Stories from the field
Haiti Diary: Sophie Chavanel
Disspelling myths
September 27, 2010
I think a lot of people have a completely false idea of Haiti. I’d like to try to dispel some of the myths of Haiti.
For example, I would not say that life has returned to normal since the earthquake struck, but life has certainly moving forward. It is true that hundreds of thousands of people still live in tents, the buildings and people still bear the marks of the violence of the earthquake and that, like before the earthquake, there is extreme poverty here. However, there is also a lot of life and activity here. There are public markets, florists, craft vendors, clothing shops, taxis, gyms, restaurants that can easily be compared to the best restaurants in Montreal or Toronto, bars and even nightclubs.
In his book, “Everything is Moving Around Me”, Dany Laferrière spoke about a mango seller who was back at work the day after the earthquake. I find that image accurately describes the facts. Haitians have an impressive ability to recover from the hard blows they receive. They are extremely hard working. Every day they roll up their sleeves, under a blazing sun and go about their business. Everywhere you look you see women carrying huge bowls or buckets on their heads filled with all kinds of items that they will sell at the market. I truly admire them as it takes heart to carry on.
“On January 12, 2010, the earth shook violently Haiti. I sat in the newsroom of Radio-Canada in Montreal when I heard the news. The days and weeks that followed were full of extremely strong emotions when I saw, like you, the images of a country of rubble. I then made a decision. I didn’t just want to report the events, I wanted to be there. I then started a new journey as a delegate of the Red Cross.” – Sophie Chavanel, Canadian Red Cross delegate, Haiti.
Sophie Chavanel is the senior communications coordinator for the Canadian Red Cross in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Sophie is a former journalist and joined the Red Cross team in Haiti in August 2010, where she will remain for 12 months. Follow her activities through her field diary below or on twitter at http://twitter.com/SophieChavanel.
