Insecurity in Port-au-Prince: the Grand Cimetière remains nearly inaccessible for All Saints' Day

In Haiti, All Saints' Day and the Day of the Dead, on November 1 and 2, were disrupted this year by insecurity, especially in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, according to Le National. The newspaper describes a particularly difficult situation for keeping these traditions alive in several parts of the country.

Cemeteries Largely Empty

In Port-au-Prince, the Grand Cimetière has long been one of the main gathering places for worshippers. Today it is almost impossible to reach, because armed groups have taken control of it. In Cité Soleil, the Drouillard cemetery also drew few people. The newspaper gives no figures for the drop in attendance.

What These Days Used to Involve

These two dates used to draw large crowds. Families would go to their loved ones' graves to clean and decorate them. They left flowers and candles there, then stayed to pray. Vodou practitioners, for their part, celebrated the Guédés, spirits associated with death and cemeteries. They did so with songs, drums, dances, invocations and offerings.