I first met Maya Gurung last year, a few days after a massive earthquake struck Nepal. Maya was recovering from the amputation of her left leg at a Kathmandu hospital. I wrote a story about her because I wondered how a little girl would fare in Kashi Gaon, the remote and rugged village in Gorkha District, where she lived. It would be hard for her … Continue reading From the darkness of disaster…
I spoke with my friend Jean Mariot Cleophat by phone today. It has been five years since I first met him. He was my guide for much of my reporting journey through Haiti after the massive 2010 earthquake that left Haitians is utter despair. They called in “La catastrophe.” Reporters from around the world rushed to Haiti then, hungry to tell the story of the … Continue reading We said we would not forget Haiti
A year ago, I wrote a blog that began like this: “My heart breaks.” I had just arrived in Haiti after the earthquake and the scale of suffering was shocking. A year later, my heart is still breaking. In Port-au-Prince, so many lives are unchanged. Survival was difficult in this nation before the quake. Now it is that much more so. I met a man … Continue reading 'Misery adds to misery'
I first met Falone Maxi when she was lying on a mattress on the dirt. A sheet was her roof. But she liked it that way. Healing from her wounds suffered in Haiti’s massive earthquake, Falone did not want to be within concrete walls. What if there was another “catastrophe?” she said to me. She was only 23. Quiet. Shy. Yet I admired her strength, … Continue reading Survival — and love
Four months on, horror has given way to acceptance. But desperation is everywhere in Haiti. Here is the link to my slide show on CNN.http://bit.ly/cf7JlT Continue reading After 'le catastrophe'
I spent time with Sean Penn in Haiti for CNN.Read my story at http://bit.ly/cROzVw Continue reading Celebrity in Haiti
You read about Mariot in an earlier post. In January and February, he was hired by CNN to drive us around. On my latest trip, he drove me around and translated for me. Mariot’s English, all self-taught, is very good. Stuck in Port-au-Prince traffic, Mariot and I enjoyed interesting conversation. He gave me a book this time: “Like the Dew that Waters the Grass.” It’s … Continue reading More about Mariot
It rained heavily in Port-au-Prince tonight. I stood in the balcony of the Plaza hotel — the exact spot from which Anderson Cooper broadcasted his show in January — and looked beyond. At the Champs de Mars, the city’s central plaza that is now home to thousands of people left without anywhere to go after the massive January 12 earthquake. I thought about what the … Continue reading The rainy season
I returned to Port-au-Prince yesterday. Before January, it was a city known to me only through books and a few films and of course, the news – always bad news. But CNN sent me to Haiti to report on the aftermath of the earthquake. And my eyes were opened to a whole new world. I saw Haiti for the first time after devastation and suffering … Continue reading Back to Haiti
