Instead of starting right away at Flake’s office, I took a week to do something I’d been pushing off for a long time. Since my mom was in college (and that was a long time ago), my grandmother has been going to Haiti on medical missions—bringing doctors, nurses, and medicine—and this February, I finally had the opportunity to go with her. I’m clearly not a licensed physician but I can fill out forms, use a thermometer, and read a phonetically-dictated script (compron?).
(That’s m’ team, right there. Most of them are ER doctors and nurses from the DC area. I loved them all, and they came from a variety of backgrounds and countries. I could go on for hours, but one person who was really interesting was Jean—second from the back on the right side. He grew up in Haiti and went to med school in the US. Others (me) came as secretaries. )
Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world and ranks 168 out of 187 in the Human Development Index. The average annual income is about $1730, and most Haitians are living on $2 a day. It is a semi-Republic, so people are electing members of Parliament as well as their head of state, who later choses the head of government.
(Recently, and you can read about it here:
the United States arrested the Haitian drug-lord Guy Philippe, who had recently been elected to the Senate but had not yet been sworn in. As you can imagine, this made people angry, and a few weeks ago they were evacuating Americans from Jeremie, which was where I was. But it’s calmed down since then.)
The thing that struck me as odd was how little presence the government has outside of Port-au-Prince. Part of it is corruption, but the larger part of it is governing a country whose largest export is Knit T-shirts. It doesn’t have to funds to introduce paved roads, clean water, electricity, and the result is a huge number of people who visited our clinic with problems that could have been easily prevented had they had access to cheap vaccines and clean water.
(Funny story: an 83-year old woman came in worried because she experienced shortness of breath when she climbed a mountain.
Not funny story: a 16-year old girl told a doctor that a year ago, she’d been hit by a car and broken her leg. She didn’t have the money to go to the hospital, and her leg was still bent.)
Some of these people walked for miles to get to the clinic, and waited for hours in the 90 degree heat. Some of those people had malaria.
It all makes me wonder how different my own country would be if it retained the structure of its government, but suddenly only 25% of the people have electricity or 60% have access to clean water. Obviously, democratic values are a part of culture, but how much are they made possible by the various resources that we overlook?
Questions, questions, questions. And the answers?
I’m becoming more interested in what makes a democracy possible in terms of infrastructure, moving away from voter efficacy, but I’ll see what happens when I get to Flake’s office.
Anyways, thanks for reading, and here’s a picture of our shower curtain. The wifi was worse than the shower curtain, which is why I had to post this late.
Hey Nicole,
ReplyDeleteI hope your trip was a lot of fun despite the heat, humidity, and disease. I am wondering now, are you going to compare the United States to other modern countries? Or perhaps more ancient states such as Rome? I understand the importance of a narrow scope, but it would also be interesting to see whether a civilization like Rome or Athens would help with political theory the most. I cannot wait to see what you do with Senator Flake at your side.
That's an interesting idea. Initially, I wanted to focus on Athens because 1. I'm biased towards it because of philosophy and 2. I knew more about it. But you're right; I think Rome might be the most directly relevant in terms of political structure.
DeleteTo keep the focus narrow, I think I'm going to stick you focusing solely on the United States, but I am interested in comparing regions (rural vs. urban generally), which can, in a way, seem like their own countries.
Wow, Nicole! That sounds like a very humbling experience. There is nothing like seeing how others can still find joy while battling issues like the ones you've described to make one realize how lucky one is. I am sure that you will remember this experience for the rest of your life. I can't wait to hear how you incorporate the lessons you've learned from this trip into your research.
ReplyDeleteIt's opened up so much to me, because an image can never replace a conversation. I think whether I mention Haiti in my abstract or not, my experiences there will direct the focus of my research.
DeleteHey Nicole! The opportunity to go to Haiti in of itself is incredible, but being able to relate it to your research is somehow even more impressive. With this added to the knowledge you already have of Athenian government, I can't wait to see what comparisons and information you draw between all three areas at Senator Flake's office.
