Julie Dermansky's Blog

New Orleans New Year Starts With Lots of Gun Activity

2012-01-13T20:06:00.000-08:00

Suspects Cuffed With Hands on Car

The new year in New Orleans has gotten off to a crime-ridden start: 27 people shot as of January 12, two dead. I spent New Year's Eve riding along with officer David Desalvo who got his first illegally used firearm off the streets along with the man who chose to shoot it into the air 30 minutes into January 1. Here is a link to my story shot during a number of ride-alongs between Christmas and New Year's Eve. and another from a gun buy back program in Jefferson Parish held on January 7.

I started paying more attention to cops and bad guys after my best friend was held up at gun point while shopping for an onion for our dinner. I told him we could do without the onion, but he said, "i like going to my corner bodega." He doesn't like it anymore. Two thieves, one carrying a gun, held him up the Monday night before Christmas in the well lit parking lot of market a couple blocks away from where he lives. People were around, but lately gunmen in New Olreans don't seem much troubled by witnesses. My friend gave up his money, but when the gunman wanted his car too, he fought back. While the gunman counted the money, my friend hit him in the head and ran into the store, asking them to call 911. The thieves ran. My friend chased them in his car, calling a 911 dispatcher and telling them which way the thieves were running. WIthin minutes, the gunman was caught though his accomplice got away. My friend was able to ID him and get his own ID back. His money? Well maybe one day, but more important, the gun was recovered and the perp is now sitting in jail with a high bond. Over an hour later my friend was back. He didn't have the onion, but he did have a story one doesn't hear much in New Orleans: a story about police doing a great job. Ten officers were on the scene in minutes. That is what inspired me to do a series of ride-alongs.

My friend is the last person I'd exoect to be a victim, He's pretty tough. His sudden vulnerability shook me up. After a few ride-alongs I see New Orleans differently. Crime is not making me think of moving on or staying in, but I do lock my car doors while driving and I don't shop in the 5th district at night . Filling up my gas tank has become a daytime activity.

click here to see me on Fox 8 talking with Rob Masson and Liz Reyes about my photos from the gun buy back program and ride alongs.

A Lorcin .25-caliber semi-automatic pistol, turned in for $50

These days don't be surprised if you here gun shots on the streets.

Perp who lost his shoe while running from officer DaSalvo

A drunk man is subdued after a domestic violence incident on New Year's Eve.

Johnny Ngai and Benny Griffen with guns turned in at the Gun Buy Back Program

Bi-coastal Coverage of the Occupy Wall Street Movement

2011-11-20T07:43:00.000-08:00

Jane Ready For Action in Oakland

On 11/09 Jane Tyska, a photojournalist friend, tipped me off that the destruction of the Occupy Oakland encampment was imminent. I flew out from New Orleans the next day. I had a chance to meet some of the protesters and document the site before it was torn down by the police on 11/14. The police did their job with professionalism, unlike an earlier raid where excessive force and tea rgas were used. The press were allowed some access to the encampment during the teardown. The next day there was a march, rally and start up of a new encampment at UC Berkeley. Robert Reich addressed over 5,000 people gathered in in Sproul Plaza, famed as the location of protests in the '60s. I spent the night there while the police kept reminding students who spent the night in their newly built tent city that they were subject to arrest. In the group was Daniel Ellsberg, who chatted with me about the Occupy movement, war and whistle blowers. He told me the Obama administration has gone after more whistle blowers than any other: seven, to date. As morning broke I headed for the airport and a flight to NYC.

As the sun came up on November 17th, I got my first post-eviction look at Zuccotti Park. The police had the park barricaded. except for a few points of access. Cleaners were spraying down parts of the park. Protesters who met across the street before a march on Wall Street were tense. Hundreds if not over a thousand police were on hand. My experience with the police varied: One officer told me that the police are part of the 99% and only doing their job; another used his baton to push me back when there was no back to back up to.

With Occupy Wall Street going into its third month, American journalists no longer have to fly to a distant land to be in harm's way covering the news. Nor do they have to be in a third world country to find they do not have the freedom to cover the story.

Check out my story/slide show on the Atlanic's site on the raid of Occupy Oakland's Camp
and story/slide show from the NYC Day of Action http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/11/an-inside-look-at-todays-occupy-wall-street-scuffles/248673/#slide3
Watch the Barricades in Zuccotti Park being taken down by Occupy Wall Street protesters
Set of Occupy CA on Flickr
Set of Occupy Wall Street on Flickr

Riot Police Raid Occupy Oakland

Trading Post at Occupy San Francisco

Berkely Students Marching Before Occupy Plaza

Daniel Ellsberg Early Morning in Sproul Palza

Robert Reich Speaking in Sproul Plaza

Nadina Laspina Arreseted on Nov. 17th NYC

Police Push Press Back With Billyclubs in NYC

"Pancho" Ramos Stierle Arrested during Raid on Occupy Oakland Camp

Berkeley Student Set Up Tents in Sproul Plaza During Rally

Photographing Occupy Wall Street for 5 Weeks in NYC

2011-11-03T12:50:00.000-07:00

Snow covers Tents and Sculpture in Zuccotti Park in October

Charlie Gaeta and Jess Wood in Fox New reporter costumes

LINK TO RECENT INTERVIEW FROM FOX 8 MORNING SHOW in N.O.
Rob Masson asks me about OWS

In the five weeks I covered Occupy Wall Street, I watched the movement grow and spread around the world. Last week in NYC, protesters took to the streets after ex-Marine Scott Olsen was injured by the Oakland police when they broke up Occupy Oakland's encampment. Violence against protesters further strengthened the activists' resolve. Those in Zuccotti Park braved an October snowstorm and two days later joined in the Greenwich Village Halloween parade.
The movement continues to evolve. In the 47 days since the protest began, OWS has changed the national dialog from the deficit to economic inequality. People are switching to credit unions and investigating banking options in record numbers.
Check out my recently updated set on Occupy Wall Street my flickr
A video of Marine, Sgt. Thomas explaining why he thinks participating in OWS is important
and A video of the Drunken Wife, playing in the Halloween Parade while marching in the OWS contingent.

Protest sign on the bottom of pizza Box in Zuccotti Park

OWS protesters in NYPD costumes at the NYC Halloween Parade

OWS protester as dressed as a foreclosed home

OWS protester dresses as Jesus in the NYC Halloween Parade

Peter Rostusky with Pipe-cleaner 99% glasses in the Halloween Parade

Occupy Wall Street Movement in Second Month

2011-10-26T09:45:00.000-07:00

Members of the Grannie Brigade at a Lincoln Center

As The Occupy Wall Street movement grows, it has embraced various groups protesting specific social and economic injustices. I have been covering events initiated by these affiliated groups: The Grannie Brigade at a peace vigil at Lincoln Center (these senior citizens have been protesting against war for six years); a march to the New York District Attorney's office by Vocal NY, a group of community activists,protesting police brutality and arrests of OWS participants; a march and protest at a meeting aagainst fracking; a rally and civil disobedience action led by Cornel West and religious leaders in Harlem that kicked off a campaign against the NYPD's Stop and Frisk policy; and a march to Union Square by The October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation.

Despite Mayor Bloomberg's promise to be tougher on protestors who don't obey the law, no further mass arrests have been made in New York City. The only arrests made were those of Cornel West and others protesting the Stop and Frisk policy. NYPD gave the group time to say their piece in front of a Harlem precinct headquarters before arresting those who were determined to be arrested, locking arms until they were taken away.

Two days ago police in Albany refused orders to arrest protesters, while the encampment in Oakland was broken up by police with tear gas and arrests. What is next for protesters in Zuccotti Park, no one knows, but their agenda is growing and tents are replacing tarps as cold weahter moves in.

Click here to see images available through Corbis and others through Flickr set

Cornel West leads a protest against NYPD policy, Stop & Frisk

Man at a meeting on Spectra Pipe Line

Protestor at a meeting on Spectra Pipe Line

Protester offers flowers to NYPD in front of DA's office

Occupy Wall Street Weekend in NYC

2011-10-17T07:52:00.000-07:00

Victory Sign in Zuccotti Park after Mayor Backs Down

On Friday, 10/14, protesters took to the streets early in the morning after plans to remove them in order to clean up Zuccotti Park were called off. Thousands had come out to protect the protesters from being evicted. Since the protest began on September 17, the marchers for the most part have stayed on the sidewalks, but after the stand-off everyone was expecting was diffused, protesters took over the streets Friday morning. Cops enforced crowd control by running a line of motorcycles up behind the marchers and making some arrests, which did not dampen the jubilant mood of the day.

Man cuffed after being run over by NYPD bike

Man after getting fitted for free suit looks in mirror

Saturday, October 15th was a day of international protests inspired by Occupy Wall Street. New York City demonstrators turned out in the thousands to occupy Times Square after a number of other protests around the city. I started the day at Zuccotti Park, where people were suited up in business attire donated by a group called Wall-Suits. I followed the protesters on a march through the financial district, where Chase headquarters and a smaller branch were targeted. A splinter group remained at the branch and shouted out demands for people to close their Chase accounts. Protesters had their say until higher-ups in white shirts told them to move on.
A demonstration at the Astor Square Chase branch ended without incident, but 24 were arrested at City Bank on LaGuardia Place when the protesters entered the bank. After rallying in Washington Square, protesters made their way to Times Square. The area was already packed with supporters by the time the core OWS group arrived. The police dealt with the steady flow of new arrivals by putting up more and more barricades, causing confusion and making the flow of human traffic almost impossible. Protesters, tourists and locals found the barricades objectionable. A tense situation ensued since no one knew in which direction to move, leading to a breakdown of the otherwise peaceful demonstration. At 46th Street, protesters and police clashed. The police pulled out all the stops, sending in officers on horseback and riot police. From an elevated vantage point, I photographed the crowd challenging the police. The police barricaded themselves in the middle of the street. For a few moments it seemed like anything could happen as the horses rode toward the crowd.

Police send reinforcements

The news that the media was reporting that OWS had successfully occupied Times Square drew wild cheers. To celebrate, many moved on to Washington Square Park. On Sunday, Zuccoti Park was again thronged with people. While some important unions, city board members, and politicians support the movement, the Bloomberg administration still sees OWS as a nuisance to the city and suggests it is just a matter of time before Zuccotti Park is cleared. But despite the nay-sayers, OWS is a force to be reckoned with. Some 900 OWS-inspired demonstrations around the world attest to its power. The movement has started a dialog long overdue in American politics as the country's wealth continues to grow only for the top 1%.

To see more images from my OWS coverage check out my set on Flickr
and collection available through Corbis

Protestors telling people to close their accounts

Protestor at Chase Plaza holding sign for police woman to read

OWS protester in Washington Square Park

"Occupy Wall Street Movement Goes World Wide" on news feed at Times Square

Occupy Wall Street Gets Personal

2011-10-13T17:19:00.000-07:00

The October 11 Millionaires March which began at Central Park stopped at the homes of J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, oil tycoon David Koch, financier Howard Milstein, hedge fund maven John Paulson, and CEO News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch. A symbolic check for $5 billion was left at each home, the size of the impending state tax cut for New Yorkers making $250,000 and more. The march was organized by the Working Families Party, New York Communities for Change, Strong Economy for All, United NY, and members of the Occupy Wall Street movement. It went off without incident. The police were very polite. Some of the doormen showed solidarity with the marchers, but the reaction in the neighborhood was mixed. While many residents stepped aside and took photographs, others seemed bewildered.

The March was so popular that organizers have called for another one on October 12 to Chase Bank's New York office to question why New York State is giving Chase a new tax cut next year. As the marchers made their way back to Zuccotti Park, the police moved into the crowd and made four arrests.

Protest in front of Chase Plaza

This Saturday, October 15, a third action targeting Chase is planned. The Occupy Wall Street website calls the event "Chase's Money Is Ours! Chase Bank uses our money to make profits, but we don't have to let them! Come support Chase customers CLOSING THEIR ACCOUNTS," OWS states.

Events now are being coordinated on a global level via social media. The Occupy Wall Street movement is becoming an international presence.

Many will be watching tomorrow early AM when the police will try to move the people out of the park to clean up. The protestors have called for reinforcements and have no intention of facing what they call an eviction. To see more images check out my set on flickr

Policeman in the crowd at John Paulson's home

Protesters Gather in Central Park

Protestors in front of Rupert Murdoch Residence

Holly Van Voast, a topless activist marches on the Millionaire March

Protestors in march passed the Guggenheim Museum

Participant in the Occupy Wall Street movement arrested

Occupy Wall Street: Jeffrey Sachs, Yom Kippur and A General Assembly In Washington Square Park

2011-10-10T08:27:00.000-07:00

As Occupy Wall Street goes into its third week in Zuccotti Park, the movement is spreading across the country. On Friday, October 7, economist Jeffery Sachs, a Columbia University professor, told protesters that they have the power to affect the next election. Sachs believes candidates don't need Wall Street's billions to run for president because of social media. All a candidate needs now is the 99% behind him. He backed away from supporting President Obama, saying he could do so only if Obama admitted that using campaign funds from Wall Street is the wrong thing to do. Click here to hear Sachs on the $2 billion war chest Obama is trying to raise, here for the power of social media , and the money spent on the war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In the evening, Jewish activist Daniel Sieradski led a Yom Kippur service across the street from Zuccotti Park, Hundreds attended. Before the service, candles were lit for Jewish activists now deceased, including Abby Hoffman.

On Saturday, Occupy Wall Street held its general assembly in Washington Square Park. The police and the parks departments barricaded off the arch, the fountain, the bathrooms and all the grassy areas before the protesters arrived; and then spread through the neighborhood in large numbers. The massive police presence included paddy wagons and motorcycles which lined one of the streets near NYU. While the police prepared to handle a riot, the protesters, over a thousand strong, remained peaceful. Occupy Wall Street keeps pointing out that the police are part of the 99%, even though the NYPD accepted a $4.6 million donation from J.P. Morgan.

