Thousands of Haitians mark annual pilgrimage far from a sacred waterfall surrounded by gangs
Powerful gangs in March attacked the town of Saut-d'Eau, whose 100-foot-long waterfall had for decades drawn thousands of Vodou and Christian faithful alike.
The town remains under gang control, preventing thousands from participating in the traditional annual pilgrimage meant to honor the Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, closely associated with the Vodou goddess of Erzulie.
'Not going to Saut-d'Eau is terrible,' said Ti-Marck Ladouce. 'That water is so fresh it just washes off all the evilness around you.'
Instead, Ladouce joined several thousand people who scrambled up a steep hill in a rural part of Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, on Wednesday to honor Erzulie and the Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel at a small church that served as a substitute for the waterfall.
Like many, Ladouce thanked the Virgin Mary for keeping him and his family alive amid a surge of gang violence that has left at least 4,864 people dead from October to the end of June across Haiti, with hundreds of others kidnapped, raped and trafficked.
'People are praying to be saved,' he said.
A church bursting at its seams
Daniel Jean-Marcel opened his arms, closed his eyes and turned toward the sky as people around him lit candles, clutched rosaries and tried to push their way into the small church that could not hold the crowd gathered around it.
Jean-Marcel said he was giving thanks 'for the grace of being able to continue living in Port-au-Prince,' where gang violence has displaced more than 1.3 million people in recent years.
'There is nowhere for us to go,' he said, adding that he and his family would remain in Haiti even as people continue to flee the ravaged country despite an immigration crackdown by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
On Wednesday, U.S. authorities deported more than 100 Haitians to their homeland on the latest such flight.
Jacques Plédé, 87, was among those dressed in all white who gathered to give thanks in Port-au-Prince, of which 85% is now controlled by gangs.
He recalled helping build the small church but never thought it would serve as a substitute for the Saut-d'Eau waterfall.
'It's very disgraceful for the country that the gangs are taking over one of the nicest waterfalls where people go to pray privately,' he said. 'Life is not over. One day, if I'm still alive, I'll make it back to Saut-d'Eau.'
Gang leaders visit a revered church
On the morning of March 31, the Canaan gang led by a man known as 'Jeff' attacked Saut-d'Eau. Police and a self-defense group repelled the attack, but the gang returned in early April with more than 500 men, prompting residents and authorities to flee, according to a new report from the U.N. human rights office.
Angry over the ongoing violence and what the United Nations described as 'weak responses from authorities,' residents of Saut-d'Eau and other nearby communities in May and June took over a hydroelectric plant in protest, causing widespread power outages in Haiti's capital and its central region.
On Wednesday, videos posted on social media showed Jeff Larose, leader of the Canaan gang, standing in the large church of Saut-d'Eau that traditionally hosted the annual Mass amid the three-day pilgrimage.
Next to him, in the largely empty church, stood Joseph Wilson, who goes by 'Lanmo Sanjou' and is the leader of the 400 Mawozo gang, and Jimmy Chérizier, best known as 'Barbecue' and one of the leaders of a powerful gang federation known as ' Viv Ansanm,' or 'Living Together.'
The video showed them distributing money to some residents who gathered with their arms outstretched.
'They used to stop us from coming to Mount Carmel,' Barbecue said. 'We are at the foot of our mother now.'
At one point, Lanmo Sanjou looked at the camera and said the Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel would give them the opportunity to perform more miracles.
'Everybody needs protection'
The sounds of laughter and gurgling water were absent on Wednesday at the church in Haiti's chaotic capital where the substitute pilgrimage was underway.
Hugens Jean, 40, recalled how he and his family in previous years would visit Saut-d'Eau, where they would wash themselves in the waters and cook meals in the nearby woods.
'Today is a very special day,' he said. 'I come here to pray for deliverance for my family and for the country that's in the hands of gangs. One day, we need to be free from these systematic attacks. We don't know who's going to live today or who's going to die tomorrow.'
Sundays
Kevin Rollason's Sunday newsletter honouring and remembering lives well-lived in Manitoba.
Joane Durosier, a 60-year-old Vodou priestess known as a 'mambo,' shared a similar lament.
Dressed in white with a rosary in hand, Durosier said she was praying for herself and her followers.
'A lot of people are suffering,' she said. 'In a country like Haiti, everybody needs protection.'
