Haiti's government is in turmoil. Its prime minister has resigned and reports say gangs have taken over the capital.
Octavio Jones is a photojournalist who has worked with WUSF and NPR.
He reported in Haiti this week, talking to people there. He starts off by talking about his reasons for going to Haiti.
Octavio Jones: My first assignment going to Haiti was actually, I think, 3½ years ago, when they had an earthquake in the Les Cayes area in southern Haiti, it’s called The South. And from that first trip, it kind of opened my eyes up about what Haiti is like, what Haiti means to a lot of Haitian Americans, right? We hear stories of Haiti because of its history, which I find so fascinating. Now, in this present state of Haiti, in the conflict that's happening in Port au Prince, something in me is like ‘I had to get back to tell the story.’ Haiti is a country where it’s in a transition in their government right now that I think the people of Haiti are now probably … everyone's at their wit's end in the country, and they want a functioning government so they can one day hopefully be prosperous again.
I know just even getting into the country was quite a journey in itself. What were some of the barriers that you faced?
We had a plan A, that's also plan B, that’s also a plan C. But it seems like we were already on plan B and plan C when we got to Dajabon, because there was some restrictions at the border. Because with things being in so much upheaval in Port au Prince, with the Dominican government, we thought we would have an easy path to the border, but that was not the case as a free press. So we were held at the border fight like three-plus days, because there were a lot of back and forth between the Dominican government and also the U.S. government.
Were you just kind of sitting there waiting?
We were waiting and also but it was also an opportunity to document what was happening at the border itself. Because last year, for several months the border was closed altogether. And I was there last year, this past October, on the other side of the border and watching where Haitians that were not able to get into the Dominican Republic do business. To see the border actively and open this time was pretty amazing, because you are documenting life where people were coming into the markets on market day on Thursday to pick up goods, to pick up anything from produce to farming equipment, you name it. The Haitian people would come in with truckloads.
So it just kind of showed you that life still goes on?
Life is going on in Haiti. Haitians are a resilient people. They will tell you this: "Life goes on. We have to make do for with what we have."
I know that there right now are a lot of people that are trying to make it out of the situation, whether it be by flights, or just making it out of the country. Were you able to talk to any people in those types of situations?
During a time being stuck at the border in Dajabon, I would see those who were afforded an opportunity to leave, mostly Haitian Americans that were leaving. I would see folks pulling out their U.S. passport, so if I saw a U.S. passport in hand I would over go and talk to them to kind of hear their story … I met three guys from Tampa. One of the guys said, "Man, I live on Busch Boulevard." I was like, "man, we’re almost like neighbors, right?" So they were telling me that story because they were sort of vacationing in the Cap-Haitien area just kind of seeing their families. But they were sort worried if the border was shut down again. That was the worry of a lot of folks who were trying to leave Haiti at the time, or just a matter of days, whether it was fear, because if things gotten worse, the borders shut down. And so they’re just stuck.
It sounds like despite the situation and despite the outside narrative that this coverage is giving to the country of Haiti, it sounds like there are people in the country who are optimistic about its future.
It would be hard to find one person who is not optimistic about the future of Haiti. It doesn't matter if you’re not from the elite, more affluent families or neighborhoods of Haiti, or those who are very less fortunate. They believe and hope for the country. They will be the first to tell you that Haitians will fix Haitian problems…
Do you think you'll go back?
I would go back tomorrow if I could. I will go back because this is what Haiti is going through, and to continue to shine a light on Haiti, I think is important because they’re are our neighbors. I say this — they're just a two-hour flight from Miami. They're just like you and I. They want to come home, they want to have food to eat, you know, they want to have a bed to sleep on.
I think also with our last day in Haiti, I mentioned, we should go by the canal in Ouanaminthe. This is a canal where it’s seen as a beacon of hope for Haitian unity, where folks have come together to build a canal to make sure we can have water there was irrigated until those farm communities along the border. I was there for almost the beginning of it where it was just folks that had shovels and they were just constructing the foundation of the canal. When we go back just two days ago, the canal is almost complete. That seems like that beacon of light right now for Haitians throughout the country.
