Infernal Images from Haiti

Leticia Martinez Hernandez, a 25-year-old journalist who was sent to Haiti as a correspondent for Cuba’s Granma newspaper following the January 12 earthquake, shared some of her experiences with Juventud Rebelde.

What’s a normal working day like in Haiti?

“My days in Haiti are exhausting, especially from the psychological point of view. I have to bear with people’s grief and then write articles about it. It’s very difficult.

“I sleep in a comfortable tent. I wake up early, have breakfast —luckily, Cuba is providing food for our people in Haiti—, put on my pants, T-shirt, sneakers and the required mask, grab my back-pack and get out to the streets.

“We (the team of Cuban journalists from Cuban TV and the Prensa Latina news agency) plan our work the day before. We look for good stories in the morning so that we have time to put together our reports for our media early.

“The first days were the worst. Sometimes, at 11:00 PM we would be still trying to find a way to send our reports to Cuba. Communication problems were, of course, common during those days, and we would have to write really fast before our laptops’ batteries died. It was very stressful.

“When I know my editor has my article on his desk, I take a shower and eat something. I go to bed very late, always after 12, making arrangements for the next day.

What was the situation like when you got there?

“I remember that when we left the airport and started walking down the streets of Port-au-Prince, we saw desperate people running from one place to another, and there were piles of bodies everywhere. The smell was unbearable. I felt like running back to the airport and to Cuba. ‘What am I doing here?’ I thought to myself. I had to get a grip on myself not to cry. I didn’t want to look stupid in front of more experienced journalists.

“A few hours before, I had been in Cuba telling my boyfriend that while we were there, so calm, there were thousands of people suffering in Haiti. I could not imagine that a few hours later I would witness that suffering with my own eyes.

“My second day in Haiti was also something to remember. I went to a hospital and I found a little boy lying on the floor, on a piece of cardboard. His hand was tied to a fence and he was being given saline solution. He was trembling. The doctor told me they had administered him all the possible medicines, but that the boy would die any minute. His veins had collapsed.

“I felt a shiver run down my spine. This was the first time I saw death taking somebody. I wanted to cry, but I didn’t. Then I saw another boy in a different hospital. He was fine, waiting for his mother, who was being treated by the doctors. The boy was quiet, sitting on a chair, and he was eating a cracker as if it was some kind of delicacy. It broke my heart.”

What images were the most shocking?

“The eyes and cries of the children. I’ll never forget that. A baby crying at the El Renacimiento Hospital. He was crying for his mother, but she was dying and had no strength to hold him. I think those cries will haunt me forever.

How has this experience affected you?

“It may sound paradoxical, but it has enriched me spiritually. I think that being in contact with people’s pain has made me a better person. I’ve learned to appreciate what I have.

“When I look back now, I feel bad when I think of the many times I’ve complained about stupid things, or given too much importance to material things, or argued unnecessarily with the people I love.