I have to buy diapers

I listen to stories, I don't question them... 

"Can we take you to a shelter tonight, it will be about 2-degrees later this evening with a windchill in the negatives," I asked? He looked down at his sign as if to think about the question, then held his sign up. It read, "I need money to buy diapers for my son." 

I said, "You don't need to stay in a tent tonight, you will literally freeze to death." He said to me, "I just need a few dollars, I have to buy diapers for my son. He doesn't live with me, he lives with his mom in an apartment - but I have to buy him diapers... diapers... can I have a few dollars?" I said, "I'm not here to hand out money, I'm here to take you to a shelter so you don't die tonight in the cold." With a trembling tone due to the cold he said, "I'll be okay, I'll be fine... I just need a few dollars." 

I told him to call the police department if he changes his mind about sleeping in the cold, informing him that they won't ask any questions tonight - they will simply take you to the shelter. 

I will play my trumpet for you

With a handkerchief held tightly in his left hand as he grasped his trumpet while steadily pushing the keys down with the right, "When the Saints - Go Marching in..." Every once in a while he would drop the trumpet to his side singing with the raspy tone of Louis Armstrong.

On an interesting side note, Armstrong (nicknamed Pops or Satchmo) also played with a handkerchief in his left hand when playing the trumpet or cornet. Armstrong died at the age of 70 in 1971.

"Musicians don't retire; they stop when there's no more music in them."  - Louis Armstrong

Translated through a smile

I shot this picture in Haiti. I could not understand a word this gentleman was saying, but his smile said it all.

“Small children will talk to anyone, once the guard of shyness has fallen, and they have, like the elderly, a sense of immediacy, a need to say or do something, now, now, the minute it is thought of, combined with that other sense, of the complete irrelevance of time.” 
― Susan Hill

Third World Journey: A thought on a Saturday Morning

For some reason, this quote came to mind... 

“People come, people go – they’ll drift in and out of your life, almost like characters in a favorite book. When you finally close the cover, the characters have told their story and you start up again with another book, complete with new characters and adventures. Then you find yourself focusing on the new ones, not the ones from the past.”

― Nicholas Sparks, The Rescue

Shot in Haiti, 2015

What are you doing?

If only I could understand what this man was trying to communicate. I shot this in Haiti. I ran into this Haitian on a small dirt road in the middle of a little village about an hour away from the ocean. 

The children of Haiti

When shooting photos in Haiti recently, I tried hard to photograph the images of the children who are victims in the fight for hunger. I wanted to capture as many as I could without them looking directly at me in an attempt to capture their blank stares in their natural settings. In other words, I tried hard to grab their emotions for others to see directly through my lens. 

Children who are hungry

I walked past hundreds of children during my time in Haiti. It was absolutely amazing to me how the children reacted to a stranger. In many cases, the children would rub their stomachs as a sign of hunger. The older children would verbally ask for money, suggesting it was to buy food with.

How did a country get to a point where children have to face real life problems such as going hungry.  It is a tragedy to me that children have to be forced to worry about their nutrition when they don't even understand the importance of nutrition. 

Children are a workforce

When you visit a third world country like Haiti, children are familiar with hard work. I came across multiple children who gathered the daily water for their family, gathered food from street vendors on their own at age 10, did laundry by hand at age 8...  I could go on and on. Children sometimes act as the glue of a family in countries like Haiti. Making sure that the necessary chores are completed in a timely manner. 

Children are the light

This is a small Haitian child who can smile today due to the rice she had for lunch. Did you know that half of children under 5 are malnourished in Haiti? It is also a fact that approximately 30% of children attending primary school will not make it to third grade; 60% will abandon school before sixth grade. Read more here. 

I am a street vendor

This is a photo of a street vendor in a small city located in Haiti. Her grim frown was similar to a huge percentage of people I met on the streets of Haiti. I saw very few smiles from adult Haitians, but lots of smiles from children. Adults in Haiti look warn and aged.

The average lifespan for an adult male in Haiti was 51 several years ago. It is now closer to 61 (2015) today. The average age that women die in Haiti is 64. 

Man of Voodoo in Haiti

Voodoo is something that most hear about and think is interesting, fascinating and even fictitious. However, it is actually a Satanic ritual that is very much real. This is a photo of a practicing Haitian Voodoo Witch Doctor. He is about 53-years old age and lives one hour away from Cap-Haitien, Haiti. He has many followers who turn to him on a regular basis.  

I visited several Voodoo Ceremonial Grounds in Haiti and found multiple human skulls, a casket and other skeletal remains used during ritualistic activities.  Human sacrifices, murders and more are all a part of Satanic Voodoo Ceremonies in Haiti. 

In 2013, Haiti Tourism Minister Stephanie Villedrouin told NPR News that real Voodoo Ceremonies should be a part of the schedule for visiting tourist (read here). 

Life in Haiti

This woman quietly sits by the roadside in a small and out of the way city in the country of Haiti. She sells scoops of laundry detergent that she places in zip-lock baggies. In Haiti, you won't find grocery stores that sell the necessities of life. 

After her customers buy detergent, they will often walk to a nearby creek or river and wash their clothing in a bucket filled with river water. They then pour the water/ soap mix back into the waterway when finished.