Here’s an interview on George Fishman’s Mosaic of Art radio show with Jen – taped when we were in Haiti in February 2010. To hear the interview, check out Episode 9 on the blogtalkradio widget on the sidebar.
Jacmel
We were invited to a Vodou Ceremony the evening before the Silent Artists Procession and it seemed appropriate. Women in white danced and chanted around the poto mitan while the drummers played and the crowd sang along. A woman who was mounted by Danballa was covered with a sheet and fed honey. It was all quite beautiful.
Artist Procession Sunday 7 February – Part of what Zanmi Lakay did in Jacmel was to help organize and sponsor the silent artists’ procession. Guy and I presented the idea to Amanou of Troupe Flambeau, and to Blaise, president of G-27 (an organization of 27 paper maché troupes), and liked the idea of something silent that was NOT a party. The artists decided all of the details including the funeral band that we took up a collection for at Hotel Cyvadier and we received more money than we asked for…so we told Blaise to give it out as needed to the artists. Cine Institute students were videotaping the entire time, and I was shooting pictures. All of the children from ACFFC lined up at the start to have their faces painted with black and white dots, and others followed suit including Guy. Everyone wore a black strip of cloth on their heads, arms, or around their necks. The crowd, including Jacmel’s mayor, wove its way through the town passing many collapsed buildings with people lining the streets or joining us. It lasted about 2 ½ hours ending at the Jacmel Cemetery where we buried all of the banners and black strips of cloth in a grave. It was beautiful.
The New York Times published a story along with some of my photos in it (A Carnival Artist Without a Carnival)
Mural-Monday 8 February-The children began a mural on three walls of the Foundation building in the morning and finished it before the end of the day. We were in and out because two planes came in that day with food, and every time we came back to unload the hundreds of pounds of rice and beans and pasta and tomato sauce, there was much progress. The walls are now full of solid color and covered with original artwork by the children. Blaise (brother of Blaise above), one of the artisans in Jacmel employed by ACFFC, oversaw the project and we provided the tools (assisted by some paint brought in by visiting photographers who came in through the Dominican Republic). When people come to visit, they will be greeted instantly by the children’s beautiful work, and it gives an entirely new vibe to the daily happenings at the Center.
Fête/Slideshow/Tent Giveaway at ACFFC Wednesday 10 February – The Zanmi Lakay presents ACFFC’s Earthquake Recovery Project fet was a wonderful event culminating in a slideshow of the kids’ work and then my photos documenting all of our activities together including a field trip to the beach, the painting of the mural, the Trésor video shoot by Ciné Institute (go to this link for the final video), picking up and distribution of food donated by Go Ministries and delivered by volunteer pilots, and the Photography Workshop. We provided popcorn and soda, and then at the very end of the party each family received a tent. (It turned out that a friend and co-worker of my sister, Allison Davis, was one of the volunteer pilots so I was asked what I wanted and the results were 60 tents. This was a major organizational feat with many people helping with their time and money, including Craig McAllister, the tent and delivery companies, Allison, everyone who donated, and the pilots. Our boxes of tents were the only thing that came in on that airplane except for a care package for one of the airport workers…who were also great.) Much thanks to our Zanmi Lakay/ACFFC family members including Judy Hoffman (the Executive Director/Mother/energetic woman extraordinaire of ACFFC in FL), Georges Metelus (director of ACFFC in Haiti), Allison (one of our Board members in SF), Matou, Evens, Madame Coteas, Andy and his crew of photographers, Guy (translator/driver/teacher/mover and shaker), and of course all of the kids and the town of Jacmel.
We did a bit of collaborating with the Ciné Institute film school in Jacmel. Please check out their website if you haven’t yet. A couple of the film students came to ACFFC to interview five of the kids in our Photography Workshop for another article with the NYTimes. Unfortunately the beautiful footage won’t be in the article because we couldn’t get it uploaded and translated in time, but they did a fabulous job, were so patient, and gave us the footage so we could translate for the article.
