Category Archives: community coalition for haiti

The average lifespan of a Haitian Pickup

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The average lifespan of a truck in Haiti is three years. Toyota Tacomas and Chevy Silverados are the vehicles of choice for many NGOs followed by Range Rovers. Last week, I shot for three days in the southeast of Haiti and two days in the Northern Plateau. My project last week was to shoot several Community Coalition for Haiti projects in each area for presentation to our board.

Donkey Traffic on the track between Pignon and Bahon.

I am a board member for CCH and also handle the photo library and web site duties. Three of our Community Economic Development projects are between Pignon and Limonade. The back roads between Pignon and Limonade are the worst of the worse. The dust could choke a horse. The plants alongside the road are caked with a yellow-brown dust.

Driving toward Bahon

To get to these projects involves saddling up a 4×4 with extra food, gasoline, water and food in case of a breakdown. The road traverses several streams and two mountain ranges and is best attempted during the dry season.

Four-wheeling near Saint Malon.

The roads in Haiti are in my opinion, the worst in the Western Hemisphere. They are littered with the remnants of broken down Tap-Taps, 4×4 and cargo trucks.

Abandoned Tap-Tap near Non Monbim.

Descending toward Riviere du Nord

Crossing one of several streams on the road between Cap-Rouge and Jacmel.

One of the joys of driving without a fan belt is the obligatory stop to freshen up the radiator.

On the road to Lavalee

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Spent the day shooting in a remote village that sits upon the spine of a ridge along the coast west of Jacmel, Haiti.

It’s funny and a weird disconnect to see Haitian school children, in their immaculate uniforms, walking along a broken, unpaved road, their backpacks laden with homework as the stand back from the dust swirling from passing tap-taps or the occasional convoy of relief trucks from NGO’s and yet they smile at us as we go by in our 4×4.

To see four people sitting on the back of an overladen Chinese manufactured 125cc motorcycle as it chugs up the hill, dodging both people and potholes is to appreciate purpose and beauty in motion.

Next week, when I return, I will show a tight edit from this adventure.

Haiti Images – a collection from the past five years

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For the past 12 years, I have shot in Haiti at least twice a year with the exception of 2004 when we cancelled our trips. Every shoot has been in support of the Community Coalition for Haiti, a faith-based NGO in Northern Virginia. I serve on the CCH board as the resident photographer and web master. CCH has been involved in Haiti since 1987, primarily sending medical teams to the Central Highlands. These teams were accompanied by missionaries, lay people and a wide array of specialized talent such as well diggers, water specialists, carpenters and electricians. The first few years I shot primarily with my Leicas and a mix of Tri-X at 800 and Fuji Provia or Kodak EPP. Since 2005, I’ve shot digital with the Canons and for the past two years with Nikons.

This afternoon, I processed 371 images from these shoots as a master collection to be used for CCH print advertising, Powerpoint/Keynote presentations, emails to donors, our web site (cchaiti.org) and for prints.

These are a few of my favorites from the collection. I hope you enjoy them.

Children in a grove outside of Pignon, Haiti


In the clinic at Saint-Raphaël


This young man was collecting puddle water for drinking and cooking.


Nuns dancing and singing with children from Port au Prince after the earthquake


Man carrying sugar cane stalks near Cayes Jacmel


Young boy in the Seguin Clinic holding his older sister's hands


Young man with malnutrition.


This young baby was near death from dehydration when we arrived at her mothers home. A CCH volunteer doctor and nurse took the child and mother to the Cayes Jacmel hospital. The baby made a full recovery.


A young boy suffering from severe malnutrition near Sequin.


A young girl was admitted to the Cayes Jacmel hospital suffering from dehydration. Within 24 hours she was on her way a full recovery.


Earthquake survivors camp in Jacmel.

Heart for Haiti Auction – update

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The Heart for Haiti auction is live and the bidding has begun.

My aerial of the National Cathedral of Haiti, shot after the earthquake and fire, is part of this auction and show at the Aperture gallery in New York City. The exhibition opens this Wednesday evening at six.
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All proceeds from the auction go to Doctors without Borders/MSF. I have worked with MSF/Doctors without Borders in partnership with the Community Coalition for Haiti, an NGO whose members have worked in Haiti since the mid-eighties. I have been a member of their board since 2001.

