From Monday June 27th

Tuesday was an uplifting day after Monday's disappointments! I visited the FAES office for the fourth time and left after they still weren't ready with the report. I asked them to call me when the report is ready and I will pick it up. There just is no point in me waiting for over an hour each time I go there. I met Joseph at the MCC office and—despite the fact it was during a Brazil soccer game—he took me to the SKDE office, which had moved since I'd last been there. We saw Pastor G and his wife and they were very gracious and helpful. SKDE has a program in the Fond Verrettes area and they will put me in touch with the leaders as well as lend me a cell phone for my time in Haiti and give me the use of their driver and his motorcycle for three days. These are really wonderful gifts! I would not be able to get to the far reaches of my study area without a motorcycle. Pastor G also introduced me to Zalinx, SKDE's agriculture and environment expert. Zalinx was extremely interested and helpful. He's a recent graduate of the ag university at Damien and knows Andrenor and Ludger and Dir. Richmond and Dr. Carvil, etc. He lent me two books that are major but out-of-print works on Haiti's environment so that I could make copies of them. This is great, especially since the libraries that have these books don't necessarily have the means to make photocopies or scans. Zalinx also set up meetings for me with the motorcycle driver and Delices, director of the Fond Verrettes program. The driver said he could stop by the office that day so Joseph and I waited for him. It turns out that the driver, Cher-Frere, is a good friend of Tricia's, my old housemate when I lived in Haiti. She used to talk about him ALL the time. I got the feeling Tricia thought Cher-Frere could help her out with any problem she might have—she always spoke very highly of him and had a good time with him. So it was great to finally meet Cher-Frere. It's such as small world here! Cher-Frere said he can go to Fond Verrettes with me next week, so we will do that.

After SKDE, Joseph and I parted ways and I continued down Delmas to the government cadastral office. I'd been told there was a small chance I could find the 1986 photos there but, no, they only have data for the cities of Haiti and not the Pine Forest. They said they'll let me know if they hear of where the 1986 photos might be, but I think the photos are lost for good.

On my way home I stopped by Ginette and Moise's home since I'd not been able to reach them by telephone for five days. They were surprised to see me but impressed that I'd made such an effort to get in contact with them. I told them the plans I have to return with them to Fond Verrettes the week of the 10 th.

From Monday June 26th

Well, today was a wasted day. I waited two hours at the Bureau de la Protection Civile (Haiti's disaster agency) for H to plan a trip to the study area and he never showed up. (In fact, I almost wasn't allowed into the Bureau since I was wearing a sleeveless blouse and there is a dress code requiring sleeves. I'd never heard of such a dress code in Haiti, but I managed to find an only slightly used handkerchief in my purse and position it over my shoulders.) Since I'd already missed my meeting with Joseph, I walked to the Service de la Planification Urbaine (for the third time) to look for the 1986 photographs. Their archives were in complete disorder and everything was covered in much dust. Needless to say, I didn't find the photographs. The former director was in the office and he said he'd never heard of these photographs. Everyone says they should be in the Ag Ministry, but everything there was burned during one of the political uprisings.

I stopped by RNDDH to eat some lunch and try to make phone calls. The phone system just keeps getting worse—it usually takes me at least 2 dozen tries before I get through to another phone. Very discouraging. I wasn't able to get a hold of anyone except Pastor G, who was leaving his office at 2 PM. I didn't think I could get there in time and I wasn't up for the long route (3 different public transport routes) to get there only to find Guillomettre had already left, so I didn't even try to go.

Instead I went (for a third time) to the FAES office and now have been waiting over an hour in the hopes that they will give me a copy of a report they wrote in 2000. I read the report at the Ministry of Planning and it's not a very good report, but I'd like a copy anyway. At this point, though, I'm not sure it's worth all my efforts. Once I leave, I think I'll walk to a supermarket to buy a map of the city. I'll try to go to some libraries this week but am not sure where they are located. (Also discouraging: I called the USAID office today and asked if I could stop by their library and was told the library is closed "for the moment." I asked when it would be open and they told me they had no idea, they didn't even know why it was closed and, no, there was no one else I could talk to who could give me more information. Unbelievable! Our tax dollars, hard at work.)