Mayor Bloomberg predicted that people will take to the streets if more jobs aren't created.He was right, but I don't think passing the jobs bill would have prevented Occupy Wall Street. Participants in the OWS movement have more than jobs on their minds. You can read the OWS declaration here.

Economist Jeffrey Sachs in Zuccoti Park

Occupy Wall Street in Washington Sq. Park

Yom Kippur across From Zuccotti Park

Candles for Deceased Jewish Activists

Occupy Wall Street Participant

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZoJuxILJ_U

Occupy Wall Street, Continued

2011-10-06T22:28:00.000-07:00

Wall Street barricaded off empty except for NYPD

On Oct. 5, while protesters were holding a rally in Foley Square, the NYC police were barricading off all paths to the Stock Exchange on Wall Street. I photographed the march form Zuccotti Park to Foley Square and then took a subway to Wall Street, thinking i would meet the marchers there. Instead i found lines of metal barricades and loads of police. It became clear to me the marchers weren't going to make it to Wall Street so I left the area and made my way to Zucotti Park, which was full to capacity. For the first time, the park was barricaded. You could get in but only at the corners of the park where police were controlling movement creating a claustrophobic environment.

Protestors in Foley Square

As i was leaving, I witnessed a long procession of cops headed to Wall Street. Something menacing was in the air. When I got back to my base, I read tweets that said ambulances were stationed at the Wall Street bull and cops had attacked protesters. Later on Fox News I saw a report from the front lines: The cops used their batons to strike not only protesters but the media too.

There was footage of protesters knocking over a police motorcycle and trying to enter Wall Street before violence began. Once again the police have their side of the story to justify their heavy-handed tactics. But I wonder why didn't the police let the Occupy Wall Street people march on Wall Street? The crowd was much smaller than the thousands that had marched to Foley Square. The Wall Street offices were closed, so business would not have been disrupted. Had they let the protestors march the streets in the financial district, that would have been that. Instead, countless man hours were spent to make the streets impassible turning downtown NYC into a police state, setting up a situation bound to lead to confrontation.

Is it Police Commissioner Kelly or Mayor Bloomberg calling the shots in this uncharted new chapter of civil disobedience in NYC, a city that is big on law and order? Whoever it is in charge has empowered the protestors once again with their actions. If the whole world wasn't watching, they certainly are now.

To see my images from the Oct 5th march and rally click on my set on Flickr.
Click here to see a slide show and my first hand account from the Brooklyn Bridge on the Atlantic's website .
And here to see video of one of the protestors resisting arrest on the Brooklyn Bridge.
And advice given to protesters by Lawyers Guild before the march started.

Occupy Wall Street Protestors march to Foley Square

Add caption

Protestor in Foley Square

Occupying Wall Street

2011-09-28T22:21:00.000-07:00

The police brutality against protestors participating in the Occupy Wall Street Movement has been appalling. Our political leaders take foreign leaders to task for human rights violations abroad, so to see them in America disturbed me. In Cairo, when the protests began, I could sense the significance of what was happening in Tahrir Square. (See my coverage here ) Though comparing Tahrir Square to Liberty Plaza is a stretch, I believe it is significant none the less. The Wall St. protesters have remained in the plaza, no easy feat when facing a massive police presence. With each passing day, the Occupy Wall Street movement (AKA We Are the 99%) is growing. The social injustice and corruption in the American political system and the destructiveness of corporate greed is not a message those in charge want to hear.

If the police's goal was to intimidate the protesters, that hasn't happened. Manhandling protesters on 9/24 while video and still cameras recorded police brutality only empowered the group. Maybe those in charge haven't grasped the power of social media, the spirit that fueled the Arab Spring. Predictably the protesters' resolve strengthened and their movement gained credibility once the media was forced to recognized what was going on. I am one of many who came to NYC to document Occupy Wall Street after seeing protestors pepper-sprayed and arrested. The eyes of the world are on NYC

now.

Some say the protesters are the Left's answer to the Tea Party. How refreshing to hear voices from another side. There is no single voice in Liberty Plaza and seemingly all the voices there are welcomed.The movement is gaining momentum as protests spread to other cities . Well known personalities are showing up, including Michael Moore and Cornel West, both of whom praised the protestors and thanked them for standing up to the powers that be and starting a much needed movement whose goal is social and economic justice.

Watching people practice free speech whether or not I agree with what they are saying or not reminds me how valuable free speech is. More coverage to follow in the coming days as the protest continues.

See a video clip of Michael Moore speaking to Fox News reporter, here chiding him for not understanding capitalism.

Michael Moore Talking to Fox Reporter on Day 10

Cornel West tells the crowd not being afraid to say the word "Revolution" and thanking the protesters.
And a clip of West talking about how out of touch Geithner and Paulson are, how frightening this unpredictable gathering of people of all races and sexual orientations is to them.
See a photo slide show from my first day on the scene on the Atlantic Wire shot on day ten. And more images on Occupy Wall Street flickr set.

Protestors March on Wall Street

Police stand on the sidewalk of Liberty Square

Cornel West on Day 11 of Occupy Wall Street

One of many signs at Liberty Plaza

Protestors March around Wall Street on Day 10

Protestors March Through Wall Street on Day 10

Will she run or won't she? Sarah Palin is still keeping people guessing.

2011-09-05T15:00:00.000-07:00

At the Iowa Tea Party's September 3rd Restoring America rally, about 2,000 people braved the rain to hear former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin speak. She sharply lashed out at President Obama and at "more of the same." Her fans cheered, intermittently shouting out for her to "Run, Sarah, run."

I asked Judd Saul, the Tea Party of America media relations representative, about the lower than expected turnout. "It wasn't the rain that kept folks away, it was activist Peter Singleton, who spread rumors the rally in Indianola, Iowa, had been canceled. Emails and blogs stated Palin would be a no show at the event. It came down to the Tea Party vs. Sarah Palin's party, that was unhappy with this event because they lacked control." Other rumors claimed that Christine O’Donnell invited herself to the rally and was told she was welcome. In fact, O’Donnell was disinvited because the Palin camp didn't want to share the venue with her.

At Strong America Now's tent, tee shirts were given to those who signed a petition calling on candidates to take a Tea Party fiscal responsibility training class if they wanted to be endorsed by the Tea Party. From various voices in the crowd: "The only hot air coming out of the plant is from Al Gore's ass," "Vegetarians are whimps because they don't have to hunt down the prey" and "Democrats are ruining the country by taking god out of everything." According to one woman's tee shirt. "If you love guns, babies and Palin, the Tea Party is for you,"

After Palin's made her speech, she mixed with the crowd, holding babies, hugging supporters, signing books, tee shirts and whatever else was passed her way. Up next for Palin, New Hampshire, where her appearance raises further questions as to whether or not she'll run for President in 2012.

Industrial Incident Causes Massive Fish Kill in Louisiana

2011-08-22T08:01:00.000-07:00

Another industrial incident takes a toll on the environment in Louisiana. The Temple-Inland paper mill in Bogalusa has taken responsibility for a fish kill in Pearl River and its tributaries stemming from an incident that began over a week ago. Attached are images I shot on Aug. 18 and 19th of the fish kill and the cleanup.

The paper mill knew they had a problem when they exceeded their limit of allowable discharge into the Pearl River. They didn't report the incident to DEQ ( Department of Environmental Quality) immediately, nor did they stop production. When they did cease operation, enough black liquor, a byproduct of the paper-making process, was released into the river to cause a major kill of fish including carp, drum catfish, eels , sardines and the endangered sturgeon, shellfish and turtles along 40 miles of river. By the end of this weekend, most of the dead fish have been picked up. Water fouled by chemicals that caused oxygen depletion have been flushing out into bigger bodies of water--first into the Rigolets and from there into Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne, which both connect to the Gulf of Mexico. Damage to the Rigolets and the lakes is being monitored by the DEQ and other concerned parties. On the August 20, crabbers reported pulling up hundreds of traps full of dead crabs ( see local news report here ) .
To see more images this link is to a set on Flickr .
To see a video clip click here.
Nature's resiliency is remarkable. Though the tributary I documented was full of death, the maggots were very much alive, feasting on the fish carcasses. The Pearl River and other bayous I explored had signs of life returning, despite the black film still present in the water.

Cancer Alley

2011-07-31T21:48:00.000-07:00

The Mississippi River's record-breaking levels prompted the opening of the Spillways north of Baton Rouge and New Orleans this spring. As a result, the cities' populations are out of danger and the petrochemical and oil industries based there have been protected. There was no disruption in production to further damage the national economy. With more extreme weather the vulnerability of such facilities throughout out the country is something to pay attention to .

The stretch along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans has been called "The Petrochemical Corridor." But in some quarters it's also known as "Cancer Alley," a reference to the many cases of cancer reported by communities on both sides of the Mississippi. There are disputes about the cancer statistics. Cases of certain rare cancers in children are above the national average, but according to The Louisiana Tumor Registry, the overall rate of cancer is not higher.

Louisiana gives generous tax breaks to industry and has a close relationship to oil companies brought to light during the BP oil spill crisis. Some say the Department of Environmental Quality has been acting in the interests of industry,too, instead of serving as a watchdog for the people it is meant to protect. . Along the same stretch of river is one of the National Oil Reserve locations as well as Waterford 3, a nuclear power plant serving the New Orleans area ,just yards from a levee. The tsunami in Japan that triggered a melt down at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant raises questions that reverberate in Louisiana. Are safety measures in place to protect plants from natural disasters as the 2011 hurricane season kicks off?
To see more images from this series click here to see a set on Flickr

A Year After the BP Oil Disaster; A Walk on Mississippi Beaches

2011-04-20T08:29:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I went to Mississippi's Gulf Coast beaches. I arrived just before sunset. Before the light was gone I photographed four dead sea turtles and a variety of other animals--birds, jellyfish, stingray, armadillo and catfish. I walked the beaches on Saturday and Sunday too, exploring different spots from Waveland to Gulfport and shot over 100 carcasses.

Animals die. Sometimes you find them on the beach. But I don't believe that what I found on the Mississippi beaches in normal . Click here to see what i found from ARPRIL 15-17th. Is the BP oil disaster the cause of these deaths? There is no scientific proof one way or the other. Is there a connection to the oil that spilled and the dispersants that were dropped on the Gulf's surface that spread through the air and have found their way into the blood of many of the oil spill clean up workers? I can't say for sure. It is clear it wont be easy to pin the animail deaths on BP, the corporation responsible for the largest environmental disaster in American history.

So, sticking to the facts, if you want to take photographs of dead animals, including endangered Kemp's Ridley sea turtles, head to the Mississippi beaches. Maybe the tourist industry that just received a generous chunk of money from BP ought to consider a new slogan"Visit our beaches where you can find a dead animals every 100 ft or so." A lot of us are into the macabre, right? The influx of dead animals could draw those into death to the coast which might balance out rooms lost to those concerned with the warnings at the beach warning people that the tar balls from the oil spill may be harmful to your health. Use the beach at your own risk..

To see more of my work on the BP oil disaster check out page on my site here.

Dead Kemp's Ridley Turtles Washing up in MS and an Update from Bay Jimmy

2011-04-11T17:18:00.000-07:00

Dead Kemp's Ripley sea turtle in Waveland MS

Dead Kemp's Ridley sea turtle spray painted so it wont be counted twice

Dead sea turtle left for days next on beach in Waveland MS

Dead Kemp's Ridley sea turtle in Pass Christina MS

Dead Kemp's Ridley sea turtles on the Mississippi beaches, images I kept seeing on Facebook posts, prompted me to check it out for myself. I found four in the course of three hours. The beaches where I found some of the turtles are closed as of Sunday due to high bacteria counts caused by runoff of fecal matter, I've been told, not oil and dispersant.

On Fox 8, a local news station, John Snell recently went out to Bay Jimmy as I did days before to check on the status of the marsh. He and I came back with very different visuals. Snell went out during high-tide, the time when the damage to the coast is hidden under water.I went out low tide after a storm, when the lasting effects of the BP oil spill are best seen. Neither of us came back with the full story. Coastal restoration is a huge issue in Louisiana, one that, like the oil spill, effects the whole nation. The science can't be told in soundbites. The opinions of business owners and politicians are important too, but one has to question the motivation of whoever is speaking. Facts trump opinion and unfortunately not much scientific evidence is available yet or has been shared in the mainstream media . The dolphin die offs are under wraps; researchers are under a standing gag order. During the spill, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had one from the federal government and released more misinformation than fact.

The mess in the Gulf, yeah, it could have been way worse, but that doesn't mean it wasn't and still isn't bad. Who's to say what the lasting effects will be? Who's to judge how much the killing of the marsh grass by the oil and chemical will effect an already disappearing coast line? Why are dozens of endangered Kemp's Ridley turtles washing up dead? I don't have the answers, but I do believe in documenting what I have seen.

In an article by the AP on April 7, 2011 the day before I found the turtles, april 7th 2011 they they said NOAA was pointing the blame at fishing and shrimping boats as the cause of the turtles deaths. In response to the article on line Clint Guidry , president of the Louisiana shrimp association wrote, "Totally and utterly RIDICULOUS! Shrimper's have been using TED's ( turtle excluder devices) for years now, without these turtle mortality rates. This spike in turtle mortality should be placed squarely where it belongs, BP oil disaster and the use of toxic dispersants. What is the limit to the extremes the US agencies will go to protect BP's liability in this oil disaster?"

