West of the Equator

IMG_1114Interesting tidbits from working a Haitian construction crew.

We are in the process of building a pavilion and small warehouse at the Fr. Jim Bretl Agriculture Center.

Two days before the project was scheduled to start, the “Boss”, Boss Julien, came and told me that there was a problem. The men he had hired refused to work because we were using a different “Boss” than we had used when we built the foundation. In Haiti, it is not acceptable to change “Bosses” on a job once it has been begun.  Even though there has been a two-year interlude, this project is considered the same job.

When we hired the first “Boss”, Boss Julio, to work on the pavilion, we first paid him to estimate the job cost so that we could seek funding. When we raised the money for the foundation, we hired him to build the foundation. It has taken two years to raise the funding for this phase. In the meantime Fr. Gracia has replaced Fr. Jadotte as pastor of the parish.

There is a saying here that each river has its own rocks, meaning that each leader has his own people. Boss Julien is Fr. Gracia’s choice. But another dynamic in this culture, a culture that is deeply steeped in fear, there is a common belief that voodoo is involved when someone leaves a job, whether it through their own decision to quit, or they are fired because of incompetency, or because of illness or death.

Many times once a “boss” leaves a job, no one is willing to take the job. They fear consequences, and sometimes there are, people have even been killed.

Boss Julien asked us if we would explain to Boss Julio why we were not hiring him. We told him that he would need to talk to Fr. Gracia.  Fr. Gracia had told me he would be in Port au Prince at the time, so I phoned him and he did not answer. I then sent him a text, telling him that it was very important to call me. He did not respond.

When Fr. Gracia did not return my phone call, I agreed to talk to Boss Julio and when he came, explained to him that we were not dissatisfied by his work, rather, we were very pleased with his work. I told him that this was Fr. Gracia’s decision. For the record, we paid Boss Julio 300gds a day, and he has much more experience than Boss Julien.  Boss Julio agreed to work “under” Boss Julien, so work could be started.

The next day, the day before we were scheduled to begin, Boss Julien came and told Johnny he wanted to talk to me. Johnny has been translating for us. When Johnny found out what he wanted, he warned him it was not a good idea, but Boss Julien insisted. Boss Julien said that he wanted 1,000 gds a day instead of the 650 gds we had agreed on. He also wanted 600 gds for his “under bosses” instead of the 500 gds we had agreed on. Johnny had told him it was a very bad idea to change terms of agreement after we had agreed. But….

To help put things in perspective, Sr. Jackie pays her “Boss” on the construction site for the new hospital 450 gds a day. There are a couple of reasons that we agreed to a premium wage for Boss Julien, the first is that he is Fr. Gracia’s “man”, and Fr. Gracia’s decision, second Boss Julien is traveling from Kalabat, an almost two hour one way trip by moto.

We had paid Boss Julien 500 gds a day to build the shelter roof at our apartment, and we fed him and his helpers. We agreed to the 650gds a day with the understanding that we were not feeding him or the crew. There will be between 6 and 12 workers a day.

When he told me what he wanted, I responded that I was cancelling the project, turned, walked into the apartment and refused to discuss it further.

After a while, Johnny came and told me that Boss Julien wanted to talk to me again, and I told him there was nothing to talk about, but he persisted and I relented.  When I came back out on the porch, he started to talk about wages again and so I turned to go back in the apartment. Before I could go in, he said he wanted to work and agreed to our previous agreement.

I told him, that I say what I mean, I mean what I say, and I do what I say. I expect the same from him. I agreed to proceed with the job. Then as he was leaving, he asked me for money for his moto. I thought that Denise was going to go ballistic. I just laughed and told him “forget about it”.

Johnny and I had ordered all of the materials the previous week, but when the work began, the materials had still not been delivered. The truck we hired had broken down. If you saw the picture I posted on my personal Face Book page, you would not be surprised. The truck was supposed to have picked up the material on Saturday, but because of the breakdown, it was rescheduled for Monday. When the truck showed up to pick up the material, the driver discovered that the storeowner had sold the material the previous day and it would not be back in stock until sometime later that day.

The material did not show up until after dark after Boss Julien and all of the workers had left. It is the “Boss Man’s” job to oversee the delivery of materials. Delise, who manages the center, had stayed at the job site. He called Johnny, and Johnny and Bermane took motos to the center where they hired some local men to unload the truck. Among other things were 130, 94lb bags of cement.

One of our neighbors who is working on the job site came up to me the next morning and said that they are working in concrete, and asked for a pair of rubber boots. I told him that I did not have any, so he asked for a pair of tennis shoes. We do have shoes to distribute, and everyone in the community knows it, but they have not been unpacked and sorted.

We have been waiting for Fr. Gracia, as that has traditionally been his decision as far as distribution. The crates of shoes arrived here in May, and Denise and I have been here for over a month and there are still no plans on distributing them. Denise and I have decided that we will unpack, sort and arrange to distribute the shoes.

When we arrived at the job site, we discovered that when workers are working in concrete, by tradition, we are obliged to purchase food for them. ..

Another day in paradise.