No man’s light…

So, now I’ve been to the DR, but there is no evidence of that besides a few photos.

I’m not going to lie, the border there is a completely mess. Traffic stands still for hours, both sides facing opposite directions blocking each other from even opening the gate for long spans. The UN and other special vehicles bob and weave between, guided by Peruvian MINUSTA spreading the vehicles just enough for trucks to pass through.

And people sit around waiting on their chance through customs. A man walks by carrying a wad of cash, trying to change money. It is a common sight all over countries like this, but especially concentrated around airports, border crossings, and high-end hotels.

NOTE ABOUT CURRENCY EXCHANGES: The guys in those three places – airports, high-end hotels, border crossings – notoriously give you the worst exchange rates, by the way. In Petionville, the supermarket on the opposite corner from Fior de Latte will give you an extremely fair exchange rate – changing US$150 as soon as I got into town, I was given an even 6000 gourdes. Only lost around 40 gourdes in the change – approximately US$1. Probably the best exchange I’ve ever made anywhere in the world. The best one near the airport is a guy that hangs out in big BP station east of the airport down the main highway. But when exchanging money, always check the buy/sell rate on the internet and immediately count it, you won’t offend anyone.

The lake levels are high. Unnaturally high. For no reason. Some say there is another earthquake building its steam, a tectonic plate beneath the lake is pushing up ever so slowly. The locals know it. They acknowledge there is something going on, but nobody has told them anything.

The dirt road to the border is relatively new, and the water laps the side. Places that never have seen water before are partially submerged.

So, I made my way out towards Cite Soleil to the Enersa solar panel factory. These guys are friends of mine and they really have an amazing vision for this country. They originally wanted to have Haiti at the forefront of the world in something – their first notion was computers. But, considering there is no power half the time, why not take one more step back to fix the problem: solar panels.

They now have 31 technicians installing, building, maintaining, repairing the lights. Many of the men are from the nearby slums in Cite Soleil. The assumption there is also ex-gang. They are taught a high-tech trade and given something to be proud of.

Their primary application is solar powered street lights – now hundreds installed all over the country in some of the most rural communities in Haiti. In a previous trip to Haiti I saw one of these lights on Ile-a-Vache in the Madame Bernard market and another on a remote island in the atolls south of Ile-a-Vache. The organization, called Enersa, has now powered the remote airfield near Jeremie in the northern part of the far southwestern arm of the island.

Additionally, all parts and labor: 100% Haitian. The vision is to help bring industry back to Haiti. And not only textiles or other low-tech industries typically seen in the third world, but high-tech, things that might even be a world leader in the technology.

He’s living the idea that you do not have to be a president or a senator to be the one who will make a change.

Stay tuned…
-Noah D.