Overview

Moving stories of life in a country enduring an ongoing crisis Seven years after the deadliest earthquake in the history of the Western Hemisphere struck Haiti, the island nation remains in crisis, all but ignored by the international community. At the center of this crisis is Lavil - ""The City"" in Kreyol, as Port-au-Prince is known to Haitians - the cultural, political, and economic capital of Haiti and home to over 2.5 million resilient souls. This immersive and engrossing oral history collection gives voice to the continuing struggle of Haitian people to live, love and prosper while trying to rebuild their city and country after disasters both natural and man-made. Among the narrators: Juslene, who moved to Port-au-Prince as a child for educational opportunities but was instead forced to work as a restavek - an unpaid servant - and who maintains unwavering hope despite the loss of her family when the city was destroyed. Johnny and Denis, a teacher and his younger brother, who spent years hustling for work and looking out for each other in one of the city's sprawling post-earthquake tent camps. Lamothe, a wry and well-read expert on Haiti's clean water crisis, who is one of the many Port-au-Prince citizens dedicated to rebuilding his city and nation.

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9781786633774

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Reviews

""A book about choosing to live and not to die, to fight, to survive, to thrive."" --Edwidge Danticat ""Nothing is more eloquent than the voice of those who endure and try valiantly to survive."" --Noam Chomsky ""Lavil brings to the fore the voices of the people of the wounded city of Port-au-Prince ... these stories are redolent of both pride and fears of an uncertain future."" --Paul Farmer, author, Haiti After the Earthquake ""Lavil is a powerful collection of testimonies, which include tales of violence, poverty, and instability but also joy, hustle, and the indomitable will to survive."" --Vice ""To read a Voice of Witness book is to feel one's habitual sense of disconnection begin to fall away.""-George Saunders ""[Voice of Witness] books are amazing...beautifully produced, with incredible editing and literary sensibility. Voice of Witness has done a better job than I've seen anybody do with having people tell their stories in a way that really engages you."" -Rachel Maddow ""In a time when history is told in cheap television re-enactments, if at all, and personal tragedy is gobbled up in rapidly digestible magazine photos and reality shows, this project goes against the grain."" -Guardian ""The Voice of Witness series is a megaphone for [America's] most marginalized voices."" -Van Jones, former special advisor to the Obama White House, author of Rebuilding the Dream and The Green Collar Economy ""Lavil brings to the fore the voices of the people of the wounded city of Port-au-Prince ... these stories are redolent of both pride and fears of an uncertain future."" -Paul Farmer, author, Haiti After the Earthquake""Nothing is more eloquent than the voice of those who endure and try valiantly to survive."" -Noam Chomsky ""Lavil is not just a recitation of complaint and tragedy, though those are certainly included within it. It provides, instead, a chorus of stubborn and lively persistence — of a kind one can usually only imagine."" Los Angeles Review of Books

To read a Voice of Witness book is to feel one's habitual sense of disconnection begin to fall away. -George Saunders [Voice of Witness] books are amazing...beautifully produced, with incredible editing and literary sensibility. Voice of Witness has done a better job than I've seen anybody do with having people tell their stories in a way that really engages you. -Rachel Maddow In a time when history is told in cheap television re-enactments, if at all, and personal tragedy is gobbled up in rapidly digestible magazine photos and reality shows, this project goes against the grain. -Guardian The Voice of Witness series is a megaphone for [America's] most marginalized voices. -Van Jones, former special advisor to the Obama White House, author of Rebuilding the Dream and The Green Collar Economy Lavil brings to the fore the voices of the people of the wounded city of Port-au-Prince ... these stories are redolent of both pride and fears of an uncertain future. -Paul Farmer, author, Haiti After the Earthquake Nothing is more eloquent than the voice of those who endure and try valiantly to survive. -Noam Chomsky

A book about choosing to live and not to die, to fight, to survive, to thrive. --Edwidge Danticat Nothing is more eloquent than the voice of those who endure and try valiantly to survive. --Noam Chomsky Lavil brings to the fore the voices of the people of the wounded city of Port-au-Prince ... these stories are redolent of both pride and fears of an uncertain future. --Paul Farmer, author, Haiti After the Earthquake Lavil is a powerful collection of testimonies, which include tales of violence, poverty, and instability but also joy, hustle, and the indomitable will to survive. --Vice To read a Voice of Witness book is to feel one's habitual sense of disconnection begin to fall away. -George Saunders [Voice of Witness] books are amazing...beautifully produced, with incredible editing and literary sensibility. Voice of Witness has done a better job than I've seen anybody do with having people tell their stories in a way that really engages you. -Rachel Maddow In a time when history is told in cheap television re-enactments, if at all, and personal tragedy is gobbled up in rapidly digestible magazine photos and reality shows, this project goes against the grain. -Guardian The Voice of Witness series is a megaphone for [America's] most marginalized voices. -Van Jones, former special advisor to the Obama White House, author of Rebuilding the Dream and The Green Collar Economy Lavil brings to the fore the voices of the people of the wounded city of Port-au-Prince ... these stories are redolent of both pride and fears of an uncertain future. -Paul Farmer, author, Haiti After the Earthquake Nothing is more eloquent than the voice of those who endure and try valiantly to survive. -Noam Chomsky

A book about choosing to live and not to die, to fight, to survive, to thrive. --Edwidge Danticat Nothing is more eloquent than the voice of those who endure and try valiantly to survive. --Noam Chomsky Lavil brings to the fore the voices of the people of the wounded city of Port-au-Prince ... these stories are redolent of both pride and fears of an uncertain future. --Paul Farmer, author, Haiti After the Earthquake Lavil is a powerful collection of testimonies, which include tales of violence, poverty, and instability but also joy, hustle, and the indomitable will to survive. --Vice To read a Voice of Witness book is to feel one's habitual sense of disconnection begin to fall away. -George Saunders [Voice of Witness] books are amazing...beautifully produced, with incredible editing and literary sensibility. Voice of Witness has done a better job than I've seen anybody do with having people tell their stories in a way that really engages you. -Rachel Maddow In a time when history is told in cheap television re-enactments, if at all, and personal tragedy is gobbled up in rapidly digestible magazine photos and reality shows, this project goes against the grain. -Guardian The Voice of Witness series is a megaphone for [America's] most marginalized voices. -Van Jones, former special advisor to the Obama White House, author of Rebuilding the Dream and The Green Collar Economy Lavil brings to the fore the voices of the people of the wounded city of Port-au-Prince ... these stories are redolent of both pride and fears of an uncertain future. -Paul Farmer, author, Haiti After the Earthquake Nothing is more eloquent than the voice of those who endure and try valiantly to survive. -Noam Chomsky Lavil is not just a recitation of complaint and tragedy, though those are certainly included within it. It provides, instead, a chorus of stubborn and lively persistence - of a kind one can usually only imagine. Los Angeles Review of Books

Author Information

Peter Orner edited Voice of Witness titles Underground America and co-edited Hope Deferred, and is the author of four books of fiction, including the novels The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo and Love and Shame and Love. His most recent book, Last Car Over the Sagamore Bridge, was a New York Times Editor's Choice and named a Favorite Book of 2013 by the Wall Street Journal. Dr. Evan Lyon is an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Chicago and has worked in Haiti since 1996. Through his work with Partners in Health, Lyon has sought community-based responses to address HIV and tuberculosis outbreaks throughout Haiti. He has also frequently collaborated with Paul Farmer on articles related to community-based responses to medical crises.

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