“The energy of Haiti makes you feel more real with yourself and others. It makes you feel like you’ve been stripped down to your core being, and naturally show your character that you’ve been building throughout the course of your life. A country with such a strong sense of culture, a harsh and violent past that demonstrates the determination of the country to be the first Black nation to win their independence, presents an energy that gives you force…though naturally presents challenges at times. You think about what it means to be in survival mode, and find yourself sometimes relating to this term, but in the best way possible. 

The people are far from being passive, robotic, autonomous, and quiet. If you are working here, you question why you are doing what you do, what it is bringing to people, how are people responding to it, and this makes you want to do the best you can. At the end of the day, you know that as a foreigner, you will never go unnoticed, and so you find yourself immersing in the culture. The human relations in Haiti are remarkable and perhaps what contribute to sharing energy to move forward, and in peace. The culture shock gives life perspective (also remembering that the US is only 1.5hrs away) and introspection on humanity in the 21^st century.

The energy of Haiti is vibrant: the colors of the houses, motorcycles swerving through hectic traffic, live voudou nighttime drumming, excessively loud konpa playing in taptaps (pick-up trucks turned into public transport), carnival celebrations, the spices in its cuisine, the fruit and meat street markets, church services spilling onto the street, its untamed beautiful mountainous and tropical nature. It is a place that you will leave never feeling the same as you did when you first arrived…”

– Elektra Carras

044/100 of #100DaysofConfessions Instagram Project