The city of Les Cayes is still enjoying peace; its residents go about their activities as best they can. Schools are operating normally. Commercial activities are thriving. Social and cultural events are taking place. Nightclubs are open; the streets are lively. Restaurants and hotels are welcoming visitors. "La Tourterelle" beach is crowded with people, and the botanical garden of Les Cayes gives the city a breath of fresh air. Port-au-Prince, on the other hand, has long been suffocating. If it weren’t for the murder of a businessman during our stay, the lack of infrastructure, the darkness, trash scattered in some areas, or the lack of crowds at the transportation stations serving the Les Cayes/Port-au-Prince route, one would almost believe that the city of Antoine Simon, as a whole, is doing perfectly well. However, traveling to the South by road involves enormous risks and an exorbitant cost.

Invited to cover the 4th edition of the Regard ailleurs festival, which took place in the southern metropolis from March 31 to April 5, 2025, we had to return to Haiti's third-largest city at all costs, the day before. We left Delmas on Sunday morning for Carrefour Tifou, now the (temporary) station linking Port-au-Prince to Carrefour. The cost of the trip is 100 gourdes. The atmosphere there already gives you an idea. The journey promises to be a real ordeal. People are in a hurry. Fear is written on their faces. Gunshots could be heard everywhere. Still, we were prepared. We all know we are walking dead in this besieged and almost destroyed city. It is a city where one only walks on quicksand. We all get on board, but we are not entirely certain we will reach our destination.