Harsh Reality

“I am sick of this shit. Like all of us who work/live in this country I am sick to death of this shitty situation. Things are getting worse here, not better. The Kenya-lead force is a pathetic joke. The US and Canada have thrown a bit of money at the problem hoping it would magically go away even though that money has in no way been spent effectively...surprise the problem hasn't gone away...when what this country actually needs is real help from people who know what they're doing. The fear has now spread to this beautiful little community with rumors going round. As of today this department is in a state of emergency, although things remain quiet. This evening I went out to buy something and I ran into Yverna, a teenager with the brightest smile who was my secret favorite English student, and is selling drinks in the street this evening. She looked at me in horror when I asked innocently in English "how much is that?" then dissolved into giggles before answering correctly. Like so many other people here she is a bright star who deserves a future.

This morning I went past the port and completely forgot to wave to the lovely lady who had the sick baby a few weeks ago (and who asked me if I would please wave at them when i go by) because I was staring at a port heaving with vehicles carrying who knows what. The Miragoane port at the end of my road used to be silent. It used to just be used for bringing vehicles and second hand "stuff" from the US. But since people can't use the roads anymore it's now jammed with big trucks carrying gas and who knows what else? Nervous conversations about security over the weekend noted that the government is doing their best to control this port but the government office there is tiny and in my humble opinion there's no way they can handle all those vehicles. What is coming in there?

Haiti doesn't produce any weapons....if only we knew where the guns here were coming from. Oh but wait we do know! A UN report a couple of years ago found that all the guns in Haiti were being trafficked from the US and something like 95 per cent were coming from Florida. These days many are coming through the DR. Months ago the UN special rapporteur for human rights told a meeting I was in that he had been screaming at the US govt to fix thdir trafficking problem. Has anything been done? A report I saw this morning said 4,000 people have been killed here this year.

Rant over. Tomorrow is another day. We will have our class graduation ceremony and we will eat a little snack, the students will get their much sought-after certificates, we will take a class picture and we will probably play some silly games and laugh our heads off. And as always the weather will be beautiful and maybe we'll take a class "trip" to the spot a five minute walk from here from which you can see so far - it seems like half the country. Every time I go there it makes me think of a view I saw in Thailand - you pay like 10 usd to take an elevator inside this big buddha lady and the view is comparable to what we have here for free.”

Text by #JanetIlott that fully resonates with me.