Dollars and Poker

Over these past few months, I’ve come to understand that living in Haiti has become the new normal for my twenty-four year old self. Visiting the USA this summer was an excellent, yet odd, situation. There are many positive memories from the summer, but in general, things did not feel quite right. Unable to properly articulate the feeling, it became increasingly powerful when I returned to LCS in August. Yes, mangoes no longer were hanging from the trees, but there was a familiarity to the place that my travels in the USA this past summer were unable to conjure. Who knew I would miss mosquitoes, rats, and tarantulas so much?

Recognizing that it has been a while, you might be curious about what has happened this past month? Well, here is a “short” run-down:

-First, a couple of US American video journalists roamed around campus for a few days, taking video clips of math classes and netwayage. Their intention is to create a documentary on education in Haiti and hope to use LCS as an example of “what works.” With funding from the Pulitzer foundation (among other sources), they proudly (perhaps a tad bit too proudly) informed me that they intended to have the final product featured on the PBS show "Frontline."

-Next, LCS recycled another 160 pounds of plastic, which netted a grand total of $10.25 USD in profit. That is, gross profit. When factoring in the transportation costs (both truck and wheelbarrow), we surely cannot be making much money. Despite the poor pay, LCS has recycled almost 1300 pounds of plastic since November 2009. Now, recycling would seem to be a good idea regardless if you were living in Columbus, Ohio or Croix des Bouquets, Haiti. But, what if the items needed to be shipped halfway across the world in order to be recycled? Is recycling still the most environmentally friendly option?

-Also, I heard a funny story the other day when I was speaking with one of our most successful graduates. He works for Catholic Relief Services and heads their “Cash for Work” program, employing over 1,000 Haitians each month. The presidential campaign season kicked off last week and apparently residents in one of his camps covered a CRS administration building with presidential posters. When he tried to explain that CRS is nonpolitical and that residents could put posters elsewhere – just not on the CRS administrative building – the people became quite angry. Rather than starting a fight, he decided to sit down, drink a coke, and wait. Seeing him sip the chilled soda, everyone simply stared. When he offered to buy them all drinks, they quickly accepted and beers were had all around. After one round, the camp residents were much friendlier and agreed to remove the posters.

Ah, the power of beer. I have never understood why beer companies don’t market this….

-In other news, one of the excellent additions to community life this year has been the emergence of poker. To play Texas hold’em, you really need five or more people who are committed to playing – and willing to ante up. This year we have six such bon moun, which has led to some excellent games that extend well past my bedtime. With a 100 gourdes buy-in (about $ 2.50 USD), we have played each of the last three weekends. No one is spectacular, but it has been tremendous fun eating fritay, drinking cokes, and losing money. I have yet to win (I nearly always choke at the end) but I have enjoyed it immensely.

-My book news is not so exciting. I finished Anna Karenina this past weekend, my first completed book in Haiti this year. Next on the list is The Little Prince, which another volunteer claims is one of his favorite books. In truth, there simply just has not been enough time for reading this year…

-In OEA news, the scholarship program continues to grow. To date we have over forty alumni on scholarship and hopefully we will be able to add a few more before the end of the year. The difficulty will be in saying no – we currently have 7 applicants for scholarships, a number that will likely grow in the next few weeks. It is no fun to tell a former student we don’t have the money to give him or her a scholarship…

Importantly, I am no longer alone in the OEA office as I now have a Junior Staff member working for me. Junior Staff are university students who work for LCS and in return receive university scholarships. He is a 2009 graduate of LCS and is studying linguistics at the State University of Haiti – the only government funded university. The earthquake came up during a conversation the other day and he explained that he had morning classes on January 12th and that he had intended to remain at his university until the evening, doing schoolwork. Apparently, he was studying in the library when he became really hungry. Instead of remaining hungry or spending money, he decided that he would just return home and finish his assignments the next day. He was riding a tap-tap home when the earthquake began. What happened to the library at his school? Completely destroyed by the earthquake. In fact, nearly all the buildings of his college (faculté) collapsed. There are separate campuses for the different colleges of the state university, but three of our alumni died at his college. How human beings deal with pain and suffering is truly fascinating. It was through laughter that he explained to me how him hunger had saved him last January…

That’s about it from my end.

Peace.