Today I went to church around 7 am with Samy and Yonel and their two children, S (age 5) and E (age 3). Yonel is one of the pastors of the church, which is very small (21 people today, including children) and meets in a school. It was a good service--the usual singing, Bible study (done very well by Yonel) scripture, prayer, offering (just over US$1 total), and sermon. Guerline's mother, Michelle, was there along with her husband Pierre and two of their children, Boubou and Dave.

One of the pastors who is also the director of the school the church meets in asked for prayer for the school as it seems they are having problems getting accredited.

I went home with Samy and Yonel and stayed with them until mid-afternoon. I watched some of the Ecuador-England soccer game (without sound as the TV didn't completely work) and talked with the children, who had many things to tell me. They were very cute. S is a very smart, articulate 5-year-old; she showed off some of her dance routines and songs and poems. E was very much into my sunglasses; he even knew how to put them in his shirt pocket. Samy made us some delicious cherry juice (from real cherries) and gave me a croissant for a snack. Later she made rice and beans with a vegetable sauce for the main meal and I sat and talked with her as she worked. She and Yonel have both been without work since September. They live with Samy's dad so they don't have to pay rent, but they find it difficult to buy food and pay for the children's education (there are very few public schools available). S is a Compassion International kid, but the money they receive each month only covers about 1/3 of her school costs, much less food and clothes and health care.

Around mid-afternoon I returned home and I've been doing some GIS work, email and phone calling since. I talked briefly with H from the govt disaster office and he complimented me on the good work I've been doing, which was nice to hear. Andrenor and I will meet with him tomorrow morning. I'll also go to see Pastor G with Joseph, stop by the FAES office for the third time, and visit the Urban Planning Office to see if the photos they dug up are the ones I want. Let's hope so. . .

Anna's Trip to Fond Verettes (Study Area)

Map of Fond Verrettes. Four ravines (Carretier, Gros Cheval, Ti Bourrique and Delai) converge at Fond Verrettes and flow northwest. I stayed in Bois-Neuf Nord. The town center (formerly with hotel, police station, church, presbytery, market, restaurants, etc.) used to be located in what is now the riverbed south of Guimby and Cazeau.

Looking south over Fond Verrettes (with police commissariat in distance).

Figyè tree that has survived in the middle of the Delaï Ravine, downstream from the cemetery (looking downstream).

Andrenor, Anna, and Ludger (Agronomy Student)

The two students I am working with are Ludger and Andrenor. They are 5th year students in the Dept of Natural Resources and Environment at the ag univeristy in Damien. They've finished with classes and only need to do their thesis to graduate. As is unfortunately the case here, they will probably find great difficulty in getting work once they graduate even though the ag univ at Damien is a very competive program to get into. They are both from the city of Cayes on the south coast of Haiti. They were roommates for several years in the dorm at the university and are good friends.
The current president, Rene PREVAL, and the new prime minister, Jacques Edouard ALEXIS, are both agronomists by training, though I'm not sure if either went to the university in Damien. Two very positive recent developments in Haitian politics are the almost anonymous confirmation by the parliment last week of Alexis as prime minister and the confirmation that Mario Andresol will remain as the head of the police force. Andresol is about as good as they come in the police and has been working to rid the police force of corruption and abuse. Alexis has appointed his cabinent of ministers, and, from what I gather, has been very diplomatic about appointing many ministers from opposing parties to create a sort of coalition government. No party has a majority in parliament. It is very encouraging to see the level of compromise and collaboration at the highest level of government right now. The former quasi-USA-appointed prime minister after Aristide fled the country over 2 years ago, Gerard Latortue, has returned to his home in Boca Raton, Florida, and supposively is more than happy to have passed on his post to Alexis and be able to enjoy his retirement watching the World Cup and enjoying his grandchildren.

