When Olivia Wilde comes into the studio, and sits down, her light-green
cat's eyes settle on you with a steady gaze and a mix of curiosity,
intelligence, and sensuality. When she speaks about the people of Haiti,
her face flushes with tenderness. Her voice is low, measured, and always
just a moment away from a throaty laugh. She goes to Haiti often,
despite its current cholera epidemic, and is planning another trip
shortly after our talk.
Olivia's career is in a thrilling "Wilde brush fire" phase. After roles
on The O.C. and The Black Donellys, she was chosen to play the character
nicknamed "13" on HOUSE, opposite Hugh Laurie, starred in Cowboys &
Aliens with Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford, TRON: Legacy with Jeff
Bridges and Michael Sheen, and currently has six films in
post-production. Wilde truly loves Haiti, believes in the cause she
speaks for and lends her whole self, not just, as many celebrities do,
her name. Her beauty is complete, both inner and outer.
Olivia has teamed up with friends and fellow visionaries David Darg and
Bryn Mooser to produce their film, Baseball in the Time of Cholera. What
started out as a film about Haiti's first little league team, a small
and personal story, soon took on international importance as a cholera
epidemic quickly infected over 500,000 Haitian people.
And the story became even larger. At first it was uncertain what was
causing the deadly and quickly spreading illness -- Haiti had never
before suffered from cholera -- but it soon came to light that the
Nepalese troops with the UN peacekeeping force had allegedly been
dumping their sewage into the largest river in Haiti.
The irony is starkly painful: the UN has a budget of $800 million to
help keep peace in a country that hasn't seen a war in over 50 years,
but it is widely believed that as a direct result of the UN's actions,
thousands of innocent civilians are now dying from a cholera outbreak.
The film begins on an intimate level, showing us Haiti's first little
league team. We see the excitement of the boys, the happiness on their
beautiful faces, and a genuine love of the game, just like little boys
all over the world. But before long, the innocence of a child's love of
sports is interrupted by the only outbreak of cholera Haiti has ever
seen. And very quickly, it is rampant and dire. The victims are living
by a huge river, but none of it is safe to ingest, and these people are
literally dying of thirst. It is tragically reminiscent of The Rime of
the Ancient Mariner: "Water, water, everywhere, but not a drop to
drink."
When the film begins, we meet our 14 year-old baseball team pitcher
Joseph, who says proudly, "I love my life," a statement he's so
passionate about that he has actually written it on his wall. Surprising
news, given that he's taking us on a tour of the tent he lives in with
11 other people, with a single cement latrine, ever since the earthquake.
Joseph is happily displaying for us why his life is beautiful, and the
reason is that he still has the people he loves most around him: his
parents, and sisters, Cindy and Lovely.
Eventually there comes a moment in the film where we see that Joseph's
face has changed entirely. His mother has died violently, and in a
matter of days, of cholera. And, immediately, we know two things: the
first is that even though he's only 14, he's no longer a boy; his
childhood has ended abruptly and forever. And the second thing we know
is that he may never write down the phrase "I love my life" again. Or at
least not for very long time. It's absolutely devastating.
As Joseph, who is technically still a child, (his favorite object is a
little baseball statuette from Toronto) talks about how much he knows
his mother loved him, and how hard she worked making jewelry to keep
their family afloat, his grief overtakes him. And even though he's
trying so bravely to hold them back, he gives in to hardened sobs, right
there in front of the camera. It's impossible to watch, and not sit
there and cry with him.
There is an enormous lawsuit led by human rights lawyer Mario Joseph
against the UN for their alleged responsibility in the cholera outbreak
for hundreds of thousands of Haitian victims. But how do you make
reparations to the dead?
Bryn and David, how long have you two been living in Haiti?
Bryn: David came before me, I think two days after the earthquake.
And I came about a month after the earthquake, and we've been there
full-time ever since. Long enough to get frequent visits from Olivia.
When was the moment that you realized you had stumbled upon a truth
that you needed to share with the world? That this was no longer just
about baseball?
Olivia: I produced their film last year, and when they formed the
little league baseball team, I said, "I want to be a part of whatever
you guys do with this." A film came out of it, and I thought it was such
a wonderful evolution to turn that story into the larger scandal of the
UN bringing cholera to Haiti. I don't think many films can transform
such a personal story into something that's so politically relevant. I
think if you told people that you were showing a film about cholera,
Haiti, and the UN, people would think it was going to be either totally
devastating or completely dry. But this film brings you into the story
from a unique place because it is a human story -- the effect that
cholera has on this one particular family. Having met Joseph, his family,
and his mother, you can understand why it's important to face this
disease head-on and to take it seriously. I don't even think that the
international community has been aware of cholera as the crisis that it
is and has been. Even after people see the film they say to me, "I had
no idea that cholera had even happened to Haiti, I thought that all of
their troubles were simply from the earthquake."
Your film says that the UN has a budget of $800 million, and so far
they have been unwilling to take responsibility. As I speak to you now,
how many have been touched by the cholera epidemic in Haiti?
David: 530,000 people have been sickened, and we have lost over
7,030. But it is the rainy season right now, which is the cholera season,
and the cholera has just spiked. This story is more pressing now than
ever. We're really hoping with this film that we can apply pressure on
the United Nations to take responsibility and to help the Haitian
government to eradicate cholera. Which is certainly something that they
have the capacity to do.
How do your families feel about your living in and visiting a country
that is suffering such a terrible health epidemic? Cholera can kill a
person in four hours. Most mothers would probably never get off the
phone again until they had booked some kind of return ticket! (laughter)
Olivia: These two have sacrificed a lot, by moving out there. Not
a lot of people have done that.
