Five years ago, Haiti was hit by a devastating earthquake—not for the first time. The country was in shatters. Journalists Arne Gillis and Wouter Elsen take a closer look at how the country is doing, five years after the earthquake.
Apocalyptic images of the destruction went round the world, followed immediately by a previously unwitnessed wave of international solidarity. But in disaster areas such as that one, the cameras always leave just as quickly as they came. High time for an investigation into the small and big stories about hope and improvement in Haiti. Testimonies by people and organisations who have managed to inject some positivity into the lives in their community.
Because it's these small-scale, local initiatives that play an important role in the future of this country. With an absent state and sky-high corruption figures, the obstacles are big, but as the Haitians themselves say: men anpil, chay pa lou. Many hands make light work. A lot of Haitians think the time has come to reclaim their country's old nickname. Haiti, the Pearl of the Antilles.
- 'Politieke instabiliteit doet Haïti wankelen' (MO*, February 11th 2015)
- 'Haïti, de parel van de Antillen' (MO*, February 13th 2015)
