Mackenro Jean in His Tent, Port Au Prince, Haiti. December 2011

Goudou Goudou – ‘earthquake’ in Haitian Creole, but colloquially being used as the name for the big earthquake that hit Haiti two years ago today. Mackenro is a college student, living near the Champs Mars district of Port Au Prince. He has been in this tent for almost two years. A 10 by 8 foot area, with enough possessions in it to fit into a small backpack. Mackenro is a communications student at the Episcopal University of Haiti (UNEPH), and studying documentary photography. To all my Haitian friends and those who choose to actively help with the recovery effort, to all those Haitian politicians and civil servants who are truly committed to bringing about change and building up democratic and civil infrastructure – I am thinking of you, and thank you for all you do. Here’s to Hope. (I hear echoes of ‘Yes We Can’ from the Obama campaign –  but, Mr. President, as you face criticism for failing to realize that aspiration, please remind people of what happens when government is reduced to a level of being dysfunctional.)