before hitting the road haitians have a saying for ea games whip yes in
clear it takes courage to go cram into these minibuses or pickup
transformed
their old suspension shares with the passengers every unevenness of the road
for long trips Haitians have so-called luxury buses porn hits
to wear it more vanna radiator to brahal and where to grease tight brunel
the chief mechanic gives his orders in Creole, a mixture of African dialects
and French inherited from two centuries of colonization on the island the companies of
state transport are scarce most are private but everything works with
few means it does not transform a truck it buys old ones from
American school coaches [Music]
it is a luxury service we want our customers to be able to travel
comfortably because it's a bus it's not
a truck that's why we avoid taking coal or goats to
on board we only accept suitcases because when we transport
goats on the roof their urine can fall on people and that's not
possible
all these buses are already well over a million kilometers but brunette she
intends to make them browse 1 or 2 small additional millions
[Music] the departure takes place the next day at dawn
[Music] for a long time
Haiti was nicknamed the pearl of the West Indies but dictatorships the waters
ragan earthquakes like the last one in 2010 which threw nearly a
million people in the street gave him another nickname haiti the
cursed
the country is struggling to recover its economy is almost at a standstill
[Music] on the 4000 km of its network
road 90% is in poor condition
my family always worries about me when I go through the mountain my god
what's wrong with my heart i'm really tired
the poorest grays on the roofs of trucks and buses there I'm hot I'm going
pass out we decompose and in the sun
first country to be freed from slavery in 1804 Haitians have
kept this strength to fight sometimes with a hope that of gold that it is
yellow or white
but again the country does not wear them
there are many drivers who refuse my 16 nations is wrong because
it's too heavy because my machines haiti the fighter is counting on the formidable
joie de vivre of its inhabitants [Music]
and on these voodoo gods to get up
[Music]
given the state of the roads it is better to find a seat
in the bus before departure it's a grappling fair
[Applause] the unlucky ones will pass by
eight hours up finally if all goes well
brunel the head mechanic of the trip is a bit like the guardian angel of the bus
[Music]
in haiti the most important instrument on board a vehicle is
[Music] roads and streets are devoid of
road signs the horn and the only way to avoid the accident
[Applause]
the first 150 kilometers to gonaïves are on a beautiful road in
bitumen the last 80 them are reduced to one
mix of calla earth and sand
[Music]
the road is really not good but we will try not to have an accident
is to arrive on time
the best would be to have no breakage on the road
[Music]
for four years as a clown, they have taken this road of sometimes fatal beauty
[Music] it's difficult here I already had a
problem in this place
every time the truck risk the breakdown
and this time again clooney is no exception to the rule
[Applause] the old engine lacks power
clooney the hold and waco to restart the antique bus
better to know all its secrets
this one is well kept the name to him went
[Applause]
there is no railway line to go to the north of the island
and from year to year Haitians see the price of bus tickets rising in
arrow
15 euros it costs 15 euros to travel it's expensive
yes it is expensive in addition there is no food or drink on the bus
laughs my joy there is no choice it has to
it's theft really it's theft I can take the plane but it costs you 90
euros is theft sir
15 euros the trip is a quarter of the average salary here a year plus the trip
is difficult there is a lot of movement it is too hot it is
horrible
[Music] on the roof the price is reduced by
half as the comfort but not sure that in the cabin passengers are better
lotis
on arrival you are always in pain somewhere you are tired and you need
always two or three days, however, postpone all this because there is no
road
the underlayers do not tire that men all along the journey them
many castaways on the edge of the runway
look you have a broken down truck here
the fans come from the engines but more often it is the tires that burst
is linked to garages on the road not and are far
there too it is down [Music]
again
it is a motorcycle-taxi the most economical way to travel but here it is 3 out of
the two wheels the tires do not withstand the bumps of the road and how many
time you pump about 20 minutes
I rolled on a pebble and I had a puncture
it's okay that should make her do it
[Music]
in haiti quarrels rhyme with survival
in this makeshift garage run by an orphan from the 2010 earthquake
the young man would have through the inner tubes with an ingenious sound system
invention I scratch the rubber scratch it
so that it adheres better when I glue the other piece in order to plug the hole
