Windsor, Ont., residents with ties to Haiti brace themselves as violence, gang activity grips the country

People in Windsor, Ont., are watching closely as crime and cholera sweep across Haiti and the country's democratic institutions collapse. 

Haiti's growing fuel crisis recently led Canada and the U.S. to send secret military flights to the Caribbean island. 

"Everything happening in Haiti is concerning me. When you see your country become like that, it's terrible," said Pastor Renel Sanon of the Haitian Evangelical Baptist Church in Windsor. 

Sanon said the situation is especially challenging to watch for those who have loved ones still in Haiti. 

They make you a slave, the make people like in jail inside their house.— Pastor Renel Sanon, Haitian Evangelical Baptist Church

"Every Haitian they say the same thing. Because even if you're here with your family, you still have family in Haiti. It's hurting. The country is hurting and you can see that." 

Sanon said that among the anxious chatter from his community in Windsor is the growing concern over the gang activity in Port-au-Prince.

"They make you a slave, the make people like in jail inside their house," Sanon said, "Sometimes they do not have the opportunity to go outside because the gangs, a lot of crazy people with guns."

Marcia Spratt has visited Haiti on more than 35 occasions and knows the country well. She's a board member of Hearts Together for Haiti, a charity based in Windsor. The organization works to provide support to Haitian communities in building infrastructures with a focus on education, health and water and sanitation.

'They're terrified'

The charity employs about 56 people in a small village called Dépé. 

 "I'm hearing that they're terrified," Spratt said of her conversations with people on the ground. "It's hard for them to get out and get provisions, get food, water." 

While inflation has been hitting Canadians hard, she said the issue has swelled out of control in Haiti, with the price of gas soaring between $12 and $25 per gallon as a result of gang activity.

The kidnap, they rape, they're just out of control.— Marcia Spratt, Hearts Together for Haiti

Spratt said from what she's heard, the gangs haven't yet infiltrated the northern part of the country as they have in places like Port-au-Prince, in the southern reaches of the island. 

"The kidnap, they rape, they're just out of control," she said. 

So far, in speaking with her employees based in Haiti, Spratt said, "We haven't encountered any violence but we're just lucky. In Port-au-Prince people are being killed every day. It's really scary." 

Spratt said there is a lot of anger about how the Haitian government has been handling the crisis, with some people accusing the government of being in cahoots with the gangs. 

"They're afraid to go places, they're afraid to go to the market, they're afraid to go out out of their little village and get things."

As prices of daily necessities continue to climb, Spratt said donations are needed greatly at the moment. 

"Donations would help because it has been difficult to buy goods as a result of the gang activity. They don't have money to buy all that they need."