Thousands of Haitians are bound for home to take part in the country's 200th anniversary on Jan. 1, a nonpolitical celebration that has energized many immigrants from the Caribbean nation to return for the first time in decades.

"I hear people saying: 'I already have my ticket for 2004, do you have yours?'" said Brooklyn travel agent Turgo Tropnasse, 47, of Impeccable Travel, on Nostrand Ave., who is having his best year since opening 17 years ago.

"This is the talk of the town. Everybody wants to go home - it doesn't matter what's going to happen. They just want to go there."

American Airlines, the only U.S. carrier that goes to Haiti from New York, was almost sold out this week for flights around the holidays, even with the addition of a daily plane in December. It also has increased service in other cities with large Haitian populations, said Martha Pantin, a spokeswoman for the airline.

At a glance, it could seem there really is not much to celebrate. Haiti has been mired for years in a political stalemate and escalating violence. The country is plagued by an economic crisis and massive land erosion - not to mention abject poverty.

But Haiti also is the oldest black republic. The only former slave nation to stage a successful revolt by booting the French army out of Hispaniola, an island that once produced some of the largest crops of coffee, sugar and spices in the New World.

On Jan. 1, 1804, Gen. Jean-Jacques Dessalines, a rebel leader, proclaimed the colony an independent country. He called it Haiti, an indigenous word that means high grounds.

"It will be an exciting time to be in Haiti - a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said Pascal Antoine, of Prospect Heights, who maintains a cultural Web site, www.Haitixchange.com. "To be there on Jan. 1 is going to be special - not just for Haitians, but for all blacks."

Carolle Charles, a sociology professor at Baruch College, said some immigrants want to be on Haitian soil, which reflects an intense attachment they have to the land.

"It is something that marks us as people; it's part of our identity," said Charles, who was born in Haiti.

History in the making

Travelers are planning family reunions and tours of the country many haven't seen since the dictatorial years of the Duvaliers. Father and son ruled from 1957 to 1986.

"It's like history in the making, and I want to be part of the celebration - especially since I lived there during the negative part," said Dolores Murat, 31, a playwright and teacher from Flatbush who is heading home Dec. 18 with three of her siblings and a cousin.

But not all are going just to have fun. Conscious that about 80% of the population is poor, many are bringing suitcases filled with medicines and gifts. Some nurses and doctors will make time to give free health screenings in their old neighborhoods.

Murat is organizing a health fair in her family's hometown of Petit Goave, south of Port-au-Prince.

"You just can't go there and not try to do something," she said.

Most of the 548,200 Haitians in the U.S. left Haiti from the 1960s to the 1980s, fleeing political turmoil and poverty. There were 118,800 Haitians in New York in 2000, according to the census, a number some experts say is too low.

This week, prices for American Airlines tickets from Kennedy Airport to Port-au-Prince hovered at about $700 - almost double the price one would normally pay for a ticket purchased at this time of the year, Tropnasse said.

"People are in for a shock if they think they can wait until December to buy a ticket," he said.

Originally published on September 28, 2003