Subscribe to RSSThere is water; there is hope.
Port-au-Prince – Today I just traveled around town to see how things were going.
Outside of town in Petion Ville, I saw water with people helping themselves in an orderly fashion; I saw bedding and cookware distributions:
I visited a camp above Carefour called Basil Moreau, and they had water filters in action.
I decided to hang out at camp and talk with people for a while. People don’t want to talk about themselves. They are not interested in complaining – they want to know if there is help coming or not. They are afraid of being forgotten.
Everywhere, people tell you the same thing: help us, help us. Need water, need food need medication. Everybody needs help, Every social class, every age group, every neighborhood (of course some were hit harder than others).
Somehow disasters put people in the present, and open them to others. In everyday ‘normal’ life, a beggar on the side of the street is ignored by the passers-by. But during a disaster, people seem to help each other regardless of social class and social protocols. Suddenly life focuses on the ‘here and now’, and long term plans and old disputes are set aside. It seems Haitians want to survive as a people.
People know what to do in a disaster, especially in the developing world where they have learned how to survive in poverty. Sometimes hard times bring out the good in a society. This might be a little optimistic, but somehow that’s the impression I got from the people I meet here.
Two evenings ago, our documentary’s second unit, Stefan and Simon, filmed a rasta man shouting this out in front of a burning building: “The earthquake is God’s way to even out Haiti; it will bring the money down from the mountains to the poor people of the city, and everyone will have to start fresh again”.
We’ll see.
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8 Comments
2010-01-23
18:44:13
Way to go Nico. Admirable work. You are telling important stories.
2010-01-24
03:17:18
un peu de baume sur le coeur merci
2010-01-24
07:44:59
Magnique l'eau c'est l'espoir.
Nous ne les oublions pas!
2010-01-24
12:19:54
Hello Nico,I'm friend of Sophie in Martinique.We belong to the Association Enfant Haitien mon frere and assist the orphonage of the same name 141 Av Christophe.The director of wich is Rolande Lafontant.To date she received no help and no assistance of anybody.60 children live in.We try in vain to deliver milk,food,water and medicamants by the servicemen but they refuse the private sendings expt for ONG.We were just able to deliver 5 parcels of milk and medicamants until this day.She needs everything.Could you help them?I stay at your disposal.Good courage for your exellent work and thank you for your reports.sally
2010-01-28
09:56:56
hi nico.. nice documentary stories.. hope, you will have more stories that will give other people to feel help and share thier blessings to haiti just for survival.. Our country belongs to poor country (philippines) also but many country was help us to survive when we experience last year a super typhoon and become my country flooded all over the city and provinces. but thanks other nations who help. little by little,we survive and we going normal our life. hope haiti soon to be healed like us there in the philippines..dont give to share your very interesting documentaries to everyone.
Regards,
Mizael
2010-02-02
17:32:49
Nico, your stories are so compelling, giving us word pictures of the people's daily lives, of their courage. I am in a poetry group with your aunt Sheila - you share a writing gene! Thank you for personalizing both the suffering and endurance of the Haitian people.
Judy
2010-02-16
18:17:18
[...] can I explain that the horrors I have witnessed would soon be replaced by triumphant humanity? What I carry on my way back to Canada is a rather refreshing feeling of humility, a growing love [...]
2010-02-17
15:08:39
i'm very glad they have water and some sort of filtration device.