In addition to the pandemic, the situation in Haiti has been very bad for the past three years, especially in Cite Soleil, the slum located at the edge of town.

The main problem is the rise of gangsters and bandits. They will rob you, taking your belongings in order to survive. They will kidnap you. and kill you. It is now too dangerous to travel into Cite Soleil. They have been fighting among themselves for many months, going into all 44 districts, such as Brooklyn, Boston and Beleko, burning houses and killing people.

The bandits are young, living in very extreme poverty, not able to take care themselves, wearing sandals, but well-armed with heavy weapons. Where do these young men get the money to purchase munitions? From politicians. Politicians give them weapons to help them when there are elections. The President himself employs some of them, paying them to work for him, to keep his power. The opposition hires the others. So you can see that the basic problem is political.

They terrorize the people living in their own city. They force individuals to fight for them. Either that or they force residents out of the region. They say, ‘If you don’t leave your house, I will kill you.’ They have killed many people. Cite Soleil, long known as the biggest slum in the Western Hemisphere, is now almost empty. A lot of people have already moved. Some of them are sleeping on the streets in Port-au-Prince. Others have moved back to the countryside.


The Pandemic

So far twenty people have died and two hundred are infected. But there are projections that 20,000 people will die during the next three months. People are still sitting in crowds in tap-taps (converted pickup trucks) and buses, and the population lives day-by-day to make a living. There is no choice. If you do not do not go out you will not be able to help your family.

What can Haiti do now? Nothing. There are many churches and NGOs in Haiti, but they know little or nothing about these problems. The only response I can think of is that the U.S.A. or Canada should occupy Haiti. The situation problem is a political one. There are too many armed bandits, killing people everyday, and there is no other solution.

The truth is that our leaders, politicians and rich men want Haiti stay in this situation because it is the way they make money for their pockets and keep the poor people in the misery and extreme poverty. That is a terrible situation. Haiti is about one and a half hours from Florida and it is in extreme poverty and dirty. It is too close to America to be treated like this.