France isn’t getting involved.
The U.N.
MINUSTAH was a peacekeeping mission without any armies to
keep apart (Aristide disbanded Haiti’s army in 1995). It was widely criticized,
even from leaders within the mission. There were several scandals, including
the introduction of cholera to Haiti, goat stealing, and lots of rape. If they
raided gang bases they were accused of human rights violations, but if they did
nothing, they were accused of… doing nothing. The U.N. is probably not going to
get involved. As far as I know, Haiti isn’t even an item up for discussion.
Aristide:
After living in exile for 10 years in South Africa, Aristide
moved back to Haiti. His party, Lavalas, is still active but not very popular.
He influences Haitian politics in many ways, but does not take the limelight.
Duvalier:
Baby Doc Duvalier returned to Haiti around the same time
Aristide did, then died a few years later. Even dead, though, Duvalierism lives
on. A surprising number of people would like to see Haiti go back to the
oppressive, yet stable, ways of the Duvalier regime.
Cocaine:
As a major trans-shipment point, Haiti is a non-producing
narco-state. Many wealthy and aspiring-to-be-wealthy Haitians are involved in
the drug trade, and it’s common to move back and forth between cocaine selling
and politicking. It’s key to have political connections when you’re moving
cocaine, and a politician can make a lot of money by facilitating the movement
of cocaine in and out of the country. It would be difficult to overstate just
what a profoundly negative effect America’s drug habit has on Haiti. The value
of the cocaine trade in relation to Haiti’s total GNP is substantial, and
breeds corruption like crazy. The cocaine trade may explain America’s seemingly
erratic involvement in Haiti. The DEA is heavily involved in America’s policy
towards Haiti in ways that are never made public.
So what’s going on in Haiti?
The Haitian government sets the fuel price in Haiti. The
slow-motion disaster started for Moise when in July 2018, he announced a fuel
price raise just as Brazil lost a football match to Belgium. Haitians love
football, and Brazil is by far the favorite team. Jovenel’s plan was that
Haitians would be pleased about Brazil’s easy win and be distracted from the
price rise. Oops. With the loss, many people rioted and burned businesses in protest
to the fuel price rises. (All the worst-hit businesses were Syrian-Haitian
owned, for some reason.) Moise backed off on the planned price hike, leading to
the inevitable: In an attempt to continue to pay for the subsidized fuel, the
government had to dilute the money supply. This is devaluing Haiti’s currency, leading
to the nominal Gourde price of fuel to become less and less in USD terms,
causing the fuel subsidies to be still more expensive, causing the currency to
devalue further, etcetera. The price of diesel is now about $1.80, way less
than it needs to be for financial stability.
The first fuel shortage was in February. People became
frustrated, and protests broke out which extended well past when fuel became
available again. Eventually people got tired of the disruption and the protests
petered out.
In March the police arrested a group of foreign mercenaries,
including retired navy SEALs, outside of the national bank. They most likely
had been hired by the president himself in an effort to have some government
funds transferred to an account he controls. It’s a clear violation of Haiti’s
constitution for mercenaries to be employed this way on Haitian soil, but
unsurprisingly, the mercenaries were released and flew back the U.S. the next
day and faced no consequences.
There are accusations that the president has paid
troublemakers to take various actions around the city, and that he has provided
gangs with guns. That may or may not be true. It’s certainly true that
troublemakers are being paid by multiple people or groups. There are also a LOT
of guns around, far more than in the past.
Just like the previous president, Jovenel Moise is
attempting to revive the Haitian army. This is a move favored by Duvalierists
who look back to the happy times when political dissent was quickly met with a
crushing response by authorities.
The more recent fuel shortage, starting in late August, has
been much more severe. At this point (Oct 29), there is fuel available in Port
au Prince but not outside of the capital, because there is only one fuel depot
that tanker trucks can fill up at, and the roads leading out of Port au Prince
to the north and south are blocked by angry young men.
Most protests in Haiti start out with paid leaders. For
political reasons, politicians (or anyone) will pay young, unemployed men to
block the highway, throw rocks and generally make trouble. The payment can be
cash, but it might just be clairin (Haitian moonshine). Other, unpaid young men
may join in the protest too. In this most recent instance, the road blockages
have gone on a LONG time. In desperation, people have been making the road trip
into the capital anyway, allowing money to be extracted from them by the young
men manning the road blocks along the way. Inevitably, the result is that many
of the angry, young, unemployed men have spied a business opportunity. The
result is widespread banditry along the highways. I’m really unhappy about this
trend.
How did things get so bad?
