Haiti in August

When I decided to venture to Haiti this summer, I made the decision based on my desire to see firsthand what was going on in our sister island. It was six months after the earthquake and the news stories had ceased on CNN, CBS and NBC. Here in the Virgin Islands, as in all of the world, we saw the images of destruction and devastation as displayed on CNN and other stations. But I kept feeling that the national media was leaving things out. I have always been an individual that liked …the rest of the story. And that is exactly what I got when I arrived in Haiti. I flew out of St. Thomas with a connection in San Juan. The flight combination lasted about two and a half hours flying over the Dominican Republic into Port au Prince. The landscape was beautiful, the beaches and the mountains. I began to think of the natural disasters that had hit this dual nation island over the past 5 years and all the stories we had heard in the past, the hurricanes, the landslides and now the earthquake. But flying over the countryside, none of this was apparent, until the last five minutes of the flight, as we approached Port au Prince. I saw what was to me a familiar site, blue tarps; (tarpaulin- the heavy plastic sheeting that is used to cover roofs and structures after destruction). That was the roofing system on many homes in the Virgin Islands after Hurricanes Hugo and Marilyn. I could almost relate to what I was about to experience, or so I thought.
As much as I travel internationally, one would expect that I would have all the rules of entry embedded in my mind as not to make any mistakes in a foreign country. But as human as I am, when making arrangements for my arrival, I forgot an important element…my local address. The official at immigration told me that I must have one to enter the country. Of course my IPhone decided that this was not a good time to work. I would have to leave my passport as security and go outside to find someone who could get the address for me. (Can anyone say panic?) I did and got outside, asked someone to use their phone, got the information, went back in and completed the process. I was now legally entered into Haiti.
I was met by a young driver who speaks as much English as I speak Kreyol. But we got along with my limited English infused French. He was among the many people that I would come in contact with that would be amused by my combination of the languages of my childhood (French, Spanish, and English all spoken in one sentence) You may also laugh. For the next nine days I would meet some of the most wonderful people I have ever encountered in my many (I won’t tell) years of life. People who have seen so many changes to their beloved homeland and many who don’t have any idea what is to come. As I spent time with these people I would wonder what or who I would have become if I had been born on this side of the Caribbean.
I spoke to people who remember vividly what Haiti was like prior to the destruction that has taken place, and I am not referring to the earthquake of 2010. Much of the problems that I saw were pre-earthquake. . I am speaking about the political destruction that has caused devastation to the land that has lasted for over twenty years, how open spaces are now confined to concrete walls and gates around the communities and homes. Young parents spoke about being able to ride their bikes down the street to a neighbor’s house or run to the store, an experience that their children will never have. The corruption of the political system has done more to destroy this country than the quake did. The lack of a substantial government and the infrastructure to support the country caused many things to fall apart as the quake took its toll.
The political activist in me surfaced during many of these conversations, except for the lack of an accent, most onlookers or eavesdroppers could not tell I was an outsider. I listened, I shared and I discussed with them my opinion of the situation and what I believe could and should be the start of the solution. We have all agreed that there is much to be done in Haiti and that the next political leader will have a very difficult task ahead. There will be no easy way out of this for these people but there must be a start. It will be rough and for some of the people I have met, it will be dangerous but with the help of the Almighty I know these people will make it. They have proven time and time again that they are a resilient people and that cannot change. This nation has withstood European domination, American intervention and natural disasters and the people are still strong. The power of this nation is in the people and I see them rebuilding. It wont happen immediately and many Haitians don't believe it will happen in their lifetime but it will happen.