The Delco broke down Saturday, so our 24/7 climatized field hospital was without power for a longer period than the usual couple hour lapse while gas is being purchased each day. We moved all temp-sensitive meds to one room, essentially dismantled the OR, made a huge mess in the ICU (clean-up is tomorrow's project!). Our guys worked very hard in steaming heat to diagnose the problem, with the best tech in town consulting the best in the country. Heck if I know how it works; they do.
But a foreign vol approached me with better ideas, "They don't really do things by the book here, do they?" I could only glare and dash off to one of the other 5 pressing tasks.
Later this morning, had a meeting with Dr. Desir. Got to talking about the committee founded by his brother, on January 13. Since that day after, a group of local professionals have been liaising between the government, UN OCHA, and all humanitarian organizations to orient the response toward what the people here want. Desir showed me maps, described some of the forthcoming detailed plan--the vision for Leogane. Continuously, since the day after... working for their comrades struggling to survive. I sat back, in quiet awe.
Listen to us, he was emphatic. It is for us to decide.
When I accompanied Joe and American Refugee Committee on a IDP camp assessment last week, we quickly realized the aid groups in charge knew little: directing us to "priority" camps that no longer exist. The complex excel matrices, updated as of last week, are inaccurate and inefficient. In contrast, met up with a young Haitian member of a civil society organization who had handwritten reports of 110 camps in the area and guided us directly to them. Spot on.
The temptation to label Haiti as chaotic and backward is admittedly there. Sometimes things just don't work, and that's frustrating to us bleeding hearts. So I have to catch myself often: be patient, it is not for me to decide.
Let Haiti write its own book.
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