The Tresor video of the Earthquake Song is finished and posted on Ciné Institute’s website. The students and townspeople loved their song as do we. Often I found myself singing it out of the blue. Please check it out-we are so proud of all of them. The boys in the band are all sponsored by Zanmi Lakay and continue to need help with school, rent, and living expenses, and we helped them by providing funds and food, and the collaboration with the video shoot. We are also currently trying to buy a moto for Wilky – he’s the one that makes the crochet hats we sell at our Ti Machés – as it would help him immensely to use it getting around and as a taxi driver to make money.
We had our short Cite Soleil Photography Workshop yesterday and today. The first thing we did was show and critique all of the photos from last June displayed on a computer with a round of applause after each student’s work. This long term situation with the photo students isn’t working because they love it too much and show so much talent that they need much more instruction and support. This time our theme is Healing Haiti and six young children used disposable film camera while the rest of the kids are taking turns using digital cameras for the first time. They absolutely love it and we have two very strong stand outs in the class who went all the way down to the Palace and National Cathedral taking beautiful photos representing their national pride. We edited them today in front of the class and the other students were in awe. We did some running around yesterday with Jean Ristil and friends buying food and supplies. Today we danced and had visitors and handed out food bags and all the things we bought yesterday for the kids and the end of class. It was all very short, but beautiful. They understood that this trip was different because of the earthquake, but we also had to promise them that we would be back much more often so they could continue studying photography. Some truly want to be journalists and we want them to fulfill their dreams.
Jennifer met us (Pilatus N116TH) in Jacmel, Haiti on February 8 when we delivered 2,000 pounds of food to Art Creation Foundation for Children in Jacmel, Haiti. We were presented with a special gift…
A Monumental Benefit and Clothing DriveThis event is organized by NIMBY.
It is time to share experiences from Jacmel, the Pearl of the Antilles. We’ve been concentrating our efforts with ACFFC (the organization with 60 impoverished children and our collaborators for many years), Zanmi Lakay’s small group of young men in our Transition Program, and local paper maché artisans and families.
But first … an example of an exciting day in Haiti. Today we went out shooting with the kids and a bunch of photographers with Andy Levin’s 100 Eyes Workshops in small groups. Guy, Andy, and I went out with Ti Charles and Rodyle. We stopped by Ti Charles house and were drinking sodas and talking about Vodou when we noticed a door directly across the dirt road from us had a Baron cross on it. The Mambo of the ‘Kay Magic’ (magic house) came out, introduced herself, and invited us in to show us how the earthquake had ruined her house. It was full of everything Vodou with vévés, posters of spirits, gris gris, and a beautiful altar. She let us photograph her as we listened to her stories. On our way back to the ACFFC house we strolled through the Jacmel Cemetery and came upon a woman praying at the black wooden Baron cross, burning a rope at the base, and throwing rhum on the flames. She wouldn’t let us photograph her, only the cross, and when she left told us NOT to follow her…so we didn’t. Then we went to the airport to wait for our 1:00 plane that soon flew in with 60 much needed tents that my sister facilitated along with Craig, pilots Marc and Lyndy, and I’m not sure who else, but they got it done. Besides a care package for one of the girls working there, our tents were the sole purpose of that flight. Miracles, baby! There were hugs all around and it is a good day in Haiti.
There are a lot of NGO’s in town (as you can imagine) working on food distribution programs, assessing needs, and trying to figure out what to do about living conditions. We visited three on the second day we were here with Georges (ACFFC’s director) and tried to get food and/or tents to no avail. ACFFC was “too small”, supplies hadn’t arrived yet, or organizations were still assessing. The director of the World Food Program told us we were too small and I found out last night that they handed out 28,000 meals yesterday, so we are very thankful for the donations, pilots, and planes that delivered the 5000 pounds of food that we picked up on Tuesday for the children and their families. We received a call about noon with the pilot’s first names and a tail number, Georges made a call and immediately a truck and driver were on the way, and in 30 minutes we were all at the airport. Guy and I got through security easily because I was white, but the other Haitians had problems and I’m not getting into that here. An hour later we were unloading 2,500 pounds of rice, beans, corn meal, cooking oil, and tomato sauce in tag team muscle fashion at ACFFC’s foundation building with the kids. Then we received another call about a plane just an hour later and repeated it all again. It was exhilarating and wonderful and miraculous. According to the volunteer pilots, the Jacmel airport is the best run in the country. There’s a team keeping track of all flights and the Canadian Military are dug in and maintaining security. Guy and I happily played tour guide for five pilots to the tent city at the soccer field, historical Jacmel, and then ACFFC so that they could meet the recipients of their efforts. These pilots are amazing, generous, extremely sweet, and were so grateful to us for the little time we spent with them….we couldn’t thank them enough. They are making a HUGE difference here. (Check out recent NYTimes article Help from Above.)
