The village that New Roots is built in is called Chiron (she-wonn). Chiron is located approximately 45 minutes South West of the airport in Cap Haitien. We are in the foot hills of the mountains and shadowed by the amazing Citadel that looks down on us. The Citadel is an amazing fortress, the biggest castle in North America. It is also one of the biggest tourist attractions in Northern Haiti.
Chiron is a sugar cane village. Almost all the land around is used to farm this product. In addition there are also countless distilleries in the village and its not uncommon to hear the clinking of their old machines as they run. The sugar cane is sent through the press and the cane water is expelled. Sometimes it is turned into something called Clarin, which is similar to moon shine. Farmers will also sell this cane water to a bigger distillery in town who will refine it even more. The larger distilleries will use it to make sugar which is placed in Coca Cola, rum, and other goods. If you’ve ever had a Coke in Haiti, you know there is a clear difference in taste based on the type of sugar used! Haitian Coke is SO much better!
Chiron is a very poor area. Almost all homes are made out of mud and sticks woven together. You could easily count on one hand the amount of homes in our area made out of blocks. The local church can’t afford to roof their building, so they sit under the hot sun during service. A local Pastor built and ran a school in Chiron, however it has been sitting vacant for years because families couldn’t afford to pay for tuition. For the families who do have the means to pay for education, their children have to walk to nearby villages. Some walk about an hour North to a village called La Suisse while others walk 2 hours South to Robia. These children will get up long before sunrise to get their day started, some leaving their home at 5 am to ensure they get to school before it starts.
There is a local mountain market about a 5 minute drive from the New Roots Campus. Our family has frequented here for years. This market mostly sells vegetables and beef. Its incredibly rare to see fruits here and we have never seen any poultry.
There is a small “river” or more accurately, creek, which runs through the village. This provides a way of life for many families who rely on it for baths, washing clothes, etc. There is a hand pump in the community as well. It was broke down for a long time, however we are thankful to report that while out working on our well, Life Water was able to assess and repair the hand pump as well. The community is very excited to have that resource back again as it greatly improves their quality of life.
The people in Chiron are kind, smart, and hard working. Just like anyone else, they strive to be able to take care of the needs of their families. We are excited to be able to come along side them and do life together as a community.
