A PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY
___________________________These are some
photos of my work as a writer covering poverty in Third
World countries.
Haiti, February 2009
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This is a small village market on the road
to Baie d'Orange |
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This is a typical road we traveled on this
visit. Unpaved, lots of "bounce" factor.
Hairpin turns and steep mountains make driving a
bit challenging. This particular road was
on the way to Bainet, a seaside town that
suffered hurricane damage in 2008. |
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This little girl and her siblings are
waiting for their mother to get home to see if
they will eat today. She had left early in
the morning to buy food. The hurricanes of
2008 destroyed crops in Baie d'Orange, leaving
thousands hungry and without any means of
support. |
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There is little food in Baie d'Orange, but
many coffins. |
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There are also many graveyards, and tombstones. |
Nicaragua and Guatemala, June-July 2005
Gonaives, Haiti, September 28, 2004
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Our trip to Haiti to cover
the flood tragedies there started with this
adventure. Crossing the muddy lake that is the
road just outside the city. There are still
bodies buried in here that haven't been
recovered yet. You must hire a guide to help you
drive across because you can't see the road and
might fall off into a deep ditch and get into
real trouble. (see photo below, ha ha!!!) |
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This is some of the
destruction caused by the recent floods. The
water has receded, but mud oozes everywhere.
|
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People washing in the
contaminated water alongside the road. Many are
falling ill and facing gangrene due to washing
lacerations with this water. There is no clean
water, but for what they get distributed by aid
workers. |
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A woman and her children who
lost their home. They climbed to the roof of
their house. Her husband was due back from Cap
Haitian that day. She doesn't know if he's alive
or dead. They're living now at makeshift dorm at
the home of Gonaives' Catholic bishop. |
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Ben standing in water outside
the bishop's home. The bishop is desperate for
food. He distributes it through parishes, having
workers send it out, to avoid rioting. |
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What's left of the police
station in Gonaives. Riots during the coup
earlier this year took most of it out, the
floods removed what was left. |
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People are still sleeping on
their roofs, mainly because their homes are
filled with mud. |
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A submerged house we passed
driving through "the drink" as I later called
the lake that cuts off Gonaives from the rest of
the world. |
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Our trusty Montero. There
were no cars before us on the way back and our
guides, well. We drove off the road. Scary.
Stuck in the water for about 50 minutes. UN
trucks passed us by, took photos. Didn't stop to
help, just flashed the peace sign. Who helped
us? Haitians in a dump truck who didn't even ask
for money. This is the good side of Haiti you
seldom see on the news. |
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Pulling the Montero free. It
took only 10 minutes to dry the engine out, and
then we drove through the "drink" again and got
stuck in the middle in a traffic jam. Water was
up to mid-waist, pouring in, sloshing around our
ankles. |
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Me, the day after, with two
victims of the May floods on the border of the
Dominican Republic. Their parents were swept
away in the floods and these two little ones
were found naked. Many children were saved in
both the Gonaives floods and the May floods
because adults plucked them out of the water.
The three-year-old, on my left, has sad eyes you
know have witnessed too much. I'm holding her
brother. The orphanage is too poor and has no
boy's clothing for him. The orphanage does
adoptions of Haitian orphans. |
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