Catastrophic fire in the "Grand Rue" Artists' Community in Haiti - and now COVID-19

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Catastrophic fire in the "Grand Rue" Artists' Community in Haiti - and now COVID-19

21 Mar 2020

Catastrophic fire in the "Grand Rue" Artists' Community in Haiti - and now COVID-19

by AFisher

The ruins of the Atis Rezistans community on the Grand Rue.

With all the hardship and tragedy in the world right now, with the spread of the COVID-19 virus, I will mention one tragedy, because most of you will not have heard of it, and it impacts several of our artists in Haiti. On the night of February 29th a fire broke out in the Atis Rezistans community of recycler/artists on the Grand Rue in Port-au-Prince. The studio/homes of artists Guyodo (Frantz Jacques), the Timoun Klere art workshop for kids and thirty-three homes were completely destroyed along with all of the artists' work. Fortunately there were no injuries that I know of, but the already precarious lives of these artists and their families have been impacted further.

In France a support fund for the artists has been created at:

Grand Rue Haiti - Solidarité artistes et artisans Incendie 2020

The Facebook page follows:

https://www.facebook.com/Grand-Rue-Haiti-Solidarite-artistes-et-artisans-Incendie-2020-107805880840332/

I am not aware of any similar fund in the US, but Indigo Arts is offering to help out Guyodo with the reconstruction of his home and studio by donating 20% of any sales from our collection of his artwork.

In the last few days there is also news of the spread of the COVID-19 virus in Haiti. With little testing available one can assume that it is already much more iwdespread than is yet evident. The medical resources in Haiti, already stretched, will most likely be soon overwhelmed. One of the most efficetive medical organizations working in Haiti is Partners in Health/ Zanmi Lasante. Please support them!

Wishing peace and good health to all,

Tony