Luly is a beautiful seaside village and feels and looks like another place in time. Beautiful shells are piled high on a beach littered with plastic and other flotsam and jetsam. No one collects the shells; they are an everyday occurrence and nothing remarkable for the villagers.
The sea in Luly is rich with food. Nets and traps, with plastic bottles attached to keep them afloat, drifted a short distance offshore, collecting bounty for the village. We found a thriving community there--a community thriving in spiritual if not monetary graces.
We also found anger there, but it was not directed at us. Leaders were furious with the Haitian Public Health Ministry (MSPP) and even more livid when they heard the rumor about the floating drum of methanol, which they vehemently denied. They had just buried one of their own on the beach the day before--another victim of the poisoning. Three had died and to be accused of trafficking in methanol was an insult too great to bear.
"We have a mute state in Haiti," Jacob L. said. Did he want me to use his full name? "Yes!" I am leaving out his last name, even though he wanted his full name used. Political retribution is still common in Haiti and this man, however bold, deserves some protection.
"I hate the state, you can quote me. We are supposed to be living in a democracy, but this country has no vision. The government, the MSPP, the Haitian Red Cross, no one is doing anything about this. It (the methanol) will be sold again. We are living like animals. We have no electricity and no water."
Did he know the source of the methanol?
"Two people died in the Williamson (two miles south) market, but villagers here usually buy from the market in Cabaret."
So now, we had three possible sources, Williamson, Cabaret and Montrouis. It was becoming obvious that our investigation would take more time and resources than we had at our disposal. People liked to talk, but our failure in Montrouis to "prove" a source for the methanol did not bode well for success in Williamson and Cabaret. We were certain, though, that the fishermen of Luly had not found a barrel of methanol floating on the ocean before using it to poison their own neighbors and family.
It was evident that this was a job for the Haitian authorities. If the locals could not track it down, we had slim chances to do so.
Out next stop would be in Port-au-Prince for a conversation with Dr. Gabriel Thimothe, the Director General of MSPP. Everyone we met along the way had mentioned the Haitian health authorities, so it was time to ask them what their investigation was producing, and how they planned to ensure the safety of a common marketplace product.
It is fair to remember that the MSPP offices were decimated, along with most government buildings in the earthquake. Many government workers perished. Thimothe's office is housed in what is either a trailer or large cargo container. Long and narrow, with his office off to the left as you enter the door--it was difficult for one person to wedge between the wall and his secretary's desk, let alone allow passage for another to the row of desks beyond.
Thimothe is an imposing man, possessing an affect of arrogance, but he was open to a conversation.
MSPP had found "bottles" of methanol in the Williamson market, he said. MSPP conducted two surveys, one in Fond Baptiste, drawing blood samples that confirmed the presence of methanol.
We wondered if this was the "IV" that our victim in Fond Baptiste spoke of, but he was day's drive away and there was no way to contact him for follow-up.
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