I received the following account today. Some of correspondence was modified because of grammar issues...though I tried to keep as much of the original content as possible:
Sir - I write to you in concern of a story on your website - (Haitian Homeless Haunted at Night by Evil Spirits, Loups-Garoux). Much of this was true and continues to this day.
I lived near Port-au-Prince when the earthquake struck Haiti. My family was spared because we suffered little damage to our home. I helped in the homeless camps since I am a medical nurse by profession. I can say that the earthquake was followed by evil spirits attacking those who had already suffered. I never believed in possession before that time, but I was convinced very quickly.
Many times I witnessed people who were physically sound and lucid, who would suddenly die without reason. The doctors could not explain it. There would be seriously injured patients who would go missing in a blink of an eye. The medical tents had security, but they would still go missing.
Your story mentioned Loups-Garoux and I believe that this was true. I listened to people who were shaken when observing the 'man wolf' drag children and women away. I hear that this continues to this day.
I moved to NYC a few years past, but have friends and family living in Port-au-Prince. I was told that the horrors are still present.
Some of the Haitian people who have moved still talk about possession and that the evil followed them. A few have taken their own lives because they could not understand why this happened to them. I feel I have been most fortunate and blessed.
Please let other people know how the Haitian people still suffer after the earthquake and not to forget them. Peace and love...R
NOTE: I had seen a recent documentary in reference to the continuing blight in Haiti. Is there a possibility that Haitian Voudo is involved? It seems logical since it is the primary culture and religion of the population. I remember reading a statement from a Haitian official who once said that the people of Haiti are '50% Catholic and 100% Voodoo priests & priestess.' Anyway...I went digging through the archives...here are a few other related links:
Ghosts of Haiti
Holier Than Thou Missionaries Behaving Badly In Haiti
Unexplained Phenomena Before and After Natural Disasters
I then stumbled across this...
Four Children Killed by Haiti Witch Doctor
Four children from the same family have been found dead in Haiti after being treated by a witch doctor who claimed to be able to cure them of a mysterious illness, a local official said Friday.
"Three girls and a boy, the eldest of whom was seven years old and the youngest only 15 months, suffered abuse from the healer who was treating them," said Wilfrid Brisson, an official from the southern town of Marbial, told AFP.
"They were then abandoned in their mother's bed."
According to neighbors, the sorcerer -- who was assisted by his brother -- persuaded the victims' mother that the children were possessed by a demon and said he could rid their soul of the devil.
The witch doctor and his brother beat the children repeatedly, in steps they said were necessary to expel the demon, and the youngsters died from the blows, said Brisson.
The alleged killers have apparently fled to the capital Port-au-Prince. An investigation by authorities in Marbial is under way and the children's mother is in custody.
About half of Haiti's population is believed to practice the voodoo religion in some form, though many are thought to also follow other religious beliefs at the same time. Sorcery and spiritual magic have been incorporated into some of the beliefs.
Voodoo evolved out of the beliefs that slaves from West Africa brought with them to Haiti. It is now deeply rooted in Haitian culture.
Western evangelical Christian movements, however, have also made inroads in Haiti.
Haiti After the Earthquake
The Big Truck That Went By: How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster
Walking in Broken Shoes: A Nurse's Story of Haiti and the Earthquake
The World is Moving Around Me: A Memoir of the Haiti Earthquake
