Haiti - How Cite Soleil was born?

PHOTO: Cite Soleil - Haiti Map

I just found out...

Site Soleil was born in 1958 with the construction of homes for 52 families, sugar workers at the old Haitian American Sugar Company complex (HASCO).

And then...

In the summer of 1966, there was a serious fire in La Saline. The fire displaced many of the La saline Residents.

So...

1,197 new shacks, I mean homes, were built in Cite Soleil, and then Cite Soleil was was renamed "Cite Simone."

Yeaaaaa... Viv Manman Simone!

Ou sonje Manman Simone? Wi... Madan PapaDoc, Manman BabyDoc!

And then...

In 1972, There was a major fire near the Central market in Port-au-Prince. More people were displaced.

So...

What did the Duvalier Government do? Shove them in Cite Soleil... I mean Cite Simone! This is when Cite Boston was born (an area of Cite Soleil name after the US city of Boston)

Oh... Yeaaa.... Viv Duvalier!!!! A vi... SHM...

By 1983, twenty five years later, there there were more then 82,000 people living in Cite Soleil. That's from 52 families 25 years earlier.

By 2009, with poor Haitian souls coming into the city hoping to find a job, Cite Soleil had more than 240,000 residents and no jobs... That's over 240,000 people living in 8.4 square miles.

From a 52 family housing project to 1/4 million people in 50 years.

I don't know what to think. I guess I am a little bit scared of what may happen if the brains we elect to decide what's best for us are WITHOUT a 50 year plan.

Obviously, we cannot let that happen again. So how do we prevent it???

Read more: Haiti Reconstruction, Duvalier, Cite Soleil Haiti, Haiti Slums, Haitian-American Sugar Company, HASCO, La Saline Haiti Fire, Papa Doc, Cite Simone Haiti, Haiti Population growth, Politics of Haiti, History, Community

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