Day 3-030
Day totals: 16 hrs, 2 .4 kms

Today's the big day: I'm going to Haiti. One last time I play out all the ways this could go wrong, and ask myself if I'm ready to handle each scenario. Knowing where to store my valuables is going to be crucial. If a crooked border official asks me to "prove I have enough money to cover my visit" I'd better be ready to show him something without showing everything...

I take a walk around Jumani, and enjoy a quiet strum in the plaza. The town feels much less threatening now in the daylight. There's a bus getting ready to go to Santo Domingo, but no buses headed to Haiti. looks like my best option is to catch a motorcycle taxi to the border and hope there's a wa-wa waiting for me on the other side.

The Haitian Border

Even before I reach the border, it's clear something is seriously wrong up ahead. There's a large lake shared by both countries ... and it reeks of sewage. The shores of the lake that you'd think would be teeming with life... are barren. Near the border there are shipping containers turned into shops where folks sells packaged foods and other stuff in bulk to Haitians. A pretty scruffy border crossing--but I'm not complaining... at least it's a legitimate border crossing unlike the one I tried to cross in 2006...

I pay my exit fee from Dominican Republic and head to the other side. As expected, I'm immediately surrounded by young fellows offering to change money, help me fill out paperwork and give me rides. Usually my rule of thumb is do everything by myself that I possibly can, but I know Haiti is different. It might be best just to get one person to "help" me so all the others will leave me alone.

I get my passport stamped, them I'm told by my assistant that he needs to take my passport to someone else to pay another "tax". I smell a scam and I refuse . Sure enough...it's a scam. I take my passport expecting the fellow to ask for a tip. He doesn't--but another guy tells me I'm supposed to pay him.

"Always be alert here in Haiti" he advises me "you need to be aware of what's going on around you."

I pay what I think is a generous tip, and head on my way... through the gate and to a waiting wa-wa (or "tap-tap" as they're called here).

I passed the first test. I'm in Haiti now.

First impressions of Haiti

I climb aboard the tap-tap that will get me on my first leg to Port-au-Prince. "Four people in the back" we're told--even though 3 people are already squeezed in very tightly.

"Haiti cheri!" (dear Haiti!) one of the ladies exclaims sarcastically.

Then we speed off ...or not... as it turns out, the road is so bumpy we're going about 10 miles an hour. "Is it this way all the way to Port-au-Prince?" I ask.

"pretty much" the guy next to me tells me "this road was paved back in 1992 but hasn't been fixed since. There's no excuse for that--since the government makes a lot of money off this road--taxing people coming in and out..."

We get to talking. His name is Den-mark, he's a Haitian living in Dominican Republic and speaks English perfectly.

"I work at an English speaking call center and they teach us how to mask our accents" he tells me.

So how do you like working in Dominican Republic? Do people treat you well there?"

"I can't complain. I like it because, if you have a good resume, you can get a job. In Haiti you can only get a decent job if you have connections" he continues "However, I love my country ... Here in Haiti I'm not a foreigner... I'm not seen as black... it's my country. I hope to come back and start a business so I can help give opportunities to young people here"

"It's not easy starting a business here... again, you need connections, and taxes are very high. Many Haitians prefer to set up businesses in Dominican Republic and just export to Haiti. We actually import bananas from the DR... can you believe it? BANANAS!"

I understand his frustration. I look out the window and see a broad flat area. Nothing is being cultivated. It is pretty dry--but with an irrigation system, this could be great farmland. But that would require some serious investment.

Reading different perspectives online, a number of people conclude that oftentimes "aid" is actually hurting the country. The United States gives tons of free rice to Haiti. This makes it impossible for local farmers to compete . They give up on farming and head to the cities to join the throngs of the desperately poor with no real job prospects... the country gets more and more dependant on imported food... and the cycle continues...

"When I first came back to Haiti after being away for a while... I cried--just seeing how things are here. And to think we were once a powerful country--we once ruled all of what is Dominican Republic today..."