Before you go to a Gulf Coast beach, you should check government sites to see if the water is safe: That's what the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality suggests. Their reports are meant to protect our health and safety. We rely on government regulatory agencies that check self-policing energy corporations that say they are not putting more pollutants into the environment than are legally permitted. Their work is of the utmost importance. But organizations like Mineral Management Service have grossly failed us. And if you watch tv or read news stories on line, you've seen BP ads telling us they are making the Gulf Coast whole again. How nice if that were true.

I don't have answers to any of the pressing concerns facing the Gulf Coast, but I do know something has failed the endangered Kemp's Ridely turtles and the loggerheads too. That much I know.

Oil in the marsh at Bay Jimmy

Oil remains where marsh grass was killed by the oil in Bay Jimmy

Dead marsh grass in Bay Jimmy

Oil washed further in to the marsh after a storm in Bay Jimmy

Return Trip to Site Where Oil Coming From Unknown Source Was Found Off Grand Isle

2011-03-22T12:27:00.000-07:00

Emulsified oil 1/2 mile due south of Grande Isle on March 21st

On March 21, I returned to Elmer's Island and Grand Isle, where the day before I photographed oil and oil sheen washing into Caminada Bay . The Coast Guard confirmed that there was oil on the water on March 21, but still hasn't identified the source. By Monday only a small amount of sheen and foam could be found. Some of the oil had already been cleaned off the beach, some was skimmed, but a lot of what I saw yesterday had already made its way into Caminada Bay, a rich estuary. About half a mile due south of Grand Isle, we encountered a plume of emulsified oil. Plumes were reported by Jefferson Parish officials during flyovers the day before. Also off shore, we spotted a young dead dolphin, adding to the high number already reported this year by New Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

This new oil spill raises many questions: What is the source of the oil and is it still leaking? How much of it is there? Could it be connected to the BP disaster? Is it a good idea to restart deepwater drilling? Are the regulators regulating? Why are the polluters often not fined the maximum allowed and why do regulators let some code breakers get away without any penalty? And what is causing an unusually high number of young dolphins to die? The answers are still up in the air, but the Coast Guard, NOAA and private citizens are all busy trying to get the facts.

Dead young dolphin found floating in the Gulf, cause of death undetermined, adding to the abnormally high dolphin mortality rate this year.

Emulsified oil 1/2 mile due south of Grande Isle on March 21st

Boom put out on March 21st across the cut leading into Caminada Bay, an rich estuary. Oil washed through the cut on March 20th. See video clip of oil getting in

Emulsified oil 1/2 mile due south of Grande Isle on March 21st

More Oil Washes Up on the Gulf Coast as One Year Anniversary of BP Disaster Appoaches

2011-03-22T10:23:00.000-07:00

Wildlife and Fishery Agents Check out Oil off Elmer's Island

The mayor of Grand Isle, LA, held a press conference Sunday afternoon to say that reports of oil in the Gulf of Mexico, which started circulated on Friday, are heartbreakingly correct. Oil was spotted by fishermen, residents and members of OnWingsOfCare.org, a non profit organization who flew over what they described as a slick 100 miles long by 12 miles wide on Friday.

On Sunday morning, the Coast Guard still hadn't confirmed there was oil in the Gulf so I took a ride down to Grand Isle to see for myself. Finding the oil was easy. It took ten minuets by boat headed to the cut in Caminada Bay where Grande Isle and Elmer's Island almost come together. Oil was rolling in with the tide. I spoke to Wildlife and Fishery agents who had no doubt it was oil. It smelled like oil, looked like oil and felt like oil. Coast Guard were on the Elmer's Island beach, which is still closed to the public. A clean up crew seemed to be inspecting the situation, rather than cleaning. Later on Sunday the Coast Guard acknowledged that oil is washing up on Elmer's island, Grand Isle and Port Fouchon, but discounted reports of oil further up the coast; it is silt from the Mississippi River, according to the Coast Guard.

Where the oil is coming from is unclear at this point. If more is on the way and just how much was leaked, no one seems to know. Coast Guard Commander John Burton suggested the source could be oil that was released for 4-6 hours on Saturday while a drilling site was being plugged, but the investigation is ongoing. After conducting tests, the Coast Guard said the Gulf waters are within acceptable pollution limits. But the fact is more oil in the Gulf is washing up on the coast less than a year after the BP oil spill. That didn't stop some beach goers from swimming and fishermen from fishing. "Call it Island Apathy," a long time resident said.

Click here for video of oil washing into Caminada Bay and here.

Grand Island beach with oil in the water

Oil of Elmer's Island

Cut leading into Caminada Bay where oil rolled in on 3/20/11

Boat passing through oil off Elmer's Island

Oil on the beach at Grand Isle

Oil on trash on the beach at Grand Isle

People swim on Grand Isle beach despite new oil washing up

GREED- Common Ingredient in Compounding the Horror of Natural Disasters and Crushing Human Rights

2011-03-16T19:58:00.000-07:00

I will not being going to Japan to cover the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster. The threat of radiation and living in fear of its consequences scares me. With Japan on my mind, I took a trip to the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, home of the National Data Buoy Center, where tsunami detecting buoys are made and monitored, after reading they might be hit by funding cuts proposed by the GOP budget bill. A small story, compared to the nuclear meltdown. But the idea of cutting a program that protects human life made me want to research the Data Center myself.

The stories I've recently covered have one thing in common: GREED. In Haiti, builders put up shoddy buildings with no concern for the safety of those who inhabited them. After the earthquake. despite the contributions of so many people who wanted to help, aid never got to most of the needy. Lives were surely lost due to the misuse of money and outright stealing.

The BP Gulf Coast oil disaster was caused by a corporation that cut corners, costing 11 people their lives. No one is in jail for malpractice or reckless endangerment. And now countless Gulf Coast residents are sick from a new toxicity in their environment. Baby dolphins are dying by the dozen. Many who work along the Gulf Coast are going broke, not able to pay their bills or feed their families, yet the man responsible for deciding the outcome of the claims they've filed gets almost a million a month for his services.

At the same time I hear that Hillary Clinton has promised the military now ruling in Egypt 90 million dollars, I get a report from a friend that his friends are being jailed with no legal proceedings, no trials, no medial treatment. We supported Mubarak, an evil dictator, and considered him our friend; now the US seems to be following the same path with questionable leaders in the same county. And then there is Libya, where Qaddafi crushes his own people while the world stands by and does absolutely nothing.

Why can't we simply do what is morally right? Why is our foreign policy determined by people who profit greatly from relationships with those who crush human rights? It seems we support dictators to protect our flow of oil yet still have no new energy concept in the works. Are we governed by the possibility that the cost of fuel will go up again? I read that half of the our nuclear reactors are over 30 years old. Can we trust the nuclear regulators as we did the regulators of the deep sea oil platforms? It's best not to think too much about all the catastrophes that can occur, I remind myself. But it's very hard not to.

To read entry about the Data Buoy center scroll down to next entry

Tsunami Detecting Buoys Program May See Budget Cuts

2011-03-16T15:32:00.000-07:00

Do we really want to cut the funding of our own tsunami warning system? The GOP's proposed spending bill threatens to do just that, slashing the budget of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration by as much as $450 million. And that will effect the work of the National Data Buoy Center at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, where tsunami-detecting and weather buoys are assembled and tested. The buoys are part of the DART (Deep Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis) system, which monitors buoys deployed around the world, sounding the alarm if America's West Coast is threatened.

There are those who are critical of the DART system. I spoke to officials at NDBC about a report recently published by MIT questioning DART's reliability . Is it true that only 60 per cent of the buoys are operational at any given time? I was told that those number were taken from a report made a year ago based on data from a year before that. Since that time, improvements have been made. As of March 14th, when I sat in on a morning briefing, 90 per cent of the buoys are reporting back.

The buoys have to stand up to extreme currents and weather conditions. But they are more likely to be damaged by humans or sharks than the elements. Their solar panels have been stolen. Large fish congregate near their nylon ropes, which fisherman have been known to cut. Fish gnaw on the ropes, eating barnacles that attach themselves to it. Drug dealers have used them to stash drugs and those lost at sea, for refuge. On-site inspection, repair or replacement, to say nothing of the shipping costs, don't come cheap, but do we want to do without a tsunami early warning system?

Someone mans the National Data Buoy Center 24/7. On March 11, shortly after the earthquake struck Japan, DART analyst Tracy Bourdreaux woke up and checked the out the data right away. Life at the Center has been busy ever since, with the aftershocks continually setting off the tsunami buoys.

Images: Top: Tsunami detecting buoys being fabricated at the National Data Buoy Center / Helmut Portmann, director of the National Data Buoy Center, with a tsunami detecting buoy Bottem: Tsunami buoys being fabricated at the National Data Buoy Center /Satellites that receive information from tsunamis buoys at The National Data Buoy Center / Message shown at the end of a National Date Buoy Center morning briefing. In the bAckground, a buoy in the Pacific Ocean /DART analyst Tracy Bourdreaux's chart of the 39 tsunami buoys / Tracy Bourdreaux , a DART (Deep-Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis) analyst looking at data from the tsunami buoys in the Pacific Ocean/ A weather detecting buoy made in the 1960's at the National Data Buoy Center, much larger then the current models/ Nylon rope used in the fabrication of tsunami detecting buoys/ Broken tsunami buoys awaiting repair / Nylon rope to be used with the tsunami buoys . The thicker pink rope is fish-bite resistant and used at the top of the buoy/ Computer electronics that make up the "brains" of the tsunami buoys

Click here to see a video clip of Helmut Portmann explaining how the tsunami buoys work

Shooting the Revolution with a Point and Shoot in Cairo

2011-02-26T15:38:00.000-08:00

and Why a Woman's Place is on the Front Lines story posted on wowOwow

I was in the Bahamas when the revolution in Egypt began. It was my first vacation in a long time. But while conversations about real estate and gossip swirled around me, I longed to be in Cairo. A massive protest there was nothing short of miraculous. Years back a friend who lives in Cairo, Yasser Alwan, told me Mubarak's regime ruthlessly quashed all dissent. I emailed him to check on his well being and see if I could stay with him as I watched events unfold on TV. With the internet down and the revolution in full swing, I hesitated before booking a ticket. In the streets, Mabarak's thugs were on the attack. At the airport, some photographers' gearwas confiscated on arrival. I finally heard from Yasser, who said I could stay with him. I decided, despite the risks, to go. I bought a ticket on February 9 and left the following day, stashing atiny point-and-shoot in my coat pocket and hiding a flip video cam inside a container of wet-wipes in my suitcase.I hoped my small rolling bag of professional gear would make it with me into Cairo but wasprepared to buy a new point and shoot if none of my gear made it into the country with me.

At the airport in New Orleans, I read online that the story was rapidly changing. Rumor had it Mubarak was stepping down that day. On my Jet Blue flight to New York City's JFK Airport, I listened to reporters' speculations and watched as crowds in Tahrir Square began to celebrate in anticipation of Mubarak's resignation. Someone in the state department confirmed Mubarak would step down. It looked like I was going to miss a key moment in history. Waiting at the gate for my flight to Frankfurt, I heard Mubarak's speech on CNN; he would not resign. It seemed regime change would wait for me after all.

When I arrived in Cairo International Airport the next day, the customs officer confiscated my gear and that of ABC reporters Jim Dolan and Joseph Tesoro, Fox News' Courtney Kealy and ITN News reporters John Ray and Robert Bowles. Though Mubark's regime in recent days had pledged to allow freedom of the press, that proclamation had not made it out to the airport. I did my best to talk my way past the first Customs inspector saying I was going to the Red Sea resort of Sham el Sheikh (where, it turned out, Mubarak would end up), not Tahrir Square. But that didn't work. It was time to call the American Embassy. I got Adam Lefort, the press liaison, on the line. In the background, Nolan declared they'd have to put him in jail before he'd give up his equipment. Not what Lefort, wanted to hear. He'd been dealing with detained journalists over the last week. Could I please calm Nolan down, Lefort asked. He would send a fax to the airport that might free up our gear, but it became clear a fax was not enough. I'd have to try to retrieve my gear the next day. Nolan too finally gave up and watched as his gear was packed up in an empty Jack Daniels carton. My camera bag was sealed with a string slipped through a zipper and secured by a wax seal that was melted with a piece of paper set on fire. We were all asked to sign papers written in Arabic listing our property that would serve as our claim tickets. (My Arabic-speaking friends later looked at my paper and laughed. I had signed a statement saying I had left my gear at the airport on my own initiative and would pay a storage fee for the service.)

I got into town and headed for the foreign press office at the National TV Building with the Embassy fax and a letter from my photo agency, Corbis to start the process of getting a press pass. The building was under siege, surrounded by barbed wire, tanks and a massive, angry crowd. As night fell, the crowd suddenly erupted. Mubarak had stepped down. In an instant, Cairo turned into a massive party, the streets alive with singing, waving flags and jubilation. I took out my point-and-shot and flip video cam and went to work.

The next day I filled out a press pass application, but no one at the foreign press office could tell me when It would be approved. I needed a new letter from the Embassy saying I would take my gear with me when I left the country. (Why wouldn't I, I wondered.) The rules were evolving daily. And if I had all the proper passes and papers, properly stamped and signed, I had better go out to the airport's camera repository at the proper time. I learned from photographer Alan Chin, whose ordeal began on February 6th, that the storage room with its hundreds of cameras closes at 2 p.m.; he got there too late and returned to Cairo empty handed the day before. At the Embassy, Lefort gave me the new letter and said what was going on was unprecedented. There was no go-to guy as there would have been before the revolution to clear things up.

