VISIT TO PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
August 13 - 16, 2002

I had the opportunity to travel to Haiti with a group of parishioners from Church or the Nativity in Burke, Virginia. One of those parishioners is a long-time friend of mine. The trip was sponsored by Project Starfish of the church and Food For the Poor, a non-profit organization instrumental in helping people in several Caribbean and Latin American countries. Our purpose was to develop a first hand awareness of the needs of the poor and to observe the results of various projects funded through the sponsoring organizations.

Haiti is a third world country, the poorest in the Western Hemisphere and amongst the poorest in the world. An estimated 75% of the population live in abject poverty. More than ½ of the people suffer from malnutrition, including two-thirds of the children. Life expectancy for men is 47; for women, 51.

Our plane landed in the late morning and within an hour we were touring Port-au-Prince, the capital and principle city. With over 1 million inhabitants, the city was literally in shambles: Some streets are paved, but most are full of potholes and asphalt worn down to rocks and dirt. Others are totally unpaved. 80% of the building - business and dwellings - are either unfinished or in massive disrepair. Because of the high crime rate, virtually all building have fences or high walls (often topped with razor wire or broken pieces of glass bottles) and all but the poorest have their windows and doors barred.

It was not unusual to see piles of trash and garbage along the city streets - often with pigs and goats searching for morsels of food. Yes, right in the middle of the city.

About 10% of the population is very rich and there is no middle class. Houses of the wealthy are scattered about the city, but mostly on the high hills and mountains overlooking the city. But even some of these have been abandoned or never finished - partly due to government officials who have fallen out of grace and left or drug lords who have been killed.

Every street, road, and alley was lined with thousands of people at little stands selling anything they could get their hands on to seek out whatever meager living they could. One could find anything they wanted - and much no one would want. Used clothing, cooked and uncooked food, canned goods, candy and gum, cheap electronic goods, used tires, automobile oil - you name it. This is the way commerce is handled since there are very few stores, as we know them. No McDonald's here, although we did see a Domino's - complete with bicycle delivery!

Most of the trees on the hills and mountains surrounding the city have been cut down to provide firewood for cooking. Since there was never an effort to replant for the future, massive erosion dumps earth into the ocean, killing fish - a former supply of food. The people live for today - not for any tomorrow.

The inhabitants are a proud people. You can see it in their smiley faces, the clean, crisp look of their clothes, and the way they carry themselves - more so than what is observed in some of the poorest sections in this country.

Locals say that conditions have worsened here over the past 15 years.

The next morning we headed out - thinking we had seen the slums. Not so! We toured Cite Soleil (ironically translated: City of Sun). This is a 27 square mile section of Port-au-Prince that is "home" to over 300,000 people. Here, all the streets are of dirt. Very little electricity (except where illegal, unsafe wires have been strung from electrical lines running through the area), and no running water (except for open culverts that are also choked with garbage).

Conditions are best described in an article in the weekly "Haiti Progres". "It is like entering the gates of Hell. Rusted tin and cardboard hovels squat in fetid fields of garbage mixed with human and animal excrement. Hunger-swollen children scamper feverishly down charcoal-dusted alleyways while solemn adults lean listlessly in doorways. Dust, stench and heat hammer the senses. Winding through the shacks and garbage fields is a small canal 8 feet wide, 2 feet deep, and pitch black."

Below, I will describe some of the organizations we visited. Most impressive were the dedication of the people working in these facilities and the enthusiasm of those being served. Everywhere - with no exception - we saw smiles, excitement, and a strong sense of appreciation and warmth; much unlike the sense of entitlement and skepticism exhibited by many in similar situations in the U.S. Children and adults alike love to shake hands, be held, and given a pat on the back.

• We visited several orphanages, including Rainbow House for kids between 4 and 18 who have AIDS. The facility was clean and neat and the kids just wanted to play with us. A woman from our group distributed articles of clothing that had been hand made by members of the sponsoring Virginia church. Another woman gave each kid a little bracelet of beads. Tears came to the eyes of many of our group when the kids asked if they could go outside the gate and give the bracelets to kids in the neighborhood who were not as well of as these children.
• The Baptist Haiti Mission. A complex that includes a school, a hospital, a small restaurant, nutrition information, and programs that teach proper agricultural techniques in an effort to help the participants move toward greater self-sufficiency.
• Nativity Village - a site outside the city where Nativity Church has already built 38 homes for poor people currently living in thatched or tin roofed mud huts. 50 more of these small, simple, pastel painted, cement structures are soon to be added. The enthusiasm of those who have already moved was incredible - as was the expression of hope of those "next in line."
• Arcachon,a hospital run by Food For the Poor, equipped mostly from American hospitals' hand-me-downs. The operating room was of a 1940s vintage.
• A Food For the Poor complex of offices, a warehouse, and large kitchen that prepares food for 2500 families (not individuals) 5 days a week. We assisted in dishing out the rice and stew to the appreciative recipients who line up with what ever buckets or bowls they can find to carry the food back "home."
• A leper hospital, which has lost much of its funding because the United Nations has declared leprosy cured and no longer provides money to fight the disease. The appreciative patients and our group gathered around a make-shift alter while the 2 priests and deacon with us presented mass.