Myette.org

In the month that Erika and I were apart some things fell by the wayside including photo and video updates to the website.  So here are some updates, that are long overdue.  The photo galleries have about 200 new photos in 4 new galleries.  There are also 8 new videos over at the video player.  So enjoy the photos and videos as Maggie learns to walk and Jacob and Michael continue to expand both in stature and in ability.  Here are a few previews.   

And below are some video previews.

This is going to get boring.  

In about an hour I’m heading to the airport.  While this certainly marks a turning point in our lives, it also marks a turning point in this web page.  Gone are posts like the last one about raging rivers, malaria and installation of running water (at least I hope those aren’t part of our experience in Chicago).  Quite frankly this web page will be getting pretty boring pretty quickly.  So consider this your fair warning and feel free to click unsubscribe if you’re on the e-mail version, we won’t be offended.  I make no excuses for the forthcoming posts about my lawn, the softball team I’m itching to join and the Bears chances at the Super Bowl.  

Worry not, we’ll still strive to keep it pretty updated because though we will be in Chicago we will still be far away from many of our family and friends.  Actually now that I think of it the posts may not be so boring after all.  While I’m accustomed to rampant corruption, tropical diseases and always carrying my passport, I’ve never mowed a lawn, shoveled snow or taken by kids to ballet class.  I think the second set might cause me more difficulty than living in the third world ever did.  

So, stay tuned for adventures from suburbia.

I headed up to the north coast this two weeks ago to visit Andrea and Matthew in La Ceiba and to visit the Finca in Trujillo.  It was a nice trip, though a bit rushed and quite frankly a bit wet.  It rained the whole time which isn’t entirely unexpected this time of year.  

At the Finca I got a bit of nostalgic for rainy season.  If you’re a normal person rainy season isn’t particularly fun.  You’re wet all the time, clothes never dry hanging on the line, mud and mold become a normal part of your life.  But as a Finca volunteer it’s also a time of relief from the hot sun, you get to make daring rescues of trucks stuck in mud, electicity goes out and prompts candle lit dinners, water systems break prompting bucket showers, rivers rise and you see t he true power of nature and feel it’s effects in ways that just aren’t possible for most of us city dwellers.  So while I didn’t like getting soaking wet walking back from getting a beer with the vols, I certainly appreciated the chance to remember those times at the Finca with fond memories.  

As I took the bus back to Tegucigalpa on Monday I began to see the picture with a broader lens.  As we continued on I noticed more and more fields flooded, more rivers raging and more landlides being cleared from the highway.  I picked up a newspaper and began to read of the effects of 10 d ays of rain across the country.  knew that when I got to the office on Tuesday that likely we would be responding to an emergency.

So what happened?  Essentially we had about two weeks straight of rain which caused widespread damage across the country.  It just got to the point where the ground was so saturated that there was nowhere for the water to go and mudslides and flash floods were the result.  About 75% of the roads were damaged to some extent with 72 bridges or river crossings destroyed and another 169 damaged.  34 people were killed mostly when rivers rose and destroyed their homes (2,200 homes destroyed and double that many damaged. Thousands fled their homes for shelters and 250,000 acres of crops were destroyed.

COPECO (the government agency responsible for emergencies) coordinated both the national and international response and at least from my point of few had a decent handle on the situation.  As I had suspected I was busy at work on CRS’s response to the emergency.  We work entirely through local partners and in emergencies the partner with whom we work the most are the local Catholic dioceses.  My role during  the emergency was to take all the information funneled to me and turn it into money.  The dioceses would communicate with us and give us an assessment of the situation an our team here in the office would evaluate where, what and how much we needed to get into the field.  Within the first 24 hours we got out a situation report to our headquarters and another 6 hours after that we were working on drafts of the emergency proposals.  In all I wrote three proposals for things like blankets, mattresses, water, cooking kits, hygeine kits and medicine.  We were able to get the proposals approved pretty quickly and get the materials needed into the hands of the dioceses so they could respond to those in need.  

So worry not, I certainly wasn’t slogging through rain choked streets (the photos here are from the newspaper).  And while I spent most of the time in the office writing it was certainly an interesting experience.  We’re just hoping for no more rain any time soon.

I sent out this email last week to a few people, I’m posting it here because it’s the best that I can do to explain what’s going on in our lives at the moment for those who may not have been included on the original e-mail.