I called a the press office Sunday and was told my pass wasn't ready. I explained I had to get to a meeting at the pyramids for a press conference to help revive the tourism industry and how horrible it would be to go there without my equipment. Bingo. Suddenly I had the name and number of a senior official who would help. Back to the state TV building where another protest was in progress. I had to fight my way into the lobby, go through a metal detector (it beeped, but no one seemed to care). Once in the foreign press office I enquired about my pass again. No, it wasn't ready, but when I told my story about how I planned to cover the pyramids, everything changed. I was ushered into the office of the senior official. Press pass? he said. The Embassy said you needed one to collect your gear? You don't. Special stamps on special letters? No, I didn't need those either. He'd sign my letter from the Embassy with his own personal signature. Then I should go see Muhammad at the airport right away and if I made it before 2, maybe I'd be able to retrieve my cameras. No guarantee, he said. But the odds were 70%. Better than going to a casino, I thought, pushing my way through the protestors to get into a cab on a traffic-choked street.

It took an additional five hours to get my gear. Muhammad at the airport had me call Madame Laila who walked me through the process. First I had to pay the Egyptian equivalent of $1.50 to get a badge to enter the Customs area a few feet away . I put it in my pocket; no one ever asked to see it. Then I went to Madame Laila's office where I waited with another female journalist. I paid another dollar for a Customs document and a $2 storage fee. I signed form after form, all in Arabic, hoping I didn't put my name to something I would later regret. I passed time watching another woman in the office shuffling papers, matching receipts to documents. There was a log book in front of her I had to sign before my stuff could be released. I saw that CNN, PBS, CCTV, ABC and the New York Times had all been there before me. At last I was brought into the storeroom and retrieved my camera bag. The room remained packed with gear. Another hour passed as my bag's contents were inspected. I was the last journalist they dealt with that day. "You'll have to come back tomorrow," a Customs official said. It took me a second to realize he was joking. I took my bag and headed out the door into another taxi and spent the rest of the day in Cairo's rush hour traffic.

The protestors risked everything for what they believed in. The risk I took to cover the revolution pales in comparison. I got off easy compared to journalists who covered the story from its inception. The Kafkaesque bureaucratic process i dealt with to get my gear back is something Egyptians deal with daily. I salute the people of Egypt for toppling a brutal, repressive regime and all those who put their personal safety on the line to report this story. It was an honor to photograph the jubilant crowds who cheered when Mubarak's VP announced his departure and the millions who turned out the following Friday to celebrate their victory.

Here is a link to my coverage on the Atlantic's Website on the night of the 11th shot with point and shoot camera and a link to the celebration and clean up the following days.

A link to my work shot in Eygpt available through Corbis

and a set of images on Flickr and video clips on utube and my website www.jsdart.com

image below shot on Febuary 19th in Tahrir Square on a day of Victory Celebration

Ken Feinberg says "I don't work for BP". He gets paid by them tough.

2011-01-13T16:07:00.000-08:00

Oil spill claims chief Ken Feinberg has held three town hall meetings in January, one in Mississippi and three in Louisiana, to explain new guidelines that impact on all claims against BP. On Tuesday, January 11, 2011, 300 people attended the meeting at the Lafitte Community Center in Jean Lafitte, LA. Feinberg listened to their concerns and answered questions during an emotionally charged hour long meeting. There was a line of frustrated people who didn't get to address him, but Feinberg promised he'd be returning. Former congressman Anh "Joseph" Cao, now a consultant to Feinberg, is helping the Vietnamese community that has been having a lot of trouble navigating the claims process. Feinberg told the crowd that Cao and other locals were recently hired to make the claims process run more smoothy. But those in attendance expressed their disbelief. Elmer Rogers from Empire came to the meeting with his claim in hand. At a meeting earlier in the year when he had a brief private audience with Feinberg, he was told his claim was valid and he would be paid. Addressing Feinberg once again, he asked if it would help to beg and got on his knees. "I just need money to live," he exclaimed. Diane Pochie of Lafitte got so agitated when stating her case, security stepped in and made her back up. Issues raised at the meeting ranged from personal pleas, complaints about the wrong people receiving payments, to wanting to know when and how the lump sum payout that is one of the options claimants can chose will be determined. Feinberg explained the three option: emergency payments, quarterly payments or getting a lump sum and giving up ones right to sue BP. That option has angered people. Many asked if it was legal to have people give up their right to sue if they take the payment. Feinberg made clear that he is neither encouraging or discouraging anyone from taking the lump payment, and reminded the people he works for them, not BP, though BP is paying him.
Images: Top- Hung Viet Tran, a fisherman from New Orleans east wear a sign on his forehead that saw "I Fish Therefore I am." , Ken Feinberg, administrator of the BP Oil Spill Victim Compensation Fund, Bottom-Tracy Kuhns, wears her message on a pin and sticker, Crowd at a town hall meeting filled to capacity
To see more images from the meeting click here.

link to wwl's coverage of the meeting- they did a great job capturing the drama. And an article on the Huffington post about-$950 an hour paid out of BP Claims fund to a Law Professor to consult . And one more link - the oil commission report and a video my Mediastorm that has a bunch of my images in it. One of my images is in the final report to which is free to download.

Thoughts of Flo McGarrell a Year After the Earthquake in Haiti

2011-01-12T14:20:00.000-08:00

Flo McGarrell was on my mind a year ago today, and is again today, the anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti. Flo died in the collapse of the Peace of Mind Hotel in Jacmel. His sudden death stays with me. I feel powerless to ease the pain of Flo's parents, who miss him immeasurably. Flo's room in the McGarrell's Vermont home has been left as it was the last time Flo visited in December 2009. His work lives on, as his friends continue to offer assistance to the artists he was mentoring at FOSJA, a Jacmel art center. Sue Frame who was with Flo at the time of the earthquake, started Jakmel Ekspresyons to carry on Flo's work to help contemporary artists in Jacmel. A memorial exhibition at AVA in New Hampshire included many of Flo's inflatable sculptures as well as the work of many of Flo's friends. This link it to AVA's post on the show .In an interview, Flo said, "I am extremely lucky to have an amazingly supportive family who puts up with all my crazy schemes. They seem to understand, respect and trust my drive. I am so thankful I was born into them, and do not take this for granted. This is where all my freedom really comes from. I don’t have to really sell any work because, if worst comes to worst, I can always go home." Here is a link to read interview by Georgia Kotretsos.

Today I added 23 previously unreleased images to a set on flickr of images shot three weeks after the earthquake along with a set of Haiti 11 months after the earthquake.

Image descriptions: Top- Haitian beads and small bottle of Haitian spirits on the door of Flo's room, Flo's bedroom, as he left it ,Shrine in Flo's room

Bottom- Zaka ( Claudel Chery) , Flo's protoge, visiting the memorial in the McGarrel's backyard where Flo's ashes are buried,Window sill in Flo's room, Flo's book shelf

First Pictures of the New Year 2011

2011-01-02T07:46:00.000-08:00

New Year's Eve in New Orleans was a foggy affair, Click here to see a set of images of the fireworks over the Mississippi River.
New Orleans' Superintendent Ronal Serpas held a press conference on New Year's Day sharing good news: There were no reports of injury due to stray bullets during the celebration.
No murders in New Orleans either, though there was one across the lake in Mandeville, where there was also a birth. Baby Carmelo O'mari Ard, son of Ta'kia Ard, was delivered five-seconds after midnight at Regional Medical Center in Covington making him the first baby born in Louisiana in 2011. The hospital thought he might be the first born in America, but a babies in Chicago and New York beat him out.

NGO's Keep the Cholera Epidemic Under Control in and Around Port-au-Prince, but for How Long?

2010-12-11T12:48:00.000-08:00

I went to Haiti to cover the elections and the cholera epidemic on November 25th- Dec 4th.
Here are links to my multimedia work on the Atlantic's website about the elections-

Haitian Voters Brave Chaos and Cholera

Haiti's Elections: Images From Campaign's Final Days (Jude Celestin's Campaing)

How Easy Was IT to Commit Voting Fraud in Haiti's Election?
and a photo essay featuring Samaritan's Purse's cholera clinic's-the organization hosting Sarah Palin on her visit to Haiti

Cholera cases in and around Port-au-Prince have stabilized. That's what I was told the week ending on December 2nd when I visited five cholera clinics. But Licia Betor who runs the Real Hope for Haiti Clinic in Cazel warned this positive news could change at any time. The decrease in new cases is due to education which is a positive sign, but Betor fears people will grow complacent, tire of the stringent hygiene measures they have been encouraged to practice and go back to their old ways. Haitians now know they need to get to clinics early if they have cholera's main symptoms: vomiting and/or diarrhea. In some cases a patient who goes for help immediately can be rehydrated, given antibiotics and sent home the same day. Most are discharged in two days; young children and the elderly with weaker immune systems get hit the hardest and often stay five days or more. On November 29th when I visted Cazel, the 25 bed clinic had eight patients; on Nov 14th it housed 48. As I was leaving a team of 15 people carried a 72 year old woman on a bed frame padded with cardboard up a steep hill to get to the clinic, a reminder that the epidemic is far from over.

Samaritan's Purse has two cholera clinics, one in Cabaret, a small town 45 minutes north of Port-an-Prince and one in Cité Soleil that opened on November 30th. By the end of its second day, 60 patients had been treated and 35 beds were taken in the new 200 bed facility made of plywood and plastic. In the tent city next to the clinic the displaced people living there are unhappy with the clinic's proximity. They say they are helpless to do anything about it. Dorsius Gefrard complains the smell of chemicals used at the clinic can't be good for them. They are worried their families are now in greater risk of disease.

Doctors Without Borders has 30 cholera treatment centers in Haiti, including 13 in Port-au-Prince. They are seeing approximately 1,200 new cases a day. New cases are expected to rise around the holidays since cholera is a socially transmitted disease. Empty beds are being made ready now in anticipation of a spike in cases. Patients often arrive in a coma, caused by a rapid loss of fluids and electrolytes. They come to the clinics by wheelbarrow, tap-taps (pickup trucks converted into public transportation) or carried by friends, family and neighbors on stretchers, beds and sometimes doors. Often there are multiple infections within families. Fedline Charle's mother, who stayed at her bedside, was later admitted to the same clinic and treated in a tent for adults. Fedline, like the other patients, rests quietly: cholera leaves its victims with little energy.

Wharf Jeremy, one of the poorest parts of Port-au-Prince, has a high rate of fatalities. The neighborhood illustrates the difficulty in irradicating the disease. Cholera cases spiked there after Hurricane Tomas, when a creek that passes through the area flooded homes with contaminated water. An NGO recently installed a unit of portable toilets on the stream's banks where people defecate out in the open. Ilna Lorna, whose job it is to clean them, has had rocks thrown at her by residents. She says she has given up trying to persuade people to use them.

The Haitian Ministry of Public Health has a phone number to call if you find a cholera victim's body. Body collectors arrive within 48 hours. They stuff the mouth with cotton, wrap the head in gauze, tie the arms together and spray the body with bleach before putting the corpse into a body bag, Bodies are taken by truck to a mass grave in Titmayn. The site is near the mass graves of earthquake victims who were buried in January. Charite Charle's body was removed while her two children watched. They are now orphans with nowhere to go. They were living on the street with their mother across from the National Cathedral where she died. The Haitian government estimates that cholera has claimed the lives of more than 1,800 people so far.

The prediction that Haiti would be plagued by disease after the earthquake is now a reality. Despite stabilizing new infections in a handful of clinics, cholera is killing people every day. The disease threatens to become a disaster as deadly as the earthquake. Though the elections have taken the spotlight off public welfare, cholera remains Haiti's biggest threat.
How you can help- visit the website of these NGO's and contribute
Real Hope For Haiti Rescue Center -

Doctors without Borders
Samaritan's Purse

to see more on the cholera epedemic check out photo essay featuring Samaritan's Purse's cholera clinic's-the organization hosting Sarah Palin on her visit to Haiti

Photo captions: top: Jeff Kalason, 9 years old, recovering in cholera treatment center in the Tabarre section of Port-au-Prince run by Doctors Without Borders/
Charle Fedline recovering rests alone after her mother who had been at her bedside had to be admitted to the same clinic run by Doctors WIthout Borders/ Patients recovering at cholera clinic/ Board of Health workers prepare to remove cholera victim from the street to take her to a mass grave north of Port-au-Prince
Bottom- starting from top: Felisse, a 72 years old woman, waits for help at the Real Hope for Haiti Cholera Clinic/ Charle Fedline recovering from cholera/ Licia Betor, who runs the Real Hope for Haiti cholera clinic, cares for Edner Ramo, 52/ 15 people carry Felisse, a 72 years old, woman on a bed frame padded with cardboard to get to the Real Hope for Haiti Cholera Clinic/ Mother and son at a Doctors Without Borders cholera clinic in Port-au-Prince/ Waterway near a cholera clinic in Tabarre/ Solancia Celestin, 11, recovers at the Real Hope for Haiti Cholera Clinic in Cazel/ Gerard Nerulus, 6 years old, at the The Real Hope for Haiti Cholera Clinic

BP Oil Left Behind in Louisiana

2010-10-09T07:58:00.000-07:00

I got a call from Grace Welch asking me to come to Terribone Parish to see the oil BP is leaving behind as the clean-up efforts to an end. Welch is a Pointe-au-Chien Indian from Pointe-au-Chien, LA. The community has taken a bad blow from the BP oil spill since most people make a living from fishing, shrimping, crabbing and oyster harvesting. Though their ancestral fishing grounds weren't as badly polluted as Bay Jimmy in Plaquaemines Parish or the beaches near Grand Isle, the marsh was fouled by BP oil. The marsh grass along the shores in Lake Chien and Lake Raccaurci that got coated in oil in May has died. Today a gooey swath of oil lines the shore. BP never cleaned this area. Some boom was put out after the oil had already gotten into the marsh and then was later removed. That was the extent of the clean up, Russell Dar Dar, an elder tribe member told me.

