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Dear Friends and Supporters of Haitian Connection, As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday this year, we all realize that it will be a different Thanksgiving than those in previous years. The corona virus has changed more than just how we celebrate holidays, it changed a whole way of life for many here in the US…

Haiti slipped from a political lockdown to a corona lockdown. For two years now, one crisis situation has followed the other. The lockdowns do not replace each other, but also run in parallel, at least in the last three months. The government did not organize elections, so Parliament is no longer functional and President Jovenel…

“…we are also resilient, creative and relentless faced with overwhelming challenges…” Dr. Rouzier Since my over 23 years involvement with Haiti, I have witnessed more disasters, both manmade and natural. I could not have imagined when I began this journey all that I have seen. I was in Haiti when President Aristide was deposed and…

In January and February and up until March, Haiti suffered a tsunami of kidnapping. Nobody in Port au Prince felt safe, and nobody was exempt as a target by the kidnappers. Kidnapping in Haiti is part of a worldwide and age old disgrace, the abomination of taking another human being into bondage. A good friend…

Although there is a return to normalcy in Haiti following last year’s protests and national lockdown, not much is resolved. While children are able to go to school again, and business and community life is back to its usual rhythm, there is a general sense of insecurity mostly the result from happenings in Port au…

  For the past 2 months Haiti has been wracked by massive protests and street unrest. Little by little I felt the noose around my neck get tighter and tighter. The space to move became smaller and smaller until I was mostly restricted to my house, and each step outside was an adventure of courage…

October 3, 2019 I have now spent one week in the countryside. And I am seeing another Haiti, a Haiti a lot poorer than what I have ever imagined. Here people really do not have anything, only what nature allows them to have, like avocados, guavas, bananas, plantains, etc. There is hardly any commerce here,…

October 1, 2019  I am writing today from Jean Bellune, a small rural community about a 2-hour drive from Jeremie. I felt I had to leave Jeremie with all the demonstrations happening, because they make life so much more difficult. At the moment of this writing every town is “blocked”; that means it is almost…

    After a 2 months stay in the US, it was time to return to Haiti. The situation in Haiti before I left for the US, had gotten to me, and I had become seriously depressed and discouraged. I have the chance and the luxury to recharge my batteries with family and friends ‘lot…

As I am preparing to return to Haiti after a summer break in Chicago, I reflected on why living in Haiti is not easy. The reason is that we in Haiti are constantly living in the gap between hope and despair. Just before I came to the US for a summer break, I had given…