Thirteen days in Haiti: Notes from a homeland bent, but not broken | Part 1

CAP-HAÏTIEN — My first return to Haiti in eight years began not with a shock, but with a jarring sense of familiarity. The same contradictions that define Haiti, serene beauty filled with opportunities and constant breakdowns, struck me from the moment the Sunrise Airways flight touched the cracked tarmac of Cap-Haïtien’s Hugo Chavez International Airport.

Goats wandered the airport’s entrance, unchecked. Mounds of trash piled high near the departure gates. Taxi drivers, vendors and beggars fought for space on the slivers of concrete that pass for sidewalks. Yet amid the chaos, the city’s lush mountains stood high in postcard-perfect stillness, inviting us mere mortals to breathe in their majesty.

Over 13 days, I would travel through the North, Artibonite, Northwest and South departments of my homeland. Unable to resist, I documented the realities of a country enduring one of the worst crises in its history. What emerged are seven patterns visible everywhere, shaping daily life, possibilities and Haiti’s uncertain future.  

Part one highlights first impressions and the seven recurring storylines from day 1 to 13 of my trip.

Haitians eager to get home—baffling airlines and all 

Flying with Sunrise Airways, the only Haiti-based airline standing, most travelers assume they will find its counters at Miami International Airport’s terminals. But Sunrise flies under other names, literally. Inside the airport, the search leads to Global X or Eastern Air Express desks at Door 14. 

Even inside Haiti, the brand confusion leaves passengers baffled.

Still, ever since the United States banned flights to Port-au-Prince Toussaint Louverture International Airport last November, flights are packed to Cap-Haïtien, Haiti’s safer gateway of choice in the North, and to Les Cayes in the South. For a year, Haitians relied solely on Sunrise for connections to the U.S. until Nov. 10, when IBC Airways, a Florida-based carrier, launched its first Miami-Les Cayes flight.

Daily life hums along, despite the country’s crises  

Markets fill every roadside curve. Schools stay open. Churches remain active. Elections, many say, can be held—even as armed groups control much of the capital and some parts of the Artibonite and Center departments. 

“The country keeps going not because conditions get better, but because Haitian resilience and the necessity to move forward—despite all—leave us no other choice,” Paul Enock Henry, a socio-entrepreneur in Bombardopolis, says.

Safety does not factor into everyday life

Motorcyclists speed helmetless across bumpy terrain, carrying people and all sorts of loads at once. 

Children and teenagers drink alcohol openly in neighborhoods. 

Construction workers build multi-story homes, barefoot and without personal protective equipment.

Hazards, like inflation, are simply background noise. 

Motorcycles, anywhere and everywhere 

On roads destroyed by hurricanes, erosion, neglect or neglect disguised as “policy,” motorcycles reach places cars cannot. They carry schoolchildren, families of four or more, sacks of charcoal, merchandise and provisions, corpses in coffins, construction materials and even goats.

Wi-Fi is both a lifeline and a luxury

People flock everywhere for a network signal. On hilltops, near unfinished houses, on public squares, behind roadside trees—groups of people cluster any and everywhere, raising their phones to the sky as they search for a bar of connection.  

Haiti is becoming green again

Reforestation is visible across the country. It’s literally a breath of fresh air to see their unsung success driven by necessity, not policy. Tropical fruit trees—especially avocado, mango and orange—thrive. Rural plateaus, hills and valleys, once dry, now burst with vegetation. 

“Most people here no longer cut down trees to make charcoal for quick cash,” Gesnel Auguste, a 65-year-old farmer from the Bondieudit locality in Bombardopolis, told The Haitian Times. “They now prefer to buy a motorcycle and use it as a taxi to transport people and goods everywhere.”

Climate damage persists, certainly, but Mother Nature, with help from the people, pushes back.

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