Family and Friends,

We really thought that our lives would start settling into a more predictable pattern, but indeed that has not been the case.  Our time here in Honduras has been interesting and exciting to say the least and we are writing to say that it is nearing its end.   We write to share this with you because you are family and we wanted you to know that we are back in the states.

The past two weeks have been a flurry of emotions as we found out that we were pregnant and then yesterday found out that Erika had had a miscarriage.  The miscarriage is the immediate cause that is bringing us home, but there are so many other factors including the security situation here, the frequenc with which I travel and the path that this lifestyle has set out before us.  In the end we decided that this lifestyle is not for us and we’re now in the process of moving towards our next step. 

The miscarriage has sped up that timeline somewhat.  While the medical care we have received in Honduras thus far has been of high quality, after consulting with midwives and doctors both here and in the states we have decided it would be better for Erika to head back to the US.  Erika is healthy and coping well (both mentally and physically).  It is simply out of an abundance of precaution that she is returning so soon.  It also made sense that if we were thinking a change was in order that now might be an opportune time.

We are all returning to South Bend tomorrow (Sept 25).  Erika and the kids will stay in South Bend while I return to Honduras Oct 2 to finish up work on November 1st.  Our trajectory from there will likely take us to Chicago where we’ll settle more permanently.  There is so much that went into this decision and it’s so hard to put in an email.  In the end we just wanted to share this with you so that when you ran into us at a Notre Dame football game it wouldn’t be a surprise.  While we are sad to be leaving Honduras and what in my case was a really great successful job we are also excited to be moving closer to our family and friends in Chicago more permanently.

We have lots of transitions ahead and the next few months will be a bit crazy even by our standards.  We hope you will keep us in your prayers both from a distance and in person and we hope to see many of you soon.  

Love,

Michael-John and Erika

There are places in the heart that do not yet exist, and it is into these that sadness enters, that they may have existence.

When we learned that we were pregnant we had just about decided that we were done having children.  We had three beautiful children, we were happy, we were good with three.  The amazing gift of our fourth child is that he or she opened up space in my heart that I didn’t know existed.  The striking thing about a miscarriage is that it so often happens just as you were getting used to the idea of being pregnant, of being a parent.  We had started to think of ourselves as a family of 6, making plans for our four children.  In the two weeks we were pregnant suddenly there was this space for this child whom I loved, whose father I was and who I wanted so very much to meet.      

And now there is an emptiness, a sadness that is there because I will never have that chance.  Every time I think about it I think of this quote I misremembered from a class Erika and I took in college.  All I can think of is that the empty space is somewhere new and exciting in my heart that in time will be filled with joy.  I don’t know how that space will be filled but I do know that it is a gift from a child who I will never know but love so very much.  

Note:  The quote at the beginning of the post is from Leon Bloy.  As I said, I misrembered the quote substituting sadness where Bloy writes suffering which more accurately described how I felt.  The actual quote reads “There are places in the heart that do not yet exist, and it is into these that suffering enters, that they may have existence.”

My Fletcher classmate and fellow CRS Fellow Marc recently wrote a post about politics in Bosnia.  So with a little inspiration I thought I would give a glimpse of the political landscape here in Honduras or at least the little bit that I understand.  Rather than try for a comprehensive post which is beyond my current understanding I’ll offer three snapshots that hint at what the political life is like here.

1.  Who gets to run in the primaries?  Honduras is scheduled to hold elections in November 2009, but as in any good democracy campaigning began months ago.  The primary elections to select the candidates from the major parties are set for November 2008 and we’re just now finding out who the primary candidates will be.  The election authorities handed down a ruling two weeks ago that the current Vice-President (Elvin Santos) is ineligible to run.  Apparently the constitution says that sitting Vice-Presidents are ineligible.  Seems pretty straightforward except that it apparently also says that the president of congress also is ineligible.  Except the election authorities have said he was ok to run.  Turns out the constitution isn’t quite so straightforward and there’s lot of ambiguity in the language.  Ambiguity isn’t generally a good thing in situations like this and the rulings have brought street protests from Elvin’s supporters.      

