Category: Haiti Earthquake

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Meet Haiti’s New President

On Thursday afternoon, May 12, I got a call to get to Haiti for an assignment that included covering  charismatic pop star-turned-president Michel Martelly’s inauguration. He  took over the country on Saturday, May 14, 2011, promising to rebuild its earthquake-devastated capital, develop the long-neglected countryside and build a modern army.

The 50-year-old performer known to Haitians as “Sweet Micky” was swept to power in a March 20 presidential runoff by Haitians tired of past leaders who failed to provide even basic services, such as decent roads, water and electricity in the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country.

Martelly was sworn in during a power outage in front of dozens of dignitaries including former U.S. President Bill Clinton, the U.N.’s special envoy to Haiti, and Edmond Mulet, head of the U.N. mission that has maintained order in Haiti since 2004.

Newly minted President Michel Martelly leaves his swearing in ceremony and heads to the national palace.
Martelly waives to a throng of supporters as he leaves his swearing in ceremony and heads to the national palace.
The inaugural begins under sunny skies and in front of the dramatic backdrop of the ruined national palace.
One of the main buildings of the destroyed national palace.
A portico that once had a mirrored ceiling now lies in ruins, reflecting the damage beneath it.
A drape waves in the breeze at the national palace.
Haitians outside the palace gates record Martelly’s speech.
Haitian President Michel Martelly leaves his inaugural activities, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, May 14, 2011.

I was able to follow Martelly from his swearing in ceremony all the way through his public inauguration at the destroyed national palace, getting nice access the entire way. Shot with Nikon D3.

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Haiti – One Year to the Day

As all of you know by know, it’s the one-year anniversary of the Haiti earthquake. I went there a few times in 2010 and had a lot to say, think, show and feel about it. Compassion asked me to blog about it, which I have done. I’d be happy for you to read First Glimpse, Yes, It Was As Bad As They All Said It Was, and Moving Again. Barely. So read, and please don’t forget what those folks are dealing with down there…

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Cover Girl

When I shot and wrote for Compassion after the earthquake in Haiti, I came across a lovely scene in a Compassion project where a woman was holding her hands up to the sky in thanks to God. I knew right then it was a special photograph, and I am glad Compassion saw it that way too and used it for the cover of their new magazine. Here is the non-cropped black and white version:

Be sure to click the link above and see the three stories inside the magazine I shot and wrote as well!

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Haiti – The Aftermath

A few final selects from Haiti. Life continues there much the same way it did in the immediate days after the January 12, 2010 earthquake — a deep fear of aftershocks, futures filled with uncertainty, and people everywhere wondering how they are going to make it. There are no easy answer for Haiti right now. Hopefully these images will keep Haiti in your mind a little longer than the average news cycle, which has now largely moved on to the next crisis in the world…

A barber shop stands remains standing despite the collapse of building all around it. Port-au-Prince, Haiti. February 2010.
Members of the 82 Airborne division guard a food distribution at the King’s Gardens Orphanage, Port-au-Prince, Haiti. February 17, 2010.
A human skull sits on a bed of rubble outside a hotel in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The body, along with one partially exposed under the rubble, was burned in an attempt to both kill the smell of the decomposing bodies as well as hide the identities of the deceased as the hotel was a brothel and friends of the man who died wished to hide the fact that he was killed while seeing a prositute. February 2010.
A woman in the Solino Slum, Port-au-Prince, Haiti. February 16, 2010.
Families try to figure out how to respond to the mud that fills their tent city after only a single night’s rain. This woman is standing in the mud she and her child, who lost a leg in the January 12, 2010 earthquake, will have to sleep in tonight unless they figure something out. HA355, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, February 18, 2010.
Car batteries help power a food distribution warehouse in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. February 2010.

Want to see more? Play the file below.

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Haiti – Here Comes the Rain Again

Two nights ago I was awakened by something wet hitting my feet, which were sticking out of my tent trying to keep cool (at the expense of getting consumed by mosquitoes). It was raining, and raining hard. I quickly zipped everything up and stayed relatively dry. Not so for hundreds of thousands of Haitians living on the streets and in tent cities. Many of those people woke up soaking in ankle deep mud, with everything that they own, themselves included, totally drenched.

This is just the start of a months-long rainy season, and the start of a whole new wave of troubles for a people still deeply affected by the January 12, 2010 earthquake. Here are a few images from the day after the rain, as well as life in one of Haiti’s poorer areas – the Solino Slum.

In the Solino Slum area in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, a tent city that houses hundreds of homeless families fills with mud after the first rain since the January 12, 2010 earthquke. February 18, 2010.
Life in Solino, Port-au-Prince, Haiti. February 18, 2010.
Jesus is Lord, written on the inside of the front wall of the partially destroyed home of Naiki Docile, 6. The family sleeps outside each night for fear of being buried in their home if a strong aftershock should strike. Port-au-Prince, Haiti. February 18, 2010.
A few Haitian coins collect sunlight inside the tent of Jacques Kervens, 8, and his mother, Amecelia Pierre, 40, who survived the January 12, 2010 earthquake that severly damaged their home, making it unfit and unsafe to live in. Solino Slum, Port-au-Prince, Haiti. February 16, 2010.
Ferlandie Fadius, 19, undergoes a CT scan on her head. She was severely affected by the earthquake. When rescuers freed her from the concrete pinning her head down, the had to first remove her dead cousin, who was pinned across her lap. Port-au-Prince, Haiti. February 16, 2010.