The West Indies are back!!!  As a recent bandwagon jumper filled with new-found passion for the sport and team I am hooked and passionate about their mission.  Unlike a lot of those old-timer, loyal fans who have been burned far too many times in the past few years... I am youthful and optimistic about their chances.

 

India was number 2 in the world.  West Indies are number 8... but haven't won any matches in ages.  They just whooped India in the one-day format, and are in the midst of opening some more cans of whoop-ass on India in the test format.

 

For all you North Americans... cricket is about 1000x more interesting than baseball.  I know it seems slow and boring... but once you understand the game it is impossible to turn away.  You never know when wickets will fall.

After re-reading my entry I decided that I somewhat misrepresented Haiti and wanted to make some clarifications.  Haiti gets enough negative publicity and misrepresentation... example the hot spot showing people eating mud pies.

 

While Haiti definitely lacks development - it is still very rich in spirit and culture.  Haitian art is some of the best in the world with striking and violent contrasts of colour.  On top of painting they have incredible metal sculptures that are manually hammered and manipulated by their masters.  The music and love of singing is also amazing in the country.

 

On top of that Haiti has THE BEST food and restaurants in the Caribbean.  Some sensationalism-loving journalists (hot zone) - indicate that Haitians eat nothing but dirt.  This is bull crap - I am sure the the lowest and poorest 1% may eat dirt from time to time... just like the poorest 1% in the USA eat garbage.    Why not show American's eating garbage instead and stop continually sensationalizing the poverty and crime of the country... let the country develop for christ's sakes.  During that same time period that Mr. Hot Zone was in Haiti kidnappings dropped by 23% and the country was dropped to 'medium' security risk globally.  Where was that coverage?  Why show the small, very violent, very poor neighbourhood where most of the gang warfare occurs?

 

Lastly, go see Haitians play football one day.  Haiti is the next Brazil - all they need is a little development and Haiti will honestly explode into the football scene.

 

I encourage you all to go visit Haiti yourself - it is an amazing cultural experience.

About 4 days after Haiti I went to Orlando and stayed at  hotel beside Disney World.  Orlando disturbed me far more than Haiti ever could.  Awkward, acne-covered, brace-faced teenagers were everywhere - even working at bars.  The place is just creepy - avoid it.

Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere.  Haiti is so underdeveloped they don't have any of the big fast food chains there.  Imagine a country without a Macdonalds, Burger King, KFC or Wendys!  Some of you would exclaim that this is fantastic but these corporations provide investment, sponsorship for local culture and jobs.

 

Haiti has a population of 10M and is probably the second biggest island pop'n wise next to Cuba.  It is slightly larger than Dom Rep  - the other country that shares the island of Hispanolia with it.  In terms of selecting land on the island Haiti lost big time versus Dom Rep.  There are mountains that divide Haiti and Dom Rep.  The rivers of that mountain all flow into the Dom Rep side.  The rain all comes from the atlantic ocean and blows westwards.  The mountains however stop the rain from crossing into Haiti.  The mountains protect Dom Rep from hurricanes that blow in the channel between Jamaica and the island housing Haiti/Dom Rep.  They do the exact opposite to Haiti - the rain dump from the hurricane flows down the mountain and adds additional flooding.  In general the Haitian side has no forest, limited fresh water and very dry land.  The Dom Rep side has one of the most fertile regions in the world.

 

For my job I had the honour of driving around the entire country 6 times in 3 days.  In my drive I saw some of the most extreme poverty I have ever seen.  At one point I had to stop at one of our towers in a very rural area to talk to some engineers who were onsite.  I got swarmed by half-clothed little kids asking all kinds of questions about phones - most of these kids were straight from one of those "help the children" tv ads.  Dirty faces, torn/ripped clothes, etc.  We bought some water and sodas from one of the kids who had been selling to the miners up the road and handed a few out.

 

Shortly thereafter we drove by a small gov't run housing project beside a mine.  The men had just finished working at the mine and were all bathing naked in the mine water - with their horses.  The water was the colour of cement.  The women were on the side washing clothes.  Kids ran around - young kids had no clothes, older kids had t-shirts.  Everything and everybody was covered in limestone dust.  Still the people had a generally cheery air - perhaps because they do have jobs.

