My Mantra: Haiti will not perish!
Renate Schneider – Chicago Chapter
Michael Deibert’s book title kept replaying in my head during my recent visit to Jérémie, Haiti, where I had lived and worked for 23 years, until COVID and the mounting insecurity forced me to return to Chicago. When I finally decided to go back for a visit, I was nervous, but once on the plane, I was excited and happy, wondering how I would find things.
Infrastructure. The Jérémie airport was much nicer than I remembered, and I was amazed at how much the road had improved—all asphalted until we reached Jérémie. It also looks as if the floating bridge will be ready in July or shortly thereafter.
In the meantime, motorcycles and 3-wheelers stop on one side of the river and take loads from trucks, cross the damaged bridge (2017 earthquake) with the goods, and on the other side of the bridge load trucks which then can deliver the goods.
Communications have definitely deteriorated: internet signal not working, and telephone connections very poor. Jérémie had no electricity this year until July.
Food. The market in Jérémie has plenty of food. If you have money, you can find whatever food you are looking for. Blanchard, a friend who works in Macaya up in the mountains, said malnutrition is very visible there because the soil is not very good. They have plantains, but other crops do not really take. Right now, they are trying to revive coffee production.
At home in Jérémie, I enjoyed a lunch of Pwason roz (red snapper), with lots of avocados, akra, my favorite, and fried plantains. Absolutely delicious, and totally unexpected. Life is good. I am somewhat embarrassed to say this in a country that is suffering so.
Politics. One friend feels there is more danger from gangs in the countryside than in Jérémie proper. Interestingly, many of the gang members in Port au Prince are from Jérémie originally. While Jérémie is relatively secure, weapons are coming in—AR-15s and others. It seems the so-called politicians are heavily into the arms race and distributing weapons, and civil war is mentioned as a possibility.
No solution is in sight regarding the situation in Haiti. A hamlet outside Jérémie has a gang with weapons, so the area is insecure. They steal the peasants’ livestock, but the peasants in turn have killed two of the gang members.
Motorcycle in Port au Prince passing a burning roadblock amid anger over fuel shortages. Photo - VOANews.
A gang tried to take over Jérémie, but all the motorcycle drivers and the local people with lights and candles stopped them from entering, and they did not try again. Yesterday, the people stopped a guy from stealing a motorcycle, and killed him. Since the justice system is not working, people take matters into their own hands. The police were part of the motorcycle stealing gang, but there was so much protest that the police stopped.
Mental Health. Fr. Jomanas, the Dean of the law school where I used to teach English, and I talked about Haiti and the mentality of fear, a result of past history, which is so prevalent among the people. A good friend and former co-worker feels that Jérémie will stay peaceful, but stress is a constant companion. Fr. Maxime, who works in Lopino, a small hamlet outside of Jérémie, confirmed what mental health workers spoke of—mental health issues are on the rise.
Elcie, a nurse and one of our mental health agents, is worried about her son—he’s 28 with no job. He has had computer and other training and thinks of going into business for himself. Elcie told us about a woman who is pregnant with twins and just lost her husband and her oldest child. With four other children, and now twins coming, she is at the end of her rope.
Health Services. Things are going well for GADHA, a health organization that my friend Bette founded: they will train Haitian doctors to do breast biopsies, and Cuban medical personnel are doing ultrasounds. This is a great step forward for Jérémie, avoiding trips to Port au Prince. HIV is still an issue, but the medication is coming in regularly. COVID also had a great impact, but more people are beginning to be vaccinated.
Haitian Connection. A friend, who is my right hand on many Haitian Connection projects, and I discussed the summer program which we will have in five communities in and around Jérémie for 7-14-year-olds.
I got to meet a couple students receiving scholarships from Haitian Connection—Melchie, in photo, in second-year agronomy, and Stacy, who is studying culinary arts elsewhere and management/administration at UNOGA.
University of the Nouvelle Grand’Anse (UNOGA),where I worked as the Vice Rectrice for over ten years and am now on the Advisory Council, has a number of new, well-maintained buildings. With 360 some students, it has a guest house for professors and a solar pump for water. The trees we planted have grown substantially, and the campus entrance looks appealing. With inverters and solar panels, they have electricity during the day, and the Advisory Council has made a commitment to help look for an internet solution. Their biggest problem is still finances.
A good visit with wonderful people. They were appreciative that I came to visit despite the insecurity and difficulties of traveling. But in some ways the visit was bittersweet, seeing how so much more difficult life has become.
While the suffering and anxiety regarding the insecurity is always present like white noise, Haiti will not perish, it cannot—the people will persevere.