Most images in the auction started off with an initial bid of $250. As of this morning, my print is currently at $525. The aerial is LOT 33 in the auction.

Please check out the auction site and if in New York, the gallery opening.

http://www.aperture.org/gallery/
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Aerials of Port au Prince destruction

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This evening I uploaded two new galleries to my portfolio site – Port au Prince Aerials and Rural Medical. The aerial images of destruction in Port Au Prince will be available through Corbis within the next few days.
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National Cemetery
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Cité Soleil
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Tent City in the middle of Port au Prince
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The Presidential Palace
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Destroyed Homes in Port au Prince

The Seguin Plateau

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Monday I dove into a environmental clash story and and spent the day in Central Virginia photographing one side of a complex issue. It was windy, cold and I was fighting to not show the snow in the photographs. Low angles worked along with overpowering the available light with strobe. It is a good story and I enjoyed the challenge of shooting a piece for a summer issue while winter is still on the horizon.

Less then thirty-six hours earlier, I was savoring the last remnants of Haitian heat and humidity as I waited for the flight home. American upgraded me to Business Class which was unexpected and a nice way to close out the week of photographing the poorest of the poor in southeastern mountains of Haiti. Last week I spent three days photographing a team of medical professionals from the Community Coalition for Haiti as they traveled to remote villages in the Sequin Plateau. The second day we set up a clinic in a small church with no windows and three small doors. The light was amazing and I shot what I feel is my strongest work to date in Haiti.

Here are a few of my favorites. Two new galleries will go up on my portfolio site tomorrow. These are the teasers.

Tomorrow I’ll show more aerials of Port Au Prince and the destruction of the city. A set of these images will go to Corbis and to aerialstock.com.
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Alien Skin twenty-percent sale for Haiti Relief

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The good folks at Alien Skin software (the makers of the incredible Exposure 2 plug-in for photoshop) are donating ten-percent of their sales through the end of the month to the Red Cross and the Community Coalition for Haiti – the NGO that I shoot for and am a member of their board of directors. In addition to donating ten-percent of their sale, they are also offering twenty-percent off through the end of the month. Which is pretty cool!
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Last Haiti Post for a while.

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Yesterday I photographed dedicated utility crews working to restore power in Northern Virginia. The Mid-Atlantic rarely is slammed with heavy snows and this is the second of the season – both twenty plus inches. Another storm is workings its way across the country and I expect we will see between eight to ten inches by Wednesday morning.
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Canadian Forces members who helped CCH transport a mobile operating room from Santa Domingo to Cayes Jacmel. Also shown is Karen Carr, Director of CCH and Knox Singelton, Chairman of Inova Health Systems and CCH board member.

I wanted to update everyone about the Community Coalition for Haiti impact so far. What has helped us is our long standing commitment to Haiti. Core members of our group have been traveling to Haiti to perform and assist Haitian medical professionals since the late eighties.

TO DATE CCH HAS:
Treated over 8,000 patients in PAP, Pignon, Jacmel, Cay Jacmel, and Leogane.
Shipped in 22 tons of medical supplies including a 16 ton mobile Operating Unit donated to CCH by a Swiss consortium.
Shipped in 2 tons of food and water, 1 ton of tents and tarps, with more cargo planes flying in this week ($1 provide 1 lb. of food directly to areas where 50-75% of the structures were damaged and people are living in tents cities to survive)
Sent in 7 medical teams (49 doctors and nurses) to some of the most devastated areas of Haiti including Port-au-Prince, Jacmel, Cay Jacmel, Pignon, and Leogane.
Organized the collection and distribution of medical supplies for the Southwest Department of Haiti in cooperation with the Haitian Health Minister of the Southwest
Established ambulatory care system fro patient transfer and treatment in the Jacmel region
Providing ongoing triage and primary care at Hospital Saint Michel in Jacmel

There is a good chance that I will return to Haiti in late February for a week. This will be a good one. We will travel to remote villages where I’ll shoot stills and video of Haitian patients, villages and our team.
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Patients waiting for treatment at Hospital Saint Michelle.
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On the road to Lavalee in the mountains near Jacmel.