heartcream
Posts: 3044
Joined: 5/9/2007
From: Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop
Status: offline
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I admit I havent read any of this thread but I will go back later and catch up. I wanted to post a letter a good old friend of mine emailed me from the States. I asked him if I could share it and he said, "Yep."
"I lived in Haiti in 1981 for about two months. I was there to teach English at an Episcopal school for Haitian kids, but ended up not doing that, because the nuns who ran the “asylum” were way scary. A bit of frustrated passive-aggression in the nuns, to put it mildly. The poverty in Port-au-Prince, which is also the capital of Haiti, was profound, hot tropical climate, filth and stench everywhere. About a million people lived in the “city” at the time. In spite of that there was art EVERYWHERE. I went to several dudes shacks, and they had a few pots and pans, and say, a dozen canvases for sale; so their little money went to oil paint supplies, because they loved to paint. Everybody painted. The galleries had massive racks of paintings to the ceilings, stood up like dominoes. Super Artistic People.
The president at the time was Baby Doc Duvalier. He was the “heir” to the “presidency” which was little other than a dictatorship. He lived lavishly and was hated by the people, but of course was supported by the U.S. He was driven to and from the airport in the presidential limo, guarded with an armed convoy that RACED through the super crowded streets, so no one could hit the cars with rocks. The convoy often hit or even ran over people, but never stopped. He lived in the heavily guarded “presidential palace compound” you might have seen collapsed in pictures. Sometimes Baby Doc would throw money out of a window as they raced by, I guess out of guilt. The contrasts were so big. It was a bizarre place.
Unfortunately, Port-au-Prince was was built mostly out of unreinforced concrete, because steel rebar was expensive. Wood was very rare, because the hills of the island had been denuded over a hundred years ago by a desperate population, and then erosion had washed a lot of the topsoil away preventing much regrowth. Concrete was cheap. As a result, the earthquake caused huge slabs of concrete to break loose, like bombs. If you look at some of the rubble photos, you will see very little rebar steel sticking out. Sad news, because the death toll has the signs of being very high. Ironically, the poorest might have fared better, because their tin shacks would have been way light. Don't know.
Voodoo was a remnant of the african way of life, since Haiti had been populated as a slave trade station, and was mostly integrated into Catholicism. Its expression was for celebratory things, and was very creative and positive, in an earthy way, very joyous. The bad taboo on Voodoo goes back to slave control over the people. I heard Pat Robertson said the earthquake was god's punishment on the Hatians for worshipping the devil through Voodoo. What a effing turd that dude is. Think he's ever been there? Please...
Sad, sad time for Haiti.
God...please help'em...if you can. Thanks."
< Message edited by heartcream -- 1/15/2010 2:40:46 PM >
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