Lavil

Life, Love, and Death in Port-au-Prince

Voice of Witness

• Publisher: Verso
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN:
  9781784786823
• eBook ISBN:
  9781784786830
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Global Politics
• Index: Social Sciences

Half a dozen years after the deadliest earthquake in the history of the Western Hemisphere struck Haiti, the island nation remains in crisis, but the international community no longer seems interested. This immersive and engrossing book, based on five years of research and scores of interviews translated from Haitian Kreyol, gives voice to the continuing struggle of Haitian people to reconstruct their nation from the devastation of the earthquake, and from many decades of political and economic disaster.

The earthquake killed more than 200,000, rendered more than a million and a half homeless, and wiped out what little infrastructure existed in the country. But prior to the quake, half the country was illiterate and two-thirds of Haitians lived in poverty. This book makes clear the long genesis of the ongoing crisis and illuminates the depths of the continuing problems, and does so through some of the most marginal and least-heard people in the world. An interview with a restavek--a child sent by poor parents to work as an unpaid servant in a wealthier household--is an example. A recent study determined a figure of 173,000 restaveks--about 8 percent of the population of children.

NOTES

INTRODUCTION

¹ For more on urban planning and the earthquake’s impact on Port-au-Prince, see Appendix IV, page 327.

² Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Silencing the Past (Boston: Beacon Press, 1995).

³ Haiti wasn’t recognized as an independent country by the United States until fifty-eight years later, in 1862, the second year of the Civil War. For more on the timeline of Haiti’s history, see Appendix I, page 293.

⁴ In 1825, France essentially indebted Haiti for generations by “charging” it 150 million gold francs for Haiti’s own independence. The amount was eventually negotiated down to 90 million francs, but that still represents nearly US$21 billion in today’s dollars. In the first of many interventions, in 1915, the United States, under Woodrow Wilson, invaded Haiti ostensibly to “protect U.S. interests.” For more on the history of Haiti, see Appendix I, page 293.

⁵ New York Times, January 14, 2010.

⁶ Tuition is required for most schools in Haiti. Parents spend on average the equivalent of US$130 per child per year on tuition and other school costs.

⁷ In Haiti, children who are used as unpaid domestic servants are known as restaveks. For more information, see the Glossary, page 309.

⁸ Some of the narrators requested we not use their full names.

⁹ Lyonel Trouillot is author of Street of Lost Footsteps (among many other works of fiction and nonfiction), a harrowing and lyrical novel detailing one long night of violence and love in Port-au-Prince. He is also Michel-Rolph Trouillot’s brother and a member of what Edwidge Danticat calls one of Haiti’s most fertile literary families, one that also includes a sister, the novelist Evelyn Trouillot (Infamous Rosalie), and noted Kreyol scholar and children’s book author Jocelyne Trouillot. I like to imagine what dinner-table conversations were like in their house growing up.

¹⁰ The Centre Department is one of Haiti’s ten départements, the country’s largest administrative division. For more on Haiti’s administrative divisions, see the Glossary, page 309.

¹¹ The Makout were a feared paramilitary group under the Duvalier regimes during the second half of the twentieth century. For more on the Makout, see the Glossary, page 309. For more on the Duvaliers, see Appendix I, page 293.

¹² Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected president of Haiti in 1990 and removed by coup in 1991. He returned to the presidency in 1994–95 and then was again elected in 2000. For more on Aristide, see Appendix I, page 293.

¹³ For more on urban planning and the earthquake’s impact on Port-au-Prince, see Appendix IV, page 327.

MARIELENE LENE

¹ In 1923, forests covered as much as 60 percent of Haiti. By 2010, forest cover had dwindled to less than 4 percent.

² Generally the Haitian dollar refers to approximately 4.5 gouds. Therefore, 20 Haitian dollars equals 90 gouds or approximately US$2.50.

³ Belle Fontaine is a village in the mountains southeast of Port-au-Prince. It is part of the commune of Croix-des-Bouquets, which is part of the larger arrondissement of Croix-des-Bouquets, part of which overlaps with the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area. For more on Haiti’s administrative divisions, see the Glossary, page 309.

⁴ Haitians refer to anywhere in the country outside of Port-au-Prince as andeyo, “outside.”

⁵ At the time of the interview, 500 gouds equals approximately US$12.50.

⁶ Henri Namphy was a general and interim president of Haiti following the ouster of Baby Doc Duvalier in 1986. For more on Haitian history, see Appendix I, page 293.

⁷ Here Marielene is referring to the town of Croix-des-Bouquets, which is a suburb of Port-au-Prince but is also within the larger commune of Croix-des-Bouquets.

⁸ At the time of the interview, 50 gouds equals approximately US$1.25.

EDNER BRICE

¹ Gonaïves is a city of more than 300,000 about 90 miles north of Port-au-Prince.

² Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected president of Haiti in 1990 and removed by coup in 1991. He returned to the presidency in 1994–95 and then was again elected in 2000. For more on Aristide, see Appendix I, page 293.

³ In Haiti, many people believe in supernatural illness or “sent sickness.” Even many Haitians who aren’t adherents of Vodou share some of these beliefs. Supernatural illness can take the form of a physical object that can harm an individual, but a physical object is not required. Suspicion of a supernatural illness usually stems from jealousy or other interpersonal conflicts, which are then mediated by a Vodou practitioner who sends the sickness to its victim. For more on Haitian Vodou, see the Glossary, page 309.

⁴ Ganthier 4 is a neighborhood in the arrondissement of Croix-des-Bouquets, southeast of Port-au-Prince.

FRANTZ SANTIL

¹ Latin for “no contest.” In a criminal proceeding, a defendant may enter a plea of nolo contendere, in which he does not accept or deny responsibility for the charges but agrees to accept punishment.

² Oakdale, Louisiana, is the site of a major federal migrant detention center and court.

³ At the time of the interview, 35,000 gouds equals approximately US$875. A Haitian dollar generally equals 4.5 gouds, so 1,000 Haitian dollars equals US$112.

⁴ Delmas is a large residential and commercial ...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Halftitle Page
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Executive Editor’s Note
• Maps
• Marielene Lene
• Edner Brice
• Frantz Santil
• Juslene Marie Innocent
• Johnny Destanville and Denis Clermont
• Lamothe Lormier
• Alina
• Bazile Bermante
• Evans Désir
• Mina and Eve
• Adrienne Phatal
• Tania Jeudy
• George Valentin Valeris
• Fran
• Benita Manda
• Maritza
• Louis Elias Ezaus
• Jocelyn
• Charlot Jeudy
• Johnny
• Jean Carrasco
• Jane Wynne
• Gina and Lians
• Denise Dorvil
• Bonhomme Peterson
• Christopher Deragon
• Josil Junior
• Djenane Saint-Juste
• Patrice Florvilus
• Taylor Mercita
• Nadege Pierre
• Pierre Yves Jovin
• Snake
• Jean Pierre Marseille
• Appendices
• Notes
• Acknowledgments
• Editor Biographies