On the way to rainbows and butterflies

Day five: As a group we have decided to stay in town to interview some people. Unfortunately nobody told the group measuring trees that we weren’t going with them so there is some confusion and, I think, hurt feelings. First we investigate what has happened to last year’s group mango dryers. A severe problem in Haiti is malnutrition. Wouldn’t it be sweet if they had fruit and veggies year round? The dryers are around but not in use, not even the one in the HTRIP manager’s backyard. We talk with the American mechanic at the hospital who has decided to hire half of his recently-fired staff to build mango dryers and sell the product in the market. If they don’t turn a profit in a week, they are fired. This plan has several flaws: it is mango season so why in heck would someone buy a dried one; men do not sellthings in the market; the dried mangos aren’t quite dry enough and therefore don’t store well.  Anyhoo, this guy is acharacter. A veritable genius (Carnegie Mellon robotics anyone?) who refuses tolearn Kreyol he nevertheless imparts several insights on the culture:

“Haitians spend the most money on death, school, charcoal,and cooking oil in that order.”
“To figure out the culture here is like trying to psychoanalyzea teenager.”
“The strong survive. The weak die.”
Later that day we interview one of the technicians andrealize that we have failed to explain ourselves when he finally asks us whothey heck are we.  Oops. The interviewsare enlightening. Most of the technicians believe that HTRIP is doing greatwork and has the interest of the Haitian people in mind. They are generallyoptimistic and constructive suggestions for future success. On the whole,problems cited are logistical. I hope that as we have provided a forum bringthese ideas to the surface…where they will stay and be used.
Day 6: One day we head up to a community whose name I forgetbut we refer to it as “beyond Barbe,” Barbe being the furthest community thatHTRIP is working in. My knees hurt so while the others hike the last fewkilometers I endure the bumpiest ride to man. At one point I actually jump outof the jeep because it seems preferable to hobble than jolt. I have a strangecrisis at one point. There is a teeny tiny market (ie four women selling tinysandwich bags of noodles) along the road. Ross stops to buy a bag which promptsme to wonder if in his well-intentioned way of spending money he has justbought someone else’s very needed noodles. I mean these women probably don’tget new supplies very often. I don’t say anything. In “Beyond Barbe” we meetwith the community to explain what HTRIP is and how it works. (Or rather wewatch the meeting take place.) The way that the program works is that 30 peoplehave to commit to participate the first year and that each year a new 30 willbe trained in tree planting techniques. Coming from Bolivia, the least denselypopulated country in the Western Hemisphere, to Haiti, the most denselypopulated country, I keep finding myself thinking, “But where will they find 30people all the way out here?” But there are people everywhere, even where itappears that only goats go. Additionally this land is steep and rocky andcompletely unsuitable for agriculture…but people plant on the stark hills. Weare told that people arrive at the hospital with injuries caused by “fallingout of their fields” and I can see how this happens. On the way back down I optfor the jeep once again and share a bench with the boniest man ever. He is sosharp that I wouldn’t be surprised if I have lasting damage.
Day 7: We sit in on a staff meeting. The staff goodnaturedly correct the American manager’s Kreyol. He handles it gracefully. Iknow that this week has been stressful. Suddenly 20 nosy graduate students havedescended on his town to question the project as a whole and perhaps even hismanagement. I can see how as a young buck faced by Yalies who appear to havemore experience he could feel intimidated. We try our darndest to encourage himto apply at FES and remind him that our work has not been on the same largescale as his. Anyhoo at the staff meeting the technicians are encouraged to trychaya, a spinach-like plant that is grown as an ornamental in Haiti but whichis superduper nutritious (and yummy!) They also pass around a bag of driedmangoes, completely independent of our nagging about the mango dryer sittingaround in the tree nursery!
Day 8: Not only does it rain but also there is a blockadebetween out hotel and the hospital and HTRIP offices so we just hang out in thehotel. The next day (9!) we are encouraged to escape and so we plan a trip to alocal waterfall. This is the only day that my knees and/or ankles do not hurtand I am assured that the hike is only 20 minutes. It turns out to be about anhour and a half so we swim for about a half an hour and head back. It was notthe most phenomenally planned outing ever. We had been threatening a talentshow for days so that night it was brought to fruition. Somehow we contracted abrass band to play for a bit and then acts included juggling, expandingstomachs, acapella (your very own Loggerythms), and other feats of daring andstrength. The dancing begins soon after but as a swollen party pooper I go tobed early.

being talented

the waterfall!

we are easily amused

Day 9: The next morning we leave pretty darn early for theairport where the passport control tells me that I am too pretty to have adamaged passport. You spill one bottle of water and you’re nagged about it forten years. We are told that all flights out are delayed but we are industriousgraduate students. We watch a Bollywood film, pass around an old Peoplemagazine, play “guess which Asian persuasion,” and host a finger puppet dancevideo (after which we are chastised for being too loud). ..and then we flyhome.
Postscript: At home I am lamenting the lack of food in myrefrigerator when Nara stops by with beer and ice cream. Postscripter: I find out I have Lyme disease. Hence all ofthe ridiculous swelling and soreness.Postscriptest: And Haiti becomes rainbows and butterflies inmy memories.