Warm sea, hot sun, soft white beaches and picturesque nature - this is how Haiti is drawn to many travelers. However, among all this splendor, in the very heart of the country - its capital Port-au-Prince, there is a small area where even local law enforcement officers once again try not to go.
This is the City Soleil area, located on the outskirts of the main city of Haiti. There is absolutely no sewerage here, there is practically no electricity, right under the windows of houses and on the roads there are huge garbage heaps. Most of the region's population lives in cramped huts and barracks.
Due to unsanitary conditions and the lack of basic conditions in City Soleil, outbreaks of various diseases, including cholera, often occur. In addition, the crime rate in the area is several times higher than anywhere else in the country.
Made things worse strong earthquake 2010, when, as a result of destruction, several hundred prisoners managed to escape from a local prison.
Everyone knows that every country and every city is beautiful in its own way. Going on a trip, you need to familiarize yourself with all the "nuances" of a particular country. Few people know the list of the most dangerous areas in famous cities. Editorial website asks to pay special attention to this list so that the journey does not become fatal.
City Soleil District, Haiti
At first glance, it may seem that the Republic of Haiti is a rather beautiful and calm part of our planet. But in fact, everything is somewhat different. If by chance you find yourself here, please avoid City Soleil. This area is dangerous for tourists and even local residents. The area has a high crime rate. Poverty reigns here, therefore, the number of viral diseases is growing. Many do not live up to 50 years here. Area Las 3.000 Viviendas, Spain
Despite the fact that tourists come to Spain from different countries, it is here that there are quite a few dangerous areas. Of course, it is unlikely that you will get here. Not a single taxi driver will take you in a given direction, because he knows well what is happening there. Every evening street races take place here, during the day you can hear a shootout. It is always restless here, at any time, day or night. Ferentari District, Romania
The Ferentari area is located in the beautiful city of Bucharest, Romania. But for tourists, the road there is a taboo. It is better not to include roads that lead to this area in your itinerary. Except stink, dirt and a large number garbage, there are a lot of wild, angry and sick dogs. The crime rate here is relatively low, but tourists can often be robbed and left even without shoes. Favela Rocinha, Brazil
Favelas are slums in Brazilian cities. Different areas of the city are very dangerous, it is undesirable to be here. Brazil has a thriving drug trade, so each area has its own baron. Every second person has a weapon, people are not treated with ceremony here. If you go to Brazil, try not to get into the Rocinha favela, where until recently the famous criminal Erismar Rodriguez Moreira lived. Kibera slum, Kenya
Many unemployed women are involved in prostitution here. In this part of Africa live the leaders of famous gangs and criminal gangs. The authorities do not interfere in the affairs of residents, so fraud, robbery and murder have become a natural phenomenon in the area. Kings Cross, Australia
Once here, try to evaporate as quickly as possible. Without doing this, you risk becoming a victim of murderers and scammers. In the area, unemployment has become a chronic disease that affects many. Troyeshchyna, Ukraine
Not so long ago, it was Troyeshchina that was included in the list of unfavorable places for tourists. The British magazine published an article with data from Google maps, where Troeshchena is shown not from better side. The number of robberies in this part of Kyiv is constantly increasing. Stolpinovo District, Bulgaria
The Stolpinovo area is the largest gypsy area in Europe, where it is dangerous to be. At best, a tourist can be robbed, and at worst, everything can end in death. Robbery, car theft, and murder are constantly organized in this area. Tepito District, Mexico
The Tepito area is one of the most dangerous and is located in Mexico City, the capital of Mexico. This area is one of the ten most criminal in the world due to the high percentage of crime: human trafficking, drugs, prostitution, numerous robberies and robberies, constant shooting. This area has become a kind of arena for the "performance" of various bandits and a showdown. Golyanovo District, Moscow
The Moskovsky district is located on the outskirts of the capital, and the guide highly recommends not visiting this place. Golyanovo falls into the top three most dangerous areas due to high crime. People live in poverty, out of desperation they rush to the criminal lair, where the laws are not written. | The country | |
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| Coordinates | / / 18.57778; -72.33194Coordinates : |
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| Climate type | tropical trade wind |
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| Density | 12,154 people/km² |
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Notes
Probably me, my friend. I think you changed something in me. Go to Vladyko, Isidora. He is your only hope. Go before it's too late.I didn't answer him. And what could I say? .. That I do not believe in the help of the White Magus? I do not believe that he will make an exception for us? And that's exactly what was true! And that's why I didn't want to go to him to bow. Perhaps it was selfish to do so, perhaps unwise, but I couldn't help myself. I no longer wanted to ask for help from my father, who had once betrayed his beloved son ... I did not understand him, and did not completely agree with him. After all, he COULD save Radomir. But I didn’t want to ... I would give anything in the world for the opportunity to save my sweet, brave girl. But, unfortunately, I didn’t have such an opportunity... Even if they kept the most precious (KNOWLEDGE), the Magi still had no right to harden their hearts to such an extent as to forget simple philanthropy! To destroy compassion. They turned themselves into cold, soulless "librarians" who sacredly guarded their library. Only now the question was whether they remembered, having closed in their proud silence, FOR WHOM this library was once intended?.. Did they remember that our Great Ancestors left their KNOWLEDGE so that it would help them grandchildren to save our beautiful Earth? For some reason, it always seemed to me that those whom our ancestors called Gods would not allow their best sons and daughters to die just because the “right” time was not yet on the threshold! For if the blacks slaughter all the enlightened ones, then there will be no one else to understand even the best library...
Anna carefully watched me, apparently hearing my sad thoughts, and in her kind radiant eyes there was an adult, stern understanding.
“We won’t go to him, Mommy. We’ll try it ourselves,” my brave girl said with a gentle smile. We still have some time left, don't we?
