Blogs from Haiti, Central America Caribbean - page 21

We have traveled to Haiti for about three weeks this past year. We spent two weeks in the pretty town of Jacmel and one-week in Petionville, which is a suberb of the capital, Port au Prince. Haiti is quite an interesting country to visit, and the Haitians are very warm and welcoming people. Unfortunately, the tourist trade there is not very good at this time. Haiti has not had regular tourism in nearly 20 years. Although, in the early 1990's it picked up for eight or nine months; however, this was very short-lived. If tourism would return to this country, it would help the Haitians and the economic situation of the country on whole. Visit my travel Haiti site at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/traveltohaitibyjamesdalphonse/ ... read more

I'm at a cyber cafe right now in Port-au-Prince. I am adjusting to my new environment. On the weekends, I stay at my uncle’s house in the mountains. The weather there is amazing, very cool, zero humidity, so much better than Boston or DC. However, during the week is a different story. We stay at his second home “en ville” downtown in sweltering heat, and there is hardly ever electricity and no fan in the entire house. “Mais, nap degage” But we are managing! My first day in the clinic was yesterday. It was an incredibly humbling experience. My communication skills in French are practically non-existent. Also, there's not much for me to do since I'm a student and they are not use to having students shadowing physicians, normally that's reserved for residents. Plus, it's a ... read more

Today we toured the slums of Haiti, where The Salvation Army operates schools for some of the poorest children in the country. Students are not only given a good education for a fraction of the cost of other schools, they are also fed a nutritious hot lunch, the best (and possibly only) meal many of them will have each day. The Salvation Army school in one of the suburbs, Fort National, was the smallest school I have ever seen. Located in a densely populated suburb, the school was a very narrow, three storey building. In one 3metre x 3 metre classroom sat 26 students, neatly cramped into bench desks! However despite the difficult conditions, the students are happy and getting a quality education which enables them to have a better start in life than many ... read more

Today we spent all morning filming at The Salvation Army’s Health and Nutrition Clinic inside the compound at Port-au-Prince. The clinic opens at 8am but when we walked around the corner to the entrance at 7:30 there was already a crowd of more than 50 people lining the “waiting room” benches under a shelter outside the facility! The clinic is mainly for mothers, babies and young children, but because it is one of the cheapest health facility in the city, adults who can’t afford to go anywhere else are also treated. The clinic is a great example of how The Salvation Army runs in Haiti. It is not just a service but a ministry. Every morning before the doors open the clinic staff have a time of devotion with the waiting patients. They sing, read ... read more

Today Major Lucien took us on a tour of Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital city. We drove for a long time up into the hills, passing through the slum areas and watching out of our windows as the tiny block-brick shanties changed into massive mansions - some of which were painted candy-pink! Major Lucien explained that there is a very, very rich upper-class here, called the ‘bourgois’. They live up in the hills where it’s quite a lot cooler and with lovely views. But they are a minority. The vast majority of Haitians are poor and live in very close proximity with very poor facilities and sanitation. We went to a great look-out where you could see the whole of the city - it’s bigger than what we had imagined! But the biggest tourist attraction for the ... read more