___
Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Edmonton Journal
2 hours ago
- Edmonton Journal
Protests erupt outside Montreal church where U.S. Christian musician held worship performance
Protesters and police faced off outside a Plateau church Friday evening as Sean Feucht, a pro-Trump and Christian singer, performed a concert as part of his 'Revive in 25' Let Us Worship tour. The show went ahead despite a warning from the city that the venue, Église MR, did not have the required permit to host the event. Article content The show went ahead despite a warning from the city that the venue, Église MR, did not have the required permit to host the event. Article content Article content Article content 'If the event goes ahead, notices of violation will be issued, and the neighbourhood police station is mobilized to enforce the regulations,' said Catherine Cadotte, a spokesperson for Mayor Valérie Plante. Article content Article content Article content As Feucht's supporters began arriving, local activists gathered in front of the Spanish-speaking church on Roy St, chanting anti-Trump and anti-fascism slogans. Tensions grew as the crowd grew. Article content By 7 p.m., demonstrators had surrounded the church entrance. Dozens of police officers formed a perimeter, and at least one protester was arrested. Article content Inside the church, a few dozen attendees gathered, joining in song and prayer. Article content By 8.30 p.m., the crowd of protesters outside the church had thinned out. Article content Montreal Police quickly intervene between a counter-protester to the Sean Feucht concert and the Rebel News team — Harry North (@hsnorth_) July 25, 2025
Winnipeg Free Press
3 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
French authorities investigate if Jewish passengers were removed from flight due to religion
PARIS (AP) — French authorities are trying to establish whether a group of young French citizens were removed from a plane bound for Paris from Spain this week because they are Jewish. The airline, Vueling, has denied the claims. Several dozen French passengers on Wednesday were kicked off a flight leaving the Spanish city of Valencia for Paris, for what Spanish police and the airline described as unruly behavior. France's ministry for Europe and foreign affairs said in a statement on Saturday that the minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, contacted the CEO of Vueling, Carolina Martinoli, to express his deep concern 'about the removal of a group of young French Jews from one of the company's flights.' Barrot also requested more information to 'determine whether these individuals had been discriminated against on the basis of their religion.' A similar request has been made to the Spanish ambassador to France. Sundays Kevin Rollason's Sunday newsletter honouring and remembering lives well-lived in Manitoba. 'Ms. Martinoli assured Mr. Barrot that a thorough internal investigation was underway and that its findings would be shared with the French and Spanish authorities,' the ministry said. Vueling previously denied reports that the incident, which involved the removal of 44 minors and eight adults from flight V8166, was related to the passengers' religion. Some Israeli news outlets reported that the students were Jewish and that their removal was religiously motivated, a claim that was repeated by an Israeli minister online. Spain's Civil Guard said the minors and adults were French nationals. A Civil Guard spokesperson said the agents involved were not aware of the group's religious affiliation. A Vueling spokesperson said the passengers were removed after the minors repeatedly tampered with the plane's emergency equipment and interrupted the crew's safety demonstration. A Civil Guard spokesperson said the captain of the plane ordered the removal of the minors from the plane at Valencia's Manises Airport after they repeatedly ignored the crew's instructions. On Thursday, the Federation for Jewish Communities of Spain expressed concern about the incident. The group said that Vueling needed to provide documentary evidence of what happened on the plane.
CTV News
3 hours ago
- CTV News
In Syria's Sweida, the stench of death still lingers days after sectarian bloodshed
Residents walk past a burned-out military vehicle after last week's sectarian clashes in the Druze-majority town of Sweida, Syria, on Friday, July 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki) SWEIDA, Syria (AP) — The stench of decaying bodies hangs heavy in the streets of the provincial capital in Syria's southern province of Sweida, where fighting recently erupted. Once bustling roads now lie eerily silent, with only a few people passing by. In some areas, the destruction is overwhelming, with buildings and cars charred black. At a bank branch, shattered glass covered the floor as an alarm blared nonstop. Walls are emblazoned with slogans graffitied by both sides in the recent conflict. The devastation came after violent clashes broke out two weeks ago, sparked by tit-for-tat kidnappings between armed Bedouin clans and fighters from the Druze religious minority. The fighting killed hundreds of people and threatened to unravel Syria's fragile postwar transition. Syrian government forces intervened, ostensibly to end the fighting, but effectively sided with the clans. Some government fighters reportedly robbed and executed Druze civilians. Associated Press journalists from outside the city were able to enter Sweida on Friday for the first time since the violence started on July 13. With a ceasefire largely holding, residents of Sweida are trying to pick up the pieces of their lives. 