Haiti is a beautiful country with a sad history. In 1804, Haiti became the only country in the western hemisphere to have a successful slave revolution. However, internal problems and poor relations with the European powers, especially France from whom they revolted, led to much of the Haiti we know today. Because of these problems, Haiti's economy lagged behind other Caribbean nations. Like many of these other countries, much of Haiti's economy depended on tourism. However the Duvalier Dictatorships (1957-1986) and the AIDS epidemic of the 1980's have all but ended foreign tourism. Today Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere, known for international reports of disease and starvation. However, in recent times things have been improving. A United Nations intervention has stabilized the country enough that progress can now be made.
I traveled to Haiti in May 2007 to visit a friend of mine, a priest named Father Antoine, to meet a new priest taking his place, Father George, and to oversee progress on a project which I have become involved with, a small Catholic elementary school about one hour north of Port-au-Prince. In total I spent one week traveling in Port-au-Prince, Mont Rouis, St. Marc, and into the mountains.
UN Light-armored vehicle patrols Port-au-Prince
A view of Port-au-Prince from Hospice St. Jospeh. I spent my first night here.
The dining room of Hospice St. Joseph
An average street in Port-au-Prince
The main highway of Haiti. A potholed, and washed out two lanes running along the coast.
A small UN barracks
Some local mountain children and I. This picture was taken at an extremely high mountain parish after a harrowing 2 hour climb in our 4-wheel pickup.
A school and church in the mountains. The school has 550 students from the 38 local mountain communities.
The terrain of Haiti is extremely mountainous and the soil is rocky. Both of these factors limit the amount of usable land which can be farmed. The stone ruins in the center of the picture are of a colonial building built during the French rule.
A view toward the sea as we descend the mountain.
From the same place as the last picture, a view of our road (far left).
The cathedral in St. Marc
Many parishes cannot afford to build a permanent structure, much less purchase land. This is a typical church in rural Haiti, a structure of woven palm leaves. Pictured in the center are Father George Cadet the priest of Mont Rious (white shirt) and a man who helps with masses, the choir, reaching these distant rural churches, and is also a teacher in the elementary school (black shirt).
A view inside the church. Here you can see the floor, pews, and in the upper left, part of the altar.
Later that day we traveled to another mountain community. This is a typical house in that village.
The road as we descend from that village.
A Colonial building in Mont Rious
A remnant of Haiti's tourism industry. This was a Club Med. Now it is called Club Indigo and is under renovation.
The next 3 pictures are of the youngest children in the elementary school.
Older children at the school's main location. This was the classroom for the younger children until a storm blew half of the roof off (Top of picture).
All of the children at the school's main location (not including the youngest children).
In class
Marketplace in Mont Rious
This is Joelle. He is a well educated Haitian-American, fluent in English, French, Creole, and Spanish. A few years ago he left a very successful career running the modern languages department at Boston College to return to Haiti and help rebuild his home country.
A 'Tap-Tap' passing us on the street. A Tap-Tap is pickup with 10-20 people in the bed and on top. Tap-Taps typically cost about 15 cents to ride and are always colorfully painted with religious sayings.
Boarding our plane to leave Haiti. This plane would have mechanical problems. Most of us were put on a later flight to Maimi but since I had to leave for China a few hours after arriving back at Pittburgh this would not work for me. I actually left Haiti by catching a last minute flight to New York with seconds to spare, then driving to Laguardia and similiarly just catching my flight to Pittsburgh.
In Laguardia airport, New York City and homeward bound.
