Observers

Observers

July – August 1991

Port-au-Prince

The new arrangement between Kevin’s NGO and the station’s board has changed his day-to-day activities. His new mission is to be tour guide, interpreter, and “our man in Haiti” for recent blan arrivals. The Aristide government is a focus of interest for the usual suspects, for reasons not that new in Haiti’s history as the first African slave revolt-then-Republic. With all the journalists, cartel soldiers, spies, humanitarians, and US agencies coming into Port on every flight, the bars and restaurants are packed and the cost of liquor and cigarettes have skyrocketed. Still no condoms though. Still a Catholic country. If you know a guy, they’re available at black market prices but without expiration dates.

Since Kevin and his friends stopped drinking top shelf long ago, they are mostly unaffected. Marlboros and Johnny Walker? Forget it. Local cigarettes and 3-star Barbancourt rum? No problem. Gunfire is common despite the supposed truce between Lavalas, the Duvalierists, and the military. No one wears seat belts anymore because there’s a lot more risk from stray bullets than an auto accident. Everyone avoids driving at night. The price of fuel and strategic value of darkness leave the city without electricity most of the time. Can’t be with the one you love? Love the one you’re with.

Then there are the observer delegations from all points in Christendom on their tours of misery and mercy. Since Ashley, Matt, and Kevin work for faith-adjacent NGO’s, they’re constantly shepherding blan delegations back and forth to the airport. The safest restaurants and hotels are in Petionville and every delegation needs a good dinner party, so Kevin spends more time there than in Carrefour. Most itineraries include the Montana Hotel, which has two bartenders on duty around the clock. After the tourists are safely asleep in their hotels and guest houses each evening, Kevin and his NGO friends usually end up in the Montana bar, exchanging war stories about their hopeless delegations. They quickly adopt the term “JAFO” as a catch-all for anyone who is Just Another F-ing Observer.

While drinking an Irish coffee one morning and waiting for his group to collect itself in the Montana lobby, Kevin sees Jocelyn talking with Ashley outside the main hotel conference room. Before he can make his way over to them and say hello, Jocelyn is back inside the room. Ashley has collected her flock and sees Kevin in the lobby. They hug briefly and Kevin asks about Jocelyn. She’s already moving toward the exit but calls back, “Long, amazing story. Will tell you later.” Then he collects his own delegation and leads them outside to the waiting buses.

International Airport

It’s late one morning at the airport and Kevin is waiting for a missionary group from Miami while slightly hungover. He’s found a good spot to watch the arrivals and he’s early. A flight from New York arrives and a delegation emerges into the bright sun with their bags and carts. The midday heat stuns them as they put on sun glasses and dig out their paperwork. A few dozen street kids descend on them offering cheap taxis and baggage handling while trying to pick their pockets. Kevin tries to identify the gang’s ringleader. He’ll pay him to keep the kids at a distance when his group arrives.

The flight from Miami arrives and a mix of Haitian and American passengers begin exiting the airport. The Haitians move quickly to their waiting vehicles while the Americans knot together in small groups with their piles of luggage. The street kids mix in with the Americans like sharks among baby seals. At the head of the largest group of Americans is a tall black guy wearing a LA Dodgers ball cap. From his clothing and height, Kevin can see he’s African-American but the street kids aren’t picking up on this. The white folk are yelling things to LA Dodgers in their southern drawls. In his own west coast accent, he’s asking them to repeat themselves. They seem to expect him to magically communicate with the Haitians. Kevin watches him shrug his shoulders, his facial expression saying “How should I know?”. Then LA Dodgers grabs his bags and makes his way toward the waiting line of taxis and passenger vans.

The Haitian street kids sense that the white Americans don’t trust LA Dodgers. This convinces them that he’s Haitian and since he won’t speak Creole, they accuse him of being a traitor to his people. LA Dodgers finally just laughs and calls out “M pakab pale Creole!” Mwen se Ameriken”. Then he pulls an LA Lakers towel from his bag and puts it around his neck. Suddenly he’s like a celebrity and the Haitian kids start practicing their English with him. They shout lyrics from NWA and Public Enemy. Some shout “Fuck LAPD!” which horrifies everyone except LA Dodgers, who doubles over laughing. Eventually a driver appears with a sign and leads everyone to a nearby bus. LA Dodgers fist bumps the Haitian kids and climbs in last.

Kevin’s delegation is a youth group from a church in Ohio, chaperoned by a middle-aged couple. He introduces himself and the couple explains that they’re here to build a school somewhere in Hinche. They don’t know the specific location but have the name of a local camion company. A Haitian man approaches with the company’s name on a placard. He gestures to a large school bus camion, introduces himself as their driver, and asks where they’re going. When he hears that their destination is Hinche, the driver becomes visibly nervous and protests to Kevin that the area is “Tre cho!”. Kevin agrees and suggests that they get the blan into the school bus so they won’t get robbed, while he sorts everything out. Then he takes the couple aside, “My NGO only gave me your flight number. What else can you tell me?” Church Couple argue their way to an explanation. It seems their church raised funds and shipped supplies to a church in Hinche a few months ago. But they lost contact when all the “political trouble” started. They’re hoping Kevin can help them find that church and their supplies. They need to build the school and return to the US in a week.

Someone named Pastor Joel was supposed to meet them at the airport but they’re not certain he received their flight details. Kevin is their backup contact. Keeping his voice low to avoid alarming the kids, Kevin explains to the couple “Hinche is half a day north of here and it’s already getting late.” They look at him with blank stares as he continues, “It’s very remote with no paved roads. The zenglando haven’t been pacified up there and are having daily gun fights with the Haitian military.” Church Couple looks at him in bewilderment, “Zenglando? Gun fights? We’re not getting involved in any of that!” Husband looks at Kevin as if just noticing that he’s not much older than the youth group, “Your NGO said you’re their fixer down here. But if it’s so hard to get to Hinche, how do you know any of this?” He looks at Wife and back to Kevin triumphantly. Kevin blinks, raises an eyebrow, and smiles thinly, “Radio Protestant has a transmitter up there. I’ve made the trip but only by motorcycle and NOT during the rainy season, which is what we call this time of year. Unless you’re in a military convoy, they’ll shoot first and never bother to ask questions. And since I’ll be with you, I agree we shouldn’t get involved in any of that.”

Since everyone is already loaded and Church Couple is staring at him in stunned silence, Kevin steps out of the bus to smoke a cigarette and consider options. He finishes the cigarette and steps back into the bus. “If your supplies made it to Hinche, chances are someone has already used them. Possibly to build that school.” The couple both open their mouths to protest but Kevin interrupts them, “I have another idea that will be safer for all of us. The location is nearby so you won’t spend half your week bouncing around in this school bus.” He explains his proposal and since no one has any other ideas, the bus follows his Lada north from the airport to a small village in the mountains.

One of Kevin’s friends works for a non-profit called NGO Housing. They’re running a huge project to build this entire village from the ground up. No one expects the bus full of Americans but there’s plenty of work to go around. Kevin’s friend settles the group into some available dorm rooms and everyone seems happy with the arrangement. Kevin reminds Church Couple that they’ll need to get back to the airport without him and makes his exit. As he’s climbing into his Lada, his NGO friend bangs on the cargo door, opens it, and pushes a crate into the cargo area. She leans in his driver side window, “Thanks for the conscripted labor!” Laughing, they exchange cheek kisses and remind each other to stay safe. When Kevin gets back to his apartment and looks in the back of the Lada, he discovers a whole case of Barbancourt 3-star. Not a bad day. Hope LA Dodgers is doing OK.