Bound By Haiti

Bound by Haiti is an international documentary that focuses on 2 activists from backgrounds that couldn’t be any more different. Yet, by their shared convictions they form an unlikely friendship in trying to better both the people of Haiti and the country itself.

Aaron Jackson is from a privileged family in south Florida where he grew up on a resort surrounded by money and golf courses. He rejected that lifestyle and decided to dedicate his time to giving back to others. His initial contact with Haiti was in dealing with intestinal worms that has run rampant amongst the people and reportedly is affecting 80% of the total population. In the documentary, Aaron explains that he can de-worm 250 children for the price of a pack of cigarettes. The documentary does a good job of highlighting the importance and absurd simplicity of saving thousands of lives for what is essentially nickels and dimes.

John Dieubon was raised as an orphan in Port-au-Prince and spends his time speaking to the people in Haitian villages in an effort to understand and tend to their needs. One of his primary goals currently is building a school for the Haitian children to learn. You can see through clips in the documentary that he doesn’t just want the children to learn, but to not accept anything less than what they deserve. That is, to not regard themselves as 3rd-world citizens just because they live in Haiti, but instead John realizes that they are the future of Haiti and that their generation may be responsible for making huge strides in the country’s development.

Bound by Haiti is definitely a powerful documentary and does a fantastic job of gripping the reality that is Haitians lives and bringing it to an audience that is predominantly ignorant in these matters. One thing that stuck with me were the interviews conducted with those that lost loved ones in the earthquake. In recounting the events and speaking of those they lost, there was a marked lack of emotion in their voices. That’s not to say they weren’t emotionally destroyed by this, but perhaps they were still in shock or were so beaten by this way of life that they’ve learned how to cope with it in accepting that it’s just part of their lives.