The Future of Dreams

Is this a metaphor or something?

We drive by the Place St. Pierre, and I am surprised by the brown, compacted, desolate parts, where the people have been paid by the mayor to leave (and go where?). The occupied parts are as dense as ever, raggedly concealed from the street. Catching a glimpse through the outer barrier, I see a little open area with children and a woman, crouching down in her underclothes. It is starting to get hot again, but I wonder if she knows she can be seen, whether it even matters in the context of her situation. All these people, so tightly packed together, with crude doors that cannot be locked. Their privacy is violated on an hourly basis.




As we continue up the mountains that lead to our little castle, secure and with space for me to be alone, I speculate. When this time passes into history, will it have changed the dreams and values of these people? If so, how? There is certainly the chance that life in a camp is just too similar to the life many had before for change, full of insecurity, poor living conditions, and intermittent access to services. The number of people who live in these sorts of camps is now estimated at 800,000, down from an initial estimate (always only an estimate) of 1.5 million people.

I limit my speculation on dreams to the urban planning level, of houses and community. Will the formerly displaced worship space of their own- suburban style? Will there be a mass exodus to the country, to other countries to finally be alone? Will there be a lasting fear of others because of the few who took advantage of the vulnerabilities of the many? Or will that old dream of a concrete wall and floor and a tin roof be enough to satisfy that need. If fear becomes the new decision-maker, how will it change the urban and rural landscape of Haiti?

I really can't imagine it going the other way, a desire to live densely together, especially not vertically. Here and now, multi story buildings are equivalent to the pancaked stacks still sitting where they fell. These former buildings are still, but they scream at you every time you see them. Perhaps people will become even more acculturated to living densely on the horizontal plane, but I imagine that will be closely related to one's personal experience in the camps. Were they protected by their neighbors, or victimized? Were they forcibly evicted, with their shelter and personal possessions destroyed by police or given new houses by NGOs?

The new neighborhood