My first two weeks in Haiti have been informative and compelling. The people are beautiful and the language is both familiar and distant: the familiar romance of French intertwined and sharply contrasted by the distant rhythms of Africa. Haiti seems to be a country like many equatorial countries: full of contradictions. And with the elections approaching those contradictions are even more evident. Almost daily Port-au-Prince experiences, what Haitians refer to as “manifestations” These come in many forms:
political rallies, clashes with the police, and often-violent clashes with the U.N. military. This polyrhythmic city is restless and frustration grows.
Yet outside the city, in sharp contrast to the smog and pancaked structures of Port-au-Prince lies the immense beauty of nature. Haiti is a mountainous country that is at times reminiscent of tropical Asia, at other times of equatorial Africa, and yet others, the deserts of Mexico. I am consumed by the smoldering question of what landscape in this tiny country looked like at birth. By first impression it was desert. Yet a voice brought forth from the inner most soul of this varying landscape speaks of great forests of trees, immense and huge. Dense forest canopies coupled with colorful creatures and competitive undergrowth whisper from the soil. This is what speaks to me, the old souls of long-felled trees. The deforestation that has taken place is far reaching here. I wonder if something can be done to reverse the tide; to hold onto what is left and replace what is gone. ILF is one small organization that can contribute to this battle. And I hope my time here will be rooted in this changing tide.
Brian Martin
Environmental Program Consultant
Haiti
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