Diasporas dream of bringing old Cap-Haïtien back, start with street lights project

CAP-HAITIEN — Before August 2023, a common posture for evening checkers players in Cap-Haïtien’s downtown area was to hold their phones in one hand and move the stones with the other. Why? The players held their phones to light up the checkerboard because there was no light where they played on the sidewalks.

“The game was played in the dark,” Pierre Dieudonné, one of the evening players, said, reminiscing. “The times we didn’t use our phone’s flashlights was when we just sat down and joked around.”

Those phone flashlight days are over now. In fact, Dieudonné talked while watching two men play, and there were no phones in sight. The game was being lit by a solar-powered streetlight on Street 17 D.

Okap Projects, a group of four U.S.-based diasporas hailing from Cap-Haïtien and one resident there, has installed about 310 solar-powered street lights in the city’s downtown area, lighting up residents’ lives. Residents said the project has revitalized Cap-Haïtien by reducing the number of crimes, enabling more people to open their businesses during night hours, and improving the quality of nighttime leisure activities.

The street lamp project is one of diasporas’ many initiatives to help ignite Haiti’s second-largest city, replacing a gang-infested Port-au-Prince as the country’s center of attraction. So, while local leaders lack the means or resources to provide basic needs to the residents, members of the diaspora community have been getting the job done. They also own or co-own several businesses in Cap-Haïtien. In short, the city unarguably revolves around its diaspora’s contribution.

Okap Projects’ initiators want to make the town look great again

Cap-Haïtien had very few hours of electricity in the past five years. The only rare time the state-owned company, Electricity of Haiti (EDH, its French acronym), provided power was for Cap-Haïtien’s anniversary on Aug. 15, leaving the city in total darkness. Residents who could afford it purchased solar-powered inverters or generators to have electricity at home; however, the streets were in blackouts before the start of the street lamp project.

The diasporas were inspired to start this project after reminiscing about how Cap-Haïtien’s streets had lights when they were growing up. 

“When we think about those days, it hurts,” Hugues St. Fleur, one of Okap Projects’ founders, said. “Those images pushed us to do the work we’re doing now. We remember how Okap used to be.”

St. Fleur, now 57, left Cap-Haïtien to move to Boston when he was 17. When St. Fleur lived in Cap-Haïtien, he often hung out with his four friends—the other Okap Projects’ founders: Philobert Jean Jacques, Richard Consuelo Alexandre, Chil Perard Etienne and the Cap-Haïtien resident, Meleck Tibel, who is better known as Koukouze.

The project started in August 2023 when about 70 street lights were installed in the center area of downtown Cap-Haïtien. The group is up to the third phase of the project, in which they hope to install 200 more street lights along Streets 3, 16, 21 and 23 by Christmas. 

After lighting the entire downtown area, Okap Projects plans to install street lights in Cap-Haïtien’s rural areas, too. The group’s end goal is to light up the entire city, but it has to evaluate how long that will take.

 “Where there is darkness, there is fear. And when there was no light in the streets, there weren’t any activities; this was a handicap for us.”

Kenel Pierre, construction worker

The group has spent about USD 20,000 thus far on the project, with the contribution of about 50 donors and the five founders. Okap Projects purchased the street lights from a company based in China. So, one challenge the group has been facing is the amount of time it takes for the lights to get to Haiti. St. Fleur said it usually takes about 45 days for the lamps to be shipped from China to the U.S.

After the street lights project, the diasporas hope to start another one that will help turn Cap-Haïtien back to its glory days they experienced when they were younger. Okap Projects has yet to disclose what its next project will be.

Safe and electrified residents

Before the start of the project, Kenel Pierre, a construction worker, used to fear for his life when he walked in the pitch-black streets of Cap-Haïtien. 

“Where there is darkness, there is fear,” Pierre, 30, said. “And when there was no light in the streets, there weren’t any activities; this was a handicap for us.”

Pierre went from speed walking in the dark to sitting on the sidewalk about every night nowadays to help his wife with her outdoor egg sandwich business on the corner of Street 22 D. Pierre and his wife started the evening hour egg sandwich business after the street lights were installed. 

“We’re exploiting this light,” Pierre said as he sat on the corner of Street 22 D. “This is a beautiful initiative.”

Next to the Pierres’ egg sandwich business is a lottery hub called Amour, French for Love. Before the street lights were installed, it used to close around 6:00 p.m., but now it remains open until 9:00 p.m.

 “The business is functioning better,” Joris Misal, an Amour employee, said. “Before the streetlights, it was very dark here. We feel much safer now because we have lights. If someone is coming to harm you now, other people will be able to see him and come to defend you.”

Residents are protecting the lamps. Eight of the 310 lights installed were stolen, prompting residents to watch over the lights in their neighborhood. One of the lights stolen was on Street 17 E, near where the residents play checkers nightly.

“We always stay here late, but we couldn’t prevent that from happening,” Dieudonné said, pointing at where the street light was. “But now we’re more aware than ever, so that doesn’t happen again. Those streetlights help a lot. They prevent robberies in our hood.”

Despite Okap Projects’ efforts, many streets in Cap-Haïtien remain in darkness. Residents are eager to see this project completed. 

Additionally, St. Fleur said, residents or diasporas from other nearby cities, such as Limbé, Grande Rivière-du-Nord, and Trou-du-Nord, also want to start their own street lights project.

“So many people are following us,” he said. “We have made an impact on the entire northern region.”

The post Diasporas dream of bringing old Cap-Haïtien back, start with street lights project appeared first on The Haitian Times.

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Diasporas dream of bringing old Cap-Haïtien back, start with street lights project was first posted on July 24, 2024 at 12:50 pm.