"#HAÏTI CHÉRIE#" "My little one, this coin will give you passage to a new life... that will cancel your past sufferings and pain." "We wish you a happy journey, little one." "Stop!" "Hold it..." "What's wrong?" "This isn't your business, doctor these workers have a boss and I take my orders from the Consortium." "Can't you see they're about to bury their child?" "You bury the child." "He don't need help or company anymore." "Company?" "These are his parents!" "You don't understand, doc,... we're in the middle of sugar cane cutting and we need all the workers we have." "You're doing them more harm than good, you know." "Take your hands off me!" " You don't get it, you'd better go." "We've already seen you doing weird things." "Stay away!" "You there!" "Get down!" "Hey, I told you to get down!" "Let's go, Mario." "Get back to work!" "How are you, Magdaleine?" "So so..." "Made anything to eat?" "Look, if you don't want to eat that's your problem but I'm hungry!" "What can I do?" "Until they don't pay us, there's no food" "Look at this shit!" "All the stuff on the ground, and you just stand there!" "Pick it up, woman!" "What's up with you?" "You gotta stop thinking about it!" "Hi, Magdeleine." "I haven't seen you for days, how are you feeling?" "Not good." "I don't have any strength left." "But you have to keep going, ok?" "You can't give up now." " How are you, doctor?" " Hi, Pierre." "Doctor, can I ask you a question?" "Yes, of course." "How do I get out of here?" "What?" "Get out, go somewhere else." "Do what the others do when there's no cane cutting." "You mean go to the capital?" "Life's worse there than here." "Well, not really worse, but..." "Let me think about it..." "But you're very young and one day you'll find the answer..." "But it's now that I'm living a shitty life!" "Hey, kid, move your ass if you wanna eat today." "With what we get paid?" "!" "We can only buy a handful of rice." "Yeah, but you got a roof over your head and something to eat." "In Haiti, you'd be starving." "Here I'm starving!" "And I don't wanna end up like your kid." "Sorry, I didn't mean to say that." "but Jean-Baptiste..." " Stop, please, my love" "Why don't we leave, get away from here?" "Impossible, where would we go?" " Yes,it's possible!" " Quiet, woman!" "I don't care if they hear me." "This place stinks." "But where do you want to go?" "Don't know." "Any place is better than here." "But what would we do?" "With no job, no house..." "what would we eat?" "Tell me." "You've changed, Jean-Baptiste." "It's not true." "I'm just the same" "But I have to protect you." "You know that, right?" "Come here, baby" "You wanna leave, right?" "What are you talkin' about?" "I 've heard you last night..." "I didn't mean to listen but you were talking loud." "Well... no." " No?" " You didn't hear well." " Why?" "!" "Isn't it true that you said..." "Lots of things are said between husband and wife... one day you'll understand." "I already do..." "I work like a man here!" "The truth is, I want to go with you!" " What?" "Your husband's scared, I'm not." "Look at you, you're just a child!" "And Jean-Baptiste isn't scared, he's a man who thinks, who uses his head." "You're still a kid." "I'm not, I tell you!" "And I heard you, you wanna get out..." "Well, you heard wrong last night." "We're here to work, got it?" "Hi." "I want you to read this." "They tell you your rights as workers... the right to have a contract, the right to know how much cane you cut." "Food, water, medical care, working no longer than 8 hours a day..." "Hey, what are you up to?" "How are you, boss?" "Why are you still here, doc?" "I'm here to look after their health," "That's my job." "Don,t fuck with me, doctor.." "Why don't you leave right now?" "!" "And if I don't?" "What if you don't?" "You know this is private property..." "And I take my orders from the company." "You've already caused enough Problems here.." "Now please leave!" "Aren't you interested in reading about workers' rights?" "You're a worker too..." "Well, it's a pity that you see these rights as subversive literature." "But that's your problem.." "Why haven't you lit the fire?" "!" "Why hasn't the bed been made?" "What's wrong with you?" "You don't do anything..." "Come on, get moving!" "What's happening, Magdeleine?" "Forgive me, baby, I didn't mean to hit you." "You put me in an unbearable situation." "I didn't want to do that, but I came home and nothing was ready..." "You know I can't live without you." "Come on, get up, my love." "Should I leave?" "Pierre, please open up the back door." "What are you doing there?" "Everything okay, honey?" "How are you, sir?" "Need some food?" "Some soap?" " Nothing, sir, nothing." " Sure?" " Sure." "Want me to take you home on my horse?" "If you need something, you know where I am." "Son of a bitch!" "One day I'll show him!" "Oh, yeah?" "You won't do anything, just like the rest of us." " How