Can I Get Some Help Here, Please?

     I’m just trying to do my work here in Haiti. Some people back home don’t understand. Instead of helping me, supporting my work, they seem to be getting in the way. No, I don’t think anyone is deliberately being mean. I think they are probably following the rules. All I know is that I’m living in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere trying to do my work, trying to help Haitians, and some people back home don’t get it. This is not the U.S. This is Haiti. I’m working in a country that for over a century and a half has been racked by disease, poverty, political instability, and natural and man-made disasters. Haiti Health Ministries is a medical clinic not far from where I am living. People start arriving at the clinic before 7:00 am. The clinic staff cannot see everyone so about 8:00 am they tell the people who won’t be seen to go home. Nevertheless, the people stay all day long hoping to be seen by a doctor. They won’t be seen. They will come back again tomorrow and still won’t get to see a doctor. They hope. There are 26 children at the Christianville orphanage. Parents frequently appear at the orphanage to ask Sue, the administrator, to take their child. They cannot afford to feed or clothe the child so they come here to give them up. They hope they can manage to feed and clothe their other children and maybe send them to school. People live in ramshackle huts with walls made of empty sacks of rice donated by USAID or Samaritans Purse. They hope that maybe someday they will be able to live in a home that is more than just a canvas shelter. There are hundreds of wells in the Gressier-Léogâne area. The UF lab tested the water quality in over 350 wells and found 34% of them to be contaminated. For three months after I arrived in Christianville, we treated our drinking water because the water coming out of the faucets was not safe to drink. There have been roaches, lizards, mice, and a tarantula as big as my fist in my house. I take anti-malaria drugs every morning to avoid getting malaria. Every day I am bitten by mosquitoes. Every day I worry if the next mosquito will be the one carrying the malaria parasite or, worse, the virus that causes Dengue fever. As if these diseases are not enough, six Caribbean nations have now reported cases of chikungunya. Haiti can’t be far behind. Every drive into PauP is far more dangerous than driving on the Capital Beltway at rush hour. Am I out of my mind? Why am I here? I’m here to help Haitians and to do some good science, that’s why I’m here. So, can I get some help here, please?

     Back in December, I asked the Henry Jackson Foundation (HJF), the organization that manages my grants, for a credit card so that I could buy supplies for my project from Haitian vendors. I see no point in ordering things in the U.S. and having them shipped to Haiti if I can buy them in Port-au-Prince. It is more convenient and it supports the local economy. All I asked for was a credit card to use for purchases charged to my grant.  Initially, the answer was no. We kept pushing. HJF asked if I could order the items and pay on the Web. No. I have yet to find a Haitian merchant with a web site that has a complete catalog much less on-line shopping. At best, you can place an order and then go into PauP to pay for it. As far as I can tell, on-line commerce does not exist in Haiti. HJF asked if Haitian merchants would accept a credit card number over the phone. No. They always ask for photo ID when you use a credit card. HJF asked if Haitian merchants would accept payment by check. No. HJF asked about all sorts of alternatives to giving me a credit card. None will work in Haiti. After six weeks of negotiating with HJF, Team Micro (my administrative support at USU) came through. HJF agreed to give me pre-paid debit cards to use. Success! But hold on. Just when we were about to get the cards, the email arrived. The bank issuing the cards said that the cards could not be used outside the U.S. Back to square one. More of the same questions came by email. HJF even suggested that they send me money by wire transfer and that I pay with cash. Unacceptable, I replied, too dangerous. Robbers and thieves and "gangsters" watch for people (especially blans, i.e. anyone not Haitian) who come out of the Western Union office or banks. They know those people have received money, cash. They are easy targets. I won't take the risk nor will I ask anyone else working here to do that. This is so aggravating. How many times do I need to explain? This is Haiti. Can you hear me? This is Haiti.

     I received funding from AFHSC-GEIS for my STI study. Notification of the award came on October 1, 2013. Because of the Federal Government shutdown and the absence of a budget for fiscal year 2014, AFHSC-GEIS only released first quarter funding for the project. I adjusted my budget and waited. And waited. And waited. I wrote emails, and more emails. Week after week, month after month. Soon it was December and, unbelievably, still no money had gone into a cost center (the mechanism that would allow me and my staff to begin purchasing materials and equipment) for my project. The first quarter of my project ended on December 31, 2013. Still no money. Finally on January 13, 2014, I received an email stating that the budget was approved and that funds had been loaded into a cost center.

     Last month, I had to file a progress report for the first quarter to AFHSC-GEIS. Under the Results section, I wrote “None”. Under Issues/Difficulties, I wrote “No funding was available to the PI during quarter 1. Money was not transferred from USU to HJF (“budget approved and baselined”) until January 13, 2014.” I did not know what to write for the Reason for Delay section. Despite numerous email inquiries I still do not understand the reasons for the delay. Whether the cause is administrative or otherwise is not my concern. Whatever the cause of the delay, I find it unacceptable that three months after the award was made, I was still unable to spend the money for needed equipment and supplies to carry out the project. I am developing long-term collaborations with my Haitian colleagues and my colleagues at the University of Florida. The situation has been an embarrassment for me and reflects poorly on my institution.

     Right now, I just want to do my work. Can I get a little help here, please?