katie loves haiti: Fires and Gunshots and Riots, Oh My!

As was expected, today was a day of uproar for Haiti (to put it mildly), especially here in the capital. Last week unofficial results said that Michel Martelly aka "Sweet Mickey" was leading the polls with 39% of the votes and Madame Manigat in second with 31%. All our nannies seemed to be in support of Martelly and they said he was the favorite among most citizens. The official results were scheduled to be announced at 6PM last night. As usual, the government could not uphold its end of the deal, and the announcement was not made until 10 PM.

The official results say that Mirlande Manigat had 31%. Jude Celestin (President Preval's choice) had 22% and Michel Martell had only 21%. Anyone that has been here in Haiti recently, can say with confidence that is not the true count. Every Haitian that I have talked to despises Jude Celestin. How anyone can honestly say that they believe this election went smoothly and honestly, I do not know. I'm beginning to think that even the UN here to "help" are corrupt as well. They are in support of this election. How is that possible?

For obvious reasons, Haitian citizens all over the country are ANGRY. I don't fault them. I don't fault them for the riots, violence, or anything. The citizens here have no voice. They went to the polls to vote and were turned away, told who to vote for, or saw that people who were killed in the earthquake were listed has having voted already. What else are they supposed to do to get their point across besides take to the streets?

First thing in the morning a Haitian friend called us and told us not to leave the house today. So, for us it was a seemingly normal day inside our walls. The only thing that was NOT normal were the frequent loud gunshots and plumes of thick black smoke rising above the rooftops. In the morning, we got a call from one of our nannies. She said that she left the house to come to work, but there were no tap-taps (Haitian taxis) anywhere to be seen. She said that there were many riots and the roads were all closed. She told us that she would not be able to make it to the house today. So, we were quite surprised when she walked in the door an hour or two later. She said that after she had called us, she tried to go back home, but things had gotten worse. She was unable to get back to her house because the UN were out with their tanks shooting guns and tear gas. She had no choice but to keep walking in the direction of our house.

In the afternoon, we got a call from a friend of ours, Karen. Her curiosity had gotten the best of her and so she had decided to venture out and see what was going on. There were so many barricades set up that she had to walk on foot downtown. She ended up joining in a peaceful march near the earthquake ravaged palace. She found out that most of the shooting was coming from supporters of Jude Celestin (I didn't know he had any supporters, ha!) and the UN. The INITE party's headquarters (Celestin and President Preval's party) were burned down by rioters. The rioters were also trying to set fire to many other governmental buildings around the capital (I can't say I blame them). She said many people were chanting for Preval to be imprisoned and hung. The word on the street is that rather than backing down, Celestin and Preval are now trying to claim that Celestin actually had 53% of the vote rather than 22%. It seems like things are only going to continue to get worse.

In the evening, we got a call from our night nannies. They did not think that they could make it to work because many people were out throwing stones and burning tires in the roads. So, Dorothy decided to venture out and meet them half way. They all made it back safely after passing lots of smoldering tires and boulders in the roads and taking a few detours. Our daytime nannies did not want to spend the night here and were planning on walking the several miles to their homes. It was dark out and no tap-taps are running yet. So, Dorothy and I offered to drive them as far as we could. Really, I did not need to go along, but I'm curious and don't get easily scared so I wanted to see what was going on.

It is CREEPY out! The city is usually full of lots of traffic and people on the sidewalks and streets. Not tonight. Aside from fires, candles, and our headlights, it was completely dark out. We passed only 3 other vehicles, two of which were "Doctor's Without Borders" trucks with their emergency lights flashing. There were a few street vendors out selling fruits and vegetables using only a candle to see. Every couple hundred yards we had to maneuver past the remnants of a road block. There were charred smoldering tires lined up across the road, huge boulders, broken cinder blocks, trash, and piles of rubble blocking the roads. We ended up dropping the two nannies off a little over half way to their house when we met up with a main road that did not look promising. It feels like an eerie suspense, as if everyone is gearing up for round two of riots and burning barricades.

I don't really know what to think about all of it. It seems very surreal...the gunshots, fires, helicopters, all of it. Even as I write this, I am still hearing booming gunshots and smelling burning rubber. I'm not afraid, and I feel perfectly safe here at our house. All I can think to say is that it feels eerie, uncertain, unstable. We just don't know how long it will last, what will happen, or what to expect. American Airlines has shut down all flights to and from Port-au-Prince, and I do not know for how long. Ha, they've got exactly one week to shape up...I want to be able to come home as planned next Thursday! However, if I have to extend my stay it is not that big a deal.

Please keep Haiti in your prayers. There is really nothing else that we can do in this uncertain time except pray.

Read this blog post by a journalist to hear some startling and frusterating, but not surprising information.

I apologize that this is not a very good photo. I took it while we were out driving the nannies home, and it was difficult without a flash in a moving vehicle in total darkness. This is some rubble that was strewn across the middle of the road.