Notes on Poverty Porn
Today is Haitian Flag Day, a national holiday celebrated around the country by all. This past weekend, while travelling through the country side, I ran into many repetitions and parades with adolescents marching on the streets and stomping out lyrics of national unity. Small paper flags on splintered sticks are carried everywhere and perched in the tautly pulled back hair of young girls and woman alike. Students from all schools come together to march down main roads, and onlookers wave their flags cheerfully. Scouts-- boys, girls and adults-- take the opportunity to don their khaki uniforms and yellow scarves, among others in solid blue and red, the colors of the Haitian flag. The festivities glimmer with the same level of pride from which the country was born. It gives one a good feeling.
