Dajabon

Yesterday, the summer staff went to the town of Dajabon, which sits on the Dominican-Haitian border. Every Monday and Friday, the city shuts down about 20 square blocks and becomes a market unlike any I have ever seen. Most of what is sold are things you could buy in the states at your local Target and HEB - clothing, toiletrees, all kinds of fruits, vegetables, rice, and other groceries, etc. There are stands where people have their wares and then lots of people (a lot of kids) walking around selling stuff. The women pictured here are typical, carrying what they are selling on their heads while shopping themselves.

Shoppers come from around the DR for deals, and thousands flock across the bridge from Haiti as well. We sat at the bridge that connects these two countries for a while and marveled at how much stuff people were carrying back across, mostly on their heads or in wornout wheelbarrows. If you don't know much of the history of Hispaniola or of the relationship between the Dominican Republic and Haiti, I can recommend some fascinating books. The river under the bridge is named the Massacre River, and it is along this which the Dominican dictator Trujillo had tens of thousands of Haitians killed in the fall of 1937. I find it quite ironic that thousands of Haitians cross the same river for shopping that led to thousands of their ancestor's deaths. You'll note in the photo of the bridge, the yellow paint denotes the DR and the blue Haiti. There are armed guards from the UN standing in the middle of the bridge, and also UN troops all over the market.

As we rode back, there were numerous military checkpoints and the bus was stopped and boarded by guards each time. There were 4 Haitins with passports who were asked each time to show proof of their being in the country legally. On border days, any Haitian can come across, but they are rounded up in the early afternoon and sent back across.