Cap Haitian
Jean Charles
Cap-Haitian: A Blend of the Sublime and the Ugly
By Jean Hervé Charles
I returned to Cap-Haitian after a three-year absence. My impression is that Cap-Haitian has become a painting where the sublime and the ugly coexist with ease and without any shame. The pile of garbage on 10th Street bothers no one, neither the city hall nor the hundreds of passersby who negotiate their way through the debris.
However, I find the sublime in the thousands of students preparing to return to class in their neatly pinned uniforms, in the hundreds of avocado vendors who would be taking advantage of the entrepreneurial spirit of a diaspora that invites Whole Foods or Trader Joe's to export organic avocados for the delights of New Yorkers or Parisians. I find the sublime in the young people who organize Salsa Night every Thursday at the Lakay restaurant. (Full disclosure) I was the winner of the competition that night.
To reach Cap-Haitian, I had to go to Santiago Dominican Republic, and travel by bus to Dahabon/Ouanaminthe. Crossing the border was a real ordeal. Dozens of unemployed Haitians, with the support of Dominicans, extort money from travelers to get to Haiti or back into the Dominican Republic.
I must admit that my three-hour trip in the Dominican Republic to reach the border was a truly idyllic experience. Haiti and the Dominican Republic are two nations that share the same island, but are completely different from one another.
Nothing is organized in Haiti, and transportation is by well-maintained bus in the Dominican Republic, unlike in Haiti where animals and people share the same vehicle.
The city of Cap-Haitian, which has become a refuge for people fleeing Port-au-Prince or Mirebalais, has no electricity. Drinking water only arrived in homes this week after a 60-year absence.
I believe that the two cities, Cap-Haitian and Santiago, should become sister cities so that the municipality of Santiago can share with the municipality of Cap-Haitian the knowledge and expertise in governing a city.
The Polis tour of both nations must intervene to put an end to the shameless exploitation of Haitian citizens at the border. Finally, Haiti must have a government capable of fulfilling its responsibilities, one that will provide its citizens with the means to live a decent life comparable to that enjoyed by citizens of the Dominican Republic.