Oral History

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Chelsey L Kivland

Assistant Professor of Anthropology

“As a cultural anthropologist, I strive to understand how and why people find meaning in power and conflict. I am fascinated by the way power is both feared and desired, contested and embraced, and the culturally unique ways in which people fight for as well as against power. My current research focuses on local forms of leadership in a Haitian ghetto, and attempts to uncover the multiple and contradictory ways people compete for control over an area. I write and teach about violence, rituals of power, grassroots organizing, insecure cities, and Haiti”.

 

First Interview-“Rethinking Structural Violence After Fifty Years 11/05/2016

This is an audio recording of her presentation. Dr. Kivland’s talk focused on “structural violence,” the concept coined by peace activist Johan Galtung in the 1960s to describe the kind of violence built into the structure of society that shows up as unequal life chances and outcomes. Using examples from her long-term ethnography in Haiti, she traces how the concept has been applied and critiqued over the years and ultimately offers advice on how it may serve social critic and activism in the contemporary era. I had to link this via dropbox because the file was to big.

Dropbox Link to Audio

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Second Interview-“General Healthcare Q and A About Haiti

10/23/2016

I called Dr. Kivland and asked her a few questions about her perspective on healthcare in Haiti. Since Haiti resembles Nicaragua in many ways, I figured that  if I could learn more  about the health disparities in Haiti, I would then be able to  better analyze the health disparities in Nicaragua.

Dave: In your opinion, do Haiti and Nicaragua have much in common?

Chelsey: Haiti and Nicaragua do have much in common as they have a unique history with America. Haiti is an anomaly though.

 

Dave: Interesting. I know that Haiti is similar to the United States. You mentioned that Haiti is an anomaly though. In what ways?

Chelsey: Well, Haiti doesn’t seem to fit in with the rest of the region with the African diaspora and etcetera. It’s seen as a place that is unique and exceptional and is very much entangled with the rest of the world.

 

Dave: So in regards to the United States relationship with Haiti, would you say that the presence of the United States is still felt heavily in Haiti?

Chelsey: The United States has had a strong colonial presence in Haiti being that it is the country that has had the longest occupation of Haiti.

 

Dave: Sounds good and all but how did you first get interested in Haiti?

Chelsey: I first got interested in Haiti when I developed an interest in dance. One of my teachers taught Haitian ritual dance and from that minute on, I knew that that was something that I wanted to do.

 

Dave: So when was your first trip to Haiti?

Chelsey: My first trip to Haiti was in 2006. I spent two weeks on a humanitarian engagement trip doing preliminary research. My dissertation was on carnival street dance.

 

Dave: What topic did you study?

Chelsey: I studied “BAAZ”. Once I completed my study, I still found myself even more curious about Haiti and would continue to go back.

 

 

Dave: That is interesting. For those who may not know, Baaz is a form of dance within Haiti. With that being said, would you mind if we transitioned over into the healthcare aspect of Haiti?

Chelsey: No, not at all.

 

 

Dave: Are there any health related services in Haiti?

Chelsey: There is limited access to Health services. The average Haitian conceptualizes health quite broadly. From what I gathered, a healthy life for a Haitian is whether or not they are leading a healthy life.

 

Dave: So you are saying that Haitians don’t define good health by the traditional standards?

Chelsey: Well, unless the situation is grave, most Haitians will not seek medical care. As long as they are leading a happy life with enough to make it by, then they are content. Haiti is a small unequal country and as a result, there exists a small very wealthy minority. This inequality contributes greatly to lack of access as the majority of people do not have proper access to those resources.

 

Dave: Interesting. Can you tell me more about the hospitals within the area you stayed in?

Chelsey: I worked in Port-Au-Prince. When people fell gravely ill, they would go to the public general hospital. As you can imagine, these hospitals were greatly underfunded and under resourced. Long lines meant that people would receive poor care. On top of that, many were treated as inferior because they were poor.

 

Dave: So those who were poor were essentially not given respect at times?

Chelsey: Yes. Folks will avoid going to the hospital because of the wait as well as the financial burden. People even prefer to give birth at home as it is a better alternative.

 

Dave: It seems that economics plays a huge role in health services.

Chelsey: Yes, economics plays a large role in health services but that is not the only factor.

 

Dave: What do you mean?

Chelsey: Other things contribute to the health of Haitians. For example, violence is another thing that contributes to the health of the people. People will often go to bed without food for fear of violence. Depending on the neighborhood and time of day, it may get very dangerous to leave one’s house and subsequently, their access to food is shut off.

 

Dave: I understand what you mean. Many aspect affects one’s health. With that being said, how do you think visitors can help when they go to Haiti? Lifting Haiti up is an international effort.

Chelsey: As visitors, we must shift our perspective to approach Haiti form the position of humility. When visitors try to visit Haiti, the common approach is the “White Savior” approach. We need to change this. We must recognize the way that the United States and international policy has contributed to Haiti’s condition. As students, our primary responsibility is to learn. We must try and understand as much as possible about Haiti. We must learn before we try to change. We must ask ourselves, how are the same dynamics reproducing themselves? How are Haitians responding to the situation? All these questions will help us better understand how we can help Haiti and other countries like it.