it's for my bike I rode on a pebble and I had a puncture it's been seven years
that I started and I still do this job all the genius of this boy lies
in its repair process on the island alcohol is often too expensive or of
poor quality so he made this machine for
replace it
with the heat the pieces of rubber will merge we have
patches but it's not good to use that if you
does it with glue the guy leaves but it does not hold it is better to heat
I invented them and then I gave the concept to everyone
and we do it to pay for our uniforms and school stuff in the
countries four in 10 children live in the
poverty
the end often pushes them towards danger
when he runs he tries to hit the truck and I slow down to avoid
the accident
so said to remove their hands because it's dangerous
it happens that children get run over
parents have little work just to find food it's difficult
children are forced to ask trucks for food or money
who pass please give there are many children like that without
parents they have parents but nobody works
there is no water nothing to eat nothing at all they have to beg
they are forcing three quarters of Haitian families live on less than
2 euros per day
on this island where two centuries ago the end of slavery was conquered by
fight my job at any age until the end of
his existence
[Music]
[Music] is wood
I make my charcoal with we cut wood we put it in a pile we put in
straw we put earth on top of it and set it on fire
the coal is sold at port to the prince or to saint marc
I manage to sell it for 10 euros but soon I don't know if there will be enough
trees to go on and I don't know what else to do
joseph at 65, forty years old, chopping wood like the majority of the inhabitants
from haiti
charcoal has always been the only way to fuel the fires of
kitchens consequences without any other source of energy 98% of Haitian efforts have
faded away
[Music]
I'm disappointed too bad there is not a lot of coal
I will have to sell it for 5 euros this one
on the way 20 kg of coal which over the 5 km of roads
under a heat exceeding 40 ° will quickly weigh three times on the back of the old
man
[Music] like all the inhabitants of the region
joseph will sell his coal to wholesalers which passes twice by
week in his village
[Music]
basel a bit of a bad road makele the coalman does not yet have the means to
to pay for a truck while waiting he rents it and fo stabilized it he jumps
above to pack them well, we have to embark as much as possible, it was
normaction you have the goods do not go too high and the tang truck -
that's why they jump on it I can put 300 bags but there I think
that I will only have 250 at the moment it's difficult to have much more
coal we sometimes take other cargoes take foodstuffs
food we can also embark people
because when the buses are full it is really the only means of transport
suddenly people are forced to get into our lorries truck lifts
90% of Lille regroups Catholics and Protestants but the centuries have
not erased the old gods and the skin not before each trip I invoke them
spirits for the road the ends what you have to do
you have to do it in the light especially not in the dark
[Music] I'm a mystic and I need god
my companion during my trip is so that everything happens of course her
hotel jesus mixes with voodoo worship introduced by slaves from
nigeria and benign times and magic do more than one it makes me jump its
thibault who held his car team we will support the young people + does not send
assistant added
yeah
what is it the pineapple cinnamon and rum cseries this table is not there for
the evil she is there for the good
in addition to mac coal and embeds them four passengers
[Applause]
direction gonaïves 80 kilometers of a tiring road
sometimes it takes them two days to go through them
look there you have an animal on the road it's dangerous
for example if the animal is crossing
and if the owner is not there to take it off the road as a
driver I can not go fast and it is
dangerous go ahead go ahead its owner is
not there so you have to slow down and if you don't have good brakes you can't
not stop and therefore is forced to have an accident
[Applause]
over the kilometers the difficulties increase
[Applause] the sand and the earth end up
give way to a rocky track cutting like a razor wire
because of the stones I always go down on this part of the road
the more stone is this block in the wheels
it's sharp stone can steal nearly four months salary a
makelele
when you buy a tire it costs 600 euros
and given the state of the roads a wrong maneuver and boom
so don't bust me and you lose all your money
[Music] at the other end of the track
the passengers of the bus and brunel the chief mechanic know something about it
a rear tire and ap
come on [Applause]
to him
[Music] its good boils
[Music] it's been a long time since the jack
original disappeared for her replace it with that of a car
not sure they can withstand the weight of the bus
