Haiti, the poorest country of the Western hemisphere

Haiti is a republic, sharing the island Hispanolia with the Dominican Republic. With 27.750 square kilometer it housed a little over 11 million people in 2020. It's been independent since 1804 and the capital is Port-au-Prince.

The country is hit with both natural and human made disasters. On January 12, 2010 Haiti was hit by a large earthquake on January 12, 2010 with at least 230.000 fatal casualties. Shortly after the earthquake Haiti was hit by a cholera epidemic. But Haiti also gets hit by hurricanes with devastating effect on the infrastructure, housing and crops. The human made disasters are the political ones. With violent, corrupt and inefficient governments/leaders there is political unrest already for a long time. A UN-peace keeping force (MUNISTAH) is still active in Haiti. 

And in the midst of all this, a Dutch doctor is trying to do what she can for the Haitian people since 2001. She has a clinic in Passe Catabois, a small town in the north-west of Haiti, where she runs an outpatient clinic and does small surgeries. As a Dutch doctor myself and having been in Haiti several times, you see things and hear things you can't believe. And it's good to remember that the people in that region don't get the same upbringing, education and luxury that we as Westerners receive. Because of the reigning poverty, religious (and non-religious) beliefs and culture they make different choices and remarks that we find strange. But it also shows why it's so difficult to change their ways in to what we believe is the "right" way. 

I, a Dutch doctor working in The Netherlands, set up this blog for my friend who's working as a doctor in Haiti, since internet connections are unstable over there. She will be writing the posts, straight out of real life experiences. So read this blog with an open mind, find it strange, funny or maybe frustrating. But don't judge! Because you don't know how you would think and act if you would have grown up there.