August 25, 2025
Reflections on a capital in distress
There was a time when Port-au-Prince shone with a singular brilliance. Overlooking the bay with its colorful houses, bustling markets, and vibrant public squares, the city was a symbol of Haitian pride. Writers, merchants, students, and dreamers lived there. The capital's effervescence embodied the soul of a country that, despite its wounds, refused to bend.
What we see is a city in moral as well as physical ruin.
Social life has collapsed. Schools are closing. Hospitals are no longer receiving patients. Roads are blocked, shops are deserted, and once-happy neighborhoods have become war zones. Poverty, already omnipresent, has transformed into an organized hell.
And yet... in the tired eyes of the people of Port-au-Prince, there remain embers of hope.
The hope that the international community will not look away. The hope that civil society will continue to organize. The hope that one day, true leadership will emerge, a leadership that will serve the people instead of betraying them.
Port-au-Prince has fallen, but it is not dead. What is needed today is a collective awakening, a refusal to normalize barbarism, and a commitment to restoring the dignity of the city and those who live there.
Because the pearl of the Antilles can still shine, if we have the courage to chase away its shadow.
Source: La Diaspora newspaper
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