The Caribbean country of Haiti continues to be in a state of crisis on several fronts.
It faces significant gang violence and political instability inside its borders as the country attempts to work its way out of an impossibly difficult humanitarian situation.
The United States is also in the process of deporting Haitians living in the country after the Trump administration removed their Temporary Protected Status as immigrants this summer. Many people have said they are being sent to Haiti with no money and no security to protect themselves from gangs.
Meanwhile, the first Haitian presidential election in a decade is set to take place in December and the government is looking for international help to ensure voters can safely participate. Doubts remain about whether the election will be able to happen as scheduled.
Jacqueline Charles, who covers Haiti and other Caribbean countries for the Miami Herald, will be in Kansas City for the 14th annual KC Haiti Symposium on Saturday morning. She told KCUR’s Up To Date that life for most people in Haiti is “very difficult,” especially in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
“You have a majority of those who have been displaced who are basically living in encampments,” she explained. “These encampments are open public spaces. They are schools. They are anywhere that people think they are safe, and they’re not really safe because they’re having to dodge bullets."
Other areas, she said, don't have enough water, and diseases are common.
Fritznel Octave of The Haitian Times will also speak at Saturday’s event. In Haiti, Octave explained, different eras of political leadership and private businesspeople have used young people to violently maintain power, entrenching gang violence into the country's power structures.
“The problem is there's a lack of political will to really change the situation because of course at some point, this gang security issue has become out of control," he told KCUR. "You can't point to one person and say, oh, that person is in charge of leading the the pack.”
The healthcare system in Haiti is also in dire straits throughout much of the country.
Dr. Ted Higgins of the Kansas City Area founded the Higgins Brothers Surgicenter for Hope in rural Fonds-Parisien, just a few miles from the Dominican Republic border, more than a decade ago. Since then, his organization has helped thousands of Haitians receive surgical care.
The surgicenter can still operate for the moment, despite gangs being just “eight miles down the road” from the medical practice, Higgins said.
He said Higgins Brothers hired a private police force with combat experience years ago to develop a protection team.
“We’ve pooled resources (with other organizations) and basically they have kept the gangs away from our community, which has been a blessing," he said.
He said that several other major medical facilities in Haiti have been destroyed in recent years, namely the State University Hospital in Port-au-Prince.
“The resolve of the Haitians, though, remains,” Higgins said. “They want to try to maintain and develop.”
- Fritznel Octave, Haiti editor for The Haitian Times
- Jacqueline Charles, Caribbean correspondent for the Miami Herald
- Dr. Ted Higgins, founder of the Higgins Brothers Surgicenter for Hope
2026 KC Haiti Symposium, 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, Sep. 12 at Village Presbyterian Church, 6641 Mission Road, Prairie Village, Kansas 66208.