We have visited two tent cities in Jacmel – a huge one with thousands of people living in makeshift tents at the soccer field, and another above the cemetery that is smaller and less organized. People are living in misery with very little privacy, and in the soccer field using newly dug latrines, group cooking areas, and a lousy water system. USAID and boys scouts were entertaining children one day, people are selling goods, and there is even a brothel tent. It’s been raining here every night and we heard Venezuelans have taken over and are rearranging the camp at the soccer field trying to get everyone into big tents (something they hate), but the water isn’t draining, mud is everywhere, and it’s a big problem. The Haitians were not happy when they raised the Venezuelan flag however, and we’re not sure how that turned out, but not a good idea.
Onto the Photography Workshop and our Earthquake Recovery Project. As of today, 28 kids have shot eight assignments pertaining to the earthquake tragedy and their hometown shooting two days each. Everyone is sharing cameras and taking turns-one group shoots one day and the second group shoots the next day, then that was repeated. So four days of taking photographs have now happened. We’ve had class time and two long group editing sessions with all the students, and one session included the visiting photographers so the kids had great feedback. The kids begin the mural on Monday, and our end of session fete will be Wednesday. Guy and Georges interviewed each of the students on video, and all of these elements will be incorporated with team efforts into the final project.
The last element of the Project is the Earthquake Song by Trésor, the Haitian rap band made up of four young men sponsored by Zanmi Lakay, and it will be our soundtrack. Yesterday Ciné Institute (please look them up online-Jacmel’s film school that was ruined in the earthquake, but the first people shooting images to the world after it happened) made a music video shooting Trésor singing in locations all over town including the main square with people living in a little tent city. A blind woman joined in singing, clapping, and throwing her arms around the boys. It was absolutely fabulous! The boys were a little nervous at first, but came through each having a little solo time, becoming stronger as the momentum grew. The filmmakers and the townsfolk loved the song, and young girls and children were singing the chorus wherever we went. The boys had never received that kind of attention, and I was so proud!
There will be no usual Kanaval festivities this year in Jacmel. So many homes in the area where the paper maché artisans live have collapsed or are so badly damaged that they will be demolished, and much of their hard work for the world famous parades was ruined in the earthquake. Many of these artisans are also living in the tent camps. Guy and I have been trying to organize these artists so they can somehow show what is left of their beautiful art, be sensitive to the catastrophe, and create an event that can be healing for the city. Zanmi Lakay is now a sponsor of the silent march that will happen this Sunday through Jacmel, and we are collecting funds from visitors to pay a funeral band that will play while walking through the streets. I photographed the beginning of the black banners being painted today paying homage to those that died in the earthquake and to Haiti. Both ACFFC and Zanmi Lakay will have banners. The mayor and the police are on board. There are glimmers of life returning and to cancel Kanaval completely for the first time seems too sad, so the brilliant artisans will walk the broken streets of Jacmel in silence as a funeral band plays sad songs of what is now gone.
Not sure where to begin or where I left off. Internet access comes and goes, but we are lucky to have it at all. There is no electricity that we found in PauP, but there are generators and some internet access. All bathing is cold bucket showers. Safe food for us nonHaitians is scarce, so are glad we brought probars (and Susie’s trail mix!). But I still got pretty sick a couple nights ago eating at a good place (I won’t name names), but I’m ok now. We also haven’t seen any TV news since we came here so have no idea what the world out there is seeing.
