SOUFRANT
[SUFFERING]
As
you depart the plane and make the quarter mile hike to the Port-au-Prince
airport,
the
first thing you notice is the brutal heat -
it
slaps you in the face and warns you of things to come.
DOULEUR
[PAIN]
The
second thing you notice is the mind-bending stench.
The
smell of decaying garbage and raw sewage on the streets
mix
with unregulated air pollution to produce an odor you will not soon forget.
POV
[POVERTY]
Then
you see why Haiti is arguably the poorest country on the Earth.
Shacks:
some
with rusty twisted metal roofs,
some
with roofs of tattered cloth,
and
some with no roofs at all.
No
running water, no electricity, no sewers.
Everything
they own is second-hand, from clothing to bicycles to the rare car -
all
recycled and discarded from other countries.
The
unemployment rate is 75%.
Of
the 25% who are lucky enough to find work,
the
average annual income is US $250 a year.
MAUVAIS
MALAD
[DISEASE]
The
people are decimated by malaria, dengue fever, typhoid fever and HIV.
Malnutrition
is rampant, especially in children.
The
lack of adequate food and health care guarantees a short, painful lifespan
for many Haitians.
SAN
LOI
[LAWLESSNESS]
Violence
and fear are always present:
shootings,
killings, kidnappings, demonstrations - political instability, lawlessness
and corruption.
There
are no street signs or signals.
It’s
a free-for-all in the street:
a
race for survival.
PA
ESPOI
[HOPELESSNESS]
The
mountains have been scalped of all timber causing the topsoil to slide
into the ocean.
The
mountainsides are now being mined for gravel and building materials.
There
are no resources; nothing to sell or trade.
Other
Caribbean islands are rich with tourism, but who would want to come to
Haiti?
Who will help those who cannot help themselves?
Who
can give hope to the hopeless?
EDE
S.V.P.
[PLEASE
HELP]
For
information about making a difference by helping the people of Haiti or
sponsoring a Haitian child, contact:
MISSION
REACH OUT HAITI
Phone:
631-283-6829
Website:
www.missionreachout.org
Email:
haiti@missionreachout.org
Creole translations by: Francois Astre
Photographs and Text by: Robert Miller
