Haitian situation

The doctors are back! This sounds like a title for a really dumb faux-scary movie, but it´s the truth here. The doctors are back from a required two-week sabbatical and are now back to seeing patients, diagnosing illnesses, and generally being superhumans. It´s so great to have them back and not turn away patients. That was absolutely the hardest part, seeing patients with Impetigo or abscesses and having to turn them away, solely because the licensed person was not at the clinic. It breaks your heart to see people in need and not be able to do anything. To everyone´s relief, that lasted only for two weeks and now we are back to nearly working perfectly.

I feel like all I talk about is the clinic, so I will try to talk about something else now, to keep all you readers out there (I´m assuming there are readers out there?) interested. I don´t believe I have really talked about the situation here in Haiti, so I will do my best to illustrate it.

When I first came here, in March of this year, I really didn´t know much about Haiti. I knew of the situation, but I didn´t do much research into the politics, economy, government, etc. All of this is extremely fascinating, humbling, infuriating information, by the way. When I got here, I saw the people working on the sidewalks, selling mangoes or grapefruits on laid out sheets, squatting since they have no chairs. Drinking water from small plastic bags, then discarding onto the street when empty, joining the various other pieces of trash. Never did I seen a trash can or garbage truck. Kids running up to the windows begging for money, speaking a few words in Créole, French, English to appeal to as many of the passengers as possible. It´s hard to describe how contradictory Haiti is.

Haiti is a post-industrialized nation, meaning it had been industrialized, but has since collapsed, with the economy and government mostly to blame. In 1957, a president was democratically elected, then named himself president for life. While he was president, he morphed into an autocrat and a terrorist of his own people, and managed to scare away a large portion of the educated in Haiti. This caused further desolation of the Haitian people, since a majority could not read or write (even now, about 50% are illiterate). Doctors, teachers, and other highly trained professionals left in droves for kinder and safer countries, leaving Haiti without people to care for it. Papa Doc remained all-powerful until he died in 1971, then his airhead of a son becamse president and further messed up the country. In 1986, Baby Doc fled the country, like the coward without cojones that he was. The uprising of the people was enough to scare him off. This left Haiti without a government, without an economy, and with hardly any allies, thanks to the Duvalier devils.

Anyway, after that short history lessons, Haiti is now getting back on it´s feet, thanks to enormous help from the UN. The new president was elected democratically in 2006 and has been in power longer than most of the presidents here. The Haitian police are being trained by the UN as well, to make Haiti as self-sufficient as possible. Things here are slowly improving, and now the main objective is to teach the country how to manage itself. Haitians are wary of power, understandably so, of course, so suggestions have to be made carefully so relations do not become strained. The UN here are doing a fantastic job and I have had the provilege to talk to quite a few people in the UN and they seem very hopeful about Haiti´s progress, however slow it may be. Programs are being put in place to lower the rates of kidnapping, rape, murders, etc. and the Haitian police are slowly taking charge of these programs.

The streets of Port-au-Prince look the same as they did when I was here in March; I would have been incredibly surprised otherwise. Working in the clinic now, I see these people in the mornings, have consultations with them, clean wounds, sometimes give out food or milk, and pray for them. The people do not seem to be any better off, but you can see signs of progress...men driving motorcycles, taxiing people from here to there, making meager money, but any income is something here; women selling clothes; about a third of the population sells telephone cards to the rest; others set up small stands and sell soaps and medicines and napkins and a strange hodgepodge of various household supplies. There are yet other stores, proper buildings, for car parts, tailoring clothing, photocopying, and at least every five stores you see a Lesly Center, where you can get your gambling fix by buying a lotto ticket and playing the numbers from New York. Haiti seems so close to getting back on it´s feet, but it´s this last shove that is the hardest. Keep praying for this country.