It is Flag Day here in Haiti, so the Save the Children office is closed, but soon I will be picked up by the M&E manager, Roseval Supreme to return to the office for a project summary and next steps.
This morning, I was watching the workers finishing up the new hotel parking garage that was being constructed on my last trip to Haiti. The workers were pouring concrete into the top of one of the vertical support programs, clad in wooden forms and surrounded by reinforcement rod. There was a brigade of workers carrying buckets of concrete up the three stories and then one person poured into the top of the form. Of course, I wondered why they did not simply back up a concrete truck and just pump the concrete up to the top of the pillar. But I have observed this manual labor in many locations. Once in El Salvador I watched from my air-conditioned hotel room 4 older men demolish a huge tree stump at the sidewalk with axes during the week. It was brutal work. When I mentioned to my host that a mechanized tree stump grinder could finish the job in minutes, he replied that those men would then not have jobs and their families would go hungry.
The Save the Children PDA Team
The two IT persons (Philippe and Rivolino) were off in a corner at the end of our training session yesterday. They had two laptops out and had commandeered the Pendragon manual. Suddenly, they both rose from their chairs and made some commotion. When I asked what was going on, they demonstrated a successful (1st time I've seen it) wireless transmission of data from the PDA to the Pendragon form design "client, to a database "server" laptop.
They had loaded the Pendragon forms design application onto a "client" laptop, but loaded the Pendragon MS Access backend database onto the 2nd laptop. then the data they entered on the PDA went across the wireless network to their server laptop and appeared as a new record on the database. This is where they jumped up.
As i mentioned earlier, they were able to establish contact with the VPN network in the Dessalines and Maaissante impact areas from Port au Prince. Next step, create a MS SQL Server database on a SC office server (might need some support, licenses), allow the M&E group to build test forms from their client laptop, then send the PDA's with the Education manager to give to the program supervisor (both of whom attended all of our training sessions) to collect test data in the Dessalines impact area. Then, they will send the data back to Port au Prince using the VPN network connection at the Dessalines office. In the future, the Port au Prince M&E office will send the forms to the impact office as the PDA is docked there and new data is uploaded).
The other CO's using PDA's have achieved 4 values; increased data accuracy while using the PDA's at the impact areas, elimination of non-value added cost of paper management, elimination of data hand transcription costs, decreased time to analyse data. Haiti has added the 5th value now; elimination of transporting PDA's across rugged roads (cost and time).
I overhead the Country Office director, Lee nelson mention that their office here in Haiti can receive a dozen visitors am month. Even though my visit is fully funded for air transportation, lodging, etc, by the agency, I fully realize that my visits require an additional workload that takes the staff away from their regular busy workweek. also, there are additional costs and time to accommodate my visit.
But I received a very flattering comment yesterday after our PDA team lunch (funded by the CO) that makes it all worth it for me. Upon entering the restaurant, I sat at the far end of the long table to accommodate my left-handedness. As we waited for our meals (I enjoyed delicious braised goat), the team were engaged in animated conversation in Creole with occasional group glances towards me. Later, Roseval asked me if I knew what they were talking about. My french is poor and my Creole is non-existent, as he knew. He explained that sometimes visitors arrive and have difficulty establishing contact on a personal level, likely due to their schedule and visit content. He said that the team was remarking at the restaurant that I did not seem to hold myself in high esteem and they had seen me make efforts to make contact with all, to the delight of drivers, janitors, and other staff. I understand how it can be when someone approaches and I do not know the language, and this has been a particular change in my life when I return ot the United States and meet someone not of native birth.
I do enjoy this part, making every effort to greet everyone, regardless. Often I am met with surprise and even awkwardness by staffers as I bend down to look in their eyes and greet them while taking their hand after I learn the local customary greeting. I am obviously well-fed and tall having taken my multi-vitamins since a child. I have seen the other visitors do this as well, including the recent visits by Charlie McCormack and the other Alliance persons during their visit. Everyone works so hard ot make my stay so productive and comfortable, and i have really been struck by the friendliness of everyone in Haiti. What a joy.
