Sunday, April 06, 2008

Cite Soleil = Sun City??

Here's a post i wrote in August last year! I finally finished it and here it is..finally. Yikes!


I was reading up about this place called Cite Soleil yesterday on wikipedia..and my discoveries appaled me. It struck a chord in me..yet i don't know how to help. I've never heard of this place before until yesterday..and this are bits of what i read.

Cite Soleil means "Sun City" in English, but it sure doesn't look or feel sunny to me. It is one of Haiti's poorest, roughest, and most dangerous areas.

The shantytown was originally designated to house manual labourers but with its extreme poverty, persistent unemployment, high rates of illiteracy, the unsanitary conditions due to the absence of public services, and rampant crime and uncontrolled violence, it has become a microcosm of Haiti's problems as a whole.

Not only is Cité-Soleil the poorest area of the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere it is also becoming one of the most dangerous as armed gangs roam the streets. Murder, rape, kidnapping, pillage, and shootings are common as every few blocks is controlled by a rival armed faction, such factions said to number over thirty-two.

Most of the residents of Cité-Soleil are children or young adults. Few live past the age of fifty; they die from disease, including AIDS, or violence. Since December 2006, UN Peacekeepers and Haitian National Police have been involved in intense operations and frequent gunbattles with armed gangs, resulting in the deaths of 30 people, including 20 gang members. A total of two UN soldiers and ten policemen have died and ten have been wounded.

There's more written about Cite Soleil..but i think picture speaks louder than words..





I was pondering on how a country can come to this devastating stage, and then I remembered a conversation Thomas and I had with a friend from Jamaica. Worrell told us that Haiti is one of the countries with most witchcraft activities. The leadership of the country have basically given the country over to the devil. Many people are involved in witchcraft, vodoo and demonic activities. And the result is clearly seen today..take a look at a country that have given their souls to the devil.

Hmm..

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

it is really horrible there. i was there over spring break last year on a missions trip and it is so much like the pictures. definitely was one of the hardest days of the trip

Berylynn said...

Wow. There's actually a mission trip there! That's great. I bet i was life changing. Thanks for reading my blog.