A few members of the tribe are still employed by BP in Terribone Parish, working off Cocodrie where they are removing oil drenched absorbent boom that has washed up on marshland. Once this boom is picked up, the clean up in Terribone Parish will be over. BP claims it will do the marsh more harm than good to clean it up. Where is their scientific justification coming from? Could it really be that leaving thick oil on the shore that has already killed the grass, to sink deeper into the soil, is a good thing? I watched birds hunting shrimp , sticking their beaks into the oily goop to catch their prey. Maybe a little oil isn't a bad thing?

A company called Gulfsavers has a solution that is not invasive to the march. Their product, made with oil-eating microbes, would help speed up the natural decomposing proccess. They have been unable to get BP to buy their product and are hoping enough donations will come in so that they can get some of their product in place and do their part in cleaning the marshland.

Dar Dar and I watched a shrimp boat at work just a few yards from the oil coated shore, in waters recently re-opened to fishing. We both wonder who would want to eat those shrimp if they saw the spot from which they came. Dar Dar has collected oysters that are being tested by the the Bucket Brigade (http://www.labucketbrigade.org/article.php?list=type&type=4) so he can decide whether or not he will resume oyster harvesting for the Thanksgiving season . Dar Dar is worried about the future. He no longer trusts what he is told. The BP oil disaster taught him the power of lies: If they are repeated often enough, people believe them. Dar Dar goes by what he sees and is having his own testing done.

Here is a photo essay on the Pointe-au-Chien Indians I did for the Washington Post

Third Major Fish Kill in One Week

2010-09-22T09:08:00.000-07:00

On September 19th, BP pronounced its Macando well dead. End of story? Hardly. A September 19th trip along the coast of Bay Jimmy in Plaquemines Parish proved the oil is still out there , and more and more fish kills have been reported. According to the AP, Wildlife and Fisheries are writing off the recent fish kills: Lack of oxygen caused by low tide and high temperatures suffocated the fish, they say. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration stated oxygen levels had fallen by 20 percent if areas of the gulf where plumes of oil were found according to an article in the Times of London by Jacqui Goddard.

P. J. Hahn, director of the Coastal Zone Management Department of Plaquimines Parish, agrees the fish suffocated, but he isn't so sure the BP oil disaster isn't in some way connected. He showed me the spot in Bayou Robinson where he found a new fish kill on Sept. 18th, the third reported in one week. Finding the spot wasn't too hard, the smell unmistakable. Birds and dolphins were feasting on the dead fish like an X marking the spot.
The predominant species found floating on the surface were menhaden, also called pogie, mixed with crab and catfish. Unlike the first major fish kill on Sept 15th, a thin coating of oil was visible on many of the fish. Though fish kills are a common occurrence at the end of the summer, their current frequency and scale are unprecedented, Hahn explained. It is impossible to rule out oil or dispersant as factors until tests are done.

Hank Bart, an ichthyologist at Tulane's Natural History Museum, concurs. "Fish kills are caused by organism booms, either bacterial or algae, that suck the oxygen out of the water. The cause for such growths come from a variety of circumstances that can't be determined without testing."

Plaquemines Parish president Billy Nungesser, who has been fighting for faster and greater action all along, acknowledged it is good to hear the well is finally dead; however, he stressed he will fight BP and the government till the end to make sure his parish has been made whole again, as promised. Plaquemines Parish's district attorney is conducting his own tests with the help of a specialist from Alaska, not relying solely on the federal government's testing. On the upside, scientists and lawyers in the region won't be short of work any time soon. "can anybody look the American people in the eye and say it absolutely has nothing to do with dispersants, the oil, or the breakdown of the oil, or does anybody care? I mean somebody has to be as upset as I am?" Nungesser asked.

WWL TV in New Orleans followed up by interviewing an agent from Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries, who said no testing was deemed necessary because his agents found no sign of pollution at the site of the fish kills. 30 minutes later the another representative from Louisisana Wildlife and Fisheries called WWL and said the fish from Bayou Robinson would be tested after all.
To see the story shot by Phin Percy for Fox 8 on the fish kill click here

Images- all images were shot on Sept. 19, 2010: fish kill in Bayou Robinson, oil in Bay Jimmy

to see more images of Bay Jimmy and the fish kill click here

Death Toll Grows as The Page Is Turned on Iraq by President Obama

2010-08-31T21:48:00.000-07:00

August 31, 2010, Obama declared it is "time to turn the page" on Iraq, yet he didn't declare the war is over. The page may be turned but the story is not over. A visit to Arlington West illustrates the open book as more causalities are added to the records, and more markers are added in the sand.

Week ending August 22, the week the last combat troops were pulled out of Iraq, more soldiers were killed in Iraq.The war in Iraq is over for some, but not for the remaining 50,000 troops still deployed in Iraq. Or the first soldier killed after the last combat troops were pulled out.

Arlington West: Every Sunday in Santa Monica a group of volunteers organized by Veterans For Peace puts out markers to memorialize American soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Each white marker represents one dead soldier; each red one, ten. The blue markers signify soldiers killed the in the last week. Visitors add messages and mementoes to the markers. Symbolic coffins for each of the weeks dead are carried out onto the beach. The week ending August 22, 16 coffins repressing the three soldiers killed in Iraq and 13 killed in Afghanistan were placed among the markers. Members of Veterans for Peace are on hand to help veterans and family members memorialize the dead and educate people passing by about the cost of the wars.

Click here to see a slide show: photo essay on Arlington West

It's Not Over Til It's Over!

2010-08-05T21:36:00.000-07:00

While the end may be near for the rogue BP oil well, the damage to Louisiana's wetlandscontinues. More oil is washing up, oil that has sunk into the ground is resurfacing and tropical storms push it deeper into the marshes. Scientists are concerned about the long term effects on the Gulf of Mexico's wildlife and fish from the toxic combination of dispersants and oil. Click here to see some of the oil being recovered from the water.

Admiral Thad Allen reports seeing little to no oil on recent flyovers. Plaquemines ParishPresident Billy Nungesser disagrees. On a trip out to Barataria Bay, Nungesser assessed the damage first hand. A low tide coupled with Northern winds made it possible to see oil washed deep into the wetlands. Fiddler crabs covered in oil scurried along the banks, while gulls fished the polluted waters.

Booms, skimmers and jack-up barges have been removed despite the protestation of parish presidents. Though a total environmental catastrophe appears to have been averted, it is too early to assess the long term damage to Louisiana's wetlands. It is unclear how much of the oil-saturated marsh grass will die, but any such loss will speed up coastal erosion. Click here to see footage of the Damage to the Marsh as seen from an airboat.

There is a growing concern among locals that the oil disaster story is being whitewashed. BP's pr team seems eager to call the disaster a wrap. Doug Suttles,Chief Operating Officer of BP Exploration and Production, reminisces about his first flight over the disaster in a July 20th BP video. He gushes about the extraordinary effort that he says has worked extraordinarily well. "There is just not a lot of oil out there, " he says . Nunngesser begs to differ. I sat down and talked to him after a trip to Barataria Bay. Listen to what he has to say here.

For images of the oil that is still out there click here. If this is what the 25% of the remaining oil looks like, the wetlands are still in trouble. Bob Cesca's article "The BP Disaster Continues Despite Cheerful Happy Talk" will make you question most major media sources' willingness to accept the Joint Information Center's pr. Who's doing the talking, the Coast Guard or BP or have they become one and the same? Who is allowing BP to pull up their assets, the booms andskimmers and barges, and run? Hurricane season has yet to peak. Kudos to Billy who speaks his mind when no one else will. As a sign on Route 23 that takes you through the heart of Plaquemines Parish says, "God Bless Billy."

Coast Guard's Reversal On Press Restrictions

2010-07-12T20:59:00.000-07:00

The Coast Guard has reversed its restriction on the press!

I just received an email from the Joint information Center: "NEW ORLEANS -- National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen today announced new procedures to allow media free travel within the 20-meter boom safety zones if they have followed simple procedures for credentialing, and provided they follow certain rules and guidelines."

The Coast Guard's about face comes just after I finished writing my latest blog entry. It is important for everyone to know what the Coast Guard did and why it was wrong. For a while I thought I was living in a police state run by corporate interests, which added to the horror of the BP oil disaster. I embrace the Coast Guard's reversal.

I went out with wildlife and fishery agents on July 3rd to get around the new restrictions. As of June 30th, you have to keep 65 feet away from booms or cleanup vessels. We inspected two protected rookeries, Cat Island and Queen Bess. Absorbent boom full of oil washed up on the shore of the islands. I saw only one boat with two men working on fixing the boom at Queen Bess Island. Could it has been that BP private contractors wanted the 4th of July off, just likemost federal employees? If I were handling BP's PR, I'd put cleanup crews on overtime andmake sure bird rookeries were cleaned up. A more effective way to stop the disseminationof images of dying creatures might be to stop the oil from getting to the birds' habitat in the first place. And then there'd be no need to take away the media's first amendment rights.

The pictures that most damage BP's image are those of oil-stained animals. Those pictures cause President Obama problems too. He had to answer to his daughter who is worried about the pelicans, he pointed out while addressing the press on his second visit to Louisiana.

The BP oil spill, the largest, most disastrous spill in United States history, affects us all. That, and the First Amendment, is why restrictions on the press should challenged. We as a society should not let corporate polluters, in this case BP, in cooperation with the government control the media. It's true that the Joint Information Center, run by BP and the Coast Guard has provided many opportunities to the press, but that does not give them the right to make independent reporting difficult via regulations disguised as public safety rules, or by using intimidation tactics, turning away journalists at every pass as documented many times by those covering the story.

Read here about the Coastguard's media liaison's connection to BP's PR agency http://www.huffingtonpost.com/georgianne-nienaber/coast-guard-media-liaison_b_635209.html.
Listen to what Billy Nungesser has to say about the new restrictions here-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-twfQwTr6LE&feature=player_embedded
listen to Anderson coopers outrage about the media restriction here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyUjgRfOdDg&feature=player_embedded

Restricted zones, joint information centers, decontamination areas, embedded media: Am I in a war zone or Louisiana? New restrictions on the media make it almost impossible to properlytell the story. So much for transparency. Despite all the dispersants that have beendumped into the Gulf of Mexico, the oil washes up opaque. BP has chosen to spend $50 million on PR while leaving the birds on major rookeries in danger. Protecting our national resources should not become a political battle. Should we turn to BP's hired hack reporters to get our news? See BPs blog here To those who try to defend the new restrictions I say, gooutside with a camera, step back 65 feet from your subject ( an estimate of how far the boom keeps you from your subject beofre the new rules went in effect) then step back another 65 ft and see what kind of picture you get. After you do that, see if you can get Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen to disclose which officials asked him to enact these "safety measures." (Thad Allan is off the hook with the call for him to reveal that information since he has given he retracted his 65 ft rule)

To see a new photo essay I created on the oil disaster on The Atlantic's site click here:http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2010/07/images-bp-doesnt-want-you-to-see/59369/

images: top, me on Long Beach in Mississippi
bottom- boom that had been around Cat Island floating in Barataria Bay/ Absorbent boom full of oil washed onto Cat Island by Hurricane Alex

BP Oil Leak Update In Pictures

2010-06-11T18:15:00.000-07:00

Politicians and BP officials who assure the public all that can be done is being done to protect and clean up the Gulf Coast might want to reconsider such statements. That is not what I have seen. Brown pelicans on Queen Bess Island are living dangerously close to splotches of oil stuck inside and outside the boom meant to protect the island. Many of them have been rescued by wildlife and fishery officials, while countless others have died. The cleanup effort ramps up when VIP's are around; other than that, the cleanup and containment effort is sporadic at best. Last weekend, Christopher Hernandez of Grand Isle called members of the press down to show them around the day after 600 workers were bussed in to clean the beach for Obama's visit. Post-Obama, the cleanup crews numbers dwindled and their work hours were almost nonexistant.

For a multi-media story for the Atlantic featuring Chris and his take on BP controlling the media on Grand Isle, Also check out a photo essay for the Washington Post on the Pointe au Chien Indians I have updated my set on Flickr and it will continue to grow.

Images- top to bottom -A reporter puts his hand in an oil patch on the surface of Barataria Bay/Sign on Grand Isle, where BP's oil spill has shut down the fishing industry and washed up on shore/Brown pelican covered in oil on Barataria Bay off the coast of Grand Terre Island/ Chris Hernandez, Street Superintendent of Grand Isle, on Grand Isle beach/Baby tern stuck in an oil patch on Grand Isle beach, rescued by Chris Hernandez/ Pelican, being cleaned at Fork Jackson in Buras Louisiana/ Living quarters for cleanup workers on a barge stationed in Lake Barre/ Jake Billiot, a Pointe-au-Chien Indian, in front of the place of business where he used to sell shrimp in Point aux- Chene. The shrimp season was canceled on May 30th due to oil from the BP leak contaminating the waters. Jake has been a fisherman his whole life. Jake signed on to work for BP putting out boom since no other work is available to him

Soccer Anyone? Displaced people evicted from Stadium

2010-04-20T06:28:00.000-07:00

Thousands of people were evicted from the grounds of the National Stadium (Sylvio Center) on April 10 when the police came and smashed the remaining temporary shelters. People are now living in the parking lot and the surrounding grounds which were already full. The lives of these displaced people have gone from bad to worse. They are more vulnerable than ever as the parking lot and surrounding grounds flood rapidly when the rains come down. Ben Constant, who has been helping the people in the Stadium since he opened the doors after the earthquake, said, "People will die, no questions about it. When the waters come, and they will come, cars can get washed away. The people are not safe living there, but they were not given any other alternatives."

The National Stadium in Port-au-Prince was transformed into a tent city shortly after the earthquake hit Haiti. Constant, opened the stadium to the public in as orderly a fashion as he could, taking the names of all who moved in and imposing a curfew at night. Ten thousand people were living of the grounds. Rolny St. Louis, the Stadium director, and Constant made the stadium one on the most organized, safest tent cities in the country by providing security, water and getting as much aid from different NGOs as possible. Different medical groups visited daily and set up free medical clinics. That's over now.