Sever looked at Anna in surprise, but, seeing her determination, did not utter a word.
And Anna was already admiringly looking around, only now noticing what wealth surrounded her in this marvelous treasury of Caraffa.
Today is the last day of filming. What I am very happy, I already really want to go home. For half a day I pack my things for tomorrow's departure, and by three o'clock a driver picks me up.
We are going to the slum City Soleil (City of the Sun) - according to the UN, the most dangerous place in Haiti. At the entrance to the slum, my second fixer Willio is waiting for me, with whom I already worked a couple of days ago. Willio was born in Soleil City and promises that no one will touch me here.
You can take pictures of anything, - he says, - everyone here knows me. The people here are good, even the guys from the street gangs treat the guests of the slum with respect, because few foreigners come here. Of course, I wouldn't advise you to come here alone.
Willio says that even the UN soldiers are very rarely in Soleil City. For international mission workers, this is a “no go zone”. A few years ago, there was a real war here between MINUSTAH (UN) soldiers and local bandits. And when the earthquake destroyed the city prison, many escaped prisoners took refuge in the City of the Sun. Now they are hiding from the police, and there are often shootouts between gangsters and government officials. Bullet holes are visible on almost every one of the houses on the main street.
Villio found me two Restave boys, one of them is called Faustin, he is 16 years old. He lives in a barn next to the owner's house. Faustina's mother died a few years ago, a provincial drug addict father sold the child into slavery to a poor family in Soleil City four years ago in exchange for a dose. Since then, the boy has been working for his owners, who do not even give him food. After he finishes chores around the house, he goes to the seashore to catch fish for dinner. He exchanges it for clothes. The boy does not go to school.
Willio tries to help the boy, sometimes tossing him vegetables or change. In the evenings, when the owner Faustina comes home drunk, he beats the boy with a whip. His screams are heard throughout the street. “We can't do anything,” Willio sighs. “It’s not customary here to interfere in the affairs of someone else’s family.”
After I finish photographing the boy, he grabs my hand and asks for something in Creole.
He says, can you place him in some shelter, - Willio translates.
I remember the orphanage run by the priest Sergio and I call Shinaida. She promises to talk to Sergio and writes down the boy's data.
We go deeper into the City of the Sun, where another Restave boy named Etienne lives. He doesn't know exactly how old he is. Eleven or twelve, Willio suggests. Parents gave Etienne 32-year-old Rene, the owner of a small grocery store in a slum. Willio works from morning till night in René's shop and house. He does not let him go not only to school, but even to the next block. When I start photographing Etienne, his owner puts his hand on his shoulder and tries to put a smoking cigarette in the boy's mouth. I lower the camera so as not to provoke Rene into bullying a child for the camera.
We thank the boy and leave the block. Until dark, we walk around City Soleil, where I already take street photography in a relaxed way. The City of the Sun is a real paradise for photographers, every minute some completely ridiculous shots from local life appear in front of your camera - just have time to capture it.
Here is a girl running somewhere in her mother's long pink dress, its hem dragging along the dirt of the road, on which local rappers dance with radio tape recorders in their hands.
On another street, a young pregnant woman in nothing but a skirt and bra pours soapy water from a basin under the wheels of a passing bicycle, behind her a pig grunts in a ditch, and white doves take off into the sky from a nearby dovecote. Or in a huge landfill, in the midst of tons of garbage at a lonely table, men are cutting into dominoes, multi-colored clothespins in the form of a beard are hung on the face of the loser of the last game, in the form of a beard diverging in different directions from the very ears. I regret not coming here sooner - this would have been a great story about life in a slum. Maybe next time.
Fixer Zoya calls me, asking how my shooting in Soleil City is going. He asks if I have a desire to meet another young woman, a former restavek. I gather my last strength and go to 95 Delma Street, where 21-year-old Muriel lives not far from me. We meet at her friends house. She cannot invite me to her place, so I interview her right on the street. My driver illuminates us with the headlights of his motorcycle.
The girl tells another story of an outcast child who had a difficult childhood in a strange family. After Muriel was raped by her owner five months ago, she ran away from his family and now lives with friends, earning a living as a housekeeper. Three months ago, the girl found out that she was pregnant from the former owner, but decided to keep the child.
As hard as it is for me, I don't want to give it up. I will give him all the love that my parents could not give me. And I will never give my son or daughter to someone else's family.
By nine o'clock I return to my friends' container house. Copying today's photos to hard drives. I stand under a hot shower for ten minutes. I'm making tea. Everything, the shooting is over, tomorrow I'm flying to New York, and then home to Australia. I don’t know if I will be able to return to Haiti again, but I really hope so. The problem of child slavery in this country is so much different parties that there is still work for me here. It remains to be hoped that my project will be of interest not only to the Restavek Freedom Foundation, but also to such a large international organizations like UNISEF or Amnesty International.
Well, that's all, in fact.
Thanks for reading my diary.
Vlad Sokhin, Port-au-Prince, 2013.
From RR-Online: At the moment, Vlad Sokhin, having completed his work in Haiti, has already safely returned to Australia, where he now lives. We would like to thank him for the work done and the unique material he prepared for us. It's great that everything went well. We are also pleased to announce: in one of last days works by Vlad Sokhin in Haiti, it became known that the jury of the competition FCCT OnAsia Photo Contest- one of the premier photojournalism competitions in Asia, awarded him the title Photographer of the Year for photo stories Crying Mary» , « The Last of Dani" And " Cargo cult". (Vlad's material about cargo cults "RR-Online" has already been presented to you under the title "" a month and a half ago). We sincerely congratulate Vlad on this victory and look forward to continuing cooperation with him.
Frames from the photo story "Cargo-cult".
