On the road to the northern part of Haiti, not far from the city of Gonaives, is a small hill called Ti Pinsik. It stands in an arid and rocky landscape. Only cacti, lizards and goats can survive in this environment.
On a day of thunder, about 40 years ago, a pastor was born at the foot of this hill. The news spread quickly: "A king is born." Since then, every morning (except church days), clusters of believers have flocked to the hill, gathering at Ti Pinsik to pray to their various gods.
As far as the collective memory can go back, it has always been so. The faithful come and go from Ti Pinsik to sing, pray, dance, and sleep.
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Ti Pinsik, Aux Poteaux, 4th "section communale", Gonaives, Haiti. A group of the faithful in full reverence at the summit of Ti Pinsik. These women are gathered around a wooden pole that once supported a large Christian cross.
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Ti Pinsik, Aux Poteaux, 4th "section communale", Gonaives, Haiti. Resilience is a term frequently used by both NGO's and intellectuals to define the character of Haitian people.
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Ti Pinsik, Aux Poteaux, 4th "section communale", Gonaives, Haiti. " I come here only on days where there is no chuch service".
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Ti Pinsik, Aux Poteaux, 4th "section communale", Gonaives, Haiti. Army of Christ, Heavenly Host, Seventh Day Adventist Church, Apostolic Church of Deliverance, Assembly of God, Church of God, Church of God in Christ, Pentecostal Church of God, Church of the Nazarene and so on. In 2015, the Ministry of Cults listed more than 175 active churches in Haiti.
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Ti Pinsik, Aux Poteaux, 4th "section communale", Gonaives, Haiti. Wheter in a group or individually, with a Bible or a smartphone, each believer tries to get closer to God.
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Ti Pinsik, Aux Poteaux, 4th "section communale", Gonaives, Haiti. In Haiti, people often say about the religious cults, in an ironic way and a whisper ; " 60% are Catholics, 40% are Protestants but 100% Voodoo..."
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Ti Pinsik, Aux Poteaux, 4th "section communale", Gonaives, Haiti. At the top of peak, a woman prays intensely. The red tarpaulin, rolled at her feet, will be rolled onto the ground so that the faithful can prostrate themselves in the name of their Gods.
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Ti Pinsik, Aux Poteaux, 4th "section communale", Gonaives, Haiti. Even on the ground, through the looping repetition of certains verses almost like mantras, the connection with God seems to grow even more sincere and sometimes transcendantal.