I'm starting to really admire this guy--very aware of the challenges his country faces, but determined to do his part to try to make the country better.

I ask about the fear of the "vodou curse".

"I knew of a Haitian who came back to his country to start a business and was successful. But a short time after he got seriously ill and died. Many people believe that someone put a curse on him out of jealousy... but I believe my Christian faith can protect me from those curses ."

"There are two types of vodou here: we have people who practice vodou just as a religious tradition--I don't have a problem with that. But there are others who try to use it to harm other people" He continues.

Vodou may be very much a part of Haitian culture, but it isn't nearly as visible as Christianity. As we approach urban areas, the brightly painted flatbed trucks turned buses have Christian messages... you see clusters of well dressed people with Bibles under their arms. I see a group of women dressed in white with scarves on their heads "are they Seventh Day Adventists?" I ask (today's Saturday)

"No... they're Apostolics--coming back from a prayer vigil."

We reach the bus station. Not really a "bus" station--there are vans, motorcycles, pickup trucks with benches in the back--and nearby huge cargo truck piled with goods--and people piled on top of the goods that go off to the villages.

Welcome to Haiti. I eagerly soak in the experience. It's fascinating to watch the order within the chaos. Hardly any paved roads... little police presence... no "official" public transportation visible... and yet, by watching closely you see there's a rythmn and a logic to things. People's entrepreneurial spirit has filled in the gaps creating lots of options for transportation... goods are bought and sold and moved from one place to another... I spot a bunch of metal bed frames being sold by the side of the road, made from metal scraps.

Somehow, people make it work here.

Den-mark kindly offers to accompany me to Port-au-Prince which I would appreciate. Although I'm an experienced traveler, this place does feel quite challenging. First we head to his parent's house where he needs to drop some things off.

"It didn't use to be this way." he said sadly, looking at the trash building up beside the dusty alley that had once been a road. "It used to be you could hear birds, and the mango trees had more mangoes than leaves! Not any more..."

"I remember one time when I was young that I felt happy. Once, when a new president came into office, suddenly people had hope. Everybody went outside to clean up the streets. Even if they had very little, everyone wanted to make things beautiful, putting flowers and plants in front of their houses. People believed things were going to get better"

"How long did that last?" I asked. By his silence I know it wasn't very long.

We reach his house and a young fellow greets us. "He's my cousin--his mother died in the earthquake so he's staying with us now."

He goes on to tell me a bit more about his family, "my father sacrificed everything so we could study. It's very hard to graduate from high school here in Haiti--tests are very difficult. I insisted that I would study in public school instead of private so there would be enough money for my sisters as well. Now I'm hoping to study for my Masters and maybe move to Canada for a while. But I really want to come back and help my country"

As we walk back towards the main road, he spots a fellow sitting on the ground down a side alley. We go over and Den-mark talks to him for a while with genuine compassion. Finally giving him some money and the soft drink he was carrying.

"We went to school together," he tells me afterwards "His parents died when he was young and he ended up going down the wrong path"

I really admire Den-mark's concern for a fellow most folks would just write off as a "lost cause"...

We squeeze into the back of a covered pickup truck "tap-tap" and continue on towards Port-au-Prince. Another dusty, bumpy ride. But there are some positive signs. I notice a couple of rows of recently built houses, small but decent...

Wait a minute... isn't that "Cite Soleil" the most dangerous slum in the world?

Yep sure enough! A handful of folks from the slum are actually getting new houses! Further down there are a couple of factories around the port area.

Suddenly we enter the market area, with block after block of every square inch crammed with people buying and selling things with the ruins of buildings as a backdrop.

This is "Boulevard Desalines", which on the map looks like the "heart" of the city--actually showing a bunch of expensive hotels on this strip. Suddenly it hits me: the "heart" of Port-au-Prince consists of ruins, and people trying to sell whatever they can just to survive.

