The media mostly portrays Haiti as being full of destruction, chaos, pain and fear - but when I traveled there I found the opposite. I saw rebirth, creation, strength and courage. When I signed up to go with Restore Haiti on an aid mission, the earthquake hadn't happened yet. The day after it occurred many people asked me if I was still planning to go - and urged me not to. I told them all not only was I still going - but I was even more determined and excited to go than before. I sought to capture the spirit I knew I would find in the people of Haiti, and the beauty of the island and it's culture. I knew every single person with a camera that had been there since the earthquake had captured the crumpled buildings, the tent cities and the lost and broken people. What many have lost sight of is that an endless supply of money and sympathy is not what's going to lift Haiti out of the rubble. Their courage, improved education and sustainable industry (tourism being the most promising) is what will.
Girls in a classroom. Jacmel, Haiti.
Beach in Jacmel.
Young boy at the Restore Haiti camp in Jacmel.
Young girl at the Restore Haiti camp in Jacmel.
Young man at a school in Jacmel.
Young girl at a private school in Jacmel. There is no public education program in Haiti. Just $100 sends kids to school for an entire year, but many families can't afford to put their children through every year of school.
Young boys in a classroom in Jacmel.
Little girl on the street in the outskirts of Jacmel.
The street outside of our hotel, The Loving Light, in downtown Jacmel.
Boys outside of the tent they live in.
Grandma.
Friends.
The road to the beach.
The beach is lined with these huts. We set up a sound system and played haitian music and got food from a local vendor and relaxed underneath the palm trees.
Haiti easily has the potential to be a premiere Caribbean tourist destination.
I love Haiti.
Port-au-Prince at sunset.
