Haiti is a country

Haiti, Day III - 07 March 10

of contrasts and contradictions, of pollution and gentle beauty, and as I wrote yesterday of utter poverty and vibrant commerce. Haiti is simply a country without hope, without political benevolence, without smiles. It is, however, the inner strength of its people that keeps Haitian society alive.

Today's awareness tour of Port au Prince again brought me to its seaport where issues of land security and squatter rights were discussed and debated with the MINUSTAH (a UN member Peacekeeping force from India), the slum Cite Soleil where we site surveyed profound environmental degradation, the neighborhood of Turgeau, Sacred Heart Church and the National Cathedral of Notre Dame to determine demolition removal.

Historically, this island nation floats on an ocean of waste and debris. There are open street sewers which people use in full view of ambivalent crowds. There are smoldering piles of street garbage where shoulder-to-shoulder pigs fatten and children find food. Main-street vendors sell slaughtered goats from wheel barrels, hang sides of beef from trees while live squawking chickens hang from nearby walls. The stench of rotting food and exhaust fumes causes nausea, headaches, burning eyes and sore throat to the unaccustomed.

Seemingly cursed by history, generations of Haitians endure to this day living in pestilent shanty towns, walking among open pools of human waste, eating from piles of rotting food, as well the suffering from the cruelty of Mother Nature's hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes. None of this seemed to matter, as today, Haiti's mostly Christian population spent this Sunday as they have for years before filling what churches remained until overflowing to celebrate faith in what possibly is the last remaining belief they hold.

For today's pictures - titled 07 Mar 10 - please click the below link.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/photoPicker/albums.jsp?collid=150222939308