What I found as I explored the region was a group of people and a culture just as colorful as the images I’d had in my head. Though the land had all but been destroyed, the people who remained on the stripped land had a vibrant soul. Even the public buses in Haiti—called “tap-taps”—were painted with primary colors and depicted pulsating, lively scenes. I never made it to Port-Au-Prince, and I didn’t get to venture as far into Haiti as I would have liked, but it was enough of a taste to make me realize that it is as tragic a land as I’d thought.
Haiti has a distinguished history with a tear-jerking modern chapter. In 1804, Toussaint Louverture led the world’s only successful slave revolt, and made Haiti the first black republic in modern history. It had been one of the richest colonies in the French empire (then called St. Domingue). But for most of the 19th and 20th centuries, Haiti has been plagued by political unrest, coup attempts, violence, and poverty.
Since I went to Haiti in the beginning of 2000, Jean-Bertrand Aristide won a second term as president. In January of 2004, anti-Aristide protests caused violent clashes and deaths, and by the end of February, Aristide fled the country and sought asylum. But the chaos continued.
Haiti just can’t catch a break: in September of 2004, Hurricane Jeanne killed more than 700 people.
I hope that Americans can wake up to the fact that with a little bit of money and an ounce of effort, we can forge positive change in a country that has so much to offer the rest of the world.