are you all?" " Fine, Jean-Baptiste" "Not too bad" "Magdeleine, what's going on with you and the kid?" "Are you playing mum or is he looking for a wife?" "Come on!" "he's just a kid and he's got no-one..." "That's not true, I brought him with me from Haiti so he wouldn't be left on the streets..." "And now what?" "He's trying to piss me off with my wife?" "It's just kid's problems, you know that..." "I'm sure you were like that at his age, or don't you remember?" "It's not the same thing..." "I lost my family and he never even had one..." "I have people I miss" "You miss Haiti but you don't wanna go back." "What's that gotta do with the boy?" "Mr Poulin?" "I'm the batey 's doctor, and he is Mario, my assistant." " They told me you wanted to see me..." " Yes, Sir." " What's your problem?" " My hernia." "Have you been to the hospital, to check it out?" "I've been several times, but the doctors, they don't even watch me..." "I don't know how to help you... we have some medicines in the infirmary at the batey 1" "You could come over there tomorrow, and Mario could pick you up." " And how old are you?" " I'm 66." " Where are you born?" " In batey 8." "I've been cutting cane all my life long... and for 14 years I took care of the plantation... and the farm did eat me... the plantation it's no more State-owned, but it's still devouring us." "The "finca" devours everybody..." " Yes." "How are you?" "How was work today?" " Not good, sir, not good..." "And these children?" "!" "How many times do I have to tell you?" "!" "The children shouldn't work..." "Yes, but they eat a lot..." " we need to pay for the food..." "They need to go to school if their lives are going to get better or do you want them to end up like you, buried in a batey?" "Hi, mulatta, what a beautiful skin you have!" "Shit, if you want I can help you there." "No, thank you." "Is the water good?" "Leave me alone, I'm washing!" "You can't do that alone, mulatta, let me help you..." "You'll see, you'll like it..." "You'll like it, don't be afraid..." "Leave me alone!" " Get lost, asshole!" " Leave him!" "Fuck you, piece of shit!" "Come on everyone..." "There's a fight with the guard..." "Stop fighting!" "What happened?" "!" "We have to get out of here!" "Pick him up!" "Luckily it's not a deep wound..." "He'll be fine in a couple of days..." "But tell me, what happened?" " The guard was trying to rape my wife..." "You know that fighting with a guard here can cost you your life." "You have to get out of here." "Find something to put under Pierre's head." "Give him your boot" "Lucky you have a hard head." "Let's go to my infirmary." "I'm sorry, Jean-Baptiste... if I hadn't shouted so much with the guard..and let him do..." "What are you talkin' about?" "You're my wife... letting him rape you..." "Don't worry, I'll find a job, here or somewhere else" "I'll fix everything, you'll see..." "Lucky you have a hard head... relax, I won't hurt you." "Only blows hurt, not me." "Thank goodness he hit you with his hands and not with a stick." "Or he could have cracked your head open." "You got off lightly." "will things be better for us if we stay with you?" "Who knows..." "you never know where things get better.." "Magdeleine, what's wrong?" "What are you doing?" "I can't stand it here anymore, I wanna go..." "Why?" "It will be others dead hopes,there!" "No, that's not true... tell me,why don't you wanna come with me?" "Because Haiti's done for there's nothing there." "There's no work for me there." "And what work are we doing here?" "There, it's your country, your people, your ways..." "No, I'm not going back with empty hands." "I don't want to go back to Haiti!" "Then I'm going on my own." "Come on, Magdeleine told me that you want to come with me." "Where?" " I have a medical assignment near the border." "It's not a nice journey... but from there, you might be able to make it back to Haiti." "See you when I get back..." "So are you coming or not?" "You can't come in here." "Don't you see the sign?" "#MEN#" "The ladies' toilet is over there." "I can't read either but I learnt that from working here..." "Thank you." "I'll get something to drink..." "Nacho, pull out the big bucks!" "Don't be mean!" "What for?" " We wanna get wild baby, right?" "Get another one for me, gorgeous!" " So tonight's party time?" " Yeah, we're heading for the beach!" "My God... he really stank!" "How are you officer?" "Good afternoon, sir..." "Where are you going?" "To the Red Cross near the border" "And these people?" "We're in a hurry... officer" "Your papers." "Get down!" " Look, officer, I have to get going." "I'm a doctor." " And them?" " They're working for me." "They are my assistants." "You don't want my patients to die waiting for me, do you?" "I know that you're a very reasonable man." "We're in a real rush..." " You know, sir, we're only doing our duty and obeying orders..." "Yes, I know, everybody has