One of the interesting aspects about being in Haiti is discussing Haiti's relationship with the Dominican Republic and other Caribbean nations with Haitian people, not Haitian-Americans. For instance, when the issue of Dominicans treating Haitian-Dominicans and Haitian migrants like slaves came up, some middle-class Haitians my mom spoke to were very silent. It was as if they were reluctant to reveal their true feelings about it and chose silence as the best option. One upper middle-class Haitian man who has family in Florida actually said something along the lines of, "Well, who could blame them" for Dominican animosity toward lower-class Haitians coming to the Dominican Republic without skills or money.
It seems that Haitians who go to the Dominican Republic for education do not face discrimination, at least according to that older Haitian man and a younger, educated Haitian doctor. Undoubtedly, classism and class privilege of some Haitians shields them from Dominican 'anti-Haitianism,' but even some of them opposed the high numbers of Dominican construction companies in Haiti after the earthquake. And those from poorer families in the smaller towns and countryside frankly told my mother and I that many of them end up going to the Dominican Republic to find work, even though it clearly pains them. Alas, if history were better taught in the Caribbean, I am sure Haitians would have a more critical stance on the Dominican Republic's treatment of marginalized Haitian labor, as well as how the Haitian state has profited from the exchange for decades.
It was interesting to hear from these Haitians about their travel experience in the Dominican Republic, too. Many had been to Santo Domingo, Puerto Plata, and Santiago. The young doctor told me that many Haitian women are in Puerto Plata, and one of their sources of income across the border is actually braiding hair. The roads in the Dominican Republic are better, too, so driving to Santiago or Santo Domingo is not a problem at all. I also had the fortune to meet a lower-class Haitian with education who lived in Santo Domingo for years. He spoke Spanish, Portuguese, English, and, naturally, Kreyol, with ease. He told me he had found work with a Brazilian embassy in the DR, and picked up Portuguese while there. Unfortunately, I did not get to interrogate him on what brought him back to Port-au-Prince or his thoughts on that recent discriminatory ruling against Dominicans of Haitian descent.
Besides the Dominican Republic, Cuba came up a few times. I met a Haitian doctor who trained in Santiago de Cuba. Of course, he spoke fluent Spanish so I tried my best to conjure my Spanish skills and fall back on Kreyol and English to ask him about the Cuban medical program in Haiti. It seems like Haitians get medical training and experiences out of it, while Cubans get a chance to leave Cuba. Indeed, the dormitories at the state hospital I saw once housed a Cuban medical team! Oh, and there are still many people of Haitian origin in Santiago, according to what he said. They seem to be proud of their Haitian heritage, according to Dr. Patrick Bellegarde-Smith, and the Haitian culture survives to some extent. Anyway, the Cuban medical teams have done excellent work in Haiti training doctors and already being on the scene when the earthquake struck. Alas, a US nurse told me that the Cuban-trained doctors are seen as better by the Haitian people than doctors educated in Haiti, just as white doctors were considered better than Haitian-American or African-American doctors by Haitians (according to a Haitian professor I spoke with recently).
Jamaica and the rest of the Caribbean also entered discussion a few times. Jamaica's influence looms large in Haitian music because of reggae (I heard a live reggae band perform at Yanvalou in Port-au-Prince), but also a brief discussion of tourism and Bob Marley with one young Haitian. I admire his love for Haiti and his own business plan (he wants to take in more clients and show them around Haiti, as well as study in the US to help himself and his country), but it sounds like there are lessons from Jamaica's tourist economy that should serve as a warning to Haiti. As for the rest of the Caribbean, Guadeloupe and Martinique came up because the guesthouse owner's parents lived in Guadeloupe for several years. Indeed, Haitians seem to be more easily integrated or accepted in Guadeloupe because of language, or so we were told. Maryse Conde's novels set in Guadeloupe reveal a more nuanced picture, but it sounds like Guadeloupe is a lovely island where many Haitians find work and better circumstances than in Haiti.
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