Logistics

There are many romantics working in the field. There is the community organizer working to inspire voluntarism amongst the youth, the medic healing the sick and infirm, the human right activist standing toe to toe against corruption and injustice. There is one task, however, that has become a vital aspect of field work.

To those unburdened by it, logistics is simply a term. Perhaps even it is a catch-all for those aspects of work which do not involve direct contact with the needy and infirm. Yet there is no doubt that once you are forced to engage in tasks as mundane as renting cars, fixing water supplies, fueling generators, agreeing contracts, managing staff you come to appreciate that, what most take for granted, is an arduous responsibility in low income countries.

Taking on logistical responsibilities is a crucial task that affords the field operative a wider horizon on which to focus, to better understand all that is functional and, as what turns out to be the case, all that is not.

Haiti is no different: once the initial shock of the place, the sheer destruction the lack of infrastructure has settled into the background, all that remains is the imperative to find solutions that are often novel and unnecessary in the Wide Eyed Pragmatist’s homeland. Even the most fundamental of tasks can become unmanageable without careful planning; everyday products, widely accessible in high income countries, just do not exist; professionally trained staff are difficult to come by. Moreover, serviceable road networks, functioning internet, electricity, clean water and a state infrastructure, certainties I once took for granted, are a chimera in Haiti.

Having taken on this responsibility with my usual aplomb, I look forward to sharing more with you regarding my adventures in banalities as wondrous  as buying food, water purification, driving and fixing the generator.