All Politics are Local

     Last Thursday there was a “manifestation” (protest demonstration) in front of the gates of Christianville. A crowd gathered and slogans (in English, curiously enough) were spray-painted

Entrance to Administration Building

on the walls and gates. Parents of the Christianville School were protesting a variety of things. A partial list of their demands includes reducing the tuition increase; elimination of the health clinic fee; and firing the school director. There were also complaints about Christianville selling land to other organizations (I think not true) and a lack of transparency about Christianville’s activities. On this latter point, it seems like the community would just like to know what is happening here.

Timing is everything.

The morning was quiet but busy. A team from the University of Florida, including Dean Perry of the College of Public Health and Health Professions, had been here since Tuesday for a workshop with faculty from the medical school in Port-au-Prince. At about 9:30 am, we bid them goodbye and they all boarded the Christianville bus for the trip to the airport.  Two hours later, Dr. Boncy, the Director of the National Lab in Port-au-Prince made a surprise visit to our lab. We gave him a tour of the BSL3 lab, talked about ongoing projects and my STI surveillance plans, and showed him some examples of construction projects using foam core panels. Dr. Boncy was very impressed with everything. He left at 12:00 noon. Meer, Madsen and I left for PAP at 12:15 pm to go to customs (see 12-06-13 post) and also do some shopping. The manifestation happened shortly after we left Christianville. The crowd blocked the main gate. As I said, timing is everything.

Christianville vocational school tent

     In Haiti, things can get ugly fast. Crowds gather, tempers rise, and soon a group of people is an angry mob. Someone told me that Haitians are stubborn. If they are unhappy with the way you are running the (insert whatever you want here: school, clinic, company, country), they will tear it down. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.

     The background to the parents’ discontent is complicated. But as it was explained to me later, they were mainly unhappy with the school director. He was to meet with the parents and then cancelled the meeting. After the demonstration on Thursday, he canceled school on Friday, probably to avoid meeting the parents. Instead, Friday morning Madsen and Pastor Herold (Director of Christianville) met at Herold’s house with some of the leaders of the demonstration to cool things down. It worked. Madsen left and Makendy drove him to the airport in time for his flight back to the U.S.

Christianville main gate

      But it was not over. The parents scheduled another demonstration for Monday. Things looked like they could get worse. Another meeting was called. This time Pastor Raymond (Christianville Campus Pastor) and John Carter (Christianville Foundation) joined Pastor Herold for the meeting. They listened to the parents’ complaints. The parents were particularly upset with the school director and wanted him to be fired. Pastor Herold and John Carter negotiated. The director would be put on administrative leave while they sort things out. Herold and John suggested that as a good will gesture, the leaders of the demonstration paint over the slogans that they had spray-painted on the walls and the gate. They were not willing at first but finally ceded. The paint job is not great but the gesture was symbolic.

     Pastor Herold gave the Christianville family an update during our dinner out at the Ocean Grille on Saturday night. It was interesting to hear how they had handled the situation. The parents had some legitimate grievances. They also want to be heard and to know what Christianville is doing and planning. I’m sure they see the new buildings going up and wonder what they are for, how they will benefit the community. There is the lab, a new cafeteria, the UF house, a new orphanage and the chicken processing building. Do our neighbors even know what is going on beyond the fence? It seems to me that Christianville has not been a very transparent neighbor. So Pastor Herold and John Carter agreed to form a community advisory group so that the community can be better informed of Christianville’s activities and plans.

     At Sunday morning services at the Christianville Christian Church (see 12-08-13 post), Pastor Fanel celebrated the “victory” over our “enemies” in his sermon. He congratulated everyone for coming together to resolve the issues. I just thought it was odd that he used the words “victory” and “enemies”. Weren’t some of the protesters members of his congregation? School opened as usual on Monday. Everything seems to be back to normal.