La Montay or La Montagne in Haiti

September 23, 2014 6:26 PM

La Montagne or "The Mountain" is located in the region of Nord-Ouest Haiti. Three villages, Le Croix, Belleu and Terra Rouge are within the area of La Montay or La Montagne. You can reach their by two hour's drive from the small city of Jacmel on the south side of the island. It is a place with very small population where people live in explicit poverty and the destitute is unfathomable. There is acute shortage of water and irrigation facility, electricity is non-existent. People make their living out of subsistence farming that leaves hardly any surplus to trade. Children walk as far as one and half hour to attend schools provided their parents have some good resources to pay $25 annual tuition fees. Children lack access to basic education-- classrooms are missing, teachers use tarp as a chalkboard.

La Montay or Montagne by Frere Joel

There is not much commercial activity in La Montagne except an open market which pops once a week on Tuesday. People who want to get the taste of protein food opt for small fishes brought from the coast 4 kilometers away. There is no McDonald, KFC or SUBWAY here -- the most preferred fast food is fried plantains. Rich families have their own transport, but not a BMW or Mercedes-- 'Donkey', which also hauls goods to the market for selling. Haiti ranks 161 out of 187 countries in the "2012 United Nations Human Development Index (HDI)".

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