A maelstrom of violence is churning through Haiti’s capital. Tens of thousands are trying to flee the grips of ruthless gangs now roaming the streets as the country descends further into a state of anarchy.
Politicians across Haiti are scrambling for power after Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced his impending resignation, spurring violence from powerful gangs demanding to have a say in the future.
Airdrie, Alta., resident Marc Honorat is safe, hunkered down far outside the capital region.
“It’s a total chaos mess, lots of killing, shooting,” he said. “They are torturing people.”
Honorat is the founder of Haiti ARISE, an organization that provides parentless children with a safe place to live and go to school. He said supplies are running thin.
“With the gangs circling Port au Prince, it’s making it really hard to get supplies and the guys that are selling — the business people — if they can’t get their supplies out they use the ocean and it drives the price up so the people cannot afford it,” Honorat said.
Honorat’s wife and children are currently in the US, unsure when they’ll be reunited with him.
“It’s very scary watching from afar not being able to do much about it,” said Honorat’s wife, Lisa Honorat. “For him to be there, we just don’t know when he’ll be able to get back out.”
But her greatest fear is for the people physically entrapped in the violence specifically designed to terrorize victims.
Canadians with loved ones still in Haiti have their phones tightly wrapped in their nervous palms, waiting for updates.
“My brother sent me a picture of a bullet that hit the fence of our family home,” said Calgarian Philippe Pierre Pierre, adding his brother was forced to moves houses because of the gangs.
Pierre Pierre said the heavily armed gangs rely on intimidation tactics to force people out of their homes.
“Some people don’t want to leave. They will burn your house or intimidate you and in some cases they were killed,” he said “For me, the biggest thing is to take those guns out of Haiti.”
On Thursday, Canada announced it was paring down its embassy staff in Haiti’s capital due to the rising violence and unrest. A number of people were helicoptered out and will work from a neighbouring country.
As the outside world grapples with what to do to help the struggling nation, Haiti ARISE is already witnessing an influx of refugees looking for a safe place to stay.
“They are very traumatized. This will have long term affects on those kids for a long time,” said Marc Honorat.
The organization is in the process of building more housing but the shutdown is making just about everything impossible right now. Still, Honorat refuses to give up on his home country.
“Looking out here, I can hear the voice of those little kids. They are learning, they are in the classroom — that gives me hope because we are investing in the next generation. This generation will go but the next generation will come.”
Honorat plans to stay in Haiti until it’s safe to leave.
–with files from Aaron D’Andrea, Global News, and the Associated Press
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