Public Project
Thousands displaced in Port-au-Prince, 2021
Although roads were inaccessible, blocked by armed gangs cutting off Port-au-Prince from the south, I visited one displacement center in June 2021 in Carrefour, a neighborhood on the outskirts of the city which housed more than 1500 people.
In the weeks leading up to Moïse’s assassination, gangs shot and killed Darline’s husband, burning his body and forcing the 34-year-old to flee with her children. I sat with another woman, Sala, 49, who came to the center with her five children. A crowd began to form around us, it was hot and cramped, some kids played cards and tag. She had worked as a Madan Sara before being forced to flee, and would transport produce from the provinces to sell in Port-au-Prince. The gangs burnt her home and took her commerce. The street they lived on was called Lajwa, Creole for joy.
"We are in a war zone."
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