Church service on Champs des Mars
A boy gets bathed on a sidewalk in Champs des MarsJanuary 24, 2010
Sunday open air church service, Champs de Mars. Probably the biggest plaza in Port-au-Prince is now the biggest tent city. They have left an amphetheater and plaza open where people gathered for church. I heard the singing first and told the motorcycle driver to stop (more on that later). There was singing and praying and quite a good group of musicians onstage. For a few hours people probably felt a bit normal, being able to participate in a Sunday routine. The voices and Haitian flags waving was very uplifting. I run into 2 photographers I know who have been here since a day after the earthquake.
The day started out very interesting. Clarens had hired a motorcycle and driver to ferry me around, its easier with the traffic on 2 wheels. There is an extended seat on the motorcycles here for that purpose and a bar behind you to hold on to. With 2 cameras and pouched on my waist, I grabbed onto the bar with 1 hand, holding my cameras steady with the other hand. I looked down at one point to see how fast we were going, the speedometer was stuck at 120 kilometers per hour. Well, we definitely weren't going that fast. We made it safely to Champs de Mars and I toured the tent city after the service. Pretty horrible conditions to live under, people bathed on the sidewalk or near a dried up fountain. They cook on small coal stoves and do laundry at their 'tent'. Most people have simply strung up blankets or plastic tarp. Some have red and gray Coleman camping tents, probably handed out by an aid group. Thin trees with branches cut off are used a lot. Some people have set up small 'stores' where they sell drinks and snacks, not sure where they got them. Giant water bladders are filled by tanker trucks, people can get water at small facets. Doesn't look like much of an end to this existance.
I send the cyclist off at 9am with camera cards for photo editor Ben to make early Europe deadlines. About 1130 Ben starts sending urgent requests to get to the French embassy. AFP has a 3 spots for a tour of the Siroco, a French transport and hospital ship. The alleged early departure for the ship turns out to be 3:00pm, so Daphne, Warwick the video guy and I wait first at the embassy, then at the main port. The only amusing moment was finding boxes of French MREs, or meal ready-to-eat. I studied the menu no. 12, which had as the plat : blanquette de veau and for the hor d'oeuvre : terrine de lapin. Also chocolat a croquer. Not bad.
Sunday open air church service, Champs de Mars. Probably the biggest plaza in Port-au-Prince is now the biggest tent city. They have left an amphetheater and plaza open where people gathered for church. I heard the singing first and told the motorcycle driver to stop (more on that later). There was singing and praying and quite a good group of musicians onstage. For a few hours people probably felt a bit normal, being able to participate in a Sunday routine. The voices and Haitian flags waving was very uplifting. I run into 2 photographers I know who have been here since a day after the earthquake.
The day started out very interesting. Clarens had hired a motorcycle and driver to ferry me around, its easier with the traffic on 2 wheels. There is an extended seat on the motorcycles here for that purpose and a bar behind you to hold on to. With 2 cameras and pouched on my waist, I grabbed onto the bar with 1 hand, holding my cameras steady with the other hand. I looked down at one point to see how fast we were going, the speedometer was stuck at 120 kilometers per hour. Well, we definitely weren't going that fast. We made it safely to Champs de Mars and I toured the tent city after the service. Pretty horrible conditions to live under, people bathed on the sidewalk or near a dried up fountain. They cook on small coal stoves and do laundry at their 'tent'. Most people have simply strung up blankets or plastic tarp. Some have red and gray Coleman camping tents, probably handed out by an aid group. Thin trees with branches cut off are used a lot. Some people have set up small 'stores' where they sell drinks and snacks, not sure where they got them. Giant water bladders are filled by tanker trucks, people can get water at small facets. Doesn't look like much of an end to this existance.
I send the cyclist off at 9am with camera cards for photo editor Ben to make early Europe deadlines. About 1130 Ben starts sending urgent requests to get to the French embassy. AFP has a 3 spots for a tour of the Siroco, a French transport and hospital ship. The alleged early departure for the ship turns out to be 3:00pm, so Daphne, Warwick the video guy and I wait first at the embassy, then at the main port. The only amusing moment was finding boxes of French MREs, or meal ready-to-eat. I studied the menu no. 12, which had as the plat : blanquette de veau and for the hor d'oeuvre : terrine de lapin. Also chocolat a croquer. Not bad.
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