A change of pace as today I went with my team leader, Damaris, to check on projects in two country towns, Petit Goave and Vialet. Strange in some respects, as I spent part of the morning doing head counts on the the number of Cash for Work workers that were actually working (compared with those that were on the books... still 12 unaccounted for). The teams were clearing rubbish from the streets which is really helpful from a public health perspective, but a little frustrating given that they were supposed to be clearing rubble from house blocks! I did ask the local project officer whether he thought telling us about the change would be helpful... no response. I also asked if he thought taking over responsibilities that the city council should be performing was useful... no response. Damaris has a great plan for fixing the problem (thankfully).
We then spent a frustrating hour or two waiting for lunch before visiting a clinic that we didn't know existed until two days ago. Damaris went to work finding out what was happening there while I met the new Community Assessment Team that we have created for this area. This was a helpful discussion, although we had to break through a cultural barrier where they were reticent to talk to the strange white guy that kept asking strange and annoying questions.
Upon my return to Port-au-Prince we discovered that the water bladder at the camp that was damaged yesterday is totally beyond repair. Also Heather, my offsider in the camp, had spent a lot of today dealing with two particularly unhelpful committee members that were causing trouble for the rest and threatening to take security in the camp into their own hands.
A rest tonight, and then meeting the Dutch donors again in the morning. Oh... and I've convinced the electricians to come back to work again (I think).
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