Countdown to Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince can be 'unreliable' at times. Overcrowded and finicky, sometimes it breaks down. Every now and then, there's a coup d'etat or revolution. PAP has seen an influx of people coming from the countryside, looking for work, but finding themselves worse off than before, lost in one of PAP's many slums. If you're open-minded, patient, and look a little deeper - through the poverty and desparity, you'll be rewarded by a wonderful people, incredibly friendly and hospitable despite the conditions they live in. Haitians have a wonderful culture, vibrant and full of life. They are resourceful and intelligent, and if given a chance, without international 'help', just might be able to pull their country out of despondency and poverty. The overcrowded tap-tap (Haiti's public transportation) in the photo, with some tinkering and patience, coughs back to life. PAP hiccups and coughs and goes through periods of sickness. And like the tap-tap, PAP comes back to life - in a Haitian sort of way.
I leave Tuesday, September 26th from JFK. I haven't been to Haiti in a few months. I'm ready to go back. I'll be in Port-au-Prince for about a month (or until I run out of money) working on what I left off in June - The Restaveks-Haitian street kids and the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti. I'll be developing more projects and updating the blog a few times a week, giving you an on the ground perspective on the current situation in Port-au-Prince. See you in Port.