their duties." "Thank you, chief..." "God bless you." "Come on, get down!" "It's free!" "The sea is wonderful, it makes me feel well... this reminds me so much of Haiti." "Are you happy we're nearly there?" "Are you really happy?" "Yes, every day that went by in the batey was sort of lost." "It's like starting to live again..." "I needed to change." "Me too... even if I'm not sure we're taking the right path." "At least here there's no sugar cane, no dust... and no bosses telling us what to do." "Here I'm Magdeleine and I lead my own life." "Look at Jean-Baptiste, he's going to find out he wasn't born just to cut cane." "Did you come here with your family?" "The guards... they took all away... they took away my family..." "I'm alone" "Don't worry, we're going to help you." "Ernesto, how are you?" "How are things going around here?" "It's a bottomless well, doctor." "They're carrying out brutal repatriations..." "Lots of children have had their parents taken away..." "Calm down, we'll get help..." "Mario, get the infirmary ready, we're starting work" "Haiti is nicer than this, remember?" "I'd rather not remember right now." "The village... the sea... the kind people..." "I don't wanna talk about Haiti." "I really don't understand you, before you insisted on staying in the batey, and now you insist on staying here... it's like you don't love your country anymore, or your wife..." "I wanna be where I can earn a living." "I'm tired of all these false hopes..." "I just wanna get down to something right now, don't you see?" "There must be some kind of work in this town." "Shit!" "Don't you get it?" "!" "Come on, pick up everybody without papers!" "Hey, you!" "Stop there..." "Let me see your papers..." "Come on, round them all up!" "Come here!" "So, where are your papers?" "Don't you have any paper, right?" "!" "Come with me!" "Watch!" "They are fleeing round the corner!" "Let go of me,boss!" "Let go of me!" "I have my papers..." "Don't move!" "#RESIDENT PERMIT#" "It's no good to you!" "Eyes wide open up there!" "Still here?" " Don't doctors sleep?" " They do... can you believe it?" "What are you looking for?" " Some medecines" "I have to take to Sanchez tomorrow." "Tomorrow?" " Yes." "I'm going to the border and thought I'd drop by, but don't worry, I'll be back in a few days." "Such bad people...!" "Today must be pay day... the building company saves money this way:" "they don't pay weekly because the workers aren't legal." "They promise to pay them at the end of the job and when that time comes, the boss solves the problem by making a phone call." "And nobody protests... nobody says anything..." " How?" "Nobody wants to defend them... no lawyers would take on their case, nobody cares about these poor people..." "We can't go any further." "Great..." "We're really up the creek now." "Well, let's get walking..." "Mario, you wait here, Sanchez's house is close by..." "Sanchez!" "Who are you?" "I'm Ernesto." "Is Sanchez in?" "He's not here." "And who are you?" "Françoise." " Where is he?" "Don't worry, I'm a friend of Sanchez's.." "He went to town to sell the banana crop." "Shit!" "We've come all this way and the asshole isn't around..." "When will he be back?" " Don't know." "Well, I've another problem right now:" "my truck's broken down..." "can they stay here?" "Wait a moment, let me help..." "You should take it more easy." "It's part of my job here." "You spend a lot of time on your own." "Do you like it here?" "Yes, things are easier..." "And the child's father, where is he?" "He's dead." "It's a pity we can't choose where we're born." "What's that?" "Francoise's baby will be born in a nicer place than ours... with a house, and he might even be able to find a job..." "I'm sure the owner of the house is the father..." "No, you've got it wrong... and it's not your business," "it's not always the place where you're born that counts... but what you can do afterwards." "I don't agree when you're born in a batey, you're fucked... there's no future." "Sometimes I feel really bad about our baby dying, you know... but what could I do, even when I worked harder," "I didn't make more money..." "There's nothing we can do, it's done now..." "Would you like another baby?" "No, what for?" "Yeah, it's true.. know what you mean... there are already enough unhappy Haitians..." "what's the point of making another one?" "If things change one day, maybe we can think about it again" "What's he like?" "Do you like him?" "Who?" " Sanchez." "And?" "Sometimes I start liking him, but other days.." "I hate it when he touches me, I hate his smell..." "He'd like this place to be a cage with me in it..." "I do lots in exchange for staying here..." "He should treat me better." " He treats you badly?" "Why?" "He doesn't want somebody else's child" "What's the matter?" "Sanchez thinks the baby is his." "Why?" "Did you want him to believe that?" "Yes, I want to have my child