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Tropical Storm Jeanne’s Aftermath:
A Haitian-American Perspective
by Ocean Yvon Morisset
Nearly two months after Tropical Storm Jeanne sent deadly floods and mudslides throughout Haiti’s northern coastal city of Gonaives, killing more than 2,000 people, the fallout is steadliy mounting. For the residents of Gonaives, there is little time to mourn. A look toward the future seems too far and most uncertain. There are more immediate concerns now. Getting food and potable water to the people of Gonaives, some of whom have not eaten in days and weeks, is urgently needed.
Outside the mammoth CARE depot that stores food aid from around the world, many hungry Haitians sit alongside the hot and dusty road watching and waiting. Small groups of Haitians surrounded me at every moment, wanting to tell me their stories. One angry man who identified himself only as “Kiki” complained that he has come to the depot everyday for a week and has not received any food. Another, has told me that the food distribution has been so sluggish and intermittent that “bread had to be thrown out and burned due to spoilage”. I asked several Haitians waiting outside the depot if food has ever been distributed at this site and remarkably, each one told me “No”. Judging by the hundreds of men, women and children waiting outside the protected food depot, one would think that trucks would be rolling out, distributing food to the daily mass that gathered outside. Puzzled, I asked a pregnant Haitian woman named “Claudette” if food is not distributed at this site, why do so many Haitians make the daily pilgrimage here? Her response was “to see the food that’s coming in”.
In speaking with some United Nations troops guarding the food depot, I learned that there were small groups of “gangs” that hindered the process of distribution by jumping on trucks and/or carjacking them, taking the stolen food and selling them in villages throughout Gonaives and as far as Port-au-Prince.
Later in the afternoon, U.N. troops sent out two decoy eighteen-wheeler trucks rolling out of the depot heading down the road. In an instant, a small group of about six or seven young Haitian men jumped and climbed onto the back of one truck, and others in the masses began to run depsperately after it. Just then, UN troops charged after the truck and used tear gas to disperse the rowdy crowd. When the dust settled, sixteen arrests were made, no injuries were reported.
The following morning at the CARE office in Gonaives, Emergency Team Leader Gary Philolete informed me of a food distribution taking place in a nearby village called Pasren. This particular morning it seemed like word had gotten out about the food distribution and hundreds of Haitians carrying empty bottles and sacks walked, rode motorbikes, and crammed into overcrowded tap-tap’s to get to Pasren. After the forty-five minute journey through the crowded road and marketplace I arrived to see hundreds of Haitian women and children already lined up so close together, there appeared very little room to breath. The UN troops were placing barbed wire to secure the line and keep it orderly.
An hour later, two mid-size trucks arrived and began unloading bags of rice, beans and bottles of cooking oil. The ration of the day was one large bag of rice per eight people, one eight-liter bottle of oil per four people, and one bag of beans per individual. Each group of eight from growing line was ushered into different parts of a church yard to receive the goods. The bags of rice were so heavy, sometimes it took six women to carry one. Once in the designated area of the hot open field, it was up to the group of eight to ration the food amongst themselves. Throughout this process, women argued fiercely over rice grains and beans, and one fist and hair pulling fight broke out between two women. One charging the other with trying to have more than her share. This is indeed one of the main problems with the food distribution: some people people take too much, some get nothing at all.
Riding back to the CARE office, I saw streams of hopeful women and children making there way in the other direction to Pasren, to get food. Sadly, I knew that on this particular day they would be leaving empty handed, frustrated and hungry. By the time I left the food distribution, supplies were beginning to run low and the line of awaiting people had grown to several hundred.
Ocean Morisset is a Haitian-American freelance photographer living in New York City. He is a Veteran of the United States Air Force Reserves, having served as a Medical Service Specialist in Operation Desert Storm (1990-91). Ocean has been awarded numerous medals including the Air Force Achievement Medal and the Kuwaiti Liberation Medal for his outstanding work in the service and the war. Upon his return from the war in 1991 and while still serving in theAir Force Reserves, Ocean worked for Dr. Paul Bellman as Medical Technician and Supervisor at one of the largest private AIDS practices in NYC. In 2000, he resigned to pursue his growing passion for photography.
In 2001, Ocean founded the Fort Greene Photography Club as a means of building a community of people who shared a similar passion for photography. The mission of FGPO is to advance public interest in photography, expose the public to the works of emerging photographers through exhibitions and other events, and to provide emerging photographers with a forum to expose their work to the public. FGPO currently has 20 members and is approaching their fourth anniversary.
Ocean enjoys all types of photography, but his passions lie in documentary photography, photojournalism and humanity. His “Gonaives project” was one born out of love, passion and deep respect for Haitian people. Ocean states: “Once I saw what was happening in Haiti, and particularly in Gonaives, the birthplace of Haiti’s Independence, I felt like I had to do “something”. I couldn’t stand by on the sidelines anymore.” In October 2004, Ocean contacted the Eritaj Foundation of Boston (www.eritajfoundation.org) and joined their humanitarian mission to Gonaives. Though this first mission was only for one week, Ocean acknowledges that “this only the beginning of a long-term photo project. Gonaives, and Haiti as a whole will be undergoing tremendous change, either for the better or for the worse. I feel a responsibility to document its history. It is my goal to keep attention focused on Haiti, create awareness and to educate those that may be grossly misinformed about the plight of Haitian people."
A VERY SPECIAL thanks goes to Mirlande Butler of the Eritaj Foundation (www.eritajfoundation.org) for allowing me to join your team!
Ocean is always seeking organizations to travel and work with in and throughout Haiti. If you are planning a mission to Haiti, please contact Ocean at Haiti1804to2004@aol.com.
This project must and will continue...
Ocean Morisset is a member of the National Press Photographer's Association
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