I’m about to leave Haiti for the second time after over four months living in Gonaives so it’s time for another country wrap up. Haiti doesn’t even rank as a tourist detination, let alone a place to come to hang out and work for awhile but, if you find yourself here for one reason or another, it is an interesting, dynamic place and not at all as bad as ‘they’ say it is.
Pros
- Cheap for eating – If you stick to a diet of things that are in season and in the markets (avacado, mango, eggplant, tomatoes, zuchinni, onion, plantain…) and are able to avoid the tempation of imported Western goodies then you will be able to eat very cheaply here. This is far easier said that done, though.
- Fascinating history and culture – Haiti was the first country to cast off the chains of slavery and establish itself as a republic and this is an important part of the country’s identity. The mix of Christianity and vodou is another really interesting aspect of Haiti and all of the festivities that go along with these things mean that the streets are often filled with revelers.
- Not as unsafe as you would think – I can’t speak for anywhere but Gonaives which is the second largest city in the country and possibly one of the more screwed up places but I felt totally safe there. People often shout at each other but I never saw a single fight and I never personally felt intimidated by anyone.
- Great people – Desperation will mean that many people and children will ask you for things and money but once you get past this and get to know individuals, you will meet some very inspiring people. I worked alongside about 30 young Haitian guys who were among the the hardest working, smartest, and most polite 20-ish year olds I’ve ever encountered. People in the streets were always happy to help and often led us all the way to our destinations if we were lost.
- Creole is relatively easy to learn – If you’re at all gifted with languages then Creole should be a pretty easy language for you to pick up. It’s similar to French but without all of the stuff that makes French really hard like masculine, feminine, and all those very conjugations. Plus people who speak even a small amount of English are keen to practice and also eager to teach you their language.
- Decent internet connections – Hotels in Port-au-Prince seem to be well equipped with wifi and other random signals seem to float around as well in the most unlikely of places. I was able to get online at our base in Gonaives and while it wasn’t always super fast, it was a decent connection. I never got a video to upload to You Tube but I did manage to stream some live video, download songs and upload using FTP with no problems.
Cons
- Very poor and desperate place – Poverty in Haiti can’t be avoided unless you live in a huge NGO compound and never leave. It’s all around you and people will ask you for things all the time. A favourite for young children is ‘give me one dollar’ and adults will often ask for items like your sunglasses and watch.
- Instability – While Haiti felt safe for me on a personal level, there is still a threat of uprisings and riots that are out of anyone’s control. Food riots occurred last April in Gonaives and, while we were there, some students were attacking schools because teachers stopped working since the government wasn’t paying them. There was also a gasoline shortage at the end of December. Kidnappings are something that get a lot of attention but the targets are almost always rich Haitians rather than your average visitor.
- Expensive accommodation – For some reason it is really difficult to find hotel accommodation in Haiti for under about $40 per night. Norm’s Place in Labadie is the exception at $25 per night but overall the accommodation prices seem to be out of whack with everyday living costs. I did have some friends who rented a concrete room for $60 per month but they definitely got what they paid for and it probably wouldn’t suit most working traveller types.
- Unreliable power supplies – Power in Port-au-Prince and Gonaives seems to die at the same time each day. In Gonaives it went off at around midnight and stayed off until about 10am the next day. Fortunately, we had an inverter to cover the downtime. If you don’t, access to the internet and other power hungry things will be restricted.
I really loved my time in Haiti mostly because I got to do some hard but fun work and built friendships with a lot of fantastic locals. It’s not an easy place to be and home will often seem very far away but for someone looking for an escape from the norm and a bit of a challenge, Haiti is certainly worth a look, even if you just pop over from the beaches of the Dominican Republic for awhile.
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