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Haiti: one account


andrew_lee2

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For those of you who might be interested, this is just a brief entry

I originally wrote killing time one late afternoon in my hotel room

in Port-au-Prince, while the events and experiences of that day---my

first in Haiti---were still fresh in my head. It reflects my

experiences and only my own. If the words strike anyone as being

misanthropic in any way, that's just because I was still in the

process of getting over the initial culture shock; I'm not a hateful

person by nature. <p>

<a href="http://www.photo.net/photo/1709400"

>Link</a><div>005qOz-14205284.JPG.d62b3b9b916b85c8647e1c5f3ce47d17.JPG</div>

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Andrew - excellent writing and the sort of contribution that makes photo.net such a great place to visit. Thanks for sharing your experience. I look forward to seeing your images.

 

Should you decide you'd like to write something about your travels for the static content here, please don't hesitate to contact me and we can work out the details.

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While there is, no doubt, much validity to Andrew's impressions

of Haiti, I watched a fascinating film a couple nights back that

shows another side of it.

 

WorldLink TV ran a program called Cinema Soleil, about two

young men who overcome many obstacles to operate a video

theater in their own home, in one of the worst slums in the

country.

 

(Isn't it ironic that the worst places often are given names which

utterly belie their real natures? In this film, the slum is called

"Sun City," and in the great Brazilian movie from earlier this year

it is called "City of God.")

 

The program was utterly unsentimental, and did not shy from the

filth and poverty, and the political chaos that has crippled Haiti.

 

But amidst all this, it showed people managing--with humor,

ingenuity, courage and perseverance--to live, love, and pursue

their dreams of making a better future for themselves and their

families.

 

Catch it if you get a chance, for a different view of Haiti and its

people.

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Thanks everyone. Bernard, I also don't doubt for a second that there is humor, ingenuity, courage and perseverance in Haiti. The movie sounds fascinating and I'll be sure to check it out. Thanks for the tip. <p>

It's funny you mention City of God (another great film). During my time in Port-au-Prince I was thinking the closest thing to this that I had ever seen (well, on film anyway) was City of God, only without twelve year-old outlaws maniacally waving handguns. Later on Harold (whom I had mentioned earlier) and I got to talking about the condition of Port-au-Prince when he suddenly exclaimed, "My God did you see that movie City of God? Compared to that it's like I'm living in paradise out here!"

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You've gotten off to a good start in dealing with the power of Haiti. Your images are strong and you also capture eloquently your initial reaction to the place. Hope you don't give up on it. I spent a week there a couple of years ago, and want to go back.

 

It's much easier to function in Haiti if you have (as I did) someone who knows his way around who can help you get comfortable. The place can be, as you have found, quite overwhelming. I think if I had had to go there without a guide I would have been so disoriented that I would also have sought the fastest way out.

 

But people live there. Some people choose to live there. They make the best they can of the situation. They try to ameloriate the desperation of people who have no choice but to live there.

 

There are sections of Port au Prince that are quite lovely -- Petionville, for instance, and the area around the capital building and the Episcopal cathedral -- and much of the landscape in the countryside is very dramatic. Good to get out of Port au Prince to see how people live in rural areas, and to see some of the efforts people are making to improve schools and to recover some of the land that has been stripped of everything. To capture in images both the desperate circumstances of their lives and the ways they cope is a worthy project.

 

Perhaps you might find a group that runs mission trips to Haiti. There are a number of groups in the USA that have established places for folks from the USA to live and use as a base while in Haiti. Knowing that someone who knows what he is doing is preparing your food is a comfort. The place we stayed, for example, washed Haitian food in disinfectant before preparing it for our meals. You might donate your photographic services to the agency in exchange for their guidance and support.

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