[Music] of course it's very physical
we lower the spare tire from the roof after we remove the punctured tire then we
rises again despite the tremors the heat forced them to halt
no passenger complains although a sling wind begins to blow I
makes the trip often because I am a hot water seller there and back
I made the trip four to five times a month and once it took two days
to make the road how can we work in these
conditions I am 36 years old and I started taking this route for ten years and
it is always like that already five hours that they left port-au-prince and the
trip is far from over
[Applause] on the bus lane of the trucks we
progresses in slow motion
that's why I ride in first or second max it avoids you excess
of speed we cannot drive normally at this pace I just
the impression of sleeping you do not hurry on these roads
[Music]
haiti means land of high mountain the highest of the passes calls the
2600 m but these ravines are deep enough to swallow the drivers
there is a bend called corn curve there was a driver he was doing
the road for the first time with a truck full of corn he had to
bring to bombardopolis he was accompanied by his child to whom he
wanted to show the city around the bend he had an accident and his child is
deceased that's why we call this bend
courbet corn and you still have a lot of trucks that have accidents here
courbis here it is, it's a hairpin bend
[Music]
at the exit of corn curve a dreaded situation and by makelele we are loaded and
we go down so we can't go back he can go back so he lets us
pass
[Applause] and
[Applause] the heat quickly makes you forget the raves
years to the passengers seated on the roof the sun slowly cooks them under 45
degrees oh there I'm hot I'm going to faint we can decompose in the sun
but it's the only way i travel and i don't have enough money to take
the bus how much you paid 8 euros
these rutted tracks paralyzes the country economically in the salt marshes
these women are hit with a triple penalty collect the salt is not profitable
work is so grueling that it scares men away most of the time
and the most incomprehensible truckers refuse to come
until her lilou there are many drivers who refuse moncel because
it's too heavy and it breaks the machines in this region there is no
a lot of road it's even harder to sell the only way for her to
sell their produce and transport it on donkeys to the city
two days of forced march
these women barely earn enough to feed their families
[Music] a ton of salt barely earns them
24 euros [Music]
from the bottom of their marshes as if to taunt them they see
buses and trucks crisscrossing the track
[Music]
[Music] in the middle of the mountains makele the coalman
cross the brunel bus and its 60 passengers
[Music]
[Music] as soon as we arrive in the mountains we have
fear there are dreams left to right it's normal that we are afraid
my family always worries about me when I go through the mountain
[Music] [Applause]
the roads are bad I think the accident that has already had and then I
afraid of not arriving on time
[Music]
the state of the roads is not due to chance on the list of the most corrupt countries
of the american continent haiti prances in the lead
[Music]
go to employees
[Music]
on board the old suspensions are gradually getting the better of the passengers
and their luggage
meroe roof of the world
me I
Brunel gets angry with the roof passengers according to him since they pay half
price he could at least have been careful it does not happen often
we will restart soon I think it is due to the vibrations
[Music] only an hour later is
now the engine's turn to show signs of weakness
it heats up inside so the heat starts to rise without
air conditioning tight against each other
the thermometer is close to 40 degrees this last jolt explodes the
tensions fund travelers attack brunel and his antique bus
[Applause]
[Applause] [Music]
in order to calm the spirits one she decides to make a stop in the des
rare supply points
[Applause] [Music]
no
barely enough time to swallow a roger fry [Music]
and brunel sounds the reminder, peace binds again on the faces
[Music]
[Music] it
[Music] today brunel and his conductor have
achieved a small feat they took only 12 hours to
reach their destination
[Music]
after 48 hours of rest they will leave for port au prince
[Music]
it is on the beaches of mole saint nicolas that landed for the
first time on the island in 1492 christophe colomb and it's conquistadors
Haiti was quickly conquered and immediately plundered of its wealth as in
north-west of the island where the coup's gold mines are located and despite the
appearances the coue is not a village like the others
its basement is a real Gruyère cheese
all day long the villagers dig galleries in search of gold
twenty meters of descent on makeshift ladders
[Music] better to be flexible the galleries do
barely a meter tall
[Music] be koala my right leg tried to
better our wc sex symbol increases to
each pickaxe to bring it big but also cost them their lives.
