Final Thoughts on Haiti

On Monday, Abra and I arrived in the Dominican Republic, thereby ending our 3 months in Haiti. It was quite the eye-opening experience, as we both saw poverty that we will not soon forget. It’s amazing how one country can be the victim of so many catastrophes: from dire poverty, to political corruption, and from a deadly earthquake that claimed over a quarter of a million lives, to an epidemic that took almost four thousand in the 3 months we were there.

Yet somehow these people maintain their faith, and even turn to it for answers. Many blame the countries heartaches on the few that practice voodoo, which lead to yet another calamity, as ordinary Haitians began hunting down and murdering voodoo priests.

Much of the world looks on with horror, but does nothing. They pledge money, but can’t deliver it for fear of the greedy hands of a desperate Haitian president. And so aid is left to a few benevolent organizations, mostly Christian, to dispense what little relief they can.

It seemed like there were 3 types of cars in Haiti: rickety-old mini-pickups converted into overflowing tap-taps, private cars (mostly in the form of Hyundai Tucson’s), and the NGO car: usually a white SUV, with a sticker on the side of the organization of the day. For the last 2 weeks of our trip we decided to document just how many of these cars there are, and while we were only quick enough to get our camera out half the time we saw one, we still managed quite a collection:

Click on the photo to see it bigger.

And so this cycle continues. Foreign governments refuse to hand over pledged aid until a new government is in place. But the current president makes sure no new administration takes over (for fear of personal reprisal), by trying to rig the elections, or putting them off altogether for fears of contagion and/or violence. The people grow disenfranchised with democracy, and lose hope. And so instead they turn to the international NGO’s for handouts.

But their “where’s mine?” isn’t limited to NGO’s. Any white in the street will soon feel like a celebrity, with all the attention and ‘blanc!’ being shouted. And while they’re usually there in association with an NGO in the first place, they appear as dollar signs to the desperate Haitian.

The country is in a desperate state, yet it’s in a far better situation than at any point in the past. Corruption may be rampant, but at least it seems contained by the oversight of international watchdogs. And while the opposition leader may not be the answer to the countries economic struggles, at least a new government will open the floodgates for billions of dollars in aid. Aid that will transform the country from one of dependency to one of decency. It will take time, but NGO’s cannot keep giving Haiti fish, Haitians must learn to fish.

We are thankful for our time in Haiti, because not only was it an eye-opener, but it was a very personally fulfilling experience. To help some of the world’s most neediest people is an awesome thing to be a part of. It will always help us keep our own personal struggles in perspective.

But it wasn’t all work and no play. Throughout the last couple months we made a few videos with the kids, that we were unable to upload because of useless internet, so we thought we’d share them here:

 

 

 

 

After we had left the orphanage, we spent a week in Port-au-Prince, as well as a couple of days in the beautiful coastal town of Jacmel. While in Port we stayed at a crummy ‘Guest House’ with cockroaches, which we also made a video of:

 

We arrived in Barahona on Monday, spent Tuesday exploring the city and swimming in the Caribbean. While searching through the market, I made the impulse decision to shave my head. I think it looks pretty awesome, despite my face tan against the whiteness of my bald head making it look like I’m wearing foundation. Then on Wednesday we made our way to Jarabacoa, via Santo Domingo.

From the balcony of our hotel in Barahona, Dominican Republic.

There's a guy up there chucking coconuts down to the beach.

and they gave us one!

Very European with his bald head and Unicef jersey!

The beach was lined with old boats you could sit in and enjoy the water from.

Hans went for a swim in his boxers and white shirt.

Abra and I also made some changes to our trip itinerary. We’ll be in the DR until January 24^th, when we fly out from Santo Domingo to go to Curacao. We’re only staying there for 4 days, and on the 28^th we have a flight to Valencia, Venezuela. We figure to have 2 weeks in Venezuela (Jan 28 – Feb 11), 2 weeks in Colombia (Feb 12 – 26), 2 weeks in Ecuador (Feb 27 – Mar 13), and 2 weeks in Peru (Mar 14 – 28). Unless we decide to add an excursion to the Galapagos Islands, we would be flying home from Lima, Peru around the end of March!

We decided to save Chile and Argentina for another trip. They are big countries that don’t deserve to be rushed through on a small budget.

See you all in 2.5 months!!

Posted by Hans