For 12-year-old Juliana St. Vil, life begins every afternoon. She bounds out of the crowded shelter where she’s been sleeping on the concrete floor for 10 months, a smile on her face despite harsh surroundings. Not yet a teenager, Juliana must navigate a Haiti oppressed by gangs that killed her father and drove her family out of their home. An acting workshop held daily in a big house with a leafy yard is her escape. “I lived well,” Juliana said, remembering her old neighborhood.
There’s not much room to play because adults, drying clothes and boiling cauldrons filled with soup and rice take up nearly all the space at the shelter, where food is sometimes scarce. On a recent morning, Gustave boiled bread and added a chunk of butter, stirring continuously until it formed a thick soup. In the background, a radio blared news, with one man declaring, “Haiti is crashing.