On January 12, 2010 an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 struck Haiti. Thousands died and a million became homeless. Yet this disaster was only the latest of many that have afflicted Haiti. Since 2001, Eno Mondesir, Ph.D., a Haitian-American minister and public health specialist, has led a team to the Haitian island of La Gonave where he was born to set up a weeklong medical clinic at “Pastor Willy’s Church”. Every year the team treats hundreds of patients. In April 2010 I learned of this group, the Agape Health Team. I asked if I could join to document the work in photographs. I went with the team that year and have returned nearly every year since. This work became my passion and the team members my friends. I am deeply involved as a photographer and environmental planner. Over the years Agape and my role have evolved. Originally a religious mission, Agape is now a secular non-profit, “Agape Global Health for Haiti”. Along with the yearly medical clinic, Agape now operates a year-round prenatal clinic, a water filtration program, and the “Days for Girls” program offering washable menstrual kits and education. I manage the water filtration program. We work with the non-profit Water with Blessings, which provides water filters and training to “water women” in exchange for a sacred commitment to filter water for four families.
“Healing in Haiti” documents life on La Gonave and the work of Agape – especially what happens in the clinic, the relationships between the doctors and nurses and their patients, and the stories of the patients. In this intimate setting most people wanted to share their stories and be seen – even when they were suffering. I interviewed people and took their portraits. I try to tell the story poetically, with the Biblical resonances that seem natural.