Michelle May

First it was Wyclef Jean & now they are attacking Sean Penn- why does the media love to attack celebrities who do charity work?  Is it simply that no good deed go unpunished?  I know, I know, some are simply opportunists- i get that, ie:  what’s her face- the blond- who went to Rwanda to soul search after she gained 5 lbs, etc-.  However Sean Penn & Wyclef have been putting their money where there mouth is for years- not just when it’s fashionable. 

While in PAP i met an evangelical minister from Texas- he started complaining to me:  “Why do the media attack Wyclef?  I saw him with my own eyes, picking up dead bodies!!”  Hey, great point mister.    He went on to say that he has not seen the Red Cross once.  And that it was starting to piss him off.  A conservative evangelical minister from Texas.

Sean Penn came to our camp to drop of a little girl with Hydrocephalus.  He was flying a specialized doc in with his own money to treat her.

Afterwards a group of about 10 of us gathered round him- not b/c of his movies, but becasue of his charity work & activism.  He looked tired and worn- it was clear that he had been working round the clock- for the past MONTH.  Sean gently and humbly told us of the work he and his group J/P HRO had been doing and how he just could not bring himself to leave after what he had seen- every single one of us knew exactly what he meant.  Like me, the man is driven by his heart right now- not dollar signs or fame.  So why must the press attack him?  Let’s even pretend for a moment that he was doing it for fame (which i do not believe he is) then in the grand scheme of things, does it really matter?  Should we continue to wait around for the Red Cross to finally DO something rather than let him?  I would not hold my breath.

THere is no shortage of NGOs in Port au Prince right now- the streets are clogged with SUVs inching along- all with various NGO banners accross them.  Oxfam, Doctors WIthout Borders, Catholic Charities, etc- they are all there… but one big group was surprisingly absent, from my view at least.  I gave them the benefit of the doubt but once again, on my second trip they were nowhere to be found.. and i was not the only one to feel that way.  Why does the media not attack Red Cross who gained the most money rather than the humanitarians who also happen to be celebrities?  A few days ago, Red Cross distributed 5000 tarps in Port au Prince- their “biggest distribution” yet.  Uh, that is sad sad sad.  Wyclef is picking up bodies with his bare hands & Sean Penn has built refugee camps- but the Red Cross: 5000 tarps.  Really? 

 I finally saw the Red Cross once- it was at a mental health meeting at the UN.  I spoke about what we were doing at the hospital- afterwards the Red Cross lady stopped me to ask “what do you think the needs of Haiti are?”  She went on to say that they are still assessing the situation.  I wanted to say:  “shouldn’t I be asking you the questions lady?” but i kept my cool & told her how horrible it was to discharge patients onto the street- how they all had no where to go- most without even a simple thing like tarp to protect them from the elements.  What we need are refugee camps- YESTERDAY and housing that can withstand the fast approaching rainy season & soon thereafter hurricane season.  I explained that i was not the expert.  I arranged a meeting for her with my boss, the head of the UM hospital- but she cancelled last minute and once again asked me on email to answer the same question that i had already verbally answered the day before.

(I wanted to say: read the writing on the wall, lady..)

If you wonder the same about the Red Cross, here is some advice from a friend who shares my frustration:

 
“We need your help…..please continue to work on your own endeavors to solve this problem, however please help us lean on the Red Cross.  Please call your local chapter and speak with the CEO.  Leave a message daily until he/she calls you back. 
http://www.redcross.org/where

Call DC HQ (don’t fall for the 800-get-info routine- they don’t know). Ask them for information regarding distribution of essential items in Haiti.  Tell them that you work with locals that are homeless, tell them that you discharge patients with newly amputated limbs to a street corner filled with rubble.  Tell them you want information to give to these people stating where they can collect a tent, tarp.  Demand an answer regarding supply distribution and fund distribution.  This should be public information.

The estimated population of Haiti is 9.7 million
http://www.google.com/publicdata?ds=wb-wdi&met=sp_pop_totl&idim=country:HTI&dl=en&hl=en&q=haiti+population
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/13/haiti-population-graphic_n_422179.html

Below article states 2.2 billion raised
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5idZiVQhHcyG1gpBjzXaAmmk4_OtAD9E8PTRO0

My elementary math equation from # of people and $ raised, appears that everyone could have a tent….actually, everyone could have had a tent by now.

Google “red cross criticism” - call a local reporter in your area that has reported on this.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&ei=wYmVS77jCJG6swPFgpWmBw&sa=X&oi=spellfullpage&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=2&ved=0CAYQvwUoAQ&&q=red+cross+criticism+haiti&spell=1

Also, Starbucks is taking customer donations and matching them.  What do they do with combined donations?  Turn it over to the Red Cross.  Where is this money?  There are other major corporations that are doing the same.  Call them.”

Tags: earthquake relief, Haiti, Port au Prince, Sean Penn, the Red Cross, Wyclef Jean.

