Billboards of Haiti - Part I

Here's a random smattering billboards in Haiti that I found surprising, amusing, or otherwise caught my attention.  It also shows you what the roads are like.

Alaska powdered milk

Haitian actor/comedien Daniel Fils-Aimé (also known as Tonton Bicha) apparently enojoys Bakara rum!

Ti Malice (a children's story character) and his butter

"All that you need" Guarina saltines (bonbon sel)

At giant steak at the Giant supermarket.

Gingerbread Houses

Here are the pictures of the gingerbread houses I saw in Haiti while driving around the capital.  A couple were in Jacmel.  Time Magazine has a nice photo essay explaining these houses which were built in the late 1800s and tended to survive the earthquake.

Jacmel

Jacmel

Earthquake Memorials

I had the opportunity to visit two memorials to the Jan. 2010 earthquake.  The mass grave is along National Route 1, east of Titanyen (NW of Port).  Click here for the story behind it.  It is a somber place, knowing we are parked and standing on the mass graves.  There's a stone monument.  And two young women ran up the hill when they saw us, wanting to give us a tour. Knowing they probably needed money it was difficult to say no, but we wanted to just stand in quite, enjoying the view of the bay and reflecting on the moment.  We gave them a bunch of mangoes and a ride back down the hill to the highway.

 

The second memorial was at Quisqueya University (Kiskeya), where buildings fell, killing students and teachers.  We were there for a meeting with the Haitian Audubon Society located on campus.  It is a peaceful place up in the hills above Port.

 

Entrance to Quisqueya University

Memorial to students and teachers killed at Quisqueya University

Mural in the Quisqueya University memorial

Close up of mural

Monument at the mass grave near Titanyen

Crosses on the hillside

View of the Port au Prince bay from the monument

The Zoranje Housing Community

Voila Community Center

During my April trip, Rhoda and I were given a tour of the community of Zoranje by the woman who runs their shiny new community center.  I was to teach ecology there on National Agriculture Day the following week, but sadly one of their guards passed away so they canceled all events.  I did get to speak about birds and hand out bird guides to some families who showed us their homes.

Refreshing drinks.

Funky model house (complete with goats).

One area in Zoranje consists of model houses that various organizations (including Venezuelan President Caesar Chavez) built for a competion in which Haiti’s president would select one for the remainder of the community.  With the clean paved streets, brightly painted houses, and flat, treeless surrounding landscape, it felt like walking through an abandoned retirement village in Florida.  One in which the goats roam free and eat all the landscaping plants.  Most of the houses are still unoccupied – I think water and some other things need to be finished.  We did find a bar where we had some refreshing drinks (Coke bottled in Haiti is waaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy better than what we get here in the US – they use real sugar).

Model houses.

 

The chosen house design, with goats eating the landscaping.

Zoranje is about 3.75 miles from the Port-au-Prince airport, as the crow flies.  In reality, it would take about an hour to drive there the relatively safe way on National Route 1.  The more direct route going by Cite Soleil would be shorter, but there have also been road blockades and muggings on those roads. 


The community center is sponsored by the cell phone company Viola and is the newest, spiffiest thing I’ve seen in Haiti (other than the stores in ritzy Petionville).  They have several classrooms, a computer learning center, a library, and internet café (complete with armed guard).  They also have a Viola cell phone store which seemed out of place.  The center would be the perfect place to hold art classes, ecology workshops, etc.  They are even in the process of equipping a small medical clinic.  This blog is about the center.  You can also read about Zoranje here and here.

Zoranje in the top left, airport runway at bottom right.

Taptaps of Port au Prince

Here's a sampling of the brightly colored public transportation in Haiti.  These buses are called taptaps.

Castro and Mandela, together again!

Fruit ladies

Black Border 5x7 folded card

Shutterfly offers exclusive graduation announcements and invitations.

View the entire collection of cards.

This is one of my favorite photos.  And I get a $10 coupon for posting it!

Cayes-de-Jacmel

Cayes-de-Jacmel is farther east along the shore, and has a much nicer beach!