One thing I like about being here in Haiti is that I am not constantly bombarded by the political news that fills the air in the Washington DC area. So I was vaguely aware of the non-progress on the “shutdown” and the final, temporary resolution. It was just not an omni-present news item. I won’t say that we work in a news bubble here, but I will say that the surroundings help keep things in perspective.
Still, there is a need to know what is going on outside the bubble. Last week, the customs workers in PAP went on strike. I found out because I listen to RFI (Radio France International) (http://www.rfi.fr/) every morning. They have a correspondent in PAP and he files a story every day. I confirmed the news by checking the website of Le Nouvelliste, a Haitian newspaper (http://www.lenouvelliste.com/). I passed the news on to Meer. He rolled his eyes. It is not enough that getting any item through customs is slow and costly. Now the customs workers are on strike! I mentioned the news to some of the others in the Christianville family. No one knew. I do not think anyone follows very closely what is happening in PAP.
Tuesday evening, the police arrested a lawyer who is a prominent opposition voice against the Martelly government. There were instant demonstrations in the streets of PAP. Roads were blocked, tire were burned. Anti-riot police used teargas and fired live rounds from automatic weapons in the air to break up the crowds. I heard all about it the next morning on RFI and I read about it in Le Nouvelliste. This time people here knew something about the riots but not the “why” behind the story. Today I heard on RFI that the police had released the lawyer and that calm was restored in PAP. That was good news since a mission team from central Pennsylvania was leaving today and needed to get to the airport in PAP. The roads were open and they left without a problem.
These outside political battles affect us in more ways than just travel plans for Americans coming to and departing Christianville. Yesterday, someone from the CDC was in PAP and planned to visit the lab here to look at the BSL-3 TB lab as a possible surveillance site. She had to postpone yesterday’s visit because of the violence in PAP. The meeting was rescheduled for today. Late this afternoon, Madsen got a message from her stating that there was a shooting in PAP and her trip to Gressier had to be cancelled again. I think the American mission here is very conservative and protective (understandably so) about security. So with the political tensions running high, she was probably advised not to leave the embassy grounds. She returns to Atlanta tomorrow, so we lost an opportunity to showcase the lab to the CDC. I suggested that Madsen contact her and see if they can meet at the PAP airport since Madsen is also flying back to the States tomorrow. I sent Madsen pictures I took of the lab and now he can give her a virtual tour while they wait for their respective flights at the airport.
The lab is a fantastic resource and we are only beginning to develop its full potential. We need to always be looking for ways to develop collaborations with people. I think I can help in that area. I am comfortable about exploring these collaborations. I even have a “30 second elevator pitch” for the lab and another “30 second elevator pitch” for the projects I am working on during my sabbatical (yes Pierre, Cécile, and Odile—even Papa has to have a pitch to sell people on his work). For the people here, it helps to speak French and deliver the pitch in French, if necessary. It also helps that I have been to Haiti before and that we (UF and I) are here long term. The Haitians (and Americans working in mission clinics) understand and appreciate that commitment. We are not “in and out”. We are here for the long term. That is also how we will make research collaborations work. The lab can provide a window into many areas of infectious diseases and epidemiology. Every day we think of new things we could do. I have a long list now and I am emailing people. We have a lot of work to do.
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| Meer with some papaya from a tree next to the lab |
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| Tony with some papaya from a tree next to the lab |
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