This morning during our operations meeting a debate began over the course of action our agency should take regarding some recent news. Apparently the Government of Haiti has called for a three-day holiday in order to pray, fast and mourn--this weekend being the 1st month anniversary of the earthquake.
This would entail three days off for all of our staff, which would bring our projects--all of them--to a grinding halt. As such, our medical teams would be twiddling their thumbs and our distribution commodities left sitting in the warehouse. I argued against this position, saying that essential services should keep working--those being 'all of our relief programs'. This would entail about 1/3 of our staff having to work. I added that the bulk of these relief staff were recently contracted employees--not full-time, and therefore legally could not protest. However, given the circumstances, I offered that they could voluntarily opt-out of working this weekend in order to go to church, the cemetery, sleep-in or what have you.
Some other expatriate staff disagreed rather strongly as they felt we should be sensitive to cultural values of the host country and therefore uphold the wishes of the Haitian government and close everything down for three days. I thought that was a rather broad interpretation of their wishes. I retorted that the hospitals will all be open, as will the police (the UN will be too, but they hardly work most of the time! ;).
When we asked a number of our national staff their opinions were split. A handful said that we should close down entirely and in this way respect their culture. Another handful said it wasn't a big deal and that the people would rather receive something (a distribution or health clinic) even if it meant our agency working on a holiday.
What do you think? If you have time, please leave me a comment.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
My opinion (totally uneducated in your line of work...) would be to keep working. Aid is needed, aid will be delivered. I do believe in taking time to observe and remember and process, but I don't necessarily believe it has to be a set "national holiday".
ReplyDeleteAs an FYI, there is very little to no press coverage of what is happening in Haiti now. Some fashion designer committed suicide today, and the news' "Eye of Sauron" is focused on the new "tragedy du jour" - oh, and the Olympics.
Joel mate, I really admire what you're doing - and your candid sharing of thoughts on this blog, all of which I have read.
ReplyDeleteOn this issue, I agree with you entirely. I'm firmly in the respect-local-culture-and-wishes camp when it comes to development, however last time I checked the Haitian government hasn't done a brilliant job of respecting its people's wishes and fulfilling its duty to them. Par consequence, je pense qu'on demander a les concitoyens qu'ils desirent. Um, or something like that - my French sucks.
Basically what I'm saying is that I think it's the wishes of the people, not the government, that should dictate what you do. If people want relief then you should do your best to provide it - government wishes be damned. Of course if your staff wants the time to grieve, be with their families, get some well deserved rest, etc. then I agree that you should accomodate them. But if there are staffmembers that want to help you respond to the needs of the people for whom you are capable of providing some measure of relief - well, by all means, do your damndest to do that whether or not the country is officially in mourning.
That's my two cents. But I trust that you will make the right decision.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mark.
ReplyDeletelistening in from Uganda...thanks for the blog. As Mark said, your candid sharing is appreciated. Stay safe.
ReplyDeleteMy question for you is how do you feel the fasting will effect the distribution. I visited Pakistan in September during Ramadan, where the food consumption shoots way above average during fasting. I'm not sure what the style of fating is like in Haiti, but assuming the natural psychology of breaking a fast with a feast occurs, I would forecast day 3 as a possibly insecure day in your world. What are your thoughts?
Overall, I agree that a cutting back is more responsible than a full on shut down. I cant imagine children, elderly and the sick are going to fast, not voluntarily. And being flexible with your staff, while getting out there seems a kind and respectful way forward.
Looking forward to hearing how it rolls out. It's admirable that you are there at the frontline of the crisis. Hope you have wisdom and guts for all the decisions and actions you make in the next week.
It sounds like some people (both Haitian and international) that you've canvassed would find 3 days "off" excruciating; those that want to should be encouraged to continue to work when there's so much to be done. I don't think it's anyone's right to insist otherwise when you're still running a relief operation.
ReplyDeletePlaying the culture card is myopic. I find it a bit of stretch to think that Haitians would place priority over medical and food relief to spend time mourning. (And your survey of people's opinion has shown that it is not a clear cut issue so how an "outsider" can make it that is beyond me.) Besides, mourning is a personal affair and done at one's own pace. As I understand it, many that are mourning are also in dire need of aid and don't have the luxury of halting their needs for some reflection and prayer even if their hearts and souls also need nourishment.
Insisting on shutting down relief operations is hard to justify logically or morally. I hope you can find a way to keep it going, Joel.
A compromise was reached. Friday morning our office hosted a formal 'jin'--which I understand to be something like an Irish wake, minus the liquor. They sang songs, told stories, and fasted from dawn until dinnertime. The immediate distribution teams worked a half day, as they will today. Our medical teams set up outside our compound and gave consultations to all the extended families of our staff.
ReplyDeleteI had a very frank and healthy discussion with an HR person down here from headquarters. She helped me to gain perspective on the amount of stress my programs put on the office. Basically she said she understands the circumstances, but that I am driving them too hard. I accepted that. To be candid, it is always difficult to sort out the actual need on the ground and your your own interpretation of that need and how it is biased by your own ambitions.
I should also add that, yes, culture is never easy to parse. But (and this is essentially what I wrote my thesis on) I firmly believe that the overwhelming factor in how a nation recovers from crisis AND how a nation develops socially, economically and politically is determined primarily by culture (which is significantly influenced by religion). Humanitarian and development agencies that prefer to keep their hands clean and ignore this reality (the majority of them) may "win the battle only to lose the war."
ReplyDeleteCulture is a dirty word in aidwork.
"The late political scientist Samuel P. Huntington used to acknowledge that cultural change is hard, but cultures do change after major traumas."
ReplyDelete우수 견적 주셔서 감사합니다!
ReplyDelete