My Love-Haiti Relationship
Elizabeth Cooke
July 2009
Final Presentation
Compton Mentor Fellowship
lizziebell.wordpress.com

“I suddenly felt a
deep need for stability
just as I was about to
vault into a year of
uncertainty.”

“. . . as long as there are
people like my cab driver or
like my fellow fellows, then I
will be in good company
wherever my fellowship year
takes me.”

time to meet my mentor

“Go ahead, put your hand over it.
Smell it.”

“I’m busily soaking up all the
information I can find. . .”

finding my Haitian rhythm

“. . . kids chasing each other with
machetes, pushing each other
around the yard in wheelbarrows, and
dangling a freshly killed,
disemboweled snake in my face.
And so began my work in Haiti.
Looking on the bright side, things
could only improve.”

“In a place where
few people know where they will find
their next meal, the single
greatest obstacle to innovation is a
culture whose capacity for
long-terming planning has withered
like jatropha in the sun.”

“Despite all of the trials,
I have begun to settle into
the rhythm of Haitian life.
Each day is different
and brings new
challenges.”

“A young girl hacks off one
end of the coconut with a
dull knife, and I drink the
mildly sweet milk straight
from the round opening in
the shell.”

“A man riding his bicycle
through Fort Liberte, which I
found to be a very pretty city.”

“A man riding his bicycle
through Cap Haitian, which I
did not find to be a pretty city.”

“When the agronomist arrives, I
speak with him briefly about the plans
for the day. He asks about his salary,
telling me for the third time that he
needs money to register his children
for school. . .”

“There are still moments when I feel like I’m
the puzzle piece that doesn’t quite fit into the
picture here.
“In the mornings, I often feel a slight panic,
uncertain what the day will bring. However, by
the evening, I am usually content as I walk
back to my house.
“The words, ‘I’m living in Haiti,’ frequently run
through my head, as though I haven’t quite
gotten used to the idea myself.”

all changed, changed utterly

“Hurricane Hanna has changed
everything. I am safe but surrounded
by complete devastation.”

“Despite the threat of
Hurricane Ike, it is currently
safer to stay where I am
than to leave.”

“The road out of Gonaïves is
blocked by swollen rivers and
destroyed bridges.”

“All of my time and energy for the
immediate future will be focused on
relief efforts.”

haitirelief.wordpress.com

“Scanning the barren mountains on the
Haitian horizon, it is easy to feel
overwhelmed and to believe that any
attempt to heal this land is futile.
“However, dropping seeds one by one into
the moist earth and watching the green
shoots that emerge over the coming weeks,
a flicker of hope returns.”

“. . . the students from my English
classes threw me a farewell party on
Saturday morning.”

“I arrived promptly at nine o’clock as
instructed, but in true Haitian fashion,
most of the students began to trickle in at
9:30 and the party wasn’t in full swing
until about 11:00.”

“What are you doing to help
the people in Haiti?”

“A young girl recently asked
me this question.”

LIFE IN HAITI Hurricanes, Hunger, and Haiti
Elizabeth Cooke How Human Actions Augment the Cost
of Natural Disasters
St. Mary School
November 26, 2008
Elizabeth Cooke
Furman University
November 5, 2008

“She could not imagine how
complex her question was.”

“Or how often I have been
turning that question over
in my mind for the past
several weeks.”

imagine what can you offer?
haitian
innovation
inspiration
investment
www.imaginehaitian.org

“It feels wonderful to be back in Haiti.
Everything seems comfortingly familiar:
the sound of young boys playing soccer
in the field next door, the taste of
mushroom rice and spicy squash sauce,
and the sight of schoolgirls walking to
class in their uniforms.”

“Compared with the bewilderment I
felt at every turn during my first stay
in Haiti, I have felt a deep joy at
every familiar sensation this time.”

“Dare I say. . .
. . . everything is progressing
smoothly.”

a bit of humor

March 17, 2009

“I was recently detained at a
Dominican prison
after crossing the border in a
school bus filled with
80+ Haitians.”

The sea was a shade of blue
to put the sky to shame.

“Someone from the State
Department just called. They
want to meet you.”

one last visit to Haiti (for now)

PINHAB: PARTENAIRES pour une
INDUSTRIE HAITIENNE du BIODIESEL
Conférence Gwo Medsiyen
Port-au-Prince
23-24 Juin 2009

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