The CA-based Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation and other NGOs made the Stadium’s parking lot their prime site for distribution of food and other goods. A shipment of 1,300 tents arrived to great excitement at the end of March. But the tents proved unsuitable. They accommodate three small people. Constant set a few up on the Stadium field so people could check them out. Sentiment ranged from anger and disappointment to realistic acceptance: At least they would have a place to keep their kids dry, one person told me. Tents made for three were given to families of up to eleven. Reports that tents were given out by officials at the Stadium prior to the eviction are untrue.

Rolny St. Louis warned the people they'd have to move after he got a call from the Soccer Federation (a Haitian organization) telling him he needed to clear the people from the Stadium by April 15th. Protests began immediately as people were not told where they could go. AFP quoted St. Louis “We could no longer tolerate people living here. They did everything (in the stadium): prostitution, rape and theft." I asked St. Louis about this comment. ArialMT"">He told me he never said that. There was only one reported rape at the stadium, no prostitution and little crime. He and Constant maintained security for the people. He was not happy at all to put the people out. He made sure to let as many as he could stay in the parking lot though he acknowledged it wont be safe there after a heavy rainfall.

Prior to the eviction, temporary resident Sommavil Rodney said, “We are not animals. We are not savages . But if they try to get us to go, we will show them we can be savage. The Stadium belongs to the Haitian people," he insisted, "and they need to be respected. We will die here before we leave."

Gregory Amazon, who left the stadium ahead of the police eviction, told me that despite the protest that took place early Friday morning, the people had no choice; an elite heavily armed segment of the police department called SIMO came with guns in hand so everyone backed down. Saturday morning the police smashed the shelters to bits as people cried. They watched the little they had destroyed. "I moved back near where my house collapsed and stayed in the second story of a building," Amazon said. "There was another aftershock yesterday and I was scared. We are being treated like dogs."

Over a month ago the Haitian government started erecting a tent city in one of the most dangerous parts of the city, where Cite Soliel, Delmas 2 and Belair come together. The tents are flimsy and are in need of plastic sheeting for waterproofing before they can be lived in. Other alternative solutions are starting to be created out side of the cities limits. A humane civilized solution has yet to be presented. But for now at least, the soccer games can begin.

Click here to see a set of images of the stadium before the eviction Additonal information: A link to a story I did for the Atlantic that includes a clip of the former presidents . And Interview with Anderson Cooper and Sean Penn who talks about relocating displaced people living in a tent city in Petionville. No such alternative option was offered to the people at the National Stadium before they wereevicted. The people outside the stadium are now living in the kind of peril. Sean Penn speaks about that the people in the tent city he has been looking after are in. AFP article that incorrectly reports tents being given away by officials and with a quote the the director of the stadium denies

Homage to Patti Lynn Gregory

2010-03-23T21:49:00.000-07:00

I spoke with my friend Patti before I left for Haiti. She and I usually communicate by email and catch up in person when I'm in New York, but I decided to touch base with her before returning to Haiti so I called her from the airport before I left. We had a wonderful conversation. She told me about her upcoming trip to London and we made plans to meet in New York. She was worried about me returning to Haiti, when it turns out I should have been worried about her. Patti had a terrible accident and passed away on March 18. The Daily News falsely reported her death a suicide. Sure, Patti had dark thoughts from time to time. I do too, but the irresponsibility of saying she killed herself when the police ruled her death an accident is journalism at its worst.

Eight years ago, Patti lost the use of her legs, but she got around more than most people. I never thought of her as handicapped. She seemed to take all hardship in stride. She relished life. We met after she read an article about my work. She came to buy a piece for Danny. She became one of my favorite critics, often seeing things in my work I hadn't thought of.

My work in Haiti resonated with Patti. She and her husband Danny sent funds to support my work here before I sought them. When I told her how I gave a Haitian driver for the military $20 so he could get a charger for his cell phone (his was lost under his collapsed home) and then e-mailed his family in the States to explain why they hadn't heard from him, how I heard back from them within minutes with thanks for word of him, she asked me to give him an additional $20. Patti understood the value of the kindness of strangers.

Patti would take me for extravagant lunches when we met over the years. Although I usually don't drink during the day, I could never turn her down when she asked me with sparkling eyes if I wanted another one. Our lunches were always a special occasion. We would talk about topics from A to Z . Returning to New York City without connecting with Patti again will be a great loss in my life..

In the next days, I'm off to Jacmel, where I will try to locate the friends of my friend Flo. Here is an email Patti wrote to me after reading my Homage to Flo McGarrell who died on Jan. 12, a victim of the Haitian earthquake:

Hi Julie,

It's a very sad story. I salute him for living the way he wanted to, and that was surely very attractive to a lot of people. It's all just such a loss of life and the after lives even for the survivors is sure to be very difficult. The amount of struggle and competition for such basic human essentials is completely ungodly and cruel. I dislike knowing about such things only through the media. It just doesn't seem real and therefore it is difficult to feel what I feel to be real reactions to exactly what it may be like.

I feel like a little chicken hiding over here all safe and comfortable. Not that I would ever want to actually experience such atrocities even in any lesser form, but I think it is part of my love and respect for you, that you have been and do go so close. I think in another life I would definitely like to at least try to make that effort to know some things better, first hand. I cannot imagine what it could be like for Flo's mom, having his body returned and going through such a process has got to be completely emotionally devastating. All I keep thinking is that he must have been a very powerful life force and surely not extinguished quite so easily as his body could be. He must be reconfiguring into some form and still burning brightly. He doesn't seem to have been the type to be easily contained for long. I'd love to see you do a book about him.
Let me know when you are here or on the way. All the best to You, your mom, your dad,
Patti
Images from the National Cemetery in Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Port-au-Prince 10 weeks after the earthquake

2010-03-22T04:48:00.001-07:00

images top to bottom: Rodney Patrick in Miami field hospital in critical condition from gun shot wounds/Dr. Yvens Laborde treating three- month old Dedumes Christiano at a mobile clinic/Dr. Yvens Laborde treating Anita Buenieville (95 year old) for hypertension/Volunteers with The Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation distributing blankets at the National Stadium

Port-au-Prince, Haiti 10 weeks after the earthquake, though the search and rescue work is long over, one can easily find people that need rescuing. No one is alive under the rubble any more, but many people are in mortal danger. Their needs are little different than they were the day after the earthquake.

My first day back in Port-au-Prince I was met by Dr. Yvens Laborde who works for Oshner Hospital in New Orleans. He is a one man envoy on the ground for the hospital helping as many people as he can. Our first stop was the Miami University Hospital on the airbase. It has grown in size and was fuller than ever. Laborde checked on Rodney Patrick, who was shot three times in the back by thieves. His odds of survival are slim, unless Labode can get him evacuated to a hospital in America, a feat he doesn’t think he will be able to pull off. Later we went to Champ de Mars, the tent city across from the presidential palace, to check up on Anita Buenieville, a 95-year-old woman who has hypertension, common after the quake. After the house call he helped as many as he could at an on-the- spot clinic he set up with the help of two assistants. He wasn’t sure he could save three-month old Dedumes Christiano. She developed a rash most likely caused by an infectious disease. (See the doctor in action with the baby here.)

The lack of aid reaching the Haitian people as a crime against humanity, according to Laborde. He is watching people die who he could easily have cured. The situation is deplorable. The need on the ground versus the millions of dollars in aid money being donated is hard to reconcile. In the tent cities, need is the first thing on the mind's of everyone I meet. People ask for shelter, food, and medicine, in that order. Elianna Deaguste led me into her tent and showed me her sick daughter. The rain drenched both of them the night before.

The next days we spent trying to get a shipment released from Customs. The airway bill made it clear the shipment was medical supplies, humanitarian aid, yet the cargo area we were sent to after UPS gave the doctor the paper work wouldn’t release it. The doctor was sent on a wild goose chase that lasted two days, and still the medicine was not released. The Haitian bureaucracy is maddening. It takes over 30 minutes to get a "No" and be told to go elsewhere, over and over again. At the Minister of Interior's office where we went to get the first of three signatures, a worker pointed out to me that the man in the office across from us had been trying every day for three weeks to have his packages released. Four days later and Laborde, a man good at working his way through the system here;Haitian born, launage and culture are second nature to him and still has not gotten the medicine released. He wonders if it is this hard for him, what's it like for those less accustomed to red tape?

Things at the National Stadium have changed. Ben Constant, who allowed for the establishment of the tent city there, added another 800 families to the 1,000 he originally opened the stadium to, bringing the population to over 10,000 people. The Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, based in San Dimas, CA, chose to focus their humanitarian work at the National Stadium after meeting Ben. They are giving aid to those living in the Stadium and the surrounding area. They come daily and will do so until early April. Their distribution technique is much different than the World Food Program food surge that was run with help of the US military and the UN forces. They treat the Haitians with respect and love, bowing when giving aid to each recipient. Curtis Hsin, the Emergency Disaster Coordinator, reported that Brazilian UN security guards told him that the way to keep order was to fight. "Why do you think you need to fight?" Hsin asked. "We will show the Haitian people love and all will be peaceful." The UN guards saw for themselves how respectful and peaceful the distribution process can be. Click here to see video cip of Curits.

While the National Stadium is one of the most secure tent cities , the makeshift shelters offer little protection from the elements. Early Friday morning bought hours of rain. People frantically try to protect themselves and their belongings. Tents are on the way proviced by the Buddists, Ben has been told.

There are noticeably few bright spots to be found in Port-au-Prince these days. Bush and Clinton are set to arrive and meet with the ineffective leadership of the country. The whereabouts of the millions of dollars donated to their fund remains a mystery to me and all those I have met, many of whom have still have received no help at all.

Update from Haiti on Three Orphanages

2010-03-11T18:39:00.000-08:00

Today I checked in with three of the organizations I photographed in Haiti to get an update. Two of the three had some good news, but all three have stressed the overall landscape of Port-au-Prince remains the same. I will be back on Tuesday and check things out for myself. Here is a link to images shot at the orphanages http://www.flickr.com/photos/juliedermansky/sets/72157623478226039/

Michael Brewer of Reach Haiti Ministries told me he still hasn't been able to secure land to build a new orphanage and is still hunting for new possibilities. He has been able to get help from the World Food Organization and has been helping other orphanages get food as well. He has noticed many aid organizations leaving and stresses the need for continued assistance in Haiti. He updated me on Marylyn, a sick child I photogrraphed during my first visit. It turns out not only was she malnourished, she has TB as well. She will be in a hospital for an additional six months.

Ben Constant, who runs two orphanages along with the tent city in the National Stadium, told me he hasn't received any aid for the orphanages; however his sister Mary Jo Poux will be in Haiti to help the orphanages next week. She will be meeting a container of goods she had shipped over from New Orleans filled with items for the orphanages and the tent city that have been donated for the most part by people in New Orleans. Food aid has started to arrive at the Stadium and tents have been promised to the people by March 28th.

Rev. Jean Frank Antoine told me he has received no aid for his orphanage. His colleague Yves Alain Belotte from the Ridel Foundation told me discontent is growing among the people living in Ti Casou, a tent city of over 5,000 in Carre Foure. They believe the foundation must be keeping everything for themselves since they receive no aid. Yves Alain Belotte assured me this isn't the case and hopes that I can accelerate the process of getting aid to the people he is looking after. I explained the best I can do is make sure his story gets out there.

Ronnie Hepperly, who has worked in many places in crisis, told me that what he found in Haiti was even worse than the problems in southern Sudan. He says it is the largest humanitarian disaster the western hemisphere has faced in hundreds of years (see Utube video here http://www.youtube.com/user/jsdart?feature=mhw4#p/a/u/1/lBpJ6V8tyF4 )
It is certainly the largest one I have seen. I am returning on my own, with the conviction that the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake is a story the must be told.

If you like getting truly independent news updates from me and want to support me in telling the story of what is going on in Haiti now, please send a check to Julie Dermansky at 300 Katherine Street, Englewood NJ, 07631 or contribute via Paypal to my acount juliedermansky@yahoo.com. Funds will go to cover my expenses for travel, health care and gear. Your donations to me will also indirectly help organizations I support by donating images for fundraising purposes whose beinficaries include Doctors Without Borders, Concearn World wide and World Haiti Relif Fund. To see more articles (including and update on all thing milliary) and images click here http://web.mac.com/jsdart/Site/Haiti.html

Visit the sites of these small hands on non-profits and see how you can help-
Michael and Andrea Brewer www.ReachHaiti.com
Ben Constatn and Mary Jo Poux www.hopeforhaitianchildrenfoundation.org
Rev. Jean Frank Antoine and Yves Alain Belotte www.ridelhaiti.org.

Update on the US Military's Role in Haiti

2010-03-09T11:52:00.000-08:00

Approximately 4,500 US troops remain in Haiti, most of them dealing with logistics.

Spc. A. M. LaVey wrote on a the Southern Millitary Commands site, "At the high point of Operation Unified Response, American forces numbered 20,000 and they were responding to about 2,000 incidents a day; today there are about half the number of troops here, and they are responding to under 100 incidents per day .

Army Col. (Dr.) Jennifer Menetrez said via a live blog, “The last patient was discharged from the Comfort on Feb. 27.” Their stay is coming to an end and the 377 TSC Army Reserves out of Belle Chase, LA, with whom they originally travelled to Haiti, have officially taken over command of ) logistics from the 3rd ESC . Many of the NGOs and Haitians worry security will deteriorate with the removal of the troops. Time will tell if the Haitian government is ready to take charge.

Word from the APOD ( Arial Point of Debarkation- base for some of the troops): Even though their tents are much better than the average earthquake victims temporary shelter, they too have been effected by the heavy pours.

