THE MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME ACADEMY HAITI PROJECT
Daily Life in Ile-A-Vache
Approximately 15,000 people live on IAV. The primary language is Haitian Creole. The island community is comprised of a series or string of small villages that are scattered across the island. Lack of roads has created a unique environment where villages, although located in close proximity to one another, remain fairly isolated.
The areas where one would travel would be either to the main village, for weekly market, or to visit the clinic located on the northwest corner of the island. Daily life on IAV is very demanding and residents live day to day. There is no economy and the jobs that do exist are mostly tied to the sea.
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Ile-A-Vache Infrastructure
There is no electric grid so the majority of residents lack power. A few generators exist although there is no commercial venue on the island that provides fuel. Housing is substandard by western norms. Most residents live in houses that are constructed out of a combination of grass, palm fronds, tin, cardboard and wood. Some homes have stone or cement construction with tiled roofs, although these are the exception and most are in need of major repairs.
The vast majority of residents do not have access to potable water. Although wells are located throughout the island the vast majority are broken or in disrepair with many left open to the elements.The secondary source of fresh water on IAV is rainwater and cisterns. Some homes and buildings have cisterns, although the majority of these are in serious disrepair.
Catch basins or rain gutters are often broken; holding tanks (most constructed of cement) are often cracked and contaminated and internal pumps no longer function. There is also no organized sanitation system on the island beyond the occasional latrine