Twoutye: The Bottom of Haiti

I’m pretty sure I’ve now officially seen the worst that it gets in Haiti. The dump. Although I know that there is plenty of dumping going on throughout this island nation, I had no idea that an official dumpsite actually existed. In fact, It does… in an area called Twoutye, which is in part of Cite Soleil, where I now live. My friend, Sabina, was accompanying a photographer who is interested in third-world sanitation out there, so I took the opportunity to go along for a visit.

the only water source in twoutye

 This dump is where they throw anything and everything, including human waste and, I wouldn’t doubt, bodies that have perished under cholera, bullets or otherwise. It’s anything but sanitary; not at all contained. And right alongside this putrid mess is a population of about 320 people, living in ramshackle homes of scrap metal and plastic tarps. There are no toilet facilities to be found and there is one well that serves as the only water source for the community. Some of these people are said to have lived there before the site became a dump and others have come afterwards. Regardless of origin, the dump is everybody’s business.

The meager houses appear to be floating in a sea of both muck and plastic bottles of which the families collect and sort for a refund from a recycling company. I asked one of the young boys who had been digging around in the trash heaps how long he and his family had lived there. He replied, “About one year” and then explained that they had come to make some money. He said that they used to live in 19, an area in Cite Soleil with some of the worst gang violence. These people are at the bottom of the bottom. Recycling is great and all, but nobody should have to live in such severely wretched conditions. They receive about 3 gourdes per pound of sorted plastic bottles.

a makeshift house & plastic collection