Due to our location, we were able to take a special "field trip" that other groups did not. Our last Monday after clinic the group hopped on a guagua and headed to Dajabón, the border city between the DR and Haiti (see the map in one of my earlier posts). Mondays and Fridays are market days, which means that both Dominicans and Hatians come to the border to city to sell and buy goods. From what I've heard from people who have visited in the past, market days are crowded and crazy. We weren't able to go until closing time on a rainy day, so it was not as busy as expected, but there was still a fair amount of people left of the market.
Two months ago, the UN opened a building that now serves as the primary location for the market. Prior to this building, the market was outdoors and covered a vast amount of space. A good portion of the market is still outside and is continuing to expand, though there seems to be more order since the UN took control. The market was very dirty; there was trash everywhere. It seemed there was some sense of order, but I really had no idea what. Inside and outside of the building there are stalls that people can rent to sell their goods. Some are tiny, only 5 feet by 5 feet, while some are larger and have doors with locks on them. People sell a variety of things, anything from food to used clothing to toys. From what I could see, much of what people sell comes from donation sent from the US or elsewhere. There were people who just had large piles of clothes that obviously came from some type of collection in the US.
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| Inside the UN building |
Overall, it was a very eye opening experience. Although it might sound silly, I have never felt so white before in my life. There were 11 of us Americans walking around in a market that was entirely Hatian and Dominican. My skin color suddenly seemed very apparent. It was sad to realize that this market is how many people make their livelihood. Selling their pile of donated clothes means food for their family for the week. I had been living in poverty for the past 3 weeks, yes, but the poverty among the Hatians was much greater. I do not know what kind of homes they would return to at the end of the day, but I am sure they are much simpler than what I was living in.
After visiting the market, we took a quick trip to the border. We did not cross it, of course, but we walked up to the gate on one of the bridges that connects the 2 countries (there is a river in between). Before the market moved into the UN building, many Hatians used to cross the border via the river. There is a toll bridge that people are supposed to use, but not everyone could afford to pay the toll. At the time we were there, there were only a few Hatians bathing in the river, but no one crossing. A little ways down the river we could see the toll bridge, which was full of people crossing between the countries.
As soon as we walked onto the bridge, Hatian children starting appearing on the other side of the gate. We would watch them run across the field and up onto the bridge. All of them were too thin, and many of them were without shoes. They would hop the gate and approach us, asking for money, until a Dominican guard of barely 18 would usher them back to their side of the border. I could not see much of Haiti, but seeing the kids alone made me realize that the poverty in the country just next to us is far greater than what I can imagine. It also became apparent how real white privilege is; we were able to approach the border and leave with no question simply because of our skin color.
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| ...and that's Haiti in the background |
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