The Haiti I Visted

Haiti/Ayiti has been on my mind, as I know it has been for a lot of people the last several days.  As I struggle to get my head around what has happened - the earthquake that riveted the island and the people so severely impacted, memories of my trip there several years ago also dominate my mind. 


In May, 2001 I spent 3 weeks in Ayiti and Miami's "little Haiti" as part of a intensive college course named Culture and Development in Haiti.  While there we visited Port-au-Prince, Cape Haitian, and a small village called Latonelle (there was no road to Latonelle and the only way to access it was to hike it).  I went to learn more about how people live in poor parts of the world, to try and understand how our politics in the U.S. shaped those realities, and what is being done, and could be done to improve life for Haitians.  I also visited because the teaching assistant for the French class I took was Haitian, and I was struck by his patience and the ease I felt speaking French with him, and I was intrigued about his home.


Trying to gather my thoughts and memories into a coherent blog post is difficult.  Really, I only had a glimpse Haiti.  My memories include: soccer in Latonelle; drinking wonderful coffee made of coffee beans roasted with sugar; attending a club and dancing to Boukman Eksperyans; hiking up and swimming in a beautiful waterfall (and seeing some still forested and lush parts of the country); riding in tap taps; meeting funny, bright children in the guest house we stayed at in Port-au-Prince; drinking "liquid fire" moonshine that some of the Haitian men shared with us as we hiked up to see the citadel; seeing gravemarkers in the front yards of homes; that the residents of Latounelle hiked a stereo system into the village to throw a party.


As the proverb goes, Dye mon gen mon, there are mountains beyond mountains.  Very much descriptive of the Haitian landscape and often used to describe Haiti's troubles (facing one challenge after another), right now I use it to convey the depths of a culture that exist beyond what I saw and experienced, and beyond what we are seeing as images and stories reach us through the media.

It is true that Haiti so desperately needs our help right now and I am also hoping that Haiti doesn't fall too quickly off of our/my radar as the news cycle switches to the latest big story, and that people think of Haiti as much more than a place that needs help.

Mountains Beyond Mountain in Ayiti, photo credit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/plant-trees/ / CC BY 2.0

Daily Kos has a very comprehensive list of ways to give to relief efforts for Haiti.