Created on 2018-02-16 21:12

I knew better than to sit in the back. We had to cover 75 miles of rocky, washed out roads: four and half hours of bumps, zags and stops to get to the high hills of Haiti east of Port au Prince.

I lived in Haiti, still under Duvalier rule, in the 1980’s. That’s when the blacktop road between Belladere and Baptiste was constructed, and the last time it was maintained. The folks at Singing Rooster coffee invited me to meet the farmers and get to know coffee agriculture there. I also planned to drop in on my Haitian godson,in Port au Prince, and see what became of the school and orphanage I was involved in.

Pushing up hill, the battered UN Landcruiser weaved between heavy trucks hauling loads of limestone. Our driver, Ivan, would take over the lane to the left just long enough to dodge to the right as oncoming loads appeared ahead large and fast around the bend. I lodged my foot against the floor and held tight to the handle above the glove box. The hard plastic was comfortably worn down under my grip. I was not the first passenger to steel himself for this journey.

We arrived to find the town completely dark. The electricity was out, except for a few buildings with gasoline generators growling beside them. Everyone was out in the streets, drawn to solar powered lamps or cooking fires. We found lodging with the the town’s former mayer, Mr. Hubert, and shared warm Prestige beers with him before turning in.

In the morning, we found out that the government had given up on Baptiste. It would not fix the road or repair the electric transformer. The town wasn’t worth it. Yet, life went on. Food is grown, water carried, clothes washed, school taught. Friendships and families are nurtured, expanded and relied on. Disagreements and disputes are resolved without the use of, courts, lawsuits and police.

When the great earthquake displaced millions in the coastal plain, many refugees came to these hills to find food and shelter. Some belonged there, others did not. Some had enough to eat, others did not. With the city mostly back on its feet, the need for the hungry to feed the hungrier is mostly done. The hill people remember, however, that their place was the place where was found succor and safety. The lure of the city seems less seductive now.