a67: Re: 40: Safety in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Pascal Antoine <pascal.antoine@verizon.net>

>We are scheduled to depart for Pap on Thursday...
> The obvious question is, should we go?

You are probably unlikely to get an immediate response from anyone in Port-Au-Prince since my friends (who are there now) inform me that the entire city is without electricity. Atlhough I'm not there now, I have been there during recent troubled times and would like to say that Haiti is very resilient and can bounce back from such events very quickly.

According to my friends over there, business was back to normal today and yesterday and, in some places, you would hardly see anything out of the ordinary. Since many people believe this coup was staged, this doesn't seem to be like other times of tension when businesses were closed and tire barricades burned for days on end.

By the time you get there everything may be fine. Needless to say, I'm always cautious when I go to Haiti anywy and take the following additional precautions during times of tension:

1- During times of tension, don't travel alone. Make sure you are with someone who knows the surroundings.

2- Allow extra vacation days just in case flights are cancelled and you can't make it back in time.

3- Do not stay out too late and avoid isolated areas at all cost.

If the atmosphere is not tense (and you can tell by the general mood, how many businesses are opened, and how late people stay out) then I feel you can ignore all the warnings above.


Pascal Antoine
HaitiXchange
http://www.HaitiXchange.com
Peyi Nou Pap Tonbe!