Ultimately, the biggest reason is universal corruption. Government
corruption got quite a bit worse under the previous president, and Jovenel
Moise was elected under the same party banner. The previous congressional
elections were held without eliminating candidates with a criminal history, so a
number of senators and deputies have a criminal past. The political struggle is
between different corrupt groups, all of which have no problem with sacrificing
the Haitian people to gain or maintain power. It’s much easier to steal if your
own people control the national treasury.
The Haitian constitution of 1986 contains a lot of checks
and balances. For example, the President must appoint a Prime Minister who runs
the day-to-day affairs of the country, but the Senate must ratify the
president’s nomination. Unless a senator is from the president’s own political
party, he/she will typically need to receive some sort of payment before voting
in favor. Strangely, a senator recently admitted to taking $100,000 for voting
in favor of Jovenel’s choice for prime minister without any apology whatsoever.
While checks and balances seem like a good idea on paper, or seem to work in
America’s own constitution, in Haiti’s case the result is complete gridlock.
Haiti has a large cohort of single, unemployed, angry young
men who feel like they have had their future stolen and they don’t know who to
blame. In addition to the lack of opportunities in the economy, matters are
made worse because Haiti is a (unofficially) polygamous society and, like other
polygamous societies around the world, it disenfranchises
young men. Two things have come along in the past 10 years to make this
group even more volatile: motorcycles and smart phones. Those two things
together mean that whatever perceived outrage might occur at a particular
moment can immediately spawn a group of angry rock throwers. They feed off one
another’s anger, and are keen to impress each other with acts of bravado. These
young men want desperately to create a life for themselves and to be part of
something that’s important. People in politics use this group as much as they
can to try to achieve their goals.
In the past, the Haitian army would have put a stop to civil
unrest. After the army was disbanded, the police took on that role. At the
moment, the police are very unhappy with their situation. I heard that they
haven’t been paid in the past 4 months, which may or may not be accurate. The
police actually joined protesters marching in Port au Prince on the weekend.
Even at the best of times, the police are a weak institution with a very
top-heavy command structure that discourages independent action. They don’t
have the capacity to deal with the present crisis.
What is going to happen next?
I don’t know. But I have an idea of what is NOT going to
happen.
There is not going to be a foreign intervention. For
decades, every time the situation in Haiti has gotten out of control there has
been a foreign intervention. Haitians from all social classes seem convinced
that we are about to have a foreign intervention again, but I strongly believe
the situation has changed. The U.S. is concerned with internal politics and the
current administration has little interest in third world countries. The recent
U.N. mission is widely considered a failure, so they aren’t coming back soon.
When protesters block roads and throw rocks, they are
largely playing to an international audience that isn’t looking. When they say
“we’re going to make the president leave” they really mean to say that they’re
going to make the USA decide to make him leave.
A common refrain I’m hearing is that things are going to get
better, because they can’t get worse. Of course, they can get a lot worse.
Things may get worse or they may get better, but it’s hard to see a way through
at this point. Perhaps secret meetings are going on even now and people are
figuring out a way through the mess, but I doubt it.
What should happen?
I don’t know. I don’t know if there should be another
foreign intervention. The previous interventions haven’t worked. They have been
implemented with the internal politics of foreign countries in mind, not the
good of the Haitian people. Some Haitians state that “the foreigners” should
either occupy Haiti altogether or leave it alone to figure out its own issues. Haiti’s
socio-political issues are very, very complex, but a dynamic that makes it
worse is that Haitians have come to expect solutions to come from abroad rather
than from within.
I don’t believe a new leader coming along is going to fix
everything. It’s wishful thinking. As far as I can see, there are no “good
guys”. Worse than that, if a “good guy” did come along, I don’t see how he/she
could make a difference while working within Haiti’s political system. There
are currently no consequences for a wide range of evil behaviors if you are
part of the political or elite social class. A well-intentioned leader, focused
on eliminating corruption, would likely find themselves assassinated.
I don’t know if it’s possible, but I would really like to
see parts of Haiti’s constitution rewritten to avoid the continual political
deadlock. I’ve heard discussion of a new constitution where the elected
president leads the country directly without a prime minister, the chamber of
deputies is eliminated, and the senate is reduced by half. It sounds like a
good idea to me. There could be fewer checks and balances, while creating ways
to ensure greater transparency. The idea of centralizing power to improve a
corrupt system may seem counterintuitive, but there needs to be someone in
charge for there to be accountability. With the current system, everyone blames
everyone else, the truth of the matter is elusive and accountability doesn’t
exist.
