Former President Aristide returns....
In case you need a recap, 4 friends were coming to visit us. Their visit was nicely timed with elections, and the return of an ousted President.
During all of March there had been rumours about former President Jean Bertrand Aristide returning to Haiti. Then, days before our friends’ arrival, the exiled former president said he would be returning to Haiti before the elections. And the day before our friends were scheduled to arrive, the news confirmed that he would fly in on exactly the same morning as them. The country immediately started hyperventilating – now it would have both former right-wing dictator Baby Doc Duvalier and former leftist populist president Aristide in the same country, moments before the tightest election in Haiti’s history. 
Our NGOs went on high security alert. We were instructed to come home early, avoid meetings near the airport, and stay inside for the next few days. Nobody knew what Aristide’s return would bring, or how people would react. Our friends had signed up with my organization to volunteer during part of their visit and I was asked to tell them to cancel their flight. We wouldn’t be able to pick them up as the road to the airport would be off-limits that day. 
We talked to our Security advisors, thought about worst-case scenarios, and based on the previous elections weekend concluded that the risk was low. The decision was of course on their hands but we would provide them with as much information as possible so that they could make an informed decision.
We then proceeded to try to reach our friends. For once, internet was working at home, and they were both often online. Except it was St Patrick’s Day and they were out celebrating... “Please call us back tonight” emails and voice mails ensued, and then we finally got in touch with them. We told them they might have to wait for a long time at the hot, uncomfortable hangar that is Haiti’s International Airport. We would do our best to pick them up as soon as the crowds cleared. It was of course understandable if they would prefer to cancel their trip. But of course they didn’t!
They are studying International Relations and Development, this is the stuff they debate in classes for hours, and write essays on! The Aristide story made them quiet popular during the rest of the St Paddy’s festivities, and a few hours later they were on their way.
Luckily the airport road cleared very quickly after Aristide’s speech and they were shortly on their way to Tania’s NGO building. The sleeping bags and “Emergency Food” that had been packed in preparation for possibly having to be at the airport for a long time, were quickly unpacked at our place. We then settled for a couple of quiet evenings in our house until the elections passed with very few incidents, and then were able to enjoy just a few but incredible days with them in Ayiti Cherie. These are some of the pictures they took:
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