We shoudln't be here

Abstract

Autoethnographic look at the current living situation in Haiti looking to explore the reason behind a seemingly complete disregard for the current COVID19 pandemic. Through interview data and a literature review focusing on constraints and disasters in Haiti. Anyone living in Haiti during the COVID19 pandemic will tell you, not much changed here. Life kept going on, as usual. social gatherings never ceased, social distancing was merely an idea in some locations, mask mandates were never clearly reinforced. Life never stopped here, on record this is not the case but anyone's lived experience will tell you differently. The truth of the matter is that we as Haitians did not care about the pandemic we were watching take hold of the world. I returned here post mandatory quarantine and as such have witnessed the current state of Haiti. I chose to look into this strange phenomenon and asked myself how it was possible for a population to ignore a deathly pandemic while the world panicked. For that reason, I chose the interview method. My project will be an autoethnography based on my experience having moved back to Haiti recently, I believe my experience to shed some light on the reasoning behind this mass ignorance. I would like to point out that we are currently in the second wave and as cases continue rising, the mentality behind keeping our heads down becomes more and more obvious as well as it's repercussions.