Not always paradisical

[La Gringa]

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/am...zed/index.html

A couple of weeks ago, Gringo installed a marine VHF radio in our house (very common practice down here). Yesterday and today there has been a lot of radio traffic on the search and rescue/recovery efforts by the US Coast Guard and local authorities for a Haitian sloop that crashed into the reef about 3km south of West Caicos.

Yesterday about 40 were rescued and 4 dead - they estimate that there were roughly 200 aboard. Today, they are locating bodies and discussing whether or not they have enough body bags.

We hear about this, read about it, sometimes we see the sloops being towed in by the Marine Police, there is always talk about it but somehow listening to the radio traffic really brings it home. I find it difficult to comprehend a person's decision to risk their own life for something better than what they have. Today, I am humbled, grateful and very sad.

[Robja]

Mighty big word your using there LaGringa. I saw this on the news this morning. It amazes me that people continue to do this even though the risk is so great. Most I would imagine face deportation where ever they land so it doesn't make much sense to risk your life in less than seaworthy crafts. add to the fact that they pack them in like sardines.

[oceanmaniac]

it seems to me that theese people want a chance at life not to merely exist.....
what a caterpillar thinks is the end of the world,the rest of the world calls a beautiful butterfly

if u fish where there is non u won't catch any maybe they just want a fair chance to catch a fish?????????????

[La Gringa]

Originally Posted by Robja

Mighty big word your using there LaGringa.

I had to look it up before I posted to be sure it meant what I wanted it to. It did.

Originally Posted by Robja

I saw this on the news this morning. It amazes me that people continue to do this even though the risk is so great.

That's my point - it's THAT bad for them in Haiti.

Originally Posted by Robja

Most I would imagine face deportation where ever they land so it doesn't make much sense to risk your life in less than seaworthy crafts.

These vessels are meant to be disposable. Why ditch a perfectly good boat?

Originally Posted by Robja

add to the fact that they pack them in like sardines.

The more people the more money for the guys bringing them over here.

I think they charge something like $1,000/person. 200 people is a lot of money for a 150 mile boat ride. Haitians working here send money home so their loved ones can come for the better life. And very often the TCI and Bahamas are just stops on their way to the US.

This kind of tragedy is nearly incomprehensible and the only reason I say nearly is because it's happening right here, right now. Pretty tough to deny or dehumanize it.

[Gringo]

What really brings this home to us is that we live in it every day. Not a mile from where we sit there is a haitian sloop on the beach here. One that made it.

And this drama going on yesterday and this morning is only about fifteen miles from us:



And these coordinates were some we heard on the VHF this morning, from the USCG copter spotting more bodies afloat.



You can see the little reef where dozens of people stood waist deep yesterday, unable to swim a mile or so, or even stay afloat and the winds would blow them ashore. But they died, instead.

And if you saw the waters at this spot, you would maybe find it as hard to comprehend as we do that people are drowning here. In fact, if you check out the second part of this blog post, you will see that this is exactly where we were fishing and taking photos back in Feb.

http://2gringos.blogspot.com/2009/02...very-life.html

and how many boats leave Haiti, and are never seen or heard from again? These sloops are ballasted with bags of sand. If the caulking lets go, there are no pumps. They sink. there are no records of who was on board, and the sharks are not talking.

[seapower]

Many who live here complain about how "bad" they have it, other's are litteraly willing to die to have the same chance. I've had a chance to be around those folk's who cut down a tree and hack out a boat. Or tie inner tubes together along with bed sheet's for a sail and put to sea just for the "hope" of making it. I will tell you, it makes you thankful and humble's you at the same time. Yes American Citizen's, you have it good! Frank

[La Gringa]

Hi Frank... thanks for helping me find this thread again... LOL it's true.... I mean if a ferry full of wealthy vacationers went down between Woods Hole and Martha's Vineyard.... well anyway, I digress....

Today we were down at the dock to sea trial our boat after some repairs. We had a chance to stop and chat with one of the Marine Police - nice fellow named Thomas.

We got on the subject of the Haitians, of course, and Gringo brought up the subject of how these boats are put together - wooden planks with rags hammered in between. Thomas brought up the fact that they use absolutely no metal in the boats so they won't show up on radar. An interesting new fact to me.

We also talked about how some of them refused the rescue (because they knew they would be sent back) and still chose to risk their lives stranded on a reef 3km from any meaningful land...

Think about it...

[OCtuna]

Man that is unbelievable and sad

[La Gringa]

Copied from: http://www.wehaitians.com/the%2014%20aftermath.html

These photos were taken in 2004 but I doubt anything has gotten better in the last five years.

The aftermath of Haiti's uncommonly vicious tyrant Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his murderous regime's end - May 5, 2004

Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

A girl runs past a dumpster overflowing with burning trash. Since the ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide two months ago, Haiti has sunk even deeper into poverty.

Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

A woman in Fort Dimanche laying biscuits to dry, biscuits made of butter, salt, water and dirt. The Haitians face shortages of food and electricity.

Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

Jean Panel sells biscuits made of butter, salt, water and dirt in Fort Dimanche. The price of rice, the Haitian staple, has doubled in some parts of the country.

Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

Vendors sell their wares in the street in front of growing mounds of garbage in Port-au-Prince.

Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

Women sell merchandise by the candles, oil lamps and the occasional headlight of passing cars. electricity

Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

Haitians hopeful of getting one of 6,000 coveted jobs in a new police force line up to register at the National Police Academy. The national police force was decimated by last month's armed rebellion.

Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

A resident of Fort Dimanche, a former political prison now renamed Democracy Village, pushes a wheelbarrow through rain water mixed with sewage.

Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

Burning garbage clogs the main market street in Port-au-Prince. The interim Haitian government is faced with an exhausted treasury, a vast corrupt and demoralized state work force, wary international donors and lingering doubts about the manner in which Mr. Aristide left the country.

Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

A Haitian woman searches through a large trash dump, searching for things to eat or sell. Though foreigners have promised aid, little has reached Haiti since the president was exiled.

Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

Haitians who have suffered through decades of misrule say their patience with the interim government is wearing.

[Robja]

WOW!!!!!!!! You hear a place is bad but those photos depict worse than bad. And DIRT biscuits. Thanks for posting LaGringa. No matter how bad we may think we have it, there are those all over the world who manage to survive on so much less.