here..." "I didn't know if he would accept him otherwise..." "I'm frightened of finding myself without a home and food" "But do you want to stay with him?" "I wish I could be with my husband again..." "Watch your tummy!" "Will the baby be Haitian or Dominican?" "It doesn't matter..." "We all live on the same island, right?" "Yes, we all have the same problems, what difference does it make?" "Anyway, my child will be better off in this house." "Why?" "Aren't houses safe in Haiti?" "The point is that no one can say what may happen to you... and ever since I've been pregnant" "I'm frightened of the future" "Looks like you were having fun!" "What took you so long?" "This is our friend Sanchez we ran into him and gave him a lift." "Going where?" "We thought you weren't coming back!" "Hey, calm down... we took the van to be fixed and met our friend here who offered us a drink... but the fixing took some time and so did the drinks" "Why didn't you let us know?" "And what would you have preferred, by satellite or mobile phone... when even a carrier pigeon can't make it here..." "Can't I have a little fun and relaxation once in a while?" "Instead of moaning, get ready, we're leaving" "Just like that?" "Haiti could be a good place for you... not everybody is forced to stay here and suffer... we don't know but one day, things can get better." "Thanks and all the best for the baby" "Thank you." "Let's go, Pierre" "Only if I can come back with you" " What are you talking about, boy?" "I don't have anybody over there" "I don't even know anything about Haiti." "I wanna stay here and work with you" "Are you sure?" "You've really made up your mind?" "I've made up my mind" "Well, apparently Pierre wants to stay with me..." "What about you two, do you still want to carry on?" "Ok then, let's go" "What's up?" "Why don't you want to continue?" "Coz I already know what to expect here.." "Mario and Pierre are going to wait here." "Why?" "Because there are soldiers at the border, and you never know what can happen" "Come on, Pierre, don't make things more difficult!" "What's up now?" "Come on.." "The border is over there..." "How can we cross with all those guards and soldiers everywhere?" "I won't let them touch me" "Nothing's going to happen." "You're going back to your own country, where is the problem?" "They see us as just Haitians, they don't care where we're going." "All right, wait here." "No problem... they're glad you're going back to Haiti..." "So, you can pick up your things and cross" "Have you changed your mind?" "!" "Damn it!" "What's the matter with you now?" "I did this trip for you!" "Do we have to walk the whole way round the island while you decide?" "If you want, we can go back to the damned batey, or you can decide to cross the border but whatever you decide, decide now!" "Jean-Baptiste." "Come here" "Look after yourself and her" "Do you think we're going the right way?" " I don't know." "Good day to you, ma'm." " Hello." "We've come a long way, can you give us something to eat?" "Come in" "Are you lost?" "Yes." " I have nothing to give you..." "I can only give you this there's lots of land here but it gives us nothing" "What's up?" " Help us, sir, my wife's sick." " What's wrong with her?" "Is that why you were banging like that on my door?" "Sorry about that" "Bring her over here..." "She can't even walk straight, huh?" "Lie her down there..." " Where?" " Down there." "How can we get to Marigot?" "Why do you want to go there?" "My family lives there" "Is it a long time since you were last here?" "Have you talked to your family recently?" "How do you know how they are?" "Lots of people leave for the other side, some come back, others die... and others move to town" "and some of them for dirty business" "get shot by the police." "the police think they own your life and they shoot but shooting only brings more death." "Who do you live with?" "My wife died a week ago... my sons have all left," "now I'm waiting for death to come and get me too..." "Hey, you, stop!" "You!" "Did you hear me?" "I heard you but we're doing nothing wrong..." "Who said we accused you of something, man?" "Shut up!" " People say you go around asking for food and information." "Why?" "Haitians always welcome their own people." "Haitians do, huh?" "You saying we're not real Haitians?" "!" "Where do you come from?" "We're from the southeast, near Marigot, but we don't know how to get there..." "We've just been asking for food and directions" " Why should we believe you?" " Check his bag!" "Leave him alone!" "What have you done?" "Why did you kill him?" "For what reason?" "Because he was resisting..." "I saw you searching him." "Did you find any money?" " Yes, we found something..." " Show me the money" "Maybe there was no need to kill him, you could have arrested him." "Why did you kill him?" "He didn't do anything to you..." "Look what you've done..." "Let her go!"