🇭🇹 Haiti · Les Grenadiers

Afore I went tae Haiti, iverybody wis askin the same question

Hamecomin through the een o a diaspora player

Frantzdy Pierrot (Frantzdy Pierrot) said ae thing efter trainin. That thing wisnae aboot fitba—tho he's a striker for the Haiti naitional team, plays for a club in France, an is ane o the few that can represent Haiti on the international stage. He said: 'Ivery time I gang back tae Haiti, the customs officers at Port-au-Prince (Port-au-Prince) airport ken ma mither. Nae because o fitba—because she uised tae sell banana breid on the street ootside the airport.'

I startit frae that sentence. Nae because it's aboot fitba, but because it instantly opened anither entry intae Haiti: ane nae defined bi travel advisories, but made up o hamecomin memories an daily resilience.

Haiti - Citadelle Laferriere — Haiti · Citadelle Laferriere

Haiti (Haiti) lies in the Caribbean, sharin the island o Hispaniola (Hispaniola) wi the Dominican Republic (Dominican Republic). It's ane o the puirest kintras in the Wastren Hemisphere, haein suffered overlappin blows o political turmoil, gang conflict an natural disasters ower the past few years. Maist kintras' travel advice for Haiti in 2025 says the same thing: 'Dinna gang.' But Haiti is an aa the first independent republic foondit bi a Black slave rebellion. This kintra declared its existence in 1804 ahint the stane waas o Citadelle Laferriere (Citadelle Laferriere)—ower 200 year later, that fortress is still staunin.

The moment o arrivin in Port-au-Prince (Port-au-Prince) wisnae bonnie. Kompa (Kompa) music blared oot o battered speakers in the airport hall—that rhythm that twists African drumbeats thegither wi Caribbean melodies, makkin ye want tae shift yer shooders. Twa wee bairns squeezed amang the crowd waitin for luggage tae help me carry ma bags—nae oot o kindness, but hopin for a tip. The heat an humidity o the air wis mair suffocatin than the tarmac ootside. Truth be telt: Haiti's first impression isnae romantic. But I decided nae tae gild nor blacken it, juist tae record it.

Alang the coast road north, through dry scrub an the odd roadside market, Cap-Haïtien (Cap-Haïtien) appeared on the horizon. Citadelle Laferriere (Citadelle Laferriere)—the biggest fortress in the Wastren Hemisphere—crouches on a 900-metre tap o a hill, like a stane beast. The road up tae it is sae steep that the horses' gasps are looder than their bells. When I got tae the tap, pantin, I leaned on a 200-year-auld stane wa, an a local guide said: 'Dae ye ken, this castle wis never attacked. It's sae big that naebody dared tae come.' In the empty grund at the fuit o the hill, weans were playin fitba. The pitch wis marked wi the same red an blue lines as the Haitian flag—squeezin a naitional monument an a daily fitba match intae the same picture. That's the truest rhythm o Haiti's story.

Jacmel (Jacmel) is a city made o papier-mâché an paint—its carnival masks are the maist intricate airtworks in the whole Caribbean, an the craftsmen that mak them maistly live in hooses withoot electricity. A papier-mâché mask maker wis squattin at his door, workin. The mask in his haunds wis half a smile, half a roar—a lion's mane turned intae human teeth, bird feathers meltin intae African patterns. 'Iverybody wears a mask at carnival,' he said, 'but unner the mask is the real Haiti. There's fear there, an anger, an aa a rhythm that can mak ye dance till dawn. Haitians never wear juist ae mask.' I minded o Wilde-Donald Guerrier (Wilde-Donald Guerrier)—the Haiti naitional team winger, wha walked frae the sooth coast o Port-à-Piment (Port-à-Piment) tae the pitches o Europe. The path o his life is like Jacmel (Jacmel)'s masks: half hardship, half a licht that forces the warld tae tak notice.

Griot——炸猪肉块配辣腌菜（pikliz）——的香味从路边摊飘出三里。老板娘是个六十岁左右的女人，腰上围着一条褪色的围裙，看到我在拍照，笑着往我的盘子里多夹了两块肉：'多吃点，你看上去需要。'Pikliz的辣度不亚于任何一种亚洲辣酱——海地人用辣味应对炎热，应对贫困，应对所有不能靠抱怨解决的问题。在Griot的油锅里、在街角的Kompa音乐里、在市场妇女剥豆角的手速里，我看到了一种我无法用'韧性'之外的词来描述的东西。

离开海地的前一晚，我在太子港一家酒店的阳台上看着远处山上的点点灯光——那不是路灯，那是蜡烛和煤油灯，是断电区域的日常。我想起了旅行警告中那些冰冷的措辞——'犯罪率高'、'基础设施不足'、'不建议前往'。这些陈述没有错。但只读这些陈述，你不会知道海地人怎么做得出整个加勒比最辣的腌菜；你不会知道Citadelle的石头为什么200年不倒；你不会知道Pierrot的母亲为什么会在机场外卖香蕉面包，而二十年后她儿子会在国际赛场上把海地的名字踢进世界的视线。