For my part, I’m going to keep doing the work at Clean Water for Haiti. We’ve found a way to help the Haitian people advance that doesn’t involve politics. We don’t get involved in politics. Our program is mainly for the poorest of the poor, people who wouldn’t dream of throwing a rock or blocking a highway. Even though things are unpleasant, we’ll wait out the violence, anti-foreigner sentiment and fuel lines. We’re helping people, and even though it doesn’t always feel like it, we’re helping to make Haiti a better place.
“Peyi lock” are words we’ve been hearing more frequently in the past year. It translates to “country lockdown” and it’s a statement about current political issues getting so bad, the country is locked down and people can’t go about their day in a normal way.
Since last summer Haiti has been building steam toward a major outbreak of civil unrest. Chris and I have been watching it slowly roll, and after each of us spending more than a decade in country, we knew it was just a matter of time until things blew up completely.
Last summer the sitting president announced a major hike in gas prices, which is something that needs to happen, but the method was a major shock to the system, so to speak and people revolted. Since then, every few months or so, we’ve been going through days of the country being locked down, or “peyi lock”, as people protest the current government. These “lockdowns” take the form of roads being blocked by rocks, rubble, and burning tires and are manned by protestors. They can and have and do get violent at times, and in the really bad ones, police show up to try and restore order, which can result in tear gas or shooting. It’s not good, but it’s the way things work here in Haiti. This method of getting the government’s attention has been used for generations, and to the people, feels like the only way to be heard.
From an outsiders perspective it seems extreme, but I come from a country where my vote matters and my voice can be heard in many ways, so I can understand the frustration of feeling like you have to resort to extremes to have anyone pay attention. The sad part is that Haiti has built up a reputation because of this cycle, and so many of the good things that are here get missed because of it.
For the past few weeks we’ve been experiencing gas shortages and supply issues. There IS fuel in country, but businesses are not selling it consistently to put pressure on the government to raise prices. That does need to happen because Haiti was getting subsidized fuel for a long time, and the government set the price per gallon based on that, but when that supply ran out prices didn’t go up to reflect the regular market price, so Haiti has been selling fuel at a deficit for years.
As the lack of fuel increased throughout the country, people started to protest. Last week we had to stop sending staff out because we couldn’t get fuel, or because they couldn’t get where they needed to go because of roads being blocked by protestors. This week things have escalated. On Thursday rumors were circulating that Thursday would be a bit quieter, but for everyone to prepare for the “bataille finale” – the final battle – on Friday.
We’re never quite sure what to believe or listen to when rumors start to fly, so our usual approach is to just keep doing what we do every day, and see what happens without getting worked up or making big plans. CWH is very self-contained, in that we have a full solar system that powers everything for us, including our water pump that pumps water from our well to our holding tank for use around the compound. As long as our staff can get to work, we can work. And all through the unrest for the past year they’ve showed up every day, even when things were bad, so we just kept working. Yesterday we did exactly the same thing – we got up and we went to work, and so did the rest of our staff. Many were late because of road blocks between home and work, but they eventually got here and did a full day.
As the morning went on reports of major unrest through the country started to spread, including photos and videos. It’s hard to describe just how “big” this is, other than saying that Chris was here through 2003 and 2004 when things got really bad before Aristide left, and this is like that. In the 14 years that I’ve lived here, things haven’t been on this level.
I/we always try to be prudent in what we share, because we don’t want to exaggerate or blow situations out of proportion. Haiti already has enough bad press as it is. So, we try to wait and see what will happen, then share what we know to be true so those that follow what we’re doing have accurate information.
So this is what we know to be true right now…
Yesterday much of the country was shut down because of large protests. In major cities, especially Port au Prince, huge mobs took to the streets. Some were peaceful and marched and chanted. Others caused destruction of homes and businesses. Some were also violent. A lot of stuff was burned and looted. In some locations police stations were over run by gangs of people. When this happens it’s an indication that the scales have tipped, and it’s scary because everyone knows the police are already ill-equipped in situations like this. These are all things that have been verified by photos and videos, they aren’t rumor.
In our community things were quiet. The surrounding communities had roadblocks and some issues, but other than not being able to go anywhere, we weren’t affected by those. Our community has always had a reputation of being peaceful and calm and as one that doesn’t get involved in politics. We’re thankful for that because it means the mission is safe and that our staff can come and work when others aren’t able to do so.
We aren’t sure what will happen here in the next few weeks, but we know to prepare for this to continue, and we are as best we can. We’re asking you to pray for Haiti right now, and to follow along with what’s happening. One of the best news sources for what happens here is the Miami Herald. You can also sign up for our email updates and I’d encourage you to follow our Facebook page. We’ve recently started doing video updates so we can get a bit more personal in how we share.
Thanks for praying for this beautiful, complex country that we love so much.
