Blogs from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Central America Caribbean - page 6

June 11 - evening There has been an SA cadet who came here in April for a 4 week tour. He had his passport stolen along with other valuables. This has become a nightmare for this young man. He went through a tortuous process to get a new passport, that took several weeks. Then another long process to get another visa (necessary for non-USA citizens for foreign travel). He was pointed out to me as someone in need upon my arrival 3 weeks ago. I have spent many hours over the last few weeks, talking with him, encouraging him on a daily basis. At long last today he finally had everything together and was able to purchase his airline ticket to go home! Tonight, at our team meeting, we went around the table, sharing the events ... read more

Ça fait maintenant plus de 2 semaines que je suis ici, et j'adore ça car là j'ai vraiment l'impression de vivre ici. J'ai ma petite routine, je connais les gens, les endroits, où faire mon épicerie, comment appeler localement et internationalement, comment et où faire mon lavage, bref, plein de petits détails de la vie qui font qu'au début, c'est de l'adaptation. Les deux premières semaines étaient de l'adaptation à tout. Les gens, le travail, la langue, la culture, la chaleur, l'appartement, tout. Maintenant, je sais comment dire mon nom en Créole, je sais ou aller faire mon épicerie et quoi acheter et quoi éviter, je me retrouve dans l'ambassade et dans la ville, les rues me sont familières, l'accent aussi, je connais mes collègues, bref, la période d'adaptation et d'inconfort est passée, maintenant je me ... read more

Henk sent me off to another meeting this morning. This was a combined NGO seminar on Anti-Kidnapping Self Protection Measures. If you will recall, prisons were destroyed in the earthquake, releasing prisoners back into the population. There have been incidences of gang warfare as these prisoners 'jockey' for positions. There have been hightened concerns that NGO personnel may become targets for quick-turn kidnappings for ransom. The seminar was very well done, led by a UN officer from Spain (some experience in this type of crime) and a UN officer from Columbia (LOTS of experience!) The seminar was very interesting and, of course, mostly common sense suggestions. NGOs have alreay been instructed to set curfews and, if traveling at night, to go in large groups. The SA sticks strictly to all security guidelines. Everyone continues to dote ... read more

Apparently Henk is intent on giving me a broad range of experiences here in Haiti. He asked me to attend a meeting on Recovery for Haiti at the Ministry de Planification' (say that with a French accent please). Since we were uncertain if the meeting would be in French or English, I went with an interpreter. We found the government office easily, passed through security, found the conference room and waited. Others came for the meeting and we had interesting conversations with a group from South Korea, a lady from Brazil, and also a man representing an Islamic humanitarian group. At 20 minutes past the appointed meeting time (even in Haitian time), we decided we needed to find someone to question about the meeting. The Brazilian lady left and came back about 5 minutes later with ... read more

Wednesday June 9 Apparently, Henk is intent on giving me all kinds of new experiences. Today, I was assigned to attend two meetings at the UN Logistics Base. The UN base is built next to the airport and is built almost entirely of large 'containers' and quonsot huts. The base is walled, with watch towers and is heavily guarded. Lots of vehicles, lots of firepower. I understand there is 5 battalions there. Most NGO meetings are held here for security reasons. I attended a Security/NGO meeting first; then a Humanitarium Forum. Most of the complaints at the Forum are about the difficulties and long delays in releasing shipping containers from the customs at the port. All organizations are experiencing the same problems we (the Salvation Army) are strugglling with. We have a new joke - there ... read more