Bryn: My mom doesn't like that I'm gone all the time, and that
she knows that she can't say anything about it, because I'd run away! (laughter)
We try to talk as often as we can, and she's always so excited when I
come back home. She lives on the border in Arizona near Mexico in a
little cabin and she's always saying, "Come home and take long naps."
David: My parents are journalists, so they understand and have
encouraged it for a long time. Baseball in the Time of Cholera
has a very important message, which is that cholera was never in Haiti
before 2010, when the peacekeepers brought it. People hear about cholera
in Haiti and they think, "Oh it's just another of Haiti's problems," but
it's not the fault of the Haitian people. Haiti has been dealt so many
blows by other countries; it is such an abused nation. The first step is
to say to the UN, "It is not okay to bring the cholera bug to Haiti,
dump your sewage into the river, kill 7,000 people, and then deny that
you did it, and try to get away with it."
There are two remarkable lawyers in the film, Mario Joseph and David
Concannon, leading the Haitian people's lawsuit against the UN. Do you
think that the UN will ever take responsibility?
Bryn: Brian Concannon from The Justice and Democracy of Haiti is
a hero of all of ours as well. We genuinely hope that the United Nations
will take responsibility for infecting the Haitian people and work with
them to provide the clean water and sanitation that the Haitian people
deserve. It's going to be a long battle. It's unprecedented for them
[the UN] for them to take responsibility in this manner, but we're
really hoping that the pressure will just be too much. We're starting to
see that the pressure is really mounting.
David: It's a David and Goliath story. The UN have impunity and
immunity in Haiti and here you have these poor peasants whose lives have
been torn apart by this disease filing a lawsuit against one of the
biggest organizations in the world, if not the biggest. Who technically
have immunity. So it's a long shot. But it is such an important shot. We
hope that the message of this film will join the voices of the Haitian
people in trying to bring this issue to the forefront. This is one of
the biggest environmental and humanitarian scandals of the last ten
years, and something needs to be done about it.
Bryn: And this is also not just for Haiti, we really look at this
as a fight for the world. This is a global fight. It's not just about
how the UN behaves in Haiti. It's not just about how peacekeepers
behaved in Haiti. It's about peacekeepers in the Congo, in Syria or
wherever they're based. David touched on the environmental issues. Those
are vital to the message that we're trying to get out, which is that in
this day and age you cannot get away with dumping your waste into the
largest water source for a country.
Olivia: It's also about accountability. The UN should have to
stand up and apologize not only to the Haitian victims but also to
understand that they're being held accountable all around the world for
their actions. I think with this film and with the energy surrounding it,
and with all of the voices together, hopefully this will cause a major
shift within the UN. For them to understand that people are noticing,
that they're seeing; this is the most important thing we can do. I think
this film is a very powerful beacon, it really is something that touches
people's hearts, but hopefully it's also a call to action.
Bryn: And there is a petition that we have called Undeny.com.
We're hoping that people will sign it.
Olivia, how did Haiti come into your periphery?
Olivia: My mom is a journalist and she did a piece for CBS news
in 1987. I went with her after that, and fell in love with Haiti. And
then Bryn and I met the same people in LA who gave us an opportunity to
go to Haiti and to be useful. Then I started going every few months.
It's definitely one of my favorite places on earth. There is so much
beauty, in addition to its troubles. Hopefully the film will allow
people to see the beautiful side of Haiti, and the people. And maybe go
there themselves and see why it's a country worth saving, acknowledging,
and caring about instead of allowing it to be swallowed up into the pit
of poverty. It's been like that for too long.
And the amazing thing is that it's all doable. The UN does have this
incredible budget, if they could allocate a huge chunk of that to
eradicating cholera, they could also eradicate several other waterborne
diseases. Through sanitation water projects, they could save thousands
of innocent lives. And then Haiti could start getting back on its feet.
There are so many projects that David and Bryn are involved with that
are all about sustainable health. This is not just a Band-Aid. This is
about allowing this country to thrive in the way it really can and
should. The people there are incredible. I love it there. I'm excited to
go next week, and we'll be going there for the rest of our lives.
Bryn: We do love being in Haiti, so every morning that I'm there
when I wake up, despite the problems, I feel so honored to be able to
live and work in Haiti and to call it my home. And my friends there are
my family. It's an extraordinary place to live, I wouldn't trade it for
all the office cubicles in the world!! (laughter)
I want you each to tell me quickly your favorite thing about Haiti. I
think you're right; most of us are so overwhelmed by its problems that
we've lost sight of its beauty.
To watch all three of your faces is to see that you genuinely love it.
What is it for you?
Olivia: The people.
David: The weather, the music, the culture, the beaches.
ONE thing! (laughter)
Bryn: The arts. And that it makes you feel very alive, when
you're there. It's so easy in western modern life to get into a grind.
Everything comes so easily. But when you have to struggle a bit to
survive, it makes you feel very alive and every day is different.
The lawyer Mario Joseph (called by the New York Times Haiti's most
prominent Human Rights Lawyer) says he'll never stop fighting for the
poor people of Haiti, and tells us about an important phrase from
Haitian history that means "Power to the People." How do you say it in
Creole?
Bryn: "Viktwa pou Pép la"
That's the one.
Official website:
http://www.baseballinthetimeofcholera.com/Baseball/HOME.html
Sign the petition to help fight cholera in Haiti:
http://www.baseballinthetimeofcholera.com/
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