12697: A different perspective on the Dominican (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: thor burnham <thorald_mb@hotmail.com>

August 7, 2002

Dear Corbettlist:

Subject Line: Dominican Republic; Haitian Students abroad; Haitian frontier;

A couple of weeks ago I returned to Port-au-Prince after a 3 ½ week research
trip/vacation to the city of Santiago in the northwest of the Dominican
Republic. A student at the Agricultural college in Santiago was on his way
back to Santiago to defend his master’s thesis and asked if I would like to
tag along. I jumped at the opportunity, since it was my first chance to get
up close and personal with the D.R. I have several observations:

1)	There is a vibrant Haitian student community in Santiago. They organize
social events (local discos have Haitian student night where they play
kompas and other Haitian favourites), have student organizations, and are
active participants in the student activities at their respective schools.
(I should mention here that Santiago is a university town. The private
catholic university PUCMM, the Agricultural College and U.T.E.S.A are the
three major schools, with several smaller ones there as well.) Furthermore,
the students come from all over Haiti, with a particular concentration, not
surprisingly, from Cap Haitian and Port-au-Prince. Numbers are hard to
ascertain, and I asked a lot of people, but the guesstimates ranged from
500-2000.  Estimates of the number of Haitians studying in Santo Domingo at
the Autonomous University ranged from 5-10 thousand, but once again,
guesstimates.
2)	The students are studying a wide range of subjects. I personally met 15
medical students, men and women, as well as a number of agriculture students
involved in forestry, crop research etc.  Others are studying architecture,
engineering, mechanics, business administration and nursing.  Of course,
these only represent the “most visible” portion of the Haitian student body.
  By accident—I was at a cyber café—when a group of 6 young students came
in.  They spoke English, Spanish, French and Haitian and talked at length.
Obviously from wealthier families and attending the prestigious and
well-funded Catholic University, they are, nonetheless, Haitians studying in
the Dominican.  That being said, I think it is safe to say that class/colour
lines are maintained in that instance.  And there are obviously a number of
non-elite Haitians studying at the Catholic University.
3)	The level of integration among Haitian and Dominican students is much
deeper than I had imagined, albeit with qualifications.  Every male medical
student I met had at least one Dominican girlfriend, and the ones I know
best are on excellent terms with the families of the women they are dating.
That being said, I did not see the reverse. I did not personally see one
example of a Haitian woman dating a Dominican man.  This doesn’t mean it
isn’t happening, but I didn’t see it, nor did other people know of
particular instances.
4)	Levels of discrimination seem to vary. Some of the students recounted
various    instances where they were deliberately harassed or intimidated by
the police/immigration, yet at the same time there does seem to be “an ease”
with which they function in Santiago.  The same cannot be said, however, for
Haitians living in Santiago who are not students. And they are everywhere.
Amidst the construction boom in the Dominican you will find that most of the
publicly visible workers are Haitian. This includes not just the large
tower/apartment complexes, but the smaller business and homes projects as
well.  It is also common practice to have Haitians live in unfinished
buildings, acting as worker-tenant-security guards until the building is
complete. On a number of occasions the road crews had a Dominican supervisor
in charge of a group of Haitians. Of course, this is not all. In the
informal sector many of the fruit and vegetable vendors that go door to door
are Haitians.  If you go to the center of the old city, or the colonial
zone, you’ll find a large number of Haitians selling on the streets.  One
evening while I was waiting outside Tricom I sat and talked with a man from
Gonaive. He told me that he had been coming into Santiago to work for a few
months at a time for several years. He said he is the father of five
children and finds that his time in the D.R. is the difference between
whether or not the kids get to school.  He picks up small construction or
carpentry jobs and then returns back to Gonaive for four or five months.
However, intimidation and harassment in the Dominican, while real and
obviously inappropriate, must be weighed against a number of factors.  My
Haitian friends told me that the police will essentially perform a shakedown
on the poorer workers and the non-students.  They won’t necessarily imprison
them, but they will ask for a small bribe large enough to buy a couple of
beers after their shift is over.
5)	The frontier seems to bear this out. Generally, I was informed that the
border guards pretty much let anyone into the country if you can get the
money necessary to buy a visa.  It seems apparent, as was my experience,
that if you are a first time visitor to the Dominican, via the frontier,
expect to pay a small bribe, or you will wait a long time.  In my case, it
was about 30 U.S., although I was told later that I could have paid less if
I didn’t have U.S. currency on me.  (Unfortunately for me this advice came
after the fact.)  A Haitian friend that came to stay with us a week after
our arrival ended up suffering a number of travails.  She had to pay a small
“raket”, in Haiti, to get a visa, which was later declared “false” at the
frontier. She was quickly informed that this was not a problem since if she
paid a hundred Haitian dollars they would let her in regardless.  It seems
to be that first time travelers are hit up for the bribe. After that they
apparently let you alone, so I’m told.  The “raket” at the frontier was
almost too comical to get pissed off about.  The car we were driving had
Dominican plates, which you would think would make a difference to how one
is treated at the border.  In fact, what happened was 4 border agents in
civilian clothes with glocks stuck in their pants descended around the
vehicle writing down serial numbers, asking my Haitian friend questions and
generally doing their best to find something to make him fork over some
money.  The border guards could barely keep a straight face, since they knew
that we knew that it was a complete façade.  After 10 minutes of questioning
and writing down numbers the guy in charge asks about the old computer and
monitor in the trunk. (We’re talking a 1990 model here). My friend explains
that it is an old computer for a Dominican friend.  “But my friend, you know
we cannot allow this to cross the border”. My friend responded in excellent
Spanish, “ But it’s a really old computer that was purchased in the
Dominican. Why would you give me a problem?”. The agent replied. “Ah, amigo,
but you know how things are around here; we can’t let you take it across.”
So with that, my friend shook the agent’s hand, at the same time passing a
crumpled up 100 peso bill. “Ok amigo, everything checks out. Have a nice
trip.”
6)	During a number of discussions with my hosts, they attempted to explain
to me the Dominican mentality with respect to Haitians.  For them, they saw
the Dominican’s discrimination based much more on the economic realities of
the Haitians than on skin colour.  As one friend described it:  “If you are
black and you have money in this country, you don’t have a problem.
Therefore, the question isn’t about skin colour, but it is about economic
status.  And the vast majority of Haitians that come to the Dominican are
very poor. It also happens that they are black.”
7)	Funding for school is, as it was explained to me, based on the “informal”
system of family, friends of family and those lucky enough to have people in
the diaspora with disposable cash to pay for tuition.  Some are lucky enough
to have benefactors that live in Canada or the U.S. who have decided to fund
a student’s entire education with monthy stipends.  Somehow, like everything
else, they find the money.

All in all, I’m very glad that I went to Santiago. The Dominican is
obviously much more than the Bateys. And the Haitian population there is
obviously much more than groups of poor migrant workers.  The students are
hopeful that things will change in Haiti so that when they finish they can
return and make a difference.  One of the young women in medical school
wants to return to Port-au-Prince to open a medical clinic after her
training is finished.  Others are less hopeful.  Haiti’s loss will be the
Dominican’s gain, or Canada’s or the United States’.  Imagine having new
graduates in your work force that speak Haitian, French, Spanish and
English.
	For many of the Haitian students, the Dominican is an example of the
possibilities of development.  The roads are in good shape and are
maintained.  And, although the electricity leaves in the morning and doesn’t
return until the evening, it is by and large consistent.  And don’t think
that Haiti is the only place where you can here a community cheer when the
power finally comes on.  The difference is that in the Dominican it’s a
question of when, not if.

Best,
Thor Burnham


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