First stop on the tour, after driving by the Porsche dealership(!), was a look at some traditional Haitian gingerbread house architecture.
Then it was off to downtown Port au Prince where we saw the main square with it's statue of Petion.
We made a swift exit when we started to attract a crowd then headed off to have a look at some of the rest of the city.
Ruins of the Presidential Palace
This monument was built by Bertrand Aristide to commemorate 200 years since the liberation of the Haitian slaves.
This is the Haitian Unknown Soldier monument. In this case it memorialises an unknown rebel slave (note the shackles) who was beheaded by the French. It was erected by Papa Doc Duvalier which is why the plaque was damaged during unrest. In the background of the last picture you can see some enthusiastic art vendors and of course our bodyguards.
Next stop was the National Museum. Originally envisaged as a mausoleum a la Pantheon in Paris for Papa Doc et al it was repurposed as a museum. The tomb in the centre holds the remains of Toussaint L'Ouverture, Petion, DeSallines and Henri Christophe the founding fathers of Haiti. No photos allowed sadly. This gave us a harsh history lesson: from the torture and annihilation of the natives by Christopher Columbus and his men, through the brutality of the slave trade, the slave rebellion and its aftermath all the way to the present. Fascinating selection of artefacts from the anchor of the Santa Maria, heavy shackles all the way to Papa Doc's stethoscope and gold plated carbine! This certainly put the country's present economic and political struggles in context. Evidence of which we could see as we left : riot police were assembling for the afternoons demonstrations!
Then we drove through some of the areas worse hit by the earthquake. In the pictures you can see the Cathedral, which has displaced people living outside in tents. We then headed to the sketchiest neighbourhood I have ever been in to see some remarkable art at a gallery/atelier.
The artist Eugene uses a lot of real human skulls in his art: he says they were easy to find in the rubble after the earthquake. This was very dark art reflecting the chaos of the earthquake and the vodoun roots of Haiti. There was also an exhibit of photos by a French photographer Mosel who was first on the seen immediately after the quake struck. Very disturbing and very moving.
Off to the stately Hotel Olaffson for lunch and refreshment before a trip to the orphanage which was both sad and uplifting. As you can see the kids had a great time playing with the team. These children range from the truly abandoned to those whose parents cannot cope. Several have challenging medical needs and the Ortho boys were asked for an opinion on one who had bad arthrogryposis. Once again we were reminded of how good we have it at home and I am thankful to be able to provide my children with more than they need!
Last stop after a long but enlightening day was the Visa Lodge and a swim and supper. Pool heavily chlorinated so it turned some of the blondes in our party green!
Refreshed we returned to Bernard Mevs and were brought back to reality by the ambulances and heavily armed cops in the courtyard: one of the police had been shot 5 times, thankfully missing anything vital. A reminder of how dangerous this country still is.
As I update this on Wednesday we have plenty of work to keep us occupied starting with an above knee amputation. More soon!
Loving the updates, Thankyou. Scott G.
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