This is Enel and Jonathan. Jonathan wasn't with our team but he joined our team and work as he arrived here the same day we did. He used to live in Haiti with his parents. He speaks Creole. Enel is putting himself through computer school by selling art work cards. He is Bud and Jane's 'adopted' son. Enel went with us when we had to travel by land east to the Dominican Republic. It was a fiasco getting into and out of Haiti. It took us about an hour to cross into the DR getting our passports stamped, filling out customs paperwork, paying our $10 fee each and, believe it or not, they made us wash our hands. Then we chartered a bus, about $150 for the whole team, and we rode for 2 hrs. or so to Santiago and bought tickets on an American Airlines flight to Miami. My carry on bag flunked x-ray in Omaha, Miami, and back in Miami. The first 2 times it was ok'd with a pair of scissors in it and I didn't even think about it. I was just worried about my pocket knife. It's amazing the difference between Haiti and the DR. Haiti is black, speaks Creole and French, and has been dominated by Voodoo. The DR is Hispanic, speaks Spanish, the country is cleaner and more like the US. There is more prosperity. We went into a grocery store as nice as any in this country. Our credit cards worked at the check out.
The building on the left is the old guest house but was turned into the Cholera house. The one on the right is the clinic. It is a big L shaped building . People came in the main gate behind me and to the right and down this path to these clinics including a dental clinic.
This is Dr. Sidak and Dr. Allison. We were taking a tour of the English speaking or missionary kids school. Notice everything is walled like this.
This is Emmanuel Felix, Jr.
I took this photo of him on his front porch. I just walked up and introduced myself. He lives on the compound 3 homes to the right of the house I was in. This day, December 9, 2010, is his 78th birthday. He was born in 1932. He produces and delivers one of the Bible programs on 4VEH Radio station. He has a very colorful Haitian history. He wrote this book "Understanding Haitian Voodoo". (next photo) The book was published 2009 by Xulon Press. See www.xulonpress.com
1492 Columbus lands on this island and names it Hispaniola claiming it for Spain.
1500's First Africans taken to Hispaniola for labor.
1625 The French settle on the northwest part of the island.
1697 Spain gives the west part of the island to France; it becomes Haiti, Land of Mountains.
1751 Slaves rebel in the north led by a Voodoo priest. He was captured by the French in 1758 and publicly executed.
1791 August 14, A Voodoo ceremony was held dedicating the nation to Voodoo gods in return for victory against the French.
1801 Former black slave Louverture leads a rebellion, conquering Haiti and freeing slaves all over Hispaniola.
1804 Haiti gains independence from France, becoming the world's first black republic and only successful slave rebellion.
1915 US invades Haiti following internal conflict, occupies until 1934, continues fiscal control until 1947.
1956 Voodoo doctor Duvalier becomes dictator by military coup. When he dies his son Jean-Claude follows as self-declared president for life.
1986 Jean-Claude flees Haiti amid mounting discontent.
1990 Jean-Bertrand Aristide, former Catholic priest is elected President, By 1991, he is ousted by a military coup.
2003 Voodoo is recognized as a national religion, under Aristide's second term government.
2004 Amid celebrations of Haiti's bicentenary, violent political opposition to Aristide forces him into exile.
2010 (my entry) Jan.12 earthquake devastates Port-au-Prince, hurricane sweeps over the Island, cholera strikes.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Feel free to comment!