Last night P was driving Stephanie and me home from the party. There are often police check points on the roads, especially at night. At one stop the car in front of us was seen giving money to the police--P pointed this out. P said that the police will sometimes indirectly ask for money--saying something like, "You know, a man can't even buy a beer around here these days." But he said that, unlike in places like the Dominican Republic or Brazil, if you don't give them anything they won't get mad or do anything to you. That strikes me as very (and uniquely?) Haitian! I've never had police ask me for money, but P says he might tell them he doesn't have any money on him and they'll just wave him by. In any case, they didn't even stop us last night.

I just got back from visiting some govt offices with Ludger. Still no luck with the 1986 air photos, but I will call the Office of Urban Planning next Friday and in the meantime they will search their archives to see what they can find. The director has only been there for 2 years so isn't familiar with the photos.

Then we went to the Ministry of Environment and looked through their "library" (not much of one--very dusty and with stacks of books crammed everywhere, but we found two piles of reports on the Foret des Pins). A couple of the reports look interesting. I read bits of them and will try to find copies in the ag univ library. I already feel I'm getting faster at reading in French.

It is pretty interesting to learn about the history of land settlement in the higher elevations of my study area. There are ruins of a coffee plantation from colonial years, but the area was very little populated until a road was built from Fond Verrettes (middle of watershed) to the Pine Forest (top of watershed) in the 1920s--probably by the Americans, I think, since they (oops, we) were occupying Haiti at that time and building many roads. A law in 1926 designated the general pine forest area as a forest reserve. Then, in 1937, there was a huge massacre of Haitians living in the Dominican Republic under the rule of dictator Trujillo (read a good fictional account by Edwidge Danticat in her book The Farming of Bones), and many who survived the massacre were repatriated to Haiti and, in some cases, given the opportunity to cheaply buy land from the state in the area I'm studying. Thus some of the towns in the region are the result of agricultural colonies established in 1937.

In 1942, the US government via a "society" known by its acronym, SHADA, was given permission to harvest timber from a huge tract of land in the Pine Forest. The opportunity for jobs connected to this timber operation and the renting of SHADA land to raise food for its workers attracted many people to the area--the second and largest migration of people into the Pine Forest. In 1957 SHADA conceded its land to private logging operations, called "the unscrupulous exploiters" in one literal translation. Under Jean-Claude Duvalier, the land was reclaimed by the state and designated as a protected area for reforestation (dictators often have stellar environmental records in this sense). In the last 20 years, however, the various governments have been unable or unwilling to practice much oversight of the Pine Forest, which continues to be exploited for timber, agriculture and fuel.

Okay, so maybe I can cut and paste that for part of my dissertation. Anyway, I think it's pretty interesting.

I'm at the RNDDH office and things are coming together for the party tonight. I can smell someone grilling something in the courtyard--yum!

From June 15

Today was a national holiday. I went to meet Moise at 8am to make plans for staying in Fond Verrettes. It looks like he and his aunt will go with us--Moise will be our guide and his aunt will do the cooking. We'll stay with his aunt's mother. Moise is related to Julien, the school teacher that I thought we would be staying with, but Julien is his cousin, not his father. Moise tells me there is no food in FV (the market is only on Fridays, and is not very big) so we will need to bring that with us, it makes sense for us to stay with Moise's aunt's mother. Whew! His aunt and I will go grocery shopping on Monday.

I've spent the rest of the day here, reading UNDP reports in French, catching up on the news, and taking a nap. I'm feeling a little stir-crazy but trying to relax and enjoy the uneventful day. Tomorrow there is a party at RNDDH for Sylvia and Edwin, who are leaving MCC; I'm looking forward to it.

