The Eyes of Haiti

The eyes of Haiti was a difficult segment for me to shoot.

Prior to the footage on the organization itself Patrick Valme, its founder, shared his personal experiences with violence in Haiti. He explains how in December 2005, while living in Boston, he received the news of his parents’ kidnapping in Haiti.

A few days after, he arrived on the island where he identified the body of his father who was shot and left for dead in the street. His mother was missing, and he was left to negotiate with the kidnappers for several weeks.

On the day when he was supposed to have her back in exchange for a ransom, the kidnappers instead delivered a burned corpse to a garbage dump. He identified the body as that of his mother’s by recognizing a scar she had on her foot.

Valme’s life changed that day. Instead of channeling his anger and rage towards vengeance and hatred, he chose to catalyze those feeling and created The Eyes of Haiti, an organization where that aids Haitian children through education and love.

You can already watch Valme talking about his organization and the driving force behind it by clicking here.