Here is a photo set on Flickr of the US Military in action in Haiti, from body recovery at the Hotel Montana to the setting up of the base on the grounds of the Port-au-Prince airport. http://www.flickr.com/photos/juliedermansky/sets/72157623580080258/

images: top- USNS Comfort Ship Off Haiti bottom : Porto-potties on the APOD

Temporary Shelters offer little Protection from the Rain in Haiti

2010-03-03T14:35:00.000-08:00

Last weekends headlines concerned two million left homeless in Chile.
Will Haiti be forgotten now that a bigger quake has hit elsewhere? It seems Haiti still holds the trump card for suffering and more is on the way with the coming rains.

Torrential rains have begun in Haiti before the official start of the rainy season. Approximately 600,000 are living in makeshift tents in Port-au-Prince. They have gotten a taste of what is to come. While people in Hawaii and Japan dodged a bullet with a tsunami warning, people in Haiti contended with a heavy downpour.
There is little people can do to protect themselves. Getting wet from above is one thing, but being swept away from surges of water another. I visited several tent cities that have been established around Port-au-Prince and saw only a handful of sturdy tents. Most people had shelters made with sheets, wood cardboard and scraps of blue plastic tarp.

Attached are images of some of the temporary shelters people built for themselves in Port-au-Prince. USAID had received reams of plastic to distribute while I was in Haiti. Hopefully that plastic has replaced some of the cardboard and sheets that I photographed.Click here to see a set of images on temporary housing in Port-au-Prince's tent cities.

2010-02-21T10:14:00.001-08:00

Three Weeks In Haiti

2010-02-21T08:10:00.000-08:00

On my last day in Haiti, a colorful sign at the airport for the Peace of Mind Hotel in Jacmel caught my eye. My friend Flo McGarrell died at that hotel on February 12th when the building collapsed. I felt Flo's presence. His love for Haiti filled my heart and I shed some of the few tears I allowed myself during my time in Haiti. I had no time for tears; there were too many stories that needed to be told. That night I boarded a military plane used to evacuate people and transport soldiers to Miami, still putting my camera to use, still meeting people and listening to their accounts of how their lives had been forever changed by the earthquake. Ronny Gachelin was evacuating his daughters and planned to return to Haiti the next day. “Do people in America realize there are still bodies buried in the rubble all over Port-au-Prince?” he asked.

On my first day back I had the task of preparing a summary of my trip for the morning show on Fox8 in New Orleans (click here to see it). I started off talking about the military operation, pointing out the successes: the opening of the port and the completion of a major food distribution in which there was no major disturbance or violence. I clarified that the military has not been tasked to directly help the Haitians. They are there to support the Haitian government (a government the Haitians I spoke to think is utterly useless), the UN forces (there was preexisting tension between the Brazilian UN forces and the Haitians) and the NGO's (first and foremost the World Food Program). As the military installs air-conditioners in the tents of officers, Haitians in tent cities are getting soaked by rain, the rain a reminder of the clock ticking down toward the rainy season that starts in March. The soldiers are not building temporary housing for the Haitians or directly distributing food. That is not their role. But the need for basic essentials in Haiti is extreme. If basic needs are met, security issues will diminish.

Few Haitians in the tent cities I spoke to received more than enough rice for a couple of days, if that. Even affluent Haitians don’t know where to locate tents. No one knows where to turn for help.I spoke to Col. Robin B. Akin after the food distribution surge was over. She is committed to her job, arriving in Haiti days after the earthquake with the first team. They set up the base camp, advised on the workings of the food distribution program and the reopenning of the port. Her logistics skills proved good enough to set up a way for the soldiers to watch the Super Bowl. (See a clip of the 377th TSC watching the interception the clinched the game for the Saints here) She sees the food distribution surge as a major success. (Listen to her here) The military goals were met. I wonder if, had she been a Haitian, she would have been able to to navigate a non-existing governmental system and an uncoordinated effort set up by the NGOs to secure a ticket to get a 25 pound bag of rice to feed her family.

Many small NGOs, individuals and missionaries who directly touch the lives of countless Haitians are also providing aid. I spent a day with Michael Brewer of ReachHaiti Ministries. Michael and his wife Andrea set up an orphanage six months before the earthquake. The building that housed them is ruined. They relocated the children and are now looking to buy land and erect a new building for the orphanage but are equally committed to providing aid to as many of those in need as they can. Sixteen volunteers from Tennessee have joined Michael in Haiti and are rebuilding a pastor's home and setting up health care clinics on the streets in remote parts of Cite Soliel. They go out without security and provide medical services to anyone who needs them. (Watch clip of nurse Benny Parker in action here. and here )In the course of the day Benny treated over two hundred people. That day three people left the clinic with a fighting chance to save infected limbs that would have otherwise been lost, one woman having a miscarriage was rushed to a hospital and hundreds of others got a basic check up. Many of those who wait on line for medical care are not ill, but Benny treats them all with equal respect by listening to their chests and taking their temperature just in case. Most everyone lost a family member and is suffering from mental stress and anyone staying in the areas effected by the earthquake is experiencing eye irritation and congestion due to the dust. “People need to feel special, if only for a moment, so they wait on line to receive attention," Benny explained. Those that don’t need medical attention leave with an aspirin and a hug.

Rev. Jean Frank Antoine" is in charge of eight tent cities and an orphanage. (Here is a link to a story I shot for the Guardian at one of the tent cities he set up.) He introduced me to members of the board of Riedle, a NGO he is affiliated with. They took me to a tent city on the top of a hill in Carre Fourre that has up to 8000 residents for whom they are trying to secure tents and food . People there told me the only aid they've seen was a small amount of rice early on and that they need more. The distribution surge missed them. Bernadette Desir is nine months pregnant. Her shelter doesn’t protect her from the rain. “Only God knows when things will get better,” she tells me.

Ben Constant, who opened up the National Stadium for use as a tent city for 1000 families, also runs two orphanages in Port-au-Prince with his sister Mary Jo Poux. Both structures are in need of repair. He has taken in newly orphaned kids at both places since the earthquake but has had to turn away others, as the facilities are full to capacity. To take more children in, he and his sister, based in New Orleans, need to raise more funds. She runs the Hope for Haitian Children Foundation , and will return to Port-au-Prince in mid-March with a container of supplies for the kids and others living in tent cities. Ben was in charge of the National Stadium before the earthquake, and is still in charge though no one in the government has said yay or nay to what he has done there. Professional soccer games being played again are a long way off so Ben’s commandeering of the stadium can be seen as a heroic action, though the stadium is no longer up to international standards. He has provided security for the people and clean water. There are only four toilets for 6000 people. None of those living there is not satisfied, but they are some of the lucky ones in Port-au-Prince. Everyone wondered why they are not recieving more aid. Many of them point the finger at Ben, wanting more from him since he is the only one who has helped them. When asked why he took the burden onhimself, he shrugs off the question as if what he did was what any man in his position would do. Many nights he sleeps there in his SUV, but had to leave one night as people screamed out in fear when a downpour occured. It was too much for him to bear.

Carnival, which would have begun on Feb. 14, was canceled and replaced by three days of national prayer. I joined Ben and his friend Evylen on the third day. (Watch Evylen remove a few objects from her destroyed apartment here.) Ben manned a giant truck souped up with all his sound equipment and circled the Presidential Palace, blaring songs and prayers. Though Carnival was officially canceled, the euphoria of the crowd felt like Carnival to me. (What a clip of parade here) I made my way through the packed crowd and climbed atop Ben's float where I was able to be in the center of the pulsing sprit of Haiti. I was blown away by the spirit of the Haitian people. Though they have few prospects for a bright tomorrow, they retain their faith and hope for the future.

The empty pits near Titanyen, a small city 40 minutes north of Port-au-Prince by car, tell the story of countless unidentified victims. A worker there told me there are over 200,000 are buried there already. The turn-off for the site is marked with a small sign: For the victims of January 12th 2010. Haiti is no longer a top news story, but it is still my top story. Check back in the next few days as I write up and post more stories and pictures shot over the course of three weeks in Haiti.

How you can help:
1.Donate to ReachHaiti Ministries. Listen to Michael speak about his work here -To learn more about them and give financial support go to www.ReachHaiti.com

2.Funds are needed for the orphanage Rev. Jean Frank Antoine runs which is now uninhabitable. The children are living outside, sleeping beneath blue tarps. Make out checks to the Riedle Foundation, with a notation For the Orphanages. You can can find out more about the Ridel Foundation at www.ridelhaiti.org.

3. Hope for Haitian Children Foundation, run by Mary Jo Poux, supports two orphanages in Port-au-Prince. They are in the process of filling and shipping a container of donated goods to Haiti for the orphanages. You can help then by donating needed funds for shipping.. Their website is www.hopeforhaitianchildrenfoundation.org . Contact, Shon "Sable" Gipson at 504 460-4193 or email shongipson@yahoo.com for more information

4.In Flo McGarrell's memory, I plan to continue shining a spotlight on Haiti through my work. If you want to enable me to go on with my work in Haiti, please consider buying a print or funding me directly. You can contact me via email at juliedermansky@yahoo.com or from my web site

images top to bottom: Cathedral, Prt-au-Prince/ Ruined homes in Carre Foure/Crowd in front of palace on last day of National Prayer/ Parade around the palace on Feb 14th, Carnival/Bernadette Desir in tent city/ Sign indicating mass grave site outside of Port-au-Prince/Open pit for victims of the earthquake/Benny Parker at examining a child at a roadside clinic in Cite Soliel/ Sacre Coeur in Carre Foure/ Generator for AC unit on temporary military base at airport/ Street in Carre Foure where many bodies remain under the buildings/ Berlin Exantus under blue tarp next to the orphanage that is no longer safe to live in/ Col Robin B. Akin (soon to be a general) in action

To see more video go to my Youtube page

For more images here is a link to a set of images in Flickr

and for more of my work in general www.jsdart.com

Update From Haiti

2010-02-12T05:01:00.000-08:00

The military buildup at the APOD (Arial Point of Debarkation)) and the LSA (Logistical Support Area) is taking place at a rapid speed now. Nothing stays the same long. The sink stall where I wash up and brush my teeth is in a new spot. Some of the port-a-potties have been shifted around. Few of the people I am looking for are where I found them the time before. The unit I came with, the 377 TSC has returned to re-group for some training they are required to do and will be back in Haiti by the end of the month. A few of them remain, so I staid on as well.

Many of the soldiers I’m meeting were home five months since returning from their last deployments to Afghanistan or Iraq before coming to Haiti. The 82nd Airborne, some of the first on the ground thought they would be here only a month. They are faced with not only the mission but also lots of loose ends back home. There are also soldiers who volunteered for this mission. Some who have Haitian roots and speak the language like John Antoine. Some of his family lives in Haiti and though he has visited them, he has had little time to help them directly which pains him, but he has a job to do. He is responsible for testing contaminant levels in the environment in the places soldiers are bedding down keeping them protected from potential environmental threats. His uncle, Rev. Jean Frank Antoine, a minister is responsible for eight tent cities and an orphanage. His parishioners started showing up at his doorstep the night of the earthquake. He has gotten little aid, and almost no food for his flock. The tent cities he manages are housing over a thousand displaced people. The Haitians and the Americans are both mobilizing to create new lodgings anyway they can.

Before the 377th left I had a chance to get visit Carre Foure with Major Richards who was tasked to take photographs to be used in slide/information shows down the line. The devastation there was extreem. We got out of the car and wondered around. A local, Desire Pierre guided us up a mountain of rubble and pointed out how many people were lost in each totaled home. The smell of death permeated the air and we made sure not to step on human bones and us scattered around. We made out way around a corner to find a crowd at the site of theUniversity International of St. that collapsed. The only heavy lifting equipment in the area was there and in use. Many students gathered around waiting for their head master Louis Lacace Fils LaRosillieng’s body to be pulled out. Four hundred bodies are trapped in the rubble. Richard and I wondered around the side of the building where we found bodies decomposing in place. Louis Lacace Fils LaRosillieng, body was recovered and placed in a coffin. A sermon was given by pastor Pierre Eddy LaGuerre from Brooklyn who was born in Haiti. One Haitian body recovered, in front of me, how many more to go?

Next we drove to the National Stadium. The director, Ben Constant, of the stadium has turned it into a tent city. 1000 displaced families live there, over 6000 people. It is clean and organized and there are medical services on site. Different volunteer groups come and work in a make shift clinch there daily. Ben Constant has received a little rice for the people in the stadium, but that was days ago. He hopes the NGOs who are distributing food will send some his way. The stadium is full of life, kids playing on the Astroturf, and people getting on with their daily life.

While driving around the city, despite the devastation, my eyes are dazzled by the beautiful hand painted signs on the buildings and buses that are works of art. The buses are covered with decorative painting, either with a religous theme or one of celebrities. Juxtaposing Haitian street art are newly posted signs pleaded for help in French and English. The signs are simple pleas for the basics.” S.O.S” a sing reads, “We need water food and medicine”.

The Haitians I have spoken too have no faith in their government. They hope for change but spend their energy now on daily substance. Some are looking at the earthquake as a new beginning. Junior, the driver I went out with today told me if the government gets the aid money being donated to them, we the Haitian people will never get help. He hopes the Americans can instead proved services. He doesn’t believe that will happen but he thinks this time the people of Haiti will revolt if the movement keeps all the money. He believes there will be a revolution.

to see more images go to my Haiti flickr set
To see the soldiers of the 377 TSC watching the superbowl in a tent on the APOD click here
to see minister at the site of the university click here
Images- Top: Sign in Port-au-Prince, Marie Yolene Augustin (38) who lost six kids and her house now lives at the National Stadium. Natacha and Ceforah Parsonna at their tent in the National Stadium
Bottom
Bottom: (top to bottom) Major Richards of the 377 TSC at the site of the university in Carre Foure, Child at National Stadium, Carre Foure landscape,
Recovery of headmaster of the university, Sing requesting help in Carre Foure, Rev. Jean Frank Antoine who runs eight tent cities in Port-au-Prince,
THe National Stadium now a tent city, Port-o-Pottys being moved on APOD, The APOD (base on the airport I'm staying at) at sunset.

