From Anse-à-Galets to Montreal, a Challenging Journey
By La Rédaction · Port-au-Prince
· 5 min read · Updated 24 April 2026
Translated from French — AI-assisted and reviewed by the editorial team. The French version is authoritative. Read the original · About our translation policy
For some time now, leaving the island of Gonâve to travel to Port-au-Prince has become a journey as perilous for the inhabitants of this western territory as the one that once led to North America in a few hours.
The efforts and energy required to achieve this are now an obstacle course: every meter traveled is a succession of trials recalling the pain of an uncertain crossing. The journey, from Anse-à-Galets, passing through Pointe-à-Raquette, then Miragoâne and Les Cayes to finally reach Cap-Haïtien, lasted four days before being able to embark for Miami — a slow and cautious trip, dictated by the insecurity plaguing the country.
The next day, I took a flight from Miami to Canada, the first stage of a journey that led me to Montreal. This country has become my second homeland for over a quarter-century — a place I have learned to love and honor wholeheartedly, through my words and my pen.
We owe deep gratitude to nations like Canada, the United States, France, European countries, and those in Latin America, which have welcomed thousands of Haitians. Thanks to their hospitality, many have been able to accomplish what they could never have achieved in their own country. The social and economic transformations linked to immigration have allowed many Haitians from modest families to access the best North American and European universities. Far from being solely a loss, emigration has also generated new strengths.
Economic globalization, which pushes us to seek opportunities under other skies, strengthens interdependence between nations, brings individuals closer, and seems to emphasize the feeling of a global community working for the promotion of human rights. This point of union is the foundation upon which a fraternal and supportive human community is gradually being built.
The welcome of Canadians on their territory positively influences the destiny of Haiti. We deeply love this exemplary, peaceful country. I cherish a precious memory of my professors — Daniel Turp, Jacques-Yvan Morin, Pierre Robert, François Crépeau, to name but a few — these great Quebecers, these Canadians, architects of Quebec's Quiet Revolution, who greatly contributed to my education.
Canada, like Haiti, are two countries to which I owe everything.
A Collective Drama
Haiti today needs genuine mobilization and an integration policy capable of enabling its diaspora to put its expertise at the service of national development. The patriotic sentiment of Haitians remains intact, whether they live in the country or elsewhere. Globalization has not eroded this deep attachment to the homeland. This account, which testifies to our collective drama and the threat to our survival, is not just mine. Everyone could offer a version, according to what they have experienced at this crucial moment in our shared history. Today, the nation seems engulfed in bottomless despair. Yet, the suffering we are enduring can become a step towards deliverance. « No one knows himself until he has suffered. » This phrase by Alfred de Musset, extracted from La Nuit d’octobre, could apply to an entire nation: it reminds us that trials reveal the truth of being and prompt introspection. Traveling should be an act of pleasure, an anticipation of adventure with the prospect of return, not an escape from one's responsibilities. I have always written: a true elite is too busy solving its country's problems to seek refuge elsewhere. In the current circumstances, leaving Haiti is done with a heavy heart, at a time when the Haitian population, exhausted by everything, yearns for a profound transformation of the country and wants to find new reasons to believe and hope. The corrupt elites who govern test our determination and our hope. Yet, despite the comfort that a foreign land can offer, one question remains: what good is success far from home if one abandons their homeland and its people to distress? This question forces me to choose between Haiti and myself, between Gonâve and myself. And I choose Haiti. Philosophically, to choose is to think; not to choose is still to choose, for indifference is already an act of consciousness. Enlightened Leadership is Needed
The Haitian elite, driven into exile by the country's internal crises, often experiences a forced departure akin to a silent deportation. Yet, it must conceive a national reconstruction plan. Society is crumbling, insecurity is spreading, and the independence proclaimed by our founding fathers over two centuries ago is wavering. A clear vision is needed, rooted in the ideals of our ancestors, carried by men and women capable of raising Dessalines' homeland. Like many Haitians, I have experienced the worst. Two of my homes have been confiscated by criminal gangs. The one where I lived, in Marin, in the Plaine, is now under their control. My heart bleeds for the thousands of families trapped by violence. The Haitian diaspora, composed of men and women trained in the world's greatest universities, passionate about knowledge and technology, is the lifeblood of Haiti. Jacques Stephen Alexis, in a letter addressed to Dr. François Duvalier from exile, recalled this truth: no plant can bear fruit without the sap of its native soil. The continuity of communities and the transmission of values can only be ensured by an rooted and responsible elite. Haiti's healing requires facing reality with lucidity rather than fleeing from it. Two imperatives are essential: resisting adversity and accepting the situation as it is, however painful. In the history of humanity, as in that of Haiti, figures always emerge when foundations falter. The words of the prophet Nehemiah and those of Jacques Roumain can, in these dark times, inspire us to undertake strong and concerted actions for national reconstruction. To achieve this, we need disinterested leadership, animated by hope, faith, and a sense of organization, to transform life in Haiti — especially that of the most vulnerable rural and urban communities, who feel its vital urgency. Sonet Saint-Louis av
Professor of Constitutional Law at the State University of Haiti.