ReplyDeleteWe'll see. I just finished my first day at Flake's and I think I'm going to have to get creative drawing these connections, but I love what I'm doing so I'm up for it.
DeleteHey Nicole! This was such an amazing 'week 1' post. It was a real eye-opener in terms of just how blessed we are here in the US. After this experience, are you considering traveling for your project if an opportunity comes up (not just for the sake of traveling, but for comparing more infrastructure)? Whether is simply be another state? Can't wait to read more! Keep being awesome :D
ReplyDeleteHa,ha, if you want to fund my travels you can pick the state. Otherwise, I think I'm going to stick to AZ for now. And yes it was eye opening--especially talking with the doctors about all the things that go waste on patients in US healthcare system. And things like paved roads, which you don't normally see as a luxury really are. And we were there for the inauguration of the president, so that was interesting. . .
ReplyDeleteHi Nicole,
ReplyDeleteGoing to Haiti is an awesome opportunity. Also, I think it's a great idea to study the government structures of other countries and compare them to the U.S. government. What other countries are you thinking about studying to help complete your SRP?
I think if I had all the time in the world I would compare three established democracies, three developing democracies, and three countries where democracy was attempted but failed--all of these similar in population size, if possible.
DeleteHowever, interning at Flake's office I think it might be more feasible (and more relevant) to explore the similarities/differences between regions in Arizona because there are very large gaps (in water quality, in road condition, in schools, etc.) between areas.
Your shift in focus from voter efficacy to resources available to citizens is interesting. However, will your focus on infrastructure rather than voter efficacy complicate your comparisons between ancient and modern culture?
ReplyDeleteDefinitely. And at this point, I think Athens will serve as a sort of context for my research, but it (sadly) won't have a place in the spotlight.
DeleteHI Nicole,
ReplyDeleteDetouring to Haiti seems like an awesome experience no matter how desolate or gruesome conditions were. It also seem appropriate to trace US government to its ancient roots but to also do the same with foreign government. Where were the roots of Haitian government derived if their government is so corrupt, and couldn't they just switch to a more efficient form such as the US's?
Fixing bad government is a very complicated issue. Haiti's current constitution was written in 2012 (and modeled off of the US and French constitutions), but over the course of its history, it's had more than 23 constitutions (can you tell Haiti's unstable?), and its period in democracy really only began in the 1980s.
DeleteHowever, there is a difference between what a country's constitution says and what a country does. There is a powerful elite in Haiti who are involved both in business and government--read: corruption. But there seems to be no alternative. A significant problem the Haitian government faces is lack of funding; this paves the way for bribes. One of the doctors was telling me that NGOs and other countries saw the government as corrupt so they refused to fund it and preferred to work independently. The problem is this is detrimental to the formation of a long-term solution--after a few years, many organizations pick up and leave, while the causes of the problems they attempted to solve remain.
In short: it's complicated.
Hi Nicole! That opportunity for travel is amazing, and I'm glad it gave you a clearer sense of direction for your SRP. Since you are choosing to focus on infrastructure, are you planning to research how the infrastructure of ancient governments in Rome and Greece were successful or not, and draw comparisons with our modern democracy? I can't wait to see!
ReplyDeleteIt will probably involve digging deep into the historical record to figure out the level of infrastructure both civilizations had. One difficulty will be comparing what was advanced at the time to the modern day, where things like telecommunications are equally as important.
DeleteHI Nicole! It's so wonderful that you got such a cool opportunity to help out in Haiti. You bring up some pretty good points by comparing the similar democratic structures of government but the vast disparity in resources in the U.S. and Haiti. I can't wait to see more interesting comparisons and observations when it comes to voter efficacy and government structure.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much. I feel like my project changes everyday, but I think the larger themes will remain the same.
DeleteHi Nicole!! I was so interested to read about your trip - it sounds like it was amazing! What a great experience. I also loved how you connected the ideas of democracy to our working government today, and how you connected it to your experiences in Haiti as well. I'm looking forward to learning more about your topic and following along with your SRP!!
