The New York Times has a great interactive feature on six survivors of last year’s devastating earthquake in Haiti. One year later, the country faces numerous challenges as far as rebuilding its infrastructure, a cholera outbreak, a contested presidential election and the return of Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, the former dictator who was ousted 25 years ago and returned last week to ostensibly help the country.
What strikes me though, is the strength of the people, which is evident through these black and white photos taken by various Times photographers. The Haitian population has been through so much but these photos give me hope that they will not only survive the earthquake and its fallout, but will thrive later on. It won’t be easy. It won’t be quick. It won’t be without many more painful moments. But it will happen.
Danielle Scruggs is a photographer and writer currently living and working in Washington, D.C., and Silver Spring, Md. Her work has been exhibited in Baltimore and Brooklyn and published by The Washington Post, Stop Smiling magazine, FILE magazine, and F-Stop Magazine. Scruggs holds an M.A. in Digital Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art and a B.A. in Journalism from Howard University. She is still very much in love with Charm City, albeit from a distance.