Port-au-Prince is no longer the same. Champs Mars is now a tent city and you can smell the bad sanitation when you go by. We have been able to see much more of the rest of the city and the more we see the worse it is. We met a friend who is a policeman and his entire station collapsed with many police in it, and along with the prison break and taking care of families he has much stress. The sound of helicopters has become a normal thing. All sorts of military and NGOs have organized tent cities-you can tell those from the organic ones by the kind of tents being used. Coleman tents are everywhere. Some of the areas are strewn with blankets, sheets, corrugated metal all used as shelters held up with skinny wood or metal poles. I can’t tell you how utterly sad it is to see how so many people have to live, but I guess most of you have seen photos from the news. One other note-all over the city you see signs made of cardboard, some spray painted, and some elaborate that say “We need help” or “SOS” or “Mort” or some form of need that they are not getting. These signs are everywhere.
We visited an area in upper Paco thanks to a doctor that lives at Jacques compound. From the street you can see all of the big houses and schools that have collapsed, but when you walk back behind those houses, there are people living in tents and rebuilding shacks to live in. Along the ravines, the little houses have all collapsed. These people in the neighborhood are organizing themselves and have received no help. We came upon a young boy looking at the damage through a pair of old binoculars. His name was Andy. He told us he was alive because he stayed home sick from St. Gerard school the day of the earthquake, it had collapsed and all his friends were dead. A doctor living on that street has opened a clinic in a tent and we gave him bags of medical supplies. We also met some folks at SOIL and between them and Jean Ristil they are facilitating the delivery of water trucks and we hope to have one delivered in upper Paco. We will visit the clinic again when we return to PauP.
We went to Lafanmi Selavi twice. The only part still standing is the original house in front, and that was already completely looted in 2004 and had no roof. The rest of the buildings have completely collapsed including the multi story concrete structure that was to be a hospital (before the coup of 04). Both Fritz and Reginald lost their girlfriends in the earthquake, but all other kids seem to be fine…although traumatized like everyone else here. We delivered Care Bags, candles, solar/windup radio flashlights, some toys for the younger kids, and funds for food and will deliver more food when we get back to PauP. Some of the older boys are now working in the rubble breaking up the big stones to help clean up. At least they have water so clothes are being washed and everyone can bathe. There is a pipe that comes out at one end of the yard flowing with water…that is something.
A note to the people sponsoring children in our Education Fund-all of the children are okay, but none are attending school right now because most of the schools are gone. There will be more children to sponsor in the future as we have already received requests for help.
We visited Jean Ristil in Cite Soleil two days ago. He was driving his moto with a friend on the back holding his crutches. He was in good spirits but tired. His cyber café had closed because of cracks in the building so he set up his generator and cables across the street on a sidewalk and was letting anyone use phones and internet and power up for any donation going to generator fuel. He said others were charging a lot of money for the same service. Many streets in Cite Soleil are blocked and strewn with sheets and blankets with small walkways on either side. They are in desperate need of clean water as always-difficult to see how they are washing, drinking, bathing in the water they have. Children are everywhere because there is no school and Jean was anxious to have something for them to do. We made plans for a project and have all of their photos from last June ready on the computer for a little show as well.
On our way out of town yesterday (Friday), we stopped by the Cite Soleil hospital where our friend Dr. Max is working to drop off bags of medical supplies. MSF is now helping to run that hospital and there was much activity when we were there. The second story of Max’s house collapsed, and because he is working at the hospital and running another clinic he sent his wife and three kids to the countryside. We also gave him a much needed laptop (that was donated to us and fixed up by Guy) making a weary doctor very happy.
We drove through the Bel-Air neighborhood and it is completely devastated. Last year we visited a Catholic school there and now it is gone. The view down to the waterfront is littered with fallen rubble and the sea is filled with ships. We then drove along Grand Rue, the Iron Market, many streets that were shown in the first days after the quake on CNN and most of the buildings are just gone. Not sure if anyone has heard of the ‘zones’ from the news, but many neighborhoods are considered Red Zones and no help has gotten to them because of so called violence. In these areas, Haitians can be seen with picks and shovels and very few big machinery trying to chop up rubble and clearing the streets. The damage is colossal. Much tears as we made our way along these streets.