*** A big caveat on this article - some people have quoted this in other blogs.  Any information listed below is not necessarily fact but is based on my perceptions at the point in time - including dollar values***

 

Last month I went to Haiti... twice.  The country is in a state of calm right now - it has been declassified to a "medium risk" country by most security experts.  I mean Jamaica does have a higher murder rate - but then again Jamaica has a higher murder rate than every country in the world.

 

Yes I know that it is generally wrong to talk about your work in the context of a blog - but I can't help it, this was a huge event globally that I don't think got enough fair press.  The company I work for invested $130M into Haiti - this is the largest foreign investment ever into the country.  People lined up for phones starting at 4am the night before our launch.  Line-ups were hours long at EVERY store in the country.  It is the first time affordable mobile phones have been available in Haiti.  The current provider charges:

i.  $50 USD to activate

ii.  cheapest phone = $60

iii.  You pay to make and receive calls

iv. Rates are per-minute

 

Our charges:

i.  $0 to activate

ii.  Three phones available for under $20

iii.  You only pay to make calls

iv. Rates are per-second

 

People cannot afford mobile telephony at the current rates - they can afford it now.  The number of mobile subscribers in the country could go from 3-4% to 60-80% (this is all speculation on my part).  Honestly - it is a bit of a revolution - there are no landline phone networks either so this is the first time many people in Haiti will ever have a phone! 

 

I know many people will argue that we are not in fact revolutionizing the country and that this is consumerism in its worst way.  I disagree for a number of reasons -

1.  the phones we market and push are the phones under $20 USD.

2.  We don't accept credit and we don't reduce the price of phones and force them to take long contracts (in the mass market) like you see in North America.  If a person wants to get an expensive phone they have to save up for it and in that case I think it is a legitimate spend.

3.  Phones are always a balance of style versus function.  In developing countries the large portion of the selection is based on price and function with style lagging behind that.

4. I have heard of a direct correlation between telecom growth and GDP growth in developing countries (not in the developed world).  I can't find anything strong that correlates it... but telecom is an enabler.  If teleco and technology improves communications improve which facilitates economic growth over all.  Yes I realize this is very glossy, high-level and weak.

 

In the end I hope this is a turning point in the Haitian economy and that this investment hopefully shows a successful business model which will be a catalyst for future development and investment.

The Jamaica Basketball Business House League (better known as the JBBHL or jibble) started last weekend.  After 6 months of 7am Saturday practices we were underway.  For all of you who are back home please think of corporate leagues you would play in - and then compare to what I am saying.

 

The league started with a parade of teams where we came out and walked around the court and then we all lined up.  Each person had to be exactly one arm length away from the person in front and the person beside.  Then came the dress parade component.  They sent judges around to inspect each and every player - including nails, facial hair and general attractiveness.  After the judges inspected a guest speak was introduced... the introduction took almost 25 minutes.  The guest speaker spoke for about 5 minutes.  Then they announced the top three best dressed teams.  Unfortunatley most teams including my team were disqualified as knee-high socks are apparently the standard dress for basketball (ridiculous).

 

The actual first day is a tournament where you play 4 other teams.  We ended up 2 and 2 for the day.  Each game was about 10 minutes.  I played for almost 5 minutes in one game - 5 out of 40 minutes.  My only achievement was setting a massive pick on a guy - some would say I was moving and the pick was illegal given I was running full speed elbows up at the guy... but the refs saw my side of the arguement and called nothing.

 

Of course I am the only white guy in the league.  This is intimidating  - I honestly feel like I have the pressure of my whole race riding on my back - and unfortunately it is not a race known for basketball prowess beyond clumsy, big white guys and smallish shooters. I can't say the stares of the opposing players were friendly - and now I know what it was like for Jackie Robinson.

Easter weekend resulted in Erin and I making a last minute decision to fly out to Toronto for a weekend of partying.

 

Its been a while since I've been on a lose-control-of-yourself, beer goes down like water, pants come off like they are on fire kind of night... I guess in Kingston our nights consist of more calmer events with small talk, etc.

 

Most of the night is a blur... at one point I remember ranting miscellaneous, non-sensical things at the piano man... who actually stopped to listen to me... said "what"... forcing me to try and say something intelligible... which ultimately failed... and resulted in him saying... "oh you just want to yell"... which resulted in me yelling more garble.  Then we walked for chinese food where I had an arguement with a guy over superior social structures - feudalism or capitalism.

 

Thanks to all who came out.