Université du Québec à Montréal
Montreal, October 19, 2025.
Tel: 44073580
Email: sonet.saintlouis@gmail.com
Haiti today needs genuine mobilization and an integration policy capable of enabling its diaspora to put its expertise at the service of national development. The patriotic sentiment of Haitians remains intact, whether they live in the country or elsewhere. Globalization has not eroded this deep attachment to the homeland. This account, which testifies to our collective drama and the threat to our survival, is not just mine. Everyone could offer a version, according to what they have experienced at this crucial moment in our shared history. Today, the nation seems engulfed in bottomless despair. Yet, the suffering we are enduring can become a step towards deliverance. « No one knows himself until he has suffered. » This phrase by Alfred de Musset, extracted from La Nuit d’octobre, could apply to an entire nation: it reminds us that trials reveal the truth of being and prompt introspection. Traveling should be an act of pleasure, an anticipation of adventure with the prospect of return, not an escape from one's responsibilities. I have always written: a true elite is too busy solving its country's problems to seek refuge elsewhere. In the current circumstances, leaving Haiti is done with a heavy heart, at a time when the Haitian population, exhausted by everything, yearns for a profound transformation of the country and wants to find new reasons to believe and hope. The corrupt elites who govern test our determination and our hope. Yet, despite the comfort that a foreign land can offer, one question remains: what good is success far from home if one abandons their homeland and its people to distress? This question forces me to choose between Haiti and myself, between Gonâve and myself. And I choose Haiti. Philosophically, to choose is to think; not to choose is still to choose, for indifference is already an act of consciousness. Enlightened Leadership is Needed
The Haitian elite, driven into exile by the country's internal crises, often experiences a forced departure akin to a silent deportation. Yet, it must conceive a national reconstruction plan. Society is crumbling, insecurity is spreading, and the independence proclaimed by our founding fathers over two centuries ago is wavering. A clear vision is needed, rooted in the ideals of our ancestors, carried by men and women capable of raising Dessalines' homeland. Like many Haitians, I have experienced the worst. Two of my homes have been confiscated by criminal gangs. The one where I lived, in Marin, in the Plaine, is now under their control. My heart bleeds for the thousands of families trapped by violence. The Haitian diaspora, composed of men and women trained in the world's greatest universities, passionate about knowledge and technology, is the lifeblood of Haiti. Jacques Stephen Alexis, in a letter addressed to Dr. François Duvalier from exile, recalled this truth: no plant can bear fruit without the sap of its native soil. The continuity of communities and the transmission of values can only be ensured by an rooted and responsible elite. Haiti's healing requires facing reality with lucidity rather than fleeing from it. Two imperatives are essential: resisting adversity and accepting the situation as it is, however painful. In the history of humanity, as in that of Haiti, figures always emerge when foundations falter. The words of the prophet Nehemiah and those of Jacques Roumain can, in these dark times, inspire us to undertake strong and concerted actions for national reconstruction. To achieve this, we need disinterested leadership, animated by hope, faith, and a sense of organization, to transform life in Haiti — especially that of the most vulnerable rural and urban communities, who feel its vital urgency. Sonet Saint-Louis av
Professor of Constitutional Law at the State University of Haiti.
Université du Québec à Montréal
Montreal, October 19, 2025.
Tel: 44073580
Email: sonet.saintlouis@gmail.com
