Blogs from Haiti, Central America Caribbean - page 8

Murray’s latest round of travels started with a trip to UK, for a series of meetings at head office in London. He then hopped across to Oslo for the Global Water and Sanitation Meeting, where he managed to squeeze in a day snowboarding before the main meeting started. The Global Water and Sanitation Meeting in Norway discussed setting up a global rapid response team funded by the European Commission, so that within 24 hours trained personnel can be on the ground in a disaster zone to coordinate the disaster response. Building on learning from the Haiti response the teams will now include people with information management and geographical information mapping (GIS) skills. The meeting finished with a dinner hosted by the Norwegian government. Norway’s population is similar to New Zealand’s, at 4.5 million people, but its ... read more

Today I had time off until 12:45 but had immigration procedures all morning so I couldn't go out to Miami. At immigration we received a I 95 which is similar to a passport, we have to always have it with us when we get off at any US Port. I met my roommate today, she's very nice, comes from England. There were quite a lot of interesting guests on board this week. We were quite busy today, a Sea day is always much busier than a Port day, because the passangers have nowhere else to go that to stay on board the ship and make use of the facilities. I started feeling a little ill today and had an early night. When I woke up the next day I was sooo ill, I went to the ... read more

Lake Anourse, located in the mountain of Petit-Goave, in the village of first Plaine is one the most diverse yet unique echo-system of Haiti. The variety of wild life constituting the flora and fauna of this region make it a very special. I visited Lake Arnouse with the mayor of Petit-Goave and a couple of friends on an early Saturday morning. It was a great gift discovering the uniqueness of the place and the beauty of this region. To reach Lake Arnouse from Port-au-Prince, you drive south of Port-au-Prince direction Les Cayes. From the town of Vialet (1re Plaine, section communale) turn left. The Lake will be on your right at the fork of road leading to the mountain. ... read more

I visited Morancy, a small fishermen village, located South of Port-au-Prince about 20 miles to Les Cayes. Morancy offers a natural beauty that summons the soul and overwhelms many visitors. The economic potential of the village is apparent. But the association of economic development of Morancy is unable to attract investment because of the difficulty of accessing the village on the poor road. Many agencies have promised to help but their assurances have not materialized yet. The people remain hopeful. For now, the proud villagers live of fish and small scale agriculture of subsistence awaiting for support to help them finish the road. The fishermen welcome backpacking visitors and there are possibilities of housing in the village. People have the possibility of spending a night with the villagers but prior arrangement is required ahead of time. ... read more

“You’ve gotten fatter!” is how Michelle Miney (“Michelle”) greeted me cheerfully and followed with a huge hug! I first met Michelle almost a year ago, to the day in “Wimbledon,” where Merlin had set up its emergency field hospital on abandoned tennis courts in Delmas 33, just days after the Earthquake. I remember her radiant smile and peppy personality which uplifted us all, patients and staff alike. It was clear then, that there was a lot more to Michelle than her beautiful smile and friendly spirit… A few days watching her in action, I soon realized that her bubbly personality also came with a serious sense of commitment and immense professionalism. Working around the clock with our emergency medical team, Michelle was instrumental in Merlin’s emergency response, helping to carry out over 390 surgical procedures and ... read more