Part 2: On Anthropology, Inspiration from Haiti While planning the relief event, I could not see the magnitude of our efforts – I was simply too busy. The total weigh-in of donations was undoubtedly impressive, but with no prior experience in planning disaster relief events, I pondered how…
Part 1: On Anthropology, Inspiration from Haiti While trained as a cultural anthropologist, I also work within linguistics and have worked as an archaeologist. This freedom to be more holistic in my research is, I feel, one of anthropology’s strongest attractions. Combining this with…
the hardness of life and the laziness of some thinkers Still ranting about our naivete in the face of Haitian poverty. One of my good friends was telling me about a story she’d heard where a woman was being treated on the USS Comfort for two legs and an arm all of which needed to be amputated. Now…
orphans??? Where do I even begin to explain what I’m thinking and feeling about how children are appearing in the coverage, being responded to on the ground, and what’s actually happening to kids in Haiti? When I’m feeling sour (like right now) I think,…
Up close and personal, or maybe not At the moment I’ m being a little dumbfounded at what strikes me as a generalized lack of interest in actual Haitians, and a huge interest in imaginary Haitians. The objectification thing. There are a ton of events going on here in Los Angeles,…
Whose crisis is it anyway? At my daughter’s ballet class the other day, I got talking with one of the moms about Haiti. She was telling me about some people at her church, people who go often out of the country and do volunteering and stuff, and what she said, basically,…
3 Haitian Women’s Rights Leaders Dead Myriam Merlet, Magalie Marcelin and Anne Marie Coriolan, founders of three of Haiti’s most important women and girl’s advocacy groups, are confirmed dead in the aftermath of the recent Haiti earthquake. Myriam Merlet was until recently chief…
Haitians, ever fastidious even in crisis Have you noticed how incredibly clean everybody looks in the footage on Haiti? The only people who appear unkempt, on the whole, are the foreign reporters. Well that’s an exaggeration of course, but not much of one. Really — look closely at…
ports, containers, shipping *Elizabeth Chin is an anthropologist who has studied Haitian Folklore dance for over 20 years, both in the US and in Haiti. Currently a professor at Occidental College, she has been spending time in Haiti since 1993, sometimes doing fieldwork and…
Partners in Health – Stand with Haiti Click here for the original Boston Globe article about Partners in Health accompanying this video. Check out Partners in Health’s website – http://www.standwithhaiti.org/haiti – for updated news and information on how you can support…