Through Carrefour you can see the damage if you look up into the streets that connect to the main road. There were many trucks and Taptaps and Ti Machan along the way though. We had to take the access road which was never finished so it is bumpy and dusty. Gas stations are open, and we filled up our tank for $80 U.S….just glad to have gas. After Carrefour we came upon some craziness as groups of German guys were running along the road jumping in and out of white vans, cars and trucks began to turn around, and everything was chaos. We learned that a group of men had stopped a truck and were looting it. Then a UN truck filled with soldiers and guns drove up and seemed to quell the mayhem. We then saw two Haitians try to jump into the UN truck freaking out the soldiers who screamed at the surprise and pushed them out-comical but scary.
Next was Leogane. It is difficult to explain the complete devastation in this town-the hometown of RARA. It is very flat, and on a good day full of bicycles and bustling. House after house after house completely collapsed. I am not ashamed to say I had tears running down my face the entire way. There were areas of the road with huge cracks, and we even saw soldiers taking photos of the shifts in the concrete. On the outside of town, soldiers had landed and set up tents, and we can only hope that help was on the way for this city.
This side of the mountain road heading to Jacmel was the worst. The retaining walls held, but the land and rockslides made the road just one lane in many places. Very nice Canadian soldiers were on the mountainside helping move boulders and directing the traffic of motos, cars, and trucks. The road will need much work-in more than a couple of spots the cracks and shifting made driving a bit dodgy, but in the worst spot a group of Haitians were hanging out warning cars and made us feel pretty safe. We even saw some huge semis in the road, and water trucks, along with Taptaps full of fresh produce grown in the mountains so people are getting through and commerce is moving.
Down in Jacmel, most of the artists we know have lost their houses and studios. Walls are gone and masks are crushed and streets are filled with rubble although much has been cleaned. Some streets are blocked because of people sleeping in tents. There is a system of symbols and they are spray painted on the structures-a black check or circle with a dot in the middle means okay, a red check or circle with a dot means you can’t go in and the building is destroyed, and a yellow or gold symbol means you can go in to get your stuff.
The highlight of today was seeing the over 60 children at ACFFC, the amazing organization we collaborate with in Jacmel. We were smothered in hugs and the children were asking us when we were going to begin a Photo Workshop. Everyone is afraid to go into the building for long, but food was being cooked, children were making art, playing soccer, using the computers all outside, and just being together. With the schools closed, it was good to see that these kids, along with the directors, teachers, and local artist mentors were working on making good use of their time and keeping busy. We will begin a program with them tomorrow encompassing photos, video, interviews, and their art as a way for them to work through their trauma and produce a stand alone project integrating the community. They are very anxious to get going and we worked through dinner tonight with staff on the details. We will of course be bringing much of their art home with us.
Thanks to everyone for all the messages and the love and the support. Honestly I’m not sure I’m cut out for disaster relief, but we are so glad we are here and are rejuvenated by how we are received by the people and knowing that all of you are there for us. We are so jazzed by the ideas and projects being presented by all of you to help Haiti in the future…there is much to do.
We made it to Haiti yesterday via flight from Miami to Santo Domingo, a cheap hotel run by an old guy from Vancouver, Canada, then took a 6 hour bus ride the next day to PauP. We were picked up by our friend Dr. Max, and the drive from Tabarre (the parking lot where we were dropped off that was full of soldiers) to Paco (neighborhood where we are staying) was devastating. We didn’t see much, but so many buildings are gone and we encountered ‘the smell’ 3 times. A place we stayed a few years ago is completely gone. We camped out in our tent in the parking lot of our place here with all the other residents. Surreal. This afteroon we will visit the kids at the old Lafanmi Selavi building and also a clinic at a tent city where we have already donated medical supplies to one of the doctors. We brought over 220 lbs. of supplies and it wasn’t enough. Tent cities are everywhere. But we are making people happy with the solar/windup radio flashlights. There is no electricity. Haitians are crowding the markets, yet many streets are completely empty. We took a taxi this morning to get our rental car and he only had one fare besides us. No school at all. We will check in again when we can and post photos.
