Haiti (Haïti chérie)
Haitian couple who work on a sugar cane plantation in the Dominican Republic escape the desperate conditions of the ‘bateyes’ (cane cutters’ communities) and make their way back to Haiti where further tragedy awaits them.
Haitian couple who work on a sugar cane plantation in the Dominican Republic escape the desperate conditions of the ‘bateyes’ (33cane cutters’ communities) and make their way back to Haiti where further tragedy awaits them.
“Haïti chérie” focuses on the deplorable conditions in the ‘bateyes’, shantytowns in the outskirts of the sugar plantations of the Dominican Republic. Most of the cane cutters are Haitian immigrants who have crossed the border to escape poverty and violence. Life on the plantations has been denounced as modern-day slavery by international human rights’ organisations. The workers, who have no legal papers, are crowded together and lack running water, toilets and electricity. They toil for up to 14h a day for ridiculously low wages. Economic or transport difficulties restrict freedom to leave the bateyes, which become virtual prisons.
Jean-Baptiste and Magdaleine are a married couple. When their baby dies from hunger, they decide to return to Haiti bringing along a 14 year old worker. They make their way across the Dominican Republic. Their short stay in a town on the way to the border brings nothing but the increased sensation that they are hunted fugitives. After a brief stay a farm on the border, they return to their homeland : a tragic encounter with a world torn by poverty and violence and where the passive fatalism of the people give the impression of a place where time has stood still…
Deux exilés haïtiens “employés” dans une plantation de canne à sucre, subissent les diktats et l’oppression de leurs patrons, très peu recommandables. Ils décident de s’enfuir...
“Haïti chérie” témoigne avec force et talent d’une forme d’esclavage “moderne”, ayant libre cours, à deux pas des plages touristiques.
