16 Nov Return from an accident

I was in a terrible accident on Halloween night. Well – terrible for me, not for anyone or anything else. My face smashed and jammed my glasses into my eye, my lip split, my cheek, chin, shoulders, and neck all had rubbing burns, and i’ve done some kind of damage to my left shoulder and arm. I am now the character-added sporter of a lovely new set of scars on my face.

All of that being said – i’ve not spent much time keeping up on Haiti over the past two weeks – either because i was recovering or because i was catching up. Last night, i finally logged onto Twitter and poked around in the news. Things are looking much worse.

Today, violence broke out at protests. Haitians are blaming the Nepalese peacekeepers and burned down a police building today as well as set fire to burning tires and threw rocks at UN troops. UN troops responded by firing gas.

I’m always shocked at the amount and kinds of violence used against people who won’t order themselves “properly.” The death toll may be as high as 1000 today, and another 15,000+ have been hospitalized. People are afraid of the water – the very essence of our living. They are angry, frustrated, frightened.

I noticed, as i was pouring through news accounts, that there were never pictures of aid workers or other non-Haitians languishing, dehydrated and dying. That there are 1000’s of aid workers in Haiti and that it appears that none of them are ill – one has to ask: how is it?

And now, cholera is being framed as a “national security issue” beyond being a public health issue. I worry when dialog shifts public health matters toward national security issues. The US has done this for years within their own borders, and exports it through USAID efforts. It is the stated goal of USAID to diminish the capacity of (would-be) terrorists by offering social services. A fascinating powerpoint presentation is available here.

The front page of USAID states:

The United States has a long history of extending a helping hand to those people overseas struggling to make a better life, recover from a disaster or striving to live in a free and democratic country. It is this caring that stands as a hallmark of the United States around the world — and shows the world our true character as a nation (emphasis mine).

The FY 2011 budget justification goes on to say that aid work and workers:

represent opportunities for the United States to provide critical leadership, strengthen existing partnerships, forge new ones, and advance stability, prosperity, and opportunity for more of the world’s people—and, in doing so, to protect our own security, promote our interests, and lay the foundation for a more peaceful and prosperous future.

Our security, our interests, (our?) prosperous future…certainly development aid has never made the impacts that have been promised – there is no golden road to economic development that can be met through USAID. And yet millions of dollars are being spent in countries that pose a security threat to the US on health and education, on building infrastructure and stabilizing the government. Alan Ingram has written extensively on the pitfalls of global health as a geopolitical program. Ultimately, two things happen: development aid for health goes only to those areas that are perceived as a threat, leading to an uneven geography of health; and, development in general, but health aid, particularly, is milked for its neutrality. To draw health work and health professionals into the frame of security not only puts them in danger, but also threatens to undermine the very core of health service.

But what does it mean to say that the cholera outbreak in Haiti is a national security threat? I’ll admit that from the outset of the outbreak, my first thought was of civil unrest. This is a nation that has been wracked by trauma after trauma – and i’m not just referring to the time frame of January to now. The natural disasters coupled with the stalled aid delivery coupled with elections debacle and the slow and too-soon withdrawal of aid workers  and the long history of usurped sovereignty and systematic weakening of the state through the rise of the shadow state, otherwise known as the Republic of NGOs have all added up to a volatile cocktail that should have, by all standards, have erupted already.

The most horrible aspect, on a very personal note, is the way it makes me think of my future research plans. I am sickened that i have to even think of them.  And yet, that is the nature of graduate school. I realize now, why it seems to suit those people with a strong sense of deservingness as you have to maintain a kind of shell of self-interest – one that i never cultivated. On that note, despite the accident, and with only sheer determination and a lot of Advil, i managed to get the Wenner-Gren out the Monday after the accident, including the hard copies, which have been received. I’m nervous. They didn’t require any letters of recommendation (what a relief! as i hate to ask things of people) and the SSRC did. And i sent my final (and butchered) version of my SSRC on the Tuesday, in a hurry so i could go back to sleep, but one Chair responded to it and is actually going to help me flesh out a few of the last methodological bits. I’m not good at that end. I get flustered and nervous. But i’ve a meeting with my favourite Methodologizer on Tuesday next, so i think we’ll get that sorted.