ENTRY DESCRIPTION
City Soleil is a small village within the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area in Haiti. Unlike its name—City of the Sun—however, it seems as though there is only a glimpse of light remaining. The city has become poor as its history of rebellion and conflict extorted its economic power. What is more, because the people were not able to have proper drainage system, their home was crammed with unfiltered waste and sewage. Some predict this was an expected outcome of the earthquake in 2010, but it is also true that their lives were under severe condition even before this tragic natural disaster. Overall, this part of the city today is experiencing extreme poverty and hunger, unemployment, formation of armed gangs, violations under violence, as well as various diseases and, for this reason, the United Nations has announced City Soleil as one of the most dangerous villages of the world. The UN Stabilization Mission (MINUSTAH) has been dispatched since 2004 in order to stabilize the violence but they withdrew since last October. The City of the Sun is on the brink of losing its light, so as it seems.

I constantly asked myself the same question as an observer: "How long will this condition continue for these children?" Some have introduced their lives as shocking and hopeless but is this true? Another finding that surprised me was how passionate these children were about learning. Although many are in critical condition, there are schools here and there all throughout the village and many subjects are taught. Human beings can indeed adjust to their environment but one can nurture the courage to face it through learning. Saying no to their destined environment and learning continuously by dreaming for a better tomorrow, it was their passionate heart for learning that made it possible.

AUTHOR
Urim Hong is a editorial photographer who searches for light in the isolated world. After majoring in the humanities as well as pedagogy, he taught children for a decade and, in that process, found himself called to photography. He majored in photography at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. He captures various stories of the world on camera, including Haiti's City soleil project. He was selected as Editorial Photographer of the year at the 2018 IPA, 2019 MIFA and PDNedu Awards, 2020 / 2022 IPA Editorial/Press winner.

back to gallery