Arriving in Haiti and the airport immediately attacks your senses. The heat is the first thing to overwhelm you. There are no fancy gates at the Port au Prince Airport. You get off the plane onto the tarmac and you walk a fair distance to the terminal. The heat is stifling. Inside the terminal you stand in a long line going through customs as there is only one customs agent. It is hot, especially for a cold-weather fan such as I am.
Once you get your luggage you exit the terminal to chaos. There are literally hundreds of people trying to grab your bags in the hope of receiving a dollar or two for helping you. You have to hold onto your bags and make your way to your ride, all the time saying "no" many times over. The desperation on the faces of the people, all seemingly shouting at you, is quite a welcome to the country.
Many of you have driven in New York and felt it was crazy, but it really is tame compared to other countries in the world. The infrastructure in Port au Prince is severely lacking. The roads are full of pot holes and jammed with vehicles of all sorts. Your SUV shares the roads with Tap Taps (taxis), trucks, hand-drawn carts, pedestrians and animals. I hardly breathe as the driver speeds through the streets. I am always thankful to get to where I am going in one piece. And yes, everyone blows their horns as if that will magically make traffic better.
The streets are lined with shacks and buildings crowded full of vendors who seem to sell the same things. Trash is piled everywhere and there is little room to walk. I stopped at several markets on the way to where I am staying to buy fruits and vegetables. Each market is made up of women and children sitting on the ground under makeshift tarps. As the sun beats down on them they try desperately to sell what they have to anyone who looks their way. Flies are everywhere, more than you can even imagine.
In the orphanage where I am staying, I live behind twelve foot high, barbed wire walls. Port au Prince is not a very friendly place and can be dangerous to Americans. Haitians speak Creole and it is important to travel with someone who knows the language. Desperation breeds crime and Port au Prince is full of it. Americans are looked at as having money and therefore are an easy target for violence. Rodney, my Haitian friend, once told me the number one cause of death for Haitian males under the age of forty is by machete. That is a bad statistic.
Down the road from where I am staying is a Voodoo Church. Monday, the day I arrived was a voodoo holiday called the "Day of the Dead." All day and into the next morning, loud music and shouting could be heard. I am not sure what exactly goes on there but I know I want no part of it. Voodoo is widely practiced here and a very real thing to reckon with.
I hope that gives you a glimpse of the real Haiti. For a country that is a few hundred miles from ours, the difference is unbelievable. You could not be much further from home in this country. When I return I will be thankful for what I have and where I live but I will still continue to seek what is better for my neighborhood. Someone has to lend a voice to what is right.
Tim Pickel
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4 comments:
Hey Tim--do you have a picture for this one? I'd love to see the orphanage where you're working...
I have had the privilege of traveling outside the United States every year since 1999. I have seen poverty in South Africa, Egypt, and the Dominican Republic, just to name a few countries. It is very sad to see how some people in other countries are living, and it is very sad to see how some people in the United States are living. Every time I returned to the United States and especially home to my parents, I became more appreciative of my surroundings. Every person who has the opportunity to travel outside of their surroundings is very fortunate, and those that are able should take the opportunity to step out of you comfort zone and experience a lifestyle that is not your own. Coming from the suburbs to a city like Easton was a change for me, but I am glad that I made it. I have learned so much here, and what was at first a new experience became a new comfort zone for me. Thank you Tim for keeping us informed of your journey.
Tim,
Thank you for your vivid description.
How ironic it is that Haiti’s bordering neighbor is the Dominican Republic, a favorite resort getaway for tourists from around the world. The contrast is stark, the ‘plebs sordida’ over shadowed by the wealth of the Aventine.
I’ll continue to pray for you while in country and as I have always done for the love of Christ to consume the deep-rooted evil that grips the island.
Terrence
I've read that you don't need a map to tell the political border between Haiti and the D.R. All you have to do is fly over in an airplane and look down. The border is physically stark and dilineated by the total absense of trees on the Haitian side of the line. This has occured for many reasons-all of them bad. One historically tell-tale sign of imminent societal failure is deforestation.
For anyone interested in a non-judgemental, multi-disciplinary review of the varying fortunes of different civilizations I would recommend two books by Jared Diamond: "Guns, Germs and Steel", which examines why early civilizations either succeeded or failed, based mainly on the luck of the draw regarding geography, weather and the access to cultivatible food crops and domesticated animals.
The other is "Collapse", which deals with how and why many highly successful past civilizations disappeared off the face of the earth in relatively short periods of time - some during the peak of their power. Haiti and the D.R. are examined in detail as current case studies...the evidence for current collapse potential (especially in Haiti) being very real.
Tim, you are getting to experience this story play out up close and personal.
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