It’s a question we get often as we share about what we do here at Clean Water for Haiti, and it’s a good one to be asking. People want to know if their investment in helping get Haitian families clean water is going to be a long-term thing.
For Chris and I, and our long-term staff, we know that filters can last a long time, because we’ve all had first-hand experience with them in that regard. Before CWH moved to it’s new facilities, the filter in the round house (it was literally a round house) had been working for 14 years, and we only had to clean it a couple of times, because our water source there was clear and the filter didn’t clog up at all. All of our staff are gifted a filter after 1 month of employment, so all CWH employees have had experience with their own filters working for many years. Some of our guys have been with us for over a decade, and their filters are still serving their families well.
But, what about filters that we install in the homes of others, for people who don’t have the same background and experience with the filters that all of us at CWH do? Do those filters last as long, and serve as well?
Last fall a missionary couple that we’ve known for about as long as Chris has lived in Haiti (early 2003) called to ask if we could send one of our filter technicians to check on their filter because it had stopped flowing properly, and none of the user maintenance that we teach our filter owners was working.
Kendy arrived and found one of our “gran moun” filters – one of the “old men” of CWH filters that have been installed. Mike and Marion said that they believed we installed this old man back in 2003, before CWH went through some revision projects to help decrease the size of the filter to make it lighter and use less materials, while maintaining it’s filtration capacity.
This version of the bio-sand filter was the same version that Dr. David Manz designed when he did the first designs for household use. Dr. Manz didn’t ever patent the designs, because he wanted them to be “open source” and free to the world. His goal was to make household water filtration available to anyone who needed it, whether they lived off the grid, or in a developing country with few resources for treating water. Last year Dr. Manz was inducted into the Alberta Order of Excellence for his work with biosand water filters.
The filter that Mike and Marion had, and that CWH used for the first few years of operation, was a beast. The concrete box itself weighed 330 lbs. That’s before any of the sand and gravel needed for installation was added. Another 90 lbs of sand and gravel goes inside the filter to make it function properly. We recently reinstalled one of our very first filters to use in the guest house, which was the same version that Mike and Marion had, and it took four of our guys to move it into the guest house to install. Can you imagine what our staff had to go through way back in the day when they were installing these things? Or the wear and tear on our delivery trucks?
Kendy, as he was attempting to do the repairs on the filter, commented that it was like working with a stranger. Everything was so different from what we do now in our filter program.
The filter box was bigger and heavier. The sand inside was coarser from what we use now. Instead of a diffuser basin there was a lip on the inside of the filter and a plastic plate (diffuser plate) was used. The lids, while nice varnished wood, were very basic compared to the carved lids we used now that are made by local craftsmen.
Kendy’s tools in his installation kit didn’t match the tube on the filter, so it was difficult to do some of the routine work that our technicians do. In Kendy’s opinion, we’ve made a lot of changes for the better over the years.
After working to do the normal cleaning, the filter wouldn’t run properly. Kendy took all the sand out and washed it, then reinstalled it – twice.
The filter still wouldn’t work, and after exhausting all options he and Evens, our foreman, decided to have Daniel drive a new filter over to Mike and Marion’s to replace the old man filter that had gone into retirement.
While Kendy was working Marion told us how much they had loved using their filter over the years, and told stories of the thousands of gallons of water that it had treated for them in that time. Imagine – 16 years of filtering water!
After Daniel arrived with the new filter, he and Kendy did quick work of installing it for Mike and Marion so they could once again have a working filter in their home. While they were sad to say good-bye to their old friend, Marion really liked the blue filter that Daniel had chosen for her.
So, is this story of a 16 year old filter a common thing for CWH, or a rarity?
Well, the truth is, we don’t know. We DO know that the filters owned by our staff and that are used at the mission compound have served us for over a decade (with the exception of the newest ones installed after we moved), with all the normal maintenance we teach our filter owners.
Part of our service plan to our beneficiaries is to visit their filter one month, three months, and one year after installation. During those visits we make sure the filter is working properly, and we reinforce the maintenance and user education. Because of those visits, and the data that we gather during each one, we know that over 95% of our filters are still being used after the first year. But, we didn’t know what happened beyond that, so we decided to find out. Two years ago we started doing 5 year follow up visits, and tracking that data as well. It turns out that this year, when those visits on filters installed in 2014 were done, over 80% of them were still being used!
Is it worth investing in Clean Water for Haiti, with the hope that you’ll be helping to provide clean water for a family for many years to come?
This is a place where you can come and read about the day to day happenings around Clean Water for Haiti. Our hope is that it will be a way for you to connect in a personal way with our staff, the work we're doing, and the people of Haiti. Enjoy!