I'd like from time to time show pictures of other cities or "areas" in Haiti other than what the spotlight, and not a too good one, has been on for so long, Port-au-Prince. Today, my focus is around Jérémie, surnamed "La ville des poetes". I thought it fitting since that's where all of Préval's "friends" seem to come from. If Michèle Pierre-Louis gets ratified, we'll have a Jérémienne in the National Palace.
BACKGROUND
Jeremie is the capital city of the Grand'Anse department in southwestern Haiti, on the northern shore of Pointe de (Cape) Tiburon. It was founded in 1756, and the port was opened in 1807. It developed as a market and port for the produce (cacao, coffee, sugarcane, bananas, mangoes, logwood, and hides) of the fertile backcountry. Long regarded as a bastion of Haiti’s mulatto (of mixed African and European heritage) elite, Jérémie earned the title “City of Poets” in honour of its literary and artistic community. Writers such as Emile Roumier and Etzer Vilaire. (On a bad note, that's where Raoul Cédras hail from.) Jérémie is divided into Haute Ville, the residential section, with many quaint pink and green cottages, and Basse Ville, the commercial centre. The town was badly damaged by a hurricane in 1954. Jérémie went into a steep decline after 1964 when François (“Papa Doc”) Duvalier ordered the closure of its port as a reprisal for local opposition to his regime. In 1964, during the Jérémie Vespers, 27 people[1] were massacred in Jérémie by the Haïtian army and the Tonton Macoutes. Thomas-Alexandre Davy de la Pailleterie (General Dumas), father and grandfather of the two celebrated French novelists, was born at nearby Madère. Pop. (2003) 31,000 with more than half of its inhabitants living in the surrounding countryside. The city is considered to be almost isolated from the rest of the country due to bad road access to there. Let's hope with the grant that has been given to construct a road good things are to come for Jeremie and the rest of the small adjacent cities.
(Collection of pictures courtesy of the world wide web)
Anyone who's ever been to Jeremie know its beauty. But, it's a city who takes a backseat due to its location. It's hard to get to except by plane (which the average citizen can't afford). The roads from Port-au-Prince to Jeremie are treacherous, and by boats...well, let's say there's been accidents. It has an interesting history too especially during the Duvalier era. A lot of the mulatto elites were massacred under Duvalier.
THIS IS WHERE MY GRANDFATHERS AND GRANDMOTHERS ARE FROM...I LOVE THIS PLACE AND IT'S BEAUTIFUL. LIKE ZOPOPE SAID ONLY THING THAT KEEP THIS BEAUTIFUL CITY BACK IS THE ROADS TO GO THERE AS IT WILL TAKE YOU ABOUT 10+ HRS TO GET THERE..THE ROAD GET WORSE AS YOU LEAVE CAMP-PERRIN TO GET TO JEREMIE. THEY CELEBRATE "ST. LOUIS" ON AUG 25 WHICH IS THEIR MAJOR HOLIDAY.... JEREMIE ALSO HAVE NICE INNER CITIES WHITIN LIKE DAME-MARIE AND MANY OTHERS THAT ARE NICE..WHEN I GET HOME LATER ON I'LL PUT PICS OF MY TRIP THERE IN JANUARY!! STAY TUNE AND THANX ZOPOPE FOR SHOWING THIS BEAUTIFUL CITY OF MINE TO THE PPL OF HAITIXCHANGE. PPL IN JEREMIE ARE ALSO KNOWN FOR EATING "TOM TOM AK KALALOU" THAT ISH IS THE BOMB!!!!
