If I were going to stick a bill in my nose, it would definitely be a $100 bill

While in Haiti, I stayed at the house of Leah Nedderman ("Chez Leah"). She is the director of Social Performance Management at Fonkoze in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. She is a native Texan, graduated from Notre Dame, a volleyball star, and all around cool woman. She also happens to have a 3-bedroom apartment that she rents out rooms to ex-pats while they are visiting Haiti. She's a gracious hostess too! Her apartment, like that of most ex-pats, is in the hills above Port-au-Prince behind (sometimes armed) guards. A respite from the hustle & bustle of living in town. The goal of the trip to Haiti was to witness how the social impact monitors (SIMs) gather information about the clients' progress out of poverty & then to see how Leah then analyzes the information. That goal was certainly achieved, but along with that I witnessed more about the Haitian world.

Devastation of the Hurricanes: Environmentalists report that 90% of Haiti has been deforested. Climatologists suggest that the deforestation has severely increased the number and impact of hurricanes that pass through Haiti. The result of the slash & burn agriculture techniques mean that when the rains pass through, the hillsides turn to landslides & entire swaths of the countryside are destroyed. We're not talking about one or two Laguana Beach houses falling into the ocean because they were built on a cliff -- no, this is all of the topsoil of a mountain being swept off into the valley below, and all of the houses, animals, people from the hills to the ocean are destroyed in the process.

On Tuesday, I traveled to Marigo & Jacmel on the southern coast of Haiti. I was able to meet clients and see the conditions under which the SIMs gather the poverty data. One client we met had been completely devastated by the hurricanes in February. She told us that the water rose 4 feet high and she ran to the side of the valley. The water continued to rise and she had to flee up the side of the mountain. Her land has turned into a veritable river bed full of large rocks. Her garden was gone, the community center was gone, her home, sheds, goats, chickens, products -- everything had been washed AWAY by the rain.

This woman invited us to sit on the rocks where the community Solidarity Loan Group used to meet. Inside what used to be her home, the river rocks had piled inside there as well. When asked what she would do next, she pointed with both hands in the air and responded, "Only God knows." This woman no longer is can make enough money to feed her 5 children, she is losing weight because she lost everything, and is without hope for how to recover. In the aftermath, she felt no one remembered her -- her country & her region had forgotten about her. But, Fonkoze has been a light for her. They provided Hurricane Relief loans and just stopped by to check in on her. She was grateful for the human connection.

Opportunity Lies Beneath The Surface: This country is a place with so much potential lying beneath the surface. There are just a lot of small barriers that get in the way of that vision. For example, Canada donated fire trucks to Port-au-Prince last year. Sounds great, right? The only problem is that there's a big question mark on whether there are any fire hydrants that work in the city. Oopsie... minor oversight, I suppose. Nonetheless, Haiti is a place that pulls at your spirit -- the natural beauty of the place & images of what Haiti looked like in its hey-day. It's that memory that I believe that keeps people going. You can imagine that with minimal assistance & some pointing in the right direction that Haiti can live up to its name as the Pearl of the Caribbean.

Parking Lot Pimpin': But there is a separation between the people want to help & the Haitian people. It goes beyond the obvious physical separation between the ex-pats and the nationals. When I first arrived, people told me that there was NOTHING to do in town at night. But as we rode through town, I saw a lot going on. People were shopping, meeting up with one another, music was playing... there was a whole lot of parking lot pimpin' going on. :) For me, Haiti was great because it was the first time in a long time where I was around people that looked like me. Where despite an obvious language difference there was a kindred of spirit and less of an odd woman out. For example, rather than like being in Orange County I didn't have to explain what hair grease is. Instead, it was sold on every block. I met people who truly held family above interests of money, job, and career. And when I looked out at the folks on the street, I saw a good time going on.

On Wednesday night, we went to a restaurant that had been a star in Haiti's hey-day. As I sat there listening to the stories about college, volunteering & traveling around the world, and the challenges of being an ex-pat, I thought about my own life. I am a chameleon that changes colors depending on the environment. I am both that American wanting to live on the hilltop; I am that poor black woman who is ignorant of the world; I am an intellectual who is trying to live as many lives as she can in this go 'round; and a naive lil girl. And I enjoy all of those different aspects of self.

P.S. The title of today's blob comes from dinner that night. We were talking about dirty Haitian money is and also the traces of drugs that are on dirty American money. One person, who shall remain nameless, was quoted saying "If I were going to stick a bill in my nose, it would definitely be a $100 bill." As food for thought, that $100 bill could represent 3 months salary for many of the people we work with as volunteers. Wow.