This morning around 7 am I went to Pierre and Chrismene's bedroom door to see if I could get a ride with Pierre--turned out he wasn't going to the office today--and found the whole family all in bed together. It was very cute! I think the girls usually go get in bed with their parents in the early morning and the family spends time together. They are very close. I remember times when most of my family would all be on one bed or in the bathroom all brushing our teeth at once. :)

Rodrigue Grills Corn on the Cob

From June 14

I had a pretty good day but am very tired. Still didn't get to the 1986 photos, but have a meeting for Friday when hopefully they will be found. We stopped by the Office of Civil Protection (the govt disaster agency) and talked with a man I met last summer who is very in the know about my study area. He said he would accompany us but he is sick right now (in fact, he was on the way to the doctor's and had tried to escape our notice but someone who didn't know this led us back to him after we'd already left the building) so maybe later this month or next. Stopped by the UTSIG office to deliver a letter--my request for data. Then we (Andrenor and Ludger, the two univ students) went to the UNDP office and met for quite a while with a man who works there, and he gave us all the reports UNDP has (a huge stack) even though they are not yet official. He was quite interesting and has a book by a geographer he thinks might interest me.

Then we went to the RNDDH office to work--look over the reports and the GIS data I have. That didn't go so well, because they really have had almost no experience with GIS and I don't know any of the vocabulary for this sort of thing. We ate lunch around 2pm with everyone at RNDDH--it was someone's birthday so there were two delicious cakes from a french patisserie--and then, after a little more GIS work we watched some of the Germany-Poland soccer match. I wrote a letter requesting information from the FAES office, and then got a ride home with Pierre.

Tonight Rodrigue had some corn from a friend's field and he grilled it over charcoal for us and we all sat around outside eating it.

I'm pretty tired out today. I missed my ride to the university this morning so had to take public transportation. After I met with some professors (they were expecting me last week but I couldn't get ahold of them then) I decided to go to a government office downtown. All in all I took 7 different taptaps or camionettes today--very tiring! I was in some unfamiliar territory and many kind people along the way helped me out with directions. I had one bad experience: I crossed a street to buy something to drink and ended up in the midst of a crowd of about 35 men, two of whom were meanly trying to get me to buy drinks for them, which I ended up doing. Nothing happened, but it was not a good situation.I met a geographer who works at the Ministry of Agriculture. He was very interested to talk with me and had all sorts of knowledge to give me for my project--including the location and scale and origin of the 1986 aerial photographs I've been looking for for over a year. I thoroughly enjoyed talking with him. He knows of Clark U and Pierre.I also found in the Ministry of Planning's library a 2000 report on Fond Verrettes that I've been searching for. I'd still like to get a copy for myself.I tried to get in contact with a priest in Croix-des-Missions whom I'm told may be able to put me in touch with the priest in Fond Verrettes. (And he may be able to give us a place to stay there.) I'll try him again tomorrow. I also tried to meet with the Director of the Water and Forest Service, but he was teaching a class. I wanted to ask him if he could help us out with transportation to the study site.Tomorrow I will hopefully get a ride to Damien with the Vice-Dean and then have a meeting with Prof Richmond, Director of the Dept of Natural Resources and Environment, and some students.

From Saturday, June 11

I went to Guerline's place this morning. We spent the entire morning talking and it was really, really nice. She's doing well. She had a choir practice at 2pm so I left then, went to a supermarket to see if my debit card works there (it does, at least for buying things) and returned to Pierre's. Most everyone was watching the Argentine soccer game at 3pm but I ended up sleeping through the entire game. This evening I watched the end of Miss Congeniality II with the girls and then we played a card game. It's been hot today!

