Just down last night from Gonaives. The place is a mess – even in the best of times, to be honest – and it’s worse now than ever. Hurricane Ike dumped 2.5 million cubic meters of mud into the city, and there is no place for it to go. People are shoveling it out into the city streets, but after that it goes nowhere. The next rains will simply wash it back inside unless it gets moved – like a giant snowstorm where the snow doesn’t melt. That said, security at least is better than the last time I was – after Hurricane Jeanne in 2004. Then, armed gangs pretty much openly ran the city. There was no police presence, though that’s usually a good thing when it comes to Haitian police – and very little UN presence. Now, the UN mission, known as MINUSTAH, has operations set up there. They accompany every food distribution out into the city to keep it from being looted, still a necessity in Gonaives. When our vehicle broke down one night while trying to deliver tools for a cash-for-work project, a group of Pakistani soldiers came out to provide protection until the vehicle could be moved. So that helps. But Gonaives is a tenuous place, in so many ways. People there are desperately poor, and there is an underlying anger in the city unlike any I have ever experienced elseware. That manifests itself in so many ways, in comments made by locals, in open stares and glares, and in the riots that sometimes spring up around food distributions. I have friends who have lived in Haiti over the years, and some of them love the country, and the people. I’m always willing to come back – such places are where my work comes from – but I have to admit, Gonaives is a difficult place for me to like. I’m looking forward to going home.
October 2nd, 2008 | by David in Travel
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All Material © 2008 David Snyder