ReplyDeleteAgain, thank you. It was really wonderful to know that you were helping people who needed it. A lot of the people who came in had symptoms that were psycho-somatic (Hurricane Matthew hit Jeremie hard, and when asked, a lot of patients said that their symptoms began "after the hurricane"), but even Tylenol, ibuprofen, and reading glasses made a lot of people happy.
DeleteI don't know if any of the next weeks will be as exciting as this one, but I hope you'll keep following nonetheless.
Hi Nicole! I think this trip was a great opportunity to experience life in a less developed country, and I'm glad that you gathered more insight into the various factors hindering democracy, such as the infrastructure. Can't wait to hear about Flake's office.
ReplyDeleteYeah. The link between democracy and infrastructure was something I hadn't really considered before. There are cases of countries with poor infrastructure that have gone on to become successful democracies, but I think it Haiti's case, it is an important link to be explored.
DeleteHey Nicole, you are so lucky you got to visit Haiti! It is so cool that you get to analyze the different structure of government. I am so excited to hear more about your analysis. The relationship of infrastructure and democracy is so incredibly interesting. I can't wait for you to do more research!
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely lucky--to have the grandmother I have (she paid for my plane ticket), to have met the people I did, and my whole life really. I hope, though, that my luck can rub off on other people.
DeleteHello Nicole! It may be a little too late to ask this, but what would you say is Haiti's attitude towards its government? Do they blame the government? Or are they just looking for help? I think that people's expectation's of their government is important in defining their relationship. Anyways, I'm really interested to see what you learn about infrastructure's relationship to democracy.
ReplyDeleteYes, yes, yes. From what I could tell, there is a strong bond between people and their local government, and they are pretty removed from the national government (which has little presence).
DeleteIn the last election, only 20% of the eligible population voted, which might give you an indication of political efficacy. What's also interesting is that Creole is the language spoken by the majority of most Haitians; the educated speak both French and Creole. But in the political game, French is the main language used. This creates many problems, as you can imagine.
Wow, this sounds super cool and interesting, Nicole! I was wondering, to what extent do you plan to look at ancient Athens and compare it to modern-day American politics, culture, etc., and do you have an idea of the kinds of conclusions you might make from looking at Athens? I'm really looking forward to hear more about how your project goes!
ReplyDeleteAs I told Robert, Carla, Aidan, and Anthony, I think I'm going to have to wait for my project to take shape before I bring in Athens. I do, however, think it can help me if I chose to delve into democracy (its history, theory, etc.).
ReplyDeleteGreat post!!! What a wonderful experience for you. It is interesting that you mention corruption of the Haitian govt., but then (I think too quickly) pivot to lack of economic resources as the predominant factor inhibiting the development of necessary infrastructure and resources to more remote areas of the country.
ReplyDeleteI mean if corruption doesn't affect/impact efficacy, what does?!?!
Both the Modern view of public corruption (concerning abuse of office by officials) and the Classical view expressed by Plato, Aristotle and others (concerning "moral" deterioration of the citizenry) seem to be relevant to your topic. Though some may argue the Modern v Classical view may be a distinction without a difference (see www.auspsa.org.au/sites/default/files/conceptions_of_political_corruption_lisa_hill.pdf) I do not think this is the case.
It always fascinates me to see how much Classical ideas are still relevant today!
Good luck!
Thank you so much for your insightful comment! I agree that I moved too quickly in my post, turning the blame away from the Haitian government (it IS considered one of the most corrupt in the world). I think I over-corrected a bit to fight the belief that if somehow we could just place "less corrupt" people in power, all of Haiti's political problems would be solved. I find it to be a harmful over-simplification.
ReplyDeleteAnd the article you mentioned (especially the bribery section) was very interesting. Right now, most of my research has been centered around modern America, but I'm excited to move forward by going back and looking at Athens and Rome (even a simple JSTOR search reveals some crazy papers).