The world cup starts tomorrow and everyone is gearing up in Haiti--since the Haitian national team isn't in the World Cup, most Haitians are "fanatiks" of Brazil or Argentina. Many cars these days carry Brazilian or Argentinian flags.I returned to the Geodosy and Cartography Office and UTSIG this morning. I bought a few more aerial photos and a topographic map. I found out that a fair amount of work looking at land cover in the Soliette River basin has been done using the aerial photographs from 1978 and 2002. It's a little discouraging to learn this--the UNDP will be coming out with a report on this land change sometime this year--but it still will be the first time an analysis is done using satellite images as the primary source. I am also trying to look at more than two points in time, which hopefully will give a more detailed view of how land cover has changed. I also found out that as a student I will probably be able to get the digital data for free, or at least a reduced price. This is very good news. UTSIG has a lot of data and some very helpful GIS technicians; it's impressive to see how much work they've done.I took a taxi to the RNDDH office and greeted everyone and ate with them--a delicious meal of passionfruit juice, rice with vegetables mixed in it and a sauce with conch meat, bell peppers and onions. The RNDDH cook, Sister E, is one of the best cooks around. I had my laptop with me so I showed our wedding photos to some of the staff.I spent the afternoon at RNDDH making phone calls, emailing and working at my computer and then got a ride home with Pierre. Woni made some juice from a granadilla that was amazingly delicious. Chrismene also picked a big corossol from a tree in their yard she had planted a few years ago; I imagine she'll make juice from it tomorrow. One of the best treats of being in Haiti is all the delicous fresh juice!

I spent some time on my "private balcony" reading the New Yorker when I got home--reading about a very different world of renting a 5-bedroom apartment with a private garden in Manhattan. D had a "step-up" (graduation of sorts) today as she will be entering 9th grade next year. She goes to an American school so the system of grades is the same that we are used to. Yesterday the family found out that N had passed her entrance exam to get into the same school and today we found out D passed her exam too. I asked what sort of exam they could possibly give to a 4-year-old and was told she had to know her colors and shapes, etc. I wonder if it is not more of a screening process of the family than the student. In any case, the school is quite difficult to get into, I hear.I haven't been able to get in touch with the professors at Damien (the ag and environment university). I was hoping to visit the school tomorrow but will probably hold off on that. I need to take a trip to my study area but need to find people to go with me. I will ask the folks at Damien, at the Bureau de Protection Civil (the Haitian FIMA).