2.  ALBA.  ALBA is the Bolivaran Alternative for the Americas, Hugo Chavez’s coalition to fight the hegemony of the United States.  Chavez is the president of Venezuela and has a penchant for calling the U.S. los yanquis de mierda (”the yankees of shit”).  The same day that brought Elvin’s supporters to the streets Chavez was in town for Honduran President Mel Zelaya to sign Honduras onto ALBA.  The papers have been filled with the pros and cons of joining ALBA.  It comes with some big promises of help from Venezuela’s oil riches, but also some significant risk of offending the U.S. from which Honduras gains significant aid and remittances from the 1 million Hondurans living in the U.S.  The Honduran congress has vowed not to ratify ALBA but the debate rages on.  The signing brought out major street protests both for and against ALBA though word is that Mel was paying bussing in “supporters” and paying them $25 and a free lunch to participate in the pro-ALBA rallies (I almost went just to score $25).  I’m still fuzzy on the details of what ALBA actually is but there’s always the Wikipedia article.  

3.  We’ll be right with you Mr. Ambassador.  One piece of fall-out from the ALBA signing happened last Friday when President Mel decided not to accept the credentials of the new American ambassador to Honduras.  This is one of those diplomatic things that actually has little to do with Honduras but Mel dragged them into it.  Bolivia is experiences some serious turmoil right now with violent demonstrations and fighting in the streets.  Somehow in all of this mess Bolivia decided one way to control the situation was to expel the American ambassador.  This set off a chain reaction with Venezuela showing it’s solidarity and taking advantage of any possible excuse to thumb their noses at Washington to expel the ambassador to Venezuela.  Washington then replied in kind by expelling Venezuela and Bolivia’s ambassadors to the U.S.  In the midst of this last week the newly appointed U.S. ambassador to Honduras was arriving and Mel decided to indefinitely postpone accepting his credentials.  In reality this has no effect.  It’s not like the new ambassador isn’t going to work because they haven’t had the ceremony.  Mel has already backtracked and promised teh ceremony will be held within the week.

So those are just a few snapshots that offer a bit of insight into Honduran political life.  Makes the Obama-Hillary primary seem almost sane.

I’ve written in the blog before about how strange it is to live in Teguc and to be able to recreate many aspects of our stateside life.  We go to Costco (Pricesmart here), eat baked macaroni and cheese and buy Kraft parmesan, swing by Office Depot to pick up office supplies, have the option of having Dominos deliver a pizza (haven’t done so yet), and get local Denver stations on our cable TV (go Broncos).  When we lived at the Farm, even though we lived with lots of other American volunteers, we still were immersed in Honduran culture.  Here in the anonymity of the big city it’s much easier (for better or worse) to live much like we lived in the states.

One result of that is that Jacob may very well depart Honduras next summer not speaking Spanish.  We’ve put some thought into this and after about 6 weeks we’ve decided that the best thing to do is hire him a Spanish tutor.  The bonus is that his Spanish tutor also happens to cook, clean and help take care of the kids.  

Ok, so perhaps “Spanish tutor” isn’t the most accurate description. 

We have avoided hiring someone to help Erika around the house.  The truth is that Erika has a great handle on the house work, but it’s also true that by the time all is said and done it’s usually 9pm before we get a chance to sit down together.  Add to that the fact that I’m traveling at least 3 days a week for four of the next six weeks and that we really do want Jacob to learn Spanish (I swear that really is a primary motivation).    

Erika interviewed a woman today to be our empleada (literally: employee).  Her name is Manuela and she’s going to work for the next three days while I’m out of town to see how she does with the kids and how comfortable Erika feels with her.  The going rate here is between $120 and $180 a month for 40-hours a week.  It’s not a huge expense and will make a big difference in Erika’s daily life and by extension my life.  Erika is looking forward to having help around the house, some Honduran cooking, someone to speak Spanish with Jacob and perhaps eventually a chance to get out and have coffee with a friend without Maggie and Jacob in tow.  

While we’re very much looking forward to having the help it still feels a little wierd.  I’m not quite sure why.  We’re providing a woman with a good job at a good wage for Honduras.  We will treat her fairly and truly appreciate the work that she does.  It’s both expected and appreciated for Americans and other expats to hire someone to help around the house.  It’s not just international staff either as all of my Honduran co-workers have an empleada working in their homes and they’ve been suprised that we hadn’t hired someone yet.  I guess it just feels wierd that even though we’re paying a fair wage that we’re still getting so much for so little.  