'Snipers hit him' At the main hospital, where bodies of those killed in the fighting were piled up for days, workers were scrubbing the floor, but the smell lingered. Manal Harb was there with her wounded 19-year-old son, Safi Dargham, a first-year engineering student, who was shot while volunteering at the overwhelmed hospital. 'Snipers hit him in front of the hospital,' she said. 'We are civilians and have no weapons.' Safi sustained injuries to his elbow, behind his ear, and his leg. Harb says he may lose his arm if he doesn't receive urgent treatment. Harb's husband, Khaled Dargham, was killed when armed men stormed their home, shot him, and set the house on fire. She said the armed men also stole their phones and other belongings. An emergency room nurse who gave only her nickname, Em Hassib ('mother of Hassib'), said she had remained in the hospital with her children throughout the conflict. She alleged that at one point, government fighters who were brought to the hospital for treatment opened fire, killing a police officer guarding the hospital and wounding another. The AP could not independently verify her claim. She said the bodies had piled up for days with no one to remove them, becoming a medical hazard. Sectarian tensions simmer as Druze resist disarmament Disturbing videos and reports from Sweida surfaced showing Druze civilians being humiliated and executed during the conflict, sometimes accompanied by sectarian slurs. After a ceasefire took hold, some Druze groups launched revenge attacks on Bedouin communities. The U.N. has said more than 130,000 people were displaced by the violence. Government officials, including interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, have promised to hold accountable those who targeted civilians, but many residents of Sweida remain angry and suspicious. The Druze religious sect is an offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. There are roughly a million Druze worldwide and more than half of them live in Syria. The others live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights — which Israel captured from Syria during the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981. The Druze largely welcomed the fall of former President Bashar Assad in December in a rebel offensive that ended decades of autocratic rule by the Assad dynasty. However, the new government under al-Sharaa, a former Islamist commander who once had al-Qaida ties, drew mixed reactions from Druze leaders. Some clerics supported engaging with the new leadership, while others, including spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri and his Sweida Military Council, opposed him. Al-Sharaa has denied targeting the Druze and blamed the unrest on armed groups defying state authority, particularly those loyal to al-Hijri. He also accused Israel of deepening divisions by striking Syrian forces in Sweida, attacks that were carried out under the pretext of defending the Druze. Talal Jaramany, a 30-year-old Druze resort owner, took up arms during the fighting. 'What pushed me to put on a military uniform and go to the front lines is that what happened was lawless,' he told The Associated Press. Jaramany insisted there was little distinction between the Bedouin clans and the government's General Security forces. 'They used weapons, not dialogue,' he said. He rejects calls for disarmament, saying the Druze need their weapons for self-defense. 'We won't hand over our arms. Our weapon is sacred,' he said. 'It's not for attacking. We've never been supporters of war. We'll only give it up when the state provides real security that protects human rights.' Sweida's Christians also recount near-death escapes Members of Sweida's Christian minority were also caught up in the violence. At a church where a number of Christian families were sheltering, 36-year-old Walaa al-Shammas, a housewife with two children, said a rocket struck her home on July 16. 'Had we not been sheltering in the hallway, we would've been gone,' she said. 'My house lies in destruction and our cars are gone.' Gunmen came to the damaged house later, but moved on, apparently thinking it was empty as the family hid in the hallway, she said. In recent days, hundreds of people — Bedouins as well as Druze and Christians — have evacuated Sweida in convoys of buses carrying them to other areas, organized by the Syrian Red Crescent. Others have found their own way out. Micheline Jaber, a public employee in the provincial government in Sweida, was trying to flee the clashes last week with her husband, in-laws and extended family members when the two cars they were driving in came under shelling. She was wounded but survived, along with her mother-in-law and the young son of one of her husband's siblings. Her husband and the rest of the family members who were fleeing with them were killed. Someone, Jaber doesn't know who, loaded her and the other two survivors in a car and drove them to an ambulance crew, which evacuated them to a hospital outside of the city. She was then taken to another hospital in the southwestern city of Daraa, and finally transported to Damascus. She's now staying with friends in the Damascus suburb of Jaramana, her arms encased in bandages. 'When the shell hit the car, I came out alive — I was able to get out of the car and walk normally,' Jaber said. 'When you see all the people who died and I'm still here, I don't understand it. God has His reasons.' The one thing that comforts her is that her 15-year-old daughter was with her parents elsewhere at the time and was not harmed. 'My daughter is the most important thing and she is what gives me strength,' Jaber said. ___ Abou AlJoud reported from Beirut. Omar Sanadiki And Sally Abou Aljoud, The Associated Press
