Haiti,

• Celebration of death
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    A man worships at the foot of a cross in the Grand Cemetery of Port-au-Prince, Haiti during Fet Gede. Fet Gede, or Fete Ghede, is a Haitian Vodun celebration of ancestors that culminates on November 1st and 2nd. AztlanPhoto /Peter Eversoll
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    Two women make offerings to the cross of Baron Samdi at the Grand Cemetery of Port-au-Prince, Haiti during Fet Gede. AztlanPhoto /Peter Eversoll
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    A Gede aligned with Baron Samdi stands on a cross above hundreds of worshipers on Fet Gede at the Grand Cemetery in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. People hand him cigarettes and cigars in tribute. AztlanPhoto /Peter Eversoll
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    A man offers a gourd of peanuts, rum, coffee, candles, dried fish, bread, candies, among other things, to a cross soon to be possessed by Baron Samdi. AztlanPhoto /Peter Eversoll
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    Maman Brigit oversees her cross and offerings during Fet Gede at the Grand Cemetery in Port-au-Prince. She receives offerings of rum, bread, peanuts, marigolds, coffee, candles, and peanuts. AztlanPhoto /Peter Eversoll
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    An evangelist walks through Fet Gede celebrations at the Grand Cemetery in Port-au-Prince, while condemning the crowd to an afterlife in Hell for their seemingly non-Christian practice. Vodou takes its form greatly from Catholicism as a way for forced converts to subvert the doctrine by disguising African deities and practices. AztlanPhoto /Peter Eversoll
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    Dozens of worshipers congregate around the black cross of the Baron, the first man to die there. Any wish or petition asked for on this day, Fet Gede, will be considered. People leave offerings of food, flowers, rum and candles. AztlanPhoto /Peter Eversoll
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    Worshipers surround the small black cross of the Maman Brigit, the first woman to die there. A People leave offerings of food, flowers, rum and candles, and Maman periodically sprinkles talc over the offerings. AztlanPhoto /Peter Eversoll
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    A Gede aligned with Baron Samdi stares chillingly through sunglasses with one lens, face covered in talc and safety pins perforating his cheeks. He assures affairs of the dead are well-run and oversees the celebration of Fet Gede. AztlanPhoto /Peter Eversoll
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    Dozens of worshipers congregate around the black cross of the Baron, the first man to die there. Any wish or petition asked for on this day, Fet Gede, will be considered. People leave offerings of food, flowers, rum and candles. AztlanPhoto /Peter Eversoll
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    A group of people look down on the celebrations during Fet Gede at the Petionville Cemetery. In the days, and sometimes weeks, around Fet Gede, there is lots of activity in the cemeteries. AztlanPhoto /Peter Eversoll
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    The cross of Maman Brigit receives offerings of rum, bread, peanuts, marigolds, coffee, candles, and peanuts. during Fet Gede at the Grand Cemetery in Port-au-Prince. AztlanPhoto /Peter Eversoll
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    Dozens of worshipers congregate around the black cross of the Baron, the first man to die there. Any wish or petition asked for on this day, Fet Gede, will be considered. People leave offerings of food, flowers, rum and candles. AztlanPhoto /Peter Eversoll
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    A black hen is buried alive by a Houngan in tribute to Baron Samdi and Maman Brigit at the Grand Cemetery of Port-au-Prince, Haiti during Fet Gede. AztlanPhoto /Peter Eversoll
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    A man, dressed in black and purple, holds a sacred doll and staff at the Grand Cemetery of Port-au-Prince, Haiti during Fet Gede. Fet Gede, or Fete Ghede, is a Haitian Vodun celebration of ancestors that culminates on November 1st and 2nd. AztlanPhoto /Peter Eversoll
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  Galería de Fotos | 22 Fotos Peter Eversoll

  Fet Gede (also, spelled Fete Ghede or Guédé is a celebration of death and, conversely, life held in Vodou communities on November 2nd, although festivities around the Gede last into the month. It is very similar to “Dia de los Muertos” in both its connection to embracing the after-life, but also in its roots of colonized peoples subverting the forced Catholic conversion through integrating non-Catholic beliefs into established Catholic celebrations. However, it is very different in practice. The celebration is a time for giving appreciation to the Gede, who protect the dead, and to feast in honor of ancestors.

  Port-au-Prince’s Grand Cemetery comes alive with Vodouists leaving tribute and incarnating Iwa, or spirits. Starting at dawn, devotees arrive to prepare the site by repainting crosses, lighting candles, and making offerings to the Barons, the Maman and other Gede, who arrive throughout the morning. The order of Iwa, including the Barons, Maman and the Gede are complex and rich in power and symbology that deserves more than just a quick summary.

  The Barons and Maman represent the first man and woman buried in the cemetery and the other Gede generally act as playful figures who have fun with visitors (both alive and dead,) and some serve as soothsayers and conduits between the here and the underworld. To prove their ability to connect with the afterlife, incarnated Gede will drink Pima (raw rum spiced with 21 goat peppers,) or rub it in their eyes and genitals, others will pierce themselves with pins or speak in tongues. 

   

   

   

   

• Thousands of Haitians and Africans arrive in Tijuana, Mexico, to seek asylum in the US
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    A Haitian man holds his daughter while waiting for service at a field office of the Instituto Nacional de Migracion so they can receive needed documentation to solicit their asylum appointment with US Customs and Immigration Service. They will also seek lodging at the Desayunador Salesino Padre Chava. AztlanPhoto /Peter Eversoll
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    A migrant from Congo wraps himself in a blanket to keep warm on a cold morning in Tijuana, Mexico. AztlanPhoto /Peter Eversoll
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    Migrants from Haiti and Africa at dawn waiting for a field office of the Instituto Nacional de Migracion to open up so they can receive needed documentation to solicit their asylum appointment with US Customs and Immigration Service. The field office is located next to the Desayunador Salesino Padre Chava in Tijuana, Mexico. AztlanPhoto /Peter Eversoll
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    Etienne, from Haiti, sits on the curb in front of the Desayunador Salesino Padre Chava. He is waiting for his appointment with US Customs and Immigration. AztlanPhoto /Peter Eversoll
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    Haitian migrants stand in the shade outside the Desayunador Salesino Padre Chava in Tijuana, Mexico. AztlanPhoto /Peter Eversoll
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    African and Haitian migrants stand in the sun outside the Desayunador Salesino Padre Chava in Tijuana, Mexico. They are waiting for service at a field office of the Instituto Nacional de Migracion so they can receive needed documentation to solicit their asylum appointment with US Customs and Immigration Service. AztlanPhoto /Peter Eversoll
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    A group of migrants from Haiti wait at Desayunador Salesino Padre Chava in Tijuana, Mexico. They are seeking asylum in the United States. AztlanPhoto /Peter Eversoll
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    A boy pushes a toy car across the patio of Desayunador Salesino Padre Chava in Tijuana, Mexico. His family is waiting for an appointment with US Immigration to ask for asylum.
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    African and Haitian migrants stand in the sun outside the Desayunador Salesino Padre Chava in Tijuana, Mexico. They are waiting for service at a field office of the Instituto Nacional de Migracion so they can receive needed documentation to solicit their asylum appointment with US Customs and Immigration Service. AztlanPhoto /Peter Eversoll
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    Ahmed, from Kashmir State, Pakistan has spent over three weeks in Tijuana with his wife and four children. Their journey has lasted over 6 months. They are seeking asylum in the United States and have to wait one more week for their appointment with US immigration officials. AztlanPhoto /Peter Eversoll
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    Haitian migrants sit