Haiti realities

This is where people get in trouble, writing on personal blogs about their experiences in their work environments, around the globe.
 
So, with that in mind - here goes.  (And don't send this around.  My retirement will start even earlier!)
 
Where to start?  Lots of realities.  And that would be the title of my book about what has been happening in Haiti and my own little slice of Haiti.  Either that or "everywhere you look."
 
One reality is I am spending most of my time inside the Embassy.  I sleep here and have taken all but one of my meals here.  Meals in quotes, as it is mostly sandwiches.  I did give up sweets for Lent though!
 
When I do go out, I don't have to go far to see devastation.  Parts of the city near the Embassy are only touched in a minor way, but the downtown area, where the Palace and the government agencies has collapsed.  Piles of rubble everywhere, twisted, misshapen concrete buildings everywhere.  Lots of UN vehicles, lots of military vehicles indicate a major outside presence.
 
You also don't have to go far to see the spontaneous settlements tucked away in any available land.  The grounds of the national unviersity have been taken, but so have streets, as people are trying to stay close to where they live.
 
Before coming I thought to myself that at least it was not raining.  But that is certainly on everyone's minds now, as the rainy season begins in full force at the end of May and is even now gradually moving toward that with sporadic rains.
 
Before coming, I remember watching the Clinton-Bush press conference the first weekend after the quake, and wincing when GW said "just send cash."  Fact of the matter is now I see he is right.  People who want to do the right thing are coming up with good ideas far removed from the realities of Haiti's needs.  I know, since I did that myself before coming, on a couple of projects having to do with protection of cultural property and on use of social media.  Needs here are so basic, and Haiti's capacity to fix this is so limited. 
 
Even in the two weeks I've been here, I have seen more and more of a routine return.  International press has dwindled, airport has reopened to commercial airlines, markets have come back, lots of traffic, even in our culture section, we are starting to get the exchanges programs up and running.
 
But the challenges are everywhere.  Getting the displaced people through this rainy season is highest, but then it is rebuilding education, hospitals, businesses.  Everywhere you look.
 
Some anecdotes -
 
-- one Haitian woman who works at the Embassy and watched her house crumble around her as she stood in a doorway on the second floor, said that she thought her dog knew ahead of the time that a quake was coming, as he stayed under a bed the entire day before hand. The dog survived.
 
-- a journalist described took about 15 minutes to describe what was going through his mind during the 30 seconds of the quake, mostly in deciding where he should be moving as he was on a balcony and watched the ground and buildings move like waves in the oceans
 
-- lots of heroes.  One university lost its entire campus, but has set up tents in their parking lot for their medical students to earn credits for working in the clinics.  Another is the Muncheez pizza place, where we stopped yesterday and saw hundred of kids from the neighborhood lining up for a free mail served by the business, that they have done every day since the quake.  Our military and our disaster assistance people are incredibly committed.
 
-- And then there is the Haitian people - there were expectations of looting and mass migration and political instability.  None of that has happened.  People have different ideas why, but probably has a lot to do with the character of this nation, people helping their neighbors, their families first.
 
Throughout, I have reminded myself I have a comfortable place to return to, that this is temporary.   Hard to know what it must be like for people who do not have that. 
 
Love from down here!