Hospital on the Grounds of the Airport in Port-au-Prince

2010-02-05T21:17:00.000-08:00

A quarter mile from the APOD, the home of the 377th TSC and the 3 ESC, is a makeshift hospital set up on the grounds of the Port-au-Prince airport by the University of Miami in partnership with the United Nations Global Institute/Project Medishare. I joined up with a couple of soldiers who make nightly visits to visit the kids there. The facility is in big open tents. The operating rooms are separated from the recovery area by sheets. The laughter of the children mixes with intermittent screaming and praying. The doctors say what they need most is more nurses. Those who are here seem exhausted. The staff rotates in and out from the United States. Despite their grave injuries, the patients are dignified and proud. They tell me their stories through translators. There is Herby Mural, who was found two days after the quake under a five story building; triplets Caroline, Carlens and Carly Criot-des -Bouqets, who are dehydrated, and Pierre Pablo Picasso, who was rescued by an Israeli search and rescue team the day after the quake. He jokes with the soldiers and tries to get a chance to hold one of their guns. Twelve hours before the earthquake, Marilyn (last name unknown) was left at an orphanage by a parent who could no longer take care of her. At three years old, she weighs 14 pounds and suffers from malnutrition, fever and diarrhea. Michael and Andrea Brewer, founders of Reach Haiti Ministries, whose Haitian home and orphanage were badly damaged, got Jessica medical care here and then a flight out of Haiti, donated by Vanderbuilt Hospital. At first their request to get Jessica out of Haiti was denied though they had the plane lined up. They were told by doctors others were in much worse condition, a measure of just how bad things are here.

If you want more info on Haiti Ministries the website is http:reachhati.com/ and Medishare University of Miami hospitals site is http://projectmedishare.org. Both have earthquake relief funds.

Food Distribution Surge in Haiti

2010-02-02T09:37:00.000-08:00

Jan. 30 I joined CL. Robin B Akin of the 3rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) and General Luis R, Visot, Commanding
General of the 377th Theater Sustainment Command Army Reserves at an ROC (rehearsal of concept) meeting where plans
are gone over. Without desks or high tech equipment, the visual presentation consisted of papers on the ground held down
with rocks.The meeting was a rehearsal the day before the start of a food distribution surge. All the key figures from the
millitary side were there. It will be the largest food distribution to date in Haiti since the earthquake and will go on for 14
straight days at six different drop points in Port-au-Prince with a goal of giving out one million rations. The 82nd Airborne and
U.N. security forces will do crowd control. A large contingent of NGOs led by the WFP (World Food Program) will man the
distribution points.
On Saturday night I was driven to one of the basesthe 82nd Airborne has set up. It is on the grounds of a school that is
closed now. It took an hour to find the place, though it should have been a 15 minute drive. We only had coordinates to find
the place, and a couple of street names. A guard at the gate led me to the TAC tactical operation center) where I met CPT
Roberto Fonseca.
The grounds gave me the feeling l was on a set out of "Apocalypse Now." It is terrain with tropical plants and tall mango
trees. The sounds of nocturnal animals fill the air. I unfurled a sleeping bag on a concrete walkway outside of one of the
classrooms to use as a mattress ( far too hot to get in it), arranged a mosquito net tent on top of it (mesh you can see
through supported by a wire frame), unzipped the tent and climbed in. I got three and half hours of sleep before waking to the
sound of hymns sung by displaced people living on the perimeter of the school. I lay in my self-contained see-through tent
listening for a few moments before getting out of it and heading to the rally point in the makeshift motor pool complete with
Humvees.
The group I rolled with, D/1-325th AIR, headed for Cite Soliel, the poorest area in Port-au-Prince. Earthquake damage there wasn't as bad as
in the downtown; however the poor are even poorer here and growing more desperate. This distribution site was set up for
Samaritan's Purse International. We arrived at 4:30 AM. A crowd formed immediately. The soldiers acted fast and rolled out
concertina wire, making a barrier to separate the crowd without tickets from the ticket holders who lined up against a stone
wall. Across from the line is a tent city that sprung up after the distribution site was established, making the situation more
volatile. By 6 am there were approximately 4,000 people at the site. As the morning went on, the line grew and the heat
reached over 100 degrees.
THe NGOs and the millitary made quick decisions to keep the line flowing when they sae that half the tickets were different
from the ones they gave out, and that men as well as women were on line (only women and children were supposed to
receive the rations and then share them with their families.) All tickets were honored and families were give a 25 kilo bag of
rice that most of them took away on their heads. Toward the end of the line, there was pushing and shoving and line cutters
the UN security forces dealt with forcefully. Thousands were still on line when the food ran out The distribution took place
without any major incident though the Haitian police took a few people away and many were taken out of the line with fake
tickets.
I will be going to another distribution insideCite Soliel, where I was told things were a little hairier. As people trust more food is
coming they become less desperate and the threat of incident dwindles. Aid has been a long coming for some people.
Moving supplies around is still a logistical nightmare. The Haitians I talked to were grateful, but were hoping for more than just rice.

To see new images of my work in Haiti book mark my flickr page- Here is a link to a set on images from Haiti http://www.flickr.com/photos/juliedermansky/sets/72157623308001766/
you can watch a food give away video clip here 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ87_gN0QLQ
you can watch CL. Robin B Akin talk about the mission here in video clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdfoW74cRr0

On the Ground in Haiti

2010-01-30T04:09:00.001-08:00

We landed in Port-au-Prince just as the sun was rising . After getting our bearings and loading the gear onto a truck, we waited for transportation. Waiting is a sub-theme in most things millitary. Along the edges of the runway were pallets loaded with supplies. Civilians from different aid organizations were also waiting around. There was a sea of water bottles, everything from Aquafina to Fiji . Boarding small tourist busses from the Dominican Republic that had a tropical flair, we made our way to a camp known as APOD - Arial Point of Debarkation. Once in our tent we set up cots. I was lent a mosquito net which transformed my cot into a canopy bed of sorts.

The camp is in a state of constant flux. We had to move twice before we had a tent we could call home. Search and rescue teams made the initial set up and left the tents behind in a deal struck by the 3d Sustainment Command Expeditionary. In return for the tent loan, the 3SCE will use their logistic capability to return them. A jumbo tent ( the fusion cell) went up the first day I arrived and was made internet ready. It will serve as the logistical hub for the entire theater. Incoming troops are coming faster than available space to house them is identified, yet everyone is being accommodated.

The tents that serve as living quarters are basic. Inside them it feels like an oven in the daytime. The cots are standard army issue. Mosquitos and spiders share the space. There are Porto-Johns and portable cold water showers with outdoor sinks nearby. There is no kitchen, only MREs for grub and lots of water; the millitary is big on keeping soldiers hydrated. Considering there was nothing here before the earthquake the camp is pretty great.

I accompanied Sgt. Tomas of the 7th Sustainment Brigade to the port and another camp. His driver, Fred, lives in Port-au-Prince and gave us a mini tour enroute. The damage breathtaking; the devastation is mind boggling. I was surprised to see signs of everyday life everywhere. We drove by a bustling outdoor market and the streets were full of traffic. Tent cities all around the city are a reminder that nothing will be normal for a long time to come.

Operation Unified Response, The 377th TSC leaves for Haiti

2010-01-27T20:36:00.000-08:00

At 11 in the morning on Jan 25th I got a call for Shaun Clark, the public affairs officer for the 377 TSC (Theater Sustainment Command), asking me how fast I could get ready to go to Haiti. I was told to be ready to leave by that evening, but later learned I had till the next morning. Everything time-related remains fluid when traveling with the military.

I arrived at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Belle Chasse, LA, on Jan 26th . Shaun filled me in on the role the 377th TSC will play in Operation Unified Response. They will be the logistical support for all US soldiers in Haiti. They are relieving the 3rd Support Command Expeditionary, who have been surveying and analyzing distribution sites since Jan 19th. I am accompanying 19 soldiers, an early entry module detachment, who will be met by a much larger group once they are operational. This unit and the larger one deploying are prepared to stay at least a year.

We boarded a bus for Miami in the late morning, taking with us everything needed to sustain them for the start up period, from MREs (meals ready to eat) to cots. After a 16 hour ride on a chartered bus that included two fast food stops ( I confess to having McDonald's and Burger King on the same day) and a couple of smoke breaks for the night driver, we arrived at an airbase in Miami shortly after 5 AM to find out we might have to wait 2-3 days for our flight out. I write from a large waiting room in an airbase outside Miami where we are prepared to hunker down, if need be. We could still get out today, but no one knows for sure. Though the unit does logistics, they are not responsible for the logistics of getting themselves to Haiti. Overall everyone is in good humor.

The rest of the day our plans remained fluid .I got a little sleep in the afternoon. Early evening we were waiting for the plane we dined on Popeyes friend chicken and had a surprise visit from professional cheerleaders taking part in the Pro Bowl Game. The flight meant to leave at 10 pm was delayed till 12:15am, and then got cancelled. We end up checking into a Comfort Inn Hotel. Hopefully in the morning we will be on our way. The start of this trip is a forecast of what to expect in Haiti. Haiti was no longer the top headline in the news when we departed, but the story is far from over. From where I sit, it's getting more interesting by the minute.

Update - shortly after falling asleep, i was woken up and told to come to the lobby to catch a bus back to the airbase to fly out.
We all got on a C-130 for Haiti and landed as the sun came up. I arrived in Haiti tired, but ready to take it all in. A logistical nightmare that is being tackled moment by moment, is one way to describe the situation here.

Homage to Flo McGarrell

2010-01-18T12:03:00.001-08:00

Flo McGarrell wearing one of his fiber art creations

When I first heard of the earthquake in Haiti I thought of Flo McGarrell. I knew he was there. I called his mother Ann, and I conveyed my sense that Flo would be fine, leading the rescue efforts of others. I was wrong. Despite Flo's strength, the earthquake's suddenness made survival more an act of luck than will. He was killed instantly on January 12th when the Peace of Mind Hotel in Jacmel collapsed. His body still remains trapped under the hotel. A friend who was with him at the hotel and the remaining members of FOSAJ, the art center Flo ran, have been unable to dig him out. The State Department may send some heavy lifting equipment to Jacmel so the body can be recovered.

One natural disaster put me on the path to meet Flo and another has taken him away. Ann McGarrell, Flo’s mother, contacted me after seeing a series of photographs I did about post–Katrina New Orleans. We collaborated on a book using photos she selected from my series and a poem she wrote inspired by my photos. This collaboration also brought Flo and James, Ann's husband and Flo’s father, into my life. Both are fine artists of the highest caliber.

I was privileged to share a Thanksgiving with them. Flo prepared raw food concoctions that were scrumptious. That weekend I took pictures of Flo’s crocheted hats so he could enter them in a fiber-art competition. Ann, James and Flo acted as models on a cold Vermont autumn day. He talked to me about the art center in Haiti he was going to be running and invited me to visit and teach a workshop there, an offer I will always regret not having accepted sooner.

Flo was multi-talented and had a generous spirit, openly sharing ideas and help. His life and his work were interconnected. Working and living in Haiti was a synthesis of his many interests. He had started making "agrisculptures," using plants and recycled materials to make a statement about sustainability. In Haiti, he ran the art center on a shoestring, committed to bringing the local art community in Haiti together. His optimism and positive outlook were infectious.

In a recent interview Flo said, "I have a few guiding principles, which I think must propel me toward this artistic freedom you speak about: Don’t hide, don’t lie. Do that which scares me. Resist the urge to settle. Be as many things as possible in this lifetime.” From what I know of Flo that is exactly how he lived. Flo’s commitment to these principles and his life’s work are inspirational. The randomness of his death is difficult to grasp.

On Friday, Jan. 15th I went to a banquet hall on Wall Street to photograph a benefit for FAR, the Fund for Armenian Relief, a humanitarian organization formed to aid the victims of the earthquake that hit Spitak, Armenia 25 years ago. I arrived early and followed voices I heard in the distance near the Stock Exchange. There was a rally, tying many issues together. A mishmash protest of sorts by the Bail out People Movement . The crowded chanted that Wall Street should bail out Haiti, return the riches it has stolen. Councilman Charles Barron on Brooklyn, stated the $100 million Obama pledged to Haiti amounted to $50 per person and demanded more help be given to Haiti.

At the banquet a few of the speakers mentioned Haiti, but their focus was Armenia. The evening was a reminder of how long it takes an impoverished nation to recover. I write this waiting for a flight back to New Orleans, a city still hardly better and stronger than ever, as Bush had envisioned it. It is unfortunate there is no end in sight to war. Cleaning up the wrath of nature seems task enough for the world. The earth's moving plates know no boundaries, and when they shift, we are all equally in peril.

To Flo’s family and friends, I reiterate my deepest condolences. To everyone else, I want to share Flo’s life and work.

The McGarrells wearing Flo's fiber art creations

To see more of Flo’s work go to www.gowithflo.net

The Rutland Herald wrote the following
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20100115/THISJUSTIN/1150333

To read more of Flo’s own words read a recent interview in Art : 21 Blog
http://blog.art21.org/2009/08/28/inside-the-artists-studio-flo-mcgarrell/

To see James McGarrels site created by Flo click here http://www.redwingstanza.com/index.html

Protest on in NYC for more aid to Haiti

Protest in NYC for more aid to Haiti/ Councilman calling for more aid to Haiti