We're winding down our summer here and it's been a great one. This past outreach I had 2 students. Aaron was a Korean businessman who is a senior manager with Chrysler, and Tasha just graduated high school. About as opposite as you can get as students go but we had a blast.
On the last day of the outreach we took a trip to Dajabon. Background necessary for this story:
- Dajabaon is a Dominican town on the border with Haiti.
- There is a Haitian market there every Monday and Friday. It works like this: Haitians receive donations and aid (like shoes, clothes, hats, shampoo, anything Michael Jackson) from the states and then carry it over the border to Dajabon. They can get a better price there than in Haiti and since they get the stuff for free they can sell it for almost nothing and make a good profit.
- A possible business opportunity for members of MiBanco La Victoria is to buy stuff dirt cheap in Dajabon and sell it in Jarabacoa.
- There is very intense racial tension between Dominicans and Haitians that is as older than either of the countries.
- Cock-a-doodle-do is kee-kirri-kee in Spanish. Dominicans think cock-a-doodle-do is ridiculous and terribly inaccurate.
The Story:
Aaron, Tasha, Me, Miriam, Nate, Sarah, Milagros, Paula, Ramona, Ani, Mercedes, LeoKadia, Claudio, 2 other Dominican men, and a Rooster packed into a tiny gua gua (mini 15 passenger van) and set off for Dajabon at 4:00 AM. I was hoping to sleep most of the way there but starting at 5:45 there was no sleep. "Kee-kirri-kee", "Kee-kirri-kee" sung the rooster, every minute for the next 2 hours. I never knew how loud a rooster's crow was until I heard it up close and personal. Non-stop. For 2 hours.
After a grueling half-paved 4 hour trip we arrived at the market. It was as crazy and chaotic as I thought it would be, however, it turns out the chaos was for a different reason. Earlier that morning a Haitian had killed a Dominican. He was immediately apprehended and the scene was cleared but we arrived amidst the racial aftermath. There were people fleeing from the center of the market because mobs of angry Dominicans, armed with bats, clubs, and chairs, searched through the market chasing away any Haitian in sight:
So, we didn't know what to do. We didn't want to leave after 4 hours in a Gua Gua, but all the cheap stuff-selling Haitian women were fleeing for their lives. We decided to "go in pursuit" as the Holloway family used to say, meaning you inexplicably follow the criminal to try and see some action ( I remember when I was 6 and this led to me seeing a guy get chased under his car by some firearm brandishing cops at a gas station). So we did a few strolls around the leftover market until we encountered the angry mob again. This time they seemed to be moving a little faster than the first, and we quickly discovered that was because they were being chased by the Dominican army toting M16s:
Eventually things began to calm down and a few brave Haitian women began selling again:
It never filled back out all the way to what it is on a normal day but we were still able to hunt for some bargains. It was a crazy day and a great experience for me and my students. Here are a couple more group shots:
MiBanco La Victoria and my students at the central park in Dajabon
Me, Aaron, Tasha, Nate at the Dajabon market