I rarely leave the tent hospital- maybe to go to a clinic or to the UN, but this time a friend took a few of us for a drive through the center of town “just to see it.”  It was not different from what you see on TV, but to see the destruction 1st hand- after some time had passed- I could hardly imagine how anyone survived.   Yet somehow life carries on.  People sold fruit and rice out of bags at a “market”, and other industrious people were collecting metals from the rubble and cars that were destroyed in the quake.  On the road side CDs, phones, champagne (?), radios, watches, shoes, etc- were up for sale.  Rudimentary “tent cities” are everywhere- not sure how any of those can withstand even a light rain though, nevermind the rainy season.  Near the UN tourist trinkets and art work are sold- Saw that as early as 2 weeks after the quake.  At the recently re-opened airport necklace sellers are out in full force- giant smiles on their faces and jokes at hand.  

Tags: Earthquake, Haiti, PAP, Port au Prine.

Yes, ladies & gentlemen i hear you- you are asking: what about the mens of PAP, this round?  Last time we were in awe of the dreamy Portuguese Bombeiros.  But as we know they left Haiti- all that is left is a shell of their old camp which is now used as a triage center for our hospital-

So eventually we all had to accept the reality- start to lather and wash our own hair- and sigh loudly as we eat canned fruit straight from a can- no rum drizzled atop by a muscular Adonis type.  the suffering!!!! Enter: the Argentine Army…

YEs, ladies- it’s true.  All a girl has to do is leave San Francisco to be treated like the goddess that we all are by handsome adorable sweet men from all sorts of different countries.  But how do these gorgeous Argentine soldiers stack up in comparison to the Bombeiros??

As you an see: they are cute- but the sheer number is quite low (3 vs 30) add to that they do not have the sweet berets that the Portuguese wear.  THey did come bearing their own Heineken- and yes it was cold, but no one spoon fed me or gave me a stylish flame resistant suit.

In the end they were a delicious diversion who tried their best- probably not smart to even attempt to compare them to 30 beret wearing elite force Bombeiros.  However I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Argentines, and for a little while, received some extra special treatment.   A memory never to be forgotten… in the midst of despair there is still life!  Thank you for teaching me that.

Tags: Argentines, Earthquake, Haiti, handsome men, PAP, Port au Prince.

Last week there was so much death- but if Haiti has taught us North Americans anything- it is that we are fully alive- and to live while we are here.  Being short handed at the camp many had to do things they never thought they would have to to accomodate death- bagging dead bodies, creating a respectful funeral, and tending to the tent morgue.  We have a different relationship with death in America.  Not saying that Hatians do not mourn, are not in deep grief etc- but they have had to deal with death much more than we have- or choose to.  Because of that they are more enlightened and wise than us, in my opinion.  In America we do anything to avoid death- cheat aging, etc-.  We enable denial of a very basic and unavoidable sapect of life.  Maybe instead we could simply embrace living more so that our days here are full and when it is time to go we do not regret and in fact we are tired and ready to go?

I have not had to deal with death hardly ever in my life.  Sure grandparents passed on, and some of my students have died at the hands of guns… but i have never sat with someone as they were dying… until now.  The other day i was completely shattered because my favorite patient ( i know- not supposed to have favorites but we all do!)- had a very bad prognosis.  I sat with him as he went into near septic chock- annoyed with the doctors and nurses wondering why they could not do something more.  I crossed the boundares- personalized it, and then went into denial.  the doctors told me- this is it, lady!  I am in Haiti to help the Hatians- not be a burden- so when i began to well up in tears i reprimanded myself:  hold it together girl.  I did a pretty good job of it until myself and 2 other counselors- 2 of religious faiths, sat with the patient’s family and said prayers with them.  One of the counselors kindly came to console me- it was the first time i could not hold back the tears.  I was embarrassed and felt the spoiled westerner- he is here for them- not me: I immediately directed him back to the dying patient’s family.  

Later that night that rabbi/chaplain/funeral director/psychologist/counselor- as he called himself- came to tell me a story to enlighten me a bit on death.  This was more the Hatian way- tell a story, say a prayer to understand the death- don’t try to talk someone to death- figuratively speaking- as we do in the States.  He told me a long story about so many bible characters whose names are too long for me to even begin to remember them.  WHat the story boiled down to was some bible character asked another:  “How many days have you lived?”  rather than “How old are you?”    He explained that all that matters is how many days you have truly lived.  A good friend of mine, Dr. Shea, was standing beside me at this point- she knows me from Iran… “Michelle you really have lived many days.”  WHat she doesn’t know about me is that there are so so so many days- where I like many others- am waiting around for something to better to happen- some other time to come.  The rabbi/chaplian/psych went on to say- “When you look into ___’s eyes- you can see that he has truly lived- many days.  God is in his eyes.”  He was right.  Before this story was even told to me, i felt like i had a direct pipeline to god/divinity/grace when i looked into this patient’s eyes.  I know it may sound strange, but i felt like he was trying to tell me something.  He knew something that i do not know- that most of us do not know.  Something that words can not explain or describe.  All we can do is be present with it and not understand it.

Tags: death, God, grief, Haiti, Port au Prince.

Are photos taken by aid workers an invasion of privacy in Haiti?

Tags: citizen journalism, Earthquake, Haiti, PBS, privacy issues.