Saturday, January 22, 2011

Because medical help is scarce in Haiti, Voodoo priest are in high-demand for the psychologically traumatized

The search for an Houngan, or traditional voodoo priest, began with a drive through Cite Soleil, the notorious slum on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince. My driver told me that Houngans do not live in the city because they believe there are too many people, who crowd out the spirits. The best way to navigate in Haiti is to ask, because there are few street signs, and no signs telling you where you are. The driver keeps asking, and we are told to search beyond the city's landfill. The road to the landfill is littered with trash that falls from the trash trucks, but the trash dump itself is one of the cleanest places in Port au Prince. A young trash picker agrees to take us to an Houngan's house.
Full article: http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/health-science/item/11673-searching-for-a-voodoo-priest