Anna's Second Day in Haiti

The household is a study in globalization. Right now the girls are downstairs watching MTV and singing along with Hillary Duff. (I guess they get US cable here--more amenities than our house in CA, though I just tried to wash my hands and we're out of water for the moment.) The family has a beautiful house. They also have people who cook and clean, so you can see why Bethany and I call it Hotel Esperance. There is another "blan" (foreigner) staying here! She's from Belgium and is working at RNDDH this summer. I haven't met her yet since she spent last night at a friend's.I slept very well (though my mattress is covered in plastic. . .) and got up at 6:30 am. Woni, who usually does the cooking, is gone for a few days but Chrisman had made pancakes and hard-boiled eggs and fresh pineapple for breakfast. Last night for dinner I had rice crispies. :) The main meal is eaten around 1:30pm, and for that yesterday I had corn and beans with fish.Today I got a ride with D on her way to school. (Most kids are chauffered to school--either on foot by an older sibling or in a car, if they can afford it.) E, the driver, dropped me off at the UTSIG office in downtown Port-au-Prince. UTSIG is the governmental GIS and remote sensing office for Haiti; it started around the year 2000 and is fairly active. Unfortunately, they had a problem with their computers this morning and couldn't get most of them to run. I talked with Claudejane who deals with public requests for data and she asked me to come back tomorrow, which I will do. Then I talked with Manes and Jude, two GIS and remote sensing specialists who work for UTSIG. I'd met Manes last summer and have emailed him with questions on several occasions. He and Jude were very helpful in letting me know what data exist and in what condition/format/etc. They seemed interested in the project and it was fun to talk with Haitians who've had some of the same training and education as me. I mentioned I'm a Clark student and use Idrisi and they told me how impressed they are with Idrisi (and hopefully with the fact I'm a Clarkie!).
\n\nFrom the UTSIG office I walked to the government\'s Geodesy and\nCartography Office. I\'d never been there before (last summer when\nI visited it was in gang-controlled territory so I couldn\'t reach it)\nbut I knew it was by the main cathedral and I was able to find it\nwithout much problem. I\'d been told that this office had aerial\nphotos of the entire country from 1978. I was pleasantly\nsurprised to find that they have the photos and I could buy copies for\nabout $2.50 each. I\'d heard rumors that the office had been\nburned sometime in the last years and so I didn\'t know the state of\ntheir operation. I think the negatives were burned--a huge\nloss--but they still have some of the prints. I bought 10 photos\nand will return later this week to buy the other 2 photos and 2\ntopographic maps for my study area (I ran out of money, which I imagine\nthey found amusing). I had no idea it was so easy and cheap to\nget these topo maps--I\'d been looking for them for quite some time with\nno success until today! I will scan the aerial photographs (maybe\nwhen I\'m back in CA) and attempt to georectify them and use them for\nreference data for the 1979 satellite image classification. I\nfeel very fortunate to have found the photos AND to have been able to\nbuy copies for myself. Amazing! Someone really should scan\nall the photos for the country so there are digital copies, especially\nif all the negatives are gone.\n\nA man from the Geodesy office walked me a couple of blocks to where I\ncould find a camionette (small van used for public transportation) that\nwas heading to Delmas, the part of the city I used to live in and not\nfar from where Pierre lives. Then I walked about 3/4 mile to a\ntaptap station where I got a taptap (I got a front seat) for the short\nride to Pierre\'s neighborhood. I paid 15 gourdes (40 cents) for\nthe camionette and 8 gourdes (21 cents) for the taptap. US$1 \u003d 38\ngourdes right now.\n\nLater today I will go to the bank to exchange some more money, but\nother than that I will stay at "home" and do some computer work,\nemailing, phone calls. It is overcast today and may rain later,\nso it is not quite so hot. It is very breezy at this house, which\nis very nice, but it still can get quite warm inside, or outside if I\'m\nwalking or sitting in traffic in a crowded vehicle.",1]
);
//-->
From the UTSIG office I walked to the government's Geodesy and Cartography Office. I'd never been there before (last summer when I visited it was in gang-controlled territory so I couldn't reach it) but I knew it was by the main cathedral and I was able to find it without much problem. I'd been told that this office had aerial photos of the entire country from 1978. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they have the photos and I could buy copies for about $2.50 each. I'd heard rumors that the office had been burned sometime in the last years and so I didn't know the state of their operation. I think the negatives were burned--a huge loss--but they still have some of the prints. I bought 10 photos and will return later this week to buy the other 2 photos and 2 topographic maps for my study area (I ran out of money, which I imagine they found amusing). I had no idea it was so easy and cheap to get these topo maps--I'd been looking for them for quite some time with no success until today! I will scan the aerial photographs (maybe when I'm back in CA) and attempt to georectify them and use them for reference data for the 1979 satellite image classification. I feel very fortunate to have found the photos AND to have been able to buy copies for myself. Amazing! Someone really should scan all the photos for the country so there are digital copies, especially if all the negatives are gone.A man from the Geodesy office walked me a couple of blocks to where I could find a camionette (small van used for public transportation) that was heading to Delmas, the part of the city I used to live in. Then I walked about 3/4 mile to a taptap station where I got a taptap (I got a front seat) for the ride to my neighborhood. I paid 15 gourdes (40 cents) for the camionette and 8 gourdes (21 cents) for the taptap. US$1 = 38 gourdes right now.Later today I will go to the bank to exchange some more money, but other than that I will stay at "home" and do some computer work, emailing, phone calls. It is overcast today and may rain later, so it is not quite so hot. It is very breezy at this house, which is very nice, but it still can get quite warm inside, or outside if I'm walking or sitting in traffic in a crowded vehicle.

stereophotos

Ala li bel!

Anna In Haiti

This is a blog to keep everyone in Anna's life updated on her Adventures in Haiti. As you know, Anna is beginning work on her dissertation, and she will be in Haiti from June-July 2006 and Feb-April 2007. Come back often to see how her adventure is going, and to see photos from her trip.