Haiti - Intensity in Tent Cities - Part I

What to say about Haiti? There is so much.....

The whole trip was surprising to me. I was surprised by how beautiful Haiti is. I was surprised by how incredible, generous and loving the people are, I was surprised by the surprises that awaited us each day.

I went to Haiti with a group of 13 women and 2 men who are all connected through our yoga practice. Our teacher has been to Haiti earlier in the year and wanted to take a group back to do some volunteer work. It was a wonderful group of people. We all bonded in a huge way. 

I went two days early with two of the women to make sure things were in order. We took a red eye flight to Miami and arrived at 2 am California time. We had a short layover and then were on the 1.5 hour flight to Port Au Prince. It was raining when we arrived and was very warm and muggy. The baggage claim area was small and crowded and chaotic. But we had someone there to meet us which was such a help and a relief because there were throngs of men outside the door yelling and wanting us to come with them. 

We got our things and loaded up in the truck, six of us in the double cab and three men in the back sitting on top of our suitcases. We began the 2.5 hour journey to Jacmel where we would be staying with a drive through the heart of Port Au Prince and the devastation left by the earthquake. 

It was difficult to wrap my brain around all that I was seeing. Homes and businesses were totally collapsed. Huge piles of rubble everywhere. Gigantic slabs of concrete roofs laying sideways. And the huge white presidential palace flattened on itself like a pancake with only the majestic dome sticking up. There were huge rivers of muddy water that we had to cross. Piles of garbage everywhere. I would not have been the least surprised if I had seen bodies by the road. It was like a scene out of a sci fi movie.

And then there were the tent cities....acres and acres of tents upon tents. We passed so many "neighborhoods" of tents. Tents in the public parks, tents on the median strip in the middle of the road. It's hard to imagine what life must be like living shoulder to shoulder with 50,000 other people in tents. The heat must be unbearable. I wondered where people wash themselves, or take their garbage, or cook their food. I wondered about the crime and about the sense of family among them. I wondered where their kids go to school and where they go for urgent medical care. I wondered if they have lights to read or sew by or to find their way home.We were all pretty quiet in the truck as we drove through Port Au Prince. All of us contemplating what we were seeing. 


It took most of an hour to drive through the city and finally we were on the more open road to Jacmel. It was a beautiful drive with winding mountain roads, lush trees, fields of sugar cane, cows, children, chickens, motorcycles and people everywhere. It seems that the people in the mountains had it much better than the people in the cities. More open space and room to breathe....