There’s no real conclusion to this thought, just an ongoing reflection.  Living overseas brings many challenges, but in this case we’re grateful for the opportunity to have a little help around the house and, of course, have a Spanish tutor for Jacob.

I always try to give a little sense of what it’s like to live overseas.  You get used to the strangeness sometimes but every once in a while something truly startling breaks through. 

I’ve quickly become accustomed to driving on the main boulevards of Teguz with the taxis, buses, and sad street performers (let’s just say it’s not Barcelona).  Any big city I’ve ever lived it has its vendors selling their wares: newspapers, cell phone cases, socks on the 55th street overpass at the Dan Ryan and pies from the Nation of Islam on Stoney Island in Chicago.  Teguz is no different, though belts seem to be the most common item here.  The other night driving home there I was startled to see people selling (you guessed it): Puppies. 

Now I’m no marketing guru but stoplights and street corners seem to be an impulse buy sort of market.  You’re looking for something the consumer can decide on, pull out the money for and complete the transaction before the light turns green.  Sort of the like the checkout line at the supermarket or a wedding chapel in Vegas.  Regardless, there must be those willing to pull over to buy that puppy they’ve just got to have or to throw some money out the window and grab Spot (or in this case Espot) by the scruff of the neck and hit the gas before the guy behind them starts honking. 

I truly wish I had a camera to capture these guys standing there in traffic holding three or four puppies our to potential buyers as they dodged motorcyles.  Fortunately for you (and surpisingly to me) this is a common sight in the developing world and a quick internet search turned up a photo from Africa that is pretty close to what it looked like that afternoon in Teguz.  Enjoy.

I love to be amazed.  I like shiny things.  Google makes shiny things. 

The newest tweak to Myette.org is on our photo album page that is hosted by Picasa (Google’s photo sharing software and website).  Amidst the hype of Chrome, Google’s new web browser released on Tuesday, was the much less hyped release of a new version of Picasa and Picasa Web Albums.  Picasa can now recongize faces and with a fair amount of accuracy identify who they are with a little help from the user.  I spent about an hour identifying about 2000 faces that Google recognized in our albums.  The result is that now you can sort throug our photos based on who is in them, make a slide show of just them, or find a photo quickly. 

Note:  I only made public the tagged photos of our immediate family.  If you want to see all the photos I tagged of you drop me an e-mail and I will send you the link. 

For those of you not in the Caribbean basin and glued to the National Hurricane Center website, Gustav has been plowing through the Caribbean wavering back and forth between a hurricane and a tropical storm.  At the moment it’s moving away from Jamaica after slowing making it’s way across the island over the last 18 hours.  My sister Michele happens to be in Jamaica visiting her friend Beth who works at the U.S. Embassy in Kingston. 

Rather than me rehashing what she has alread written you can read all about her experiences and what’s happening over at her blog michele.myette.org.  My topic here is more about the process of her communicating from in the middle of a hurricane.  So far they have been able to communicate by cell phone but with $4 a minute charges to call from Jamaica and $1.50 a minute prices for my parents to call Jamaica from the U.S. our communication has been somewhat limited.  But text messaging is cheaper ($.35 for an international text) so Michele has been able to send text messages. 

In my world of development and relief there’s been a fair amount of buzz about using new technologies for early warning and disaster response in both humanitarian emergencies and natural disasters (see this Economist article for an example).  So I put some of these tools to use to try and help my parents and other family members keep updated about how Michele was doing.     

I figured out a way for Michele to post to her blog by sending a text message.  I used Twitter as the go between to link her text messages to her Wordpress blog.  The details aren’t important, what’s most interesting is that in about 25 minutes using free services (except for the actual text messages themselves) Michele and I have been able to figure out a way for her to communicate from the middle of a hurricane.  While her text posts are limited to 140 characters, it’s still pretty cool stuff with some amazing and innovative potential for emergency responders everywhere.  The Google foundation is working on this for pandemic disease early warning and Patrick Meier (a Fletcher PhD candidate) writes about applying technology to humanitarian response at his blog.

In the mean time know that Michele is safe and texting away from Jamaica.  Check out michele.myette.org if you have a chance to read her updates.