galleries are not supported at all times the walls may collapse
underground it's over 40 degrees the miners come back to breathe fresh air
every two hours
jean françois is the boss of this mine
we start at 5 a.m. and leave around 8 p.m.
we can go until 21h 22h May midnight sometimes and we are not tired if we have
hungry we come out of the hole to eat then we go down that represents what then for
it allows you to pay for school the house to buy food for everything we need
requires
the miners of jean-françois are paid by the bag according to the effort they
have provided for six elliott this fight if it's all a peak program
but also for you all the people here are workers you dig turin 5
minimum but afterwards if you do not find anything in your bag you have wasted your day
if you have worked for free if we find nothing it's really bad luck
that's how we work
as in the salt marshes women work as much as men
all day she wades through the mud sifting through the earth of the Djema mine
arrives with her husband's day production the new battle to win her
life is difficult there is a lot of misery for us and
kids and you see she cleans once and then after she will do it again
a second time to be sure we are looking for we are looking
yes [Music]
at the end of the day two small figures come to lend a hand
[Music] I saw at what age 17 and you
how old am I ten years old me I am 14 years old and you
do this every day yes so here is the equation has no school
we come here and we work going so new it's not that we like
do that but we don't really have a choice
their dream would of course be to find a nugget
but most of the time this is what she finds gold gold look
a tiny payet seldom more one does not find easily
it's complicated and what does it do to you to have found gold well i am
happy when I manage to find some
that day djema and in a good mood she will sell her gold once a
week a trader buys the production of the miners
she hopes to get a good price to buy a beast at the market in this
piece of fabric four days of work requires it is
at home and him have removed a little things at the rise rigaud 0.2 grams
gold every four days is the average of jemaa at this rate
it will take 14 years to extract a kilo of gold, even the mining bosses
as jean-françois earns their lives very badly, this water hole serves as a room
common bath
my everyone always comes after work even if we finish at midnight we
comes 1h 2h in the morning we come alone luxury jean-françois has a kitchen itself
if it is built from odds and ends
it's still an extra room
his wife cooks the same menu of split pea soup every day and laughs
sometimes I am afraid but I resign myself because it is in the mine that he must earn his
life but I would like him to do something else
yet in these pages I did not find any other work there was a
easier work I will do it Jean-François to this child he hopes
that at least 1 will escape the curse of mine
[Music]
this year the rainy season is late
for weeks the weather had never been so threatening makele sound
coal load has now been rolling for almost six hours
they still have to cover 20 km, perhaps the most difficult
Yes
when it rains on dirt roads like that it's more difficult to
driving trucks can slip very easily or get stuck
on the dumpster the passengers found refuge under an old base all
gap
me
we are under the tarpaulin we are wet we are not under the tarpaulin
we are wet anyway
[Music]
Haiti is one of the cities of the American continent most affected by
climatic catastrophes [Music]
every year nearly twelve tropical storms devastate everything in their path
not to mention hurricanes and cyclones
[Music] oh
do not make fun of it
[Music] the cars don't pass they don't
not enough power when it rains like that the flood can
take people motorcycles and even small cars
come on pass
the voodoo priors of makelele have been answered, he arrives in gonaïves without
we left at noon and we arrived at 7 pm it took seven hours
of course I'm very happy to have arrived it was a tiring road on
bourdieu granny safe and sound and I'm happy even if the Haitians nickname
when he hates the damn they keep their incredible strength
to live
[Music]