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Testimonial Haiti Humanitarian crises

“I lived by myself on the streets…”

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I’m Ti John, and I’ve lived on the streets for four years. My mother died and I don’t know who my father is. I’ve lived in different places, with people who weren’t my own family. But they didn’t treat me well and I left them in 2006. I went away with a pal, and we got as far as Leogane. When this friend got into trouble with the police, I was left alone. Before the earthquake, most of the time I sold minutes of phone calls on the street. In exchange, the man whose mobile phone it was would sometimes give me something to eat.

At five in the afternoon on January 12th, I was at Madame Martin’s, drawing water for her, when I felt the ground shaking around me. I saw the salt water coming up the well and tried to run away. And then there were stones falling all over me until I was wedged in and couldn’t move. It was Madame Martin who called people over to help me get out of the rubble. Her house was completely destroyed.

For several days I lay on the street with a broken foot, until a pal finally got me to the hospital in Leogane. And there I met the people from Tdh. Three months later I could leave, and was given a tent and clothes. I got fixed up in a camp near the St. Rose church. I don’t really like the area I’m in now, there are people who throw stones and get into fights every evening. Here, it’s “tout koukouj klere pou je yo” (everyone for himself and God for us all).

I met Avius when I was still in hospital. He’s a protection person for Tdh, and came to see how I’m doing, and he’s always been cool with me. At first we chatted and a bit later I told him about myself. He asked me what I could do; I wanted to sell phone minutes again, and Avius suggested helping me to set up my own business. And Tdh tried to find my family again, ‘cos I hadn’t heard about them since the day of the earthquake.

I opened what I call “John’s Business”. I buy phone minutes for one thousand gourdes, and when my customers have used them up, I buy new. The money I earn from this I put into the account Tdh helped me to open at the savings bank. As I’d also like to learn to be a mechanic, the people from Tdh looked for someone who’d give me lessons. Every morning for months I went to a car repairer who taught me mechanics.

Finally, the protection people managed to find my family in Port-au-Prince, and I’ve been able to meet up with my grandparents, two brothers, two aunts and a cousin. I hesitated a bit and then decided to live with one of my aunts, not far from grandma. The people from Tdh still give me lots of good advice, and make sure everything’s OK. Today I’m not living on the streets any more. Mechanics, it’s not really for me, I stopped. I haven’t yet gone back to school, but I’m thinking about it…

- Ti John, refugee in a camp for victims of the earthquake in Haiti

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