Families abandon their daily activities and travel far, on foot, for more than an hour to find water. Photo courtesy of Mayor Lesperance
Families abandon their daily activities and travel far, on foot, for more than an hour to find water. Photo courtesy of Mayor Lesperance

PORT-AU-PRINCE — By now, Louisius Saint-Pierre would have harvested a good amount of peas at his farm in Pestel but today he is at a loss and does not know what to do because he has no crops.

“My pea crops cannot grow because there is no rain. My animals started dying because there is no grass to feed them and whatever small amount of water available is not close here,” said Saint-Pierre, a 60-year-old native of Gorder, one of Pestel's six communal localities.

Overview:

A four month severe drought in Haiti’s provincial town of Pestel has turned disastrous, destroying crops, killing farm animals and causing health problems among the population.

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Murdith Joseph is a social worker and journalist. She studied at the State University of Haiti and Maurice Communication. She first worked as a journalist presenter and reporter for Radio Sans Fin (RSF) then as a journalist reporter for Radio tele pacific and writting for the daily Le National. Today she joined the Haitian Times team and covers the news in Port-Au-Prince-Haiti.