Me and my group watched the documentary: Haiti on Fire. It was a very powerful experience because it showed us another face to the story of the people living there and not just reporters from the outside. I learned a lot about how the people are dealing with their situation. the part where the people interviewed the man at the hospital really spoke to me because he had the courage to speak up about how he really felt about Jimmy Barbecue and how he doesnt care about the people’s lives, he just wants to be power.

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Today, me and my group members watched the documentary, Haiti on Fire, and it taught us quite a bit about Haiti’s current state. The sad reason why the documentary is called ‘Haiti on Fire’ is because parts of Haiti, and some citizens of Haiti are lit on fire right now. One of the multiple things we learned was that your friends could die at any moment, Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Cherizier’s barber had died just randomly, it just shows how surprising and violent Haiti can really be. The documentary was very graphic and showed some people that were actually burned alive.

In Haiti, there are two ‘rival’ groups/gangs, the G9, and the G-Pep. Both of them hate each other and have different views on what they want Haiti to be. In Haiti, there are multiple views of how Jimmy Barbecue is as a person. People say that Jimmy Barbecue will ruin Haiti, he is a cannibal, murderer, and he burns people alive. On the other hand, Jimmy Cherizier and his gang think of him as an idol. He wants to be president and he says he will save Haiti. The documentary shows Jimmy Cherizier as a somewhat decent person. But people describe him as much worse things. Overall, we learned a lot more background on the gang violence in Haiti.

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We interviewed my father, Emmanuel Alexandre on December 19. We asked him questions about his experiences in Haiti and what he thought we as students could do to help. I got suggestions about how to help this cause even as a student in a nother country. Him sharing his experiences with us helped us unerstand really what we as a group are dealing with and that the problem isnt just the gangs, but how people are treated in general. It was very helpfull to have someone to share that has had these experiences firsthand. overall, this meeting was a good way to open the path to understanding haiti’s history without only focusing on the downsides.

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On Thursday, December 19th, me and my group members had an interview with Emmanuel Alexandre Jr, Massamba’s father. We talked about the gang violence and how they’re taking over areas in the country. We learned that there isn’t just physical violence, but there is sex trafficking and many other issues. Emmanuel also shared a few stories. Including one where he talked about how one day he was woken up, and there was marching outside about an issue there.

There isn’t much we can do about helping for the issue, all we can really do is donate to organizations that will help make schools higher quality for the kids. Emmanuel also suggested that we reach out people that immigrated from Haiti or experience violence in the area. The infamous gang leader, Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Cherizier’, him and his gang had killed the old prime minister of Haiti. One of the main messages we got is that, even though were students, we should try as much as we can. I’m looking forward to learning more about this.

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