Wow. I wasn't quite prepared for that. I knew there's poverty and suffering in Haiti... but I expected there'd be at least a small area in it's capital that's a bit upscale and fancy--as in almost all African capitals I've visited.

We get off in the heart of the market area, and Den-mark offers to take me to the ruins of the main cathedral which is, I guess, one of the "attractions" of the city. We take just a few steps up a market alley, and a big thuggish looking fellow comes after us demanding money. Okaaay... so the fun begins.

Based on my experience in other countries, generally the best thing to do in this situation is to move along briskly--maybe ducking into a shop for protection. Generally thugs don't rob you aggressively in crowded places like this. Generally he's hoping you either pull out your wallet so he can snatch it and run--or he's distracting you while someone else picks your pocket.

But this is Haiti. Things are different here. Nobody seems interested in rushing over to protect the city's one and only tourist...

Luckily Den-mark is with me. After brushing the guy off a couple of times, he finally hands him a few coins, and the guy goes off and leaves us alone.

We continue on. In the next alley, same thing happens. A guy demands money... a few coins... and he leaves us alone.

Okay... I think I'm getting it. These guys aren't just regular thugs. Each alley has a "tough guy" and an outsider is expected to pay a sort of "transit tax" to pass through his territory. Now I'm really glad I came with company. Who knows what would've happened if I had just refused to pay the "tax"...

"You don't have to give them much, but you have to give them something" Den-mark explains. I feel relieved. If this were Morocco, and you try giving a thug a few coins, he'll throw them back at you and demand more.

Nevertheless, I'm eager to get out of this area. Eventually we'll run out of coins and have to start pulling out big bills! I snap one picture of the ruined cathedral, then we continue on to where there are finally some wide open spaces and no more "transit tax collectors"

Up ahead is a tall, concrete, pyramid like structure that looks like a monument that wasn't quite finished.

"It was commissioned by Aristide to commemorate our 200 years of independence... but he was removed from office before he could have it finished" I'm told. Now it looks like an unfortunate symbol of the country.

The History of Haiti

Across the street is Haiti's history museum. We head inside. It's small, but quite nice. I wonder how many visitors it gets (there actually 3 other people in it).

It's starts with a small display of the pre-Colombian artifacts and culture... followed by a display of the horrific atrocities committed by the Spanish (something lacking in the museum in Dominican Republic). Then it goes on to tells about the fight for freedom and final victory over the French... followed by a short lived Haitian "empire". On display is a majestic crown which looks truly fit for royalty.

But how did an army of slaves manage to drive out one of the greatest empires on earth? This has never happened before or since in the history of civilization. You'd think a story like this would inspire hundreds of books, movies and be taught in classrooms around the world. But it's not. When people think of Haiti, "inspiring" isn't usually the first word that comes to mind.

How did Haiti become what it is today? I know I'm not going to become a Haiti expert after just a couple of days visit. But I would like to come to a better understanding and hopefully draw some educated conclusions during this trip.

Next is a display with pictures of every single president Haiti has had since independence, along with a list of their accomplishments. There are lots of them... many lasted a year or less.

You also might notice that in the last 20 years or so the "accomplishments" list of the presidents is completely empty.

I'm definitely going to need learn more about what's going on in this country.

We head over towards what looks like a large plaza. I heave a sigh of relief--looks like there's a place to do my Parkbench concert. I ask Den-mark if he could stick around with me just a little longer to serve as my bodyguard, just in case...

I sing my song "Soar" which is a favorite when trying to look at the bigger picture of civilization

You will soar on the wings of an eagle...
Gaze across the vast expanse of the peoples that have lived... in this beautiful world...

Is it still a "beautiful world"? This trip will put that idea to the test.

I'd really rather not stay the night here in Port-au-Prince. I read that Jacmel, a couple hours to the south, is safer and actually a sort of "tourist attraction". Den-mark accompanies me to the tap-tap station to Jacmel... and bids me farewell.

I'll always be grateful to my "guardian angel" who helped me make it through my first couple of hours in Haiti...