Day 4 - Feb 16

It was HOT here today…maybe not the best day to wear my heaviest long sleeve shirt.  Whatever temperature it is outside, add about 10-15 degrees inside of the factories.

So my strategy today was to focus on the positive, and for me that was the faces.   At first I felt like I needed to watch and absorb everything, but it was completely overwhelming for me.  I brought so many medications with me on the trip, but apparently the one I needed the most (and didn’t bring) was anti-anxiety meds.  Oh well…lesson learned.    My ‘positive’ strategy worked well until we hit Port Au Prince rush hour.  We were repeatedly stuck in areas where trucks were blocking the roads, and at one point I was relieved to see a police officer come out of nowhere to direct traffic after about 30 minutes of idling.  It seems amazing to me that the UN and other organizations bar their workers from walking on the street, while there’s an assumption of safety in an essentially parked car along the road.  The windows aren’t tinted, and so you feel more like a target in this big SUV than you would walking among the people.  I have yet to see one white person walking on the street, despite the fact that about three-quarters of the airplane to Haiti were white.   I have no idea where all of the relief workers are…maybe in the countryside?  Certainly not in Port Au Prince.

But it hasn’t been all bad.  One factory I went to is providing health care to workers onsite.  They have a full staff of nurses, and a doctor that comes in once a week.  They provide medications, sanitary items, prenatal vitamins, and other simple things that the workers would otherwise have to do without.  They provide a place for them to eat and subsidized food, clean water, and fans.  So in some cases (the good ones), the factories provide a place of respite for workers, and is a total contrast to life outside the factory walls.   

Thanks to everyone for all of the well wishes and messages of support.  They really helped me focus on the positive today so keep them coming.  My sister sent me off with a prayer and two angels (it was two, right Sarah?).  Maybe I’ve just imagined it was two because I don’t think one would do it at this point.  I have two days of factory visits left and then I’m off to the airport on Saturday morning.  The project I’m working on is supposed to potentially bring me back to Haiti again next year, so we'll have to see how it goes.  I also might do the same thing in Nicaragua in August, which I think would be a big step up from Haiti based on what I’ve seen here.

I have been taking lots of pictures and short videos, but forgot to bring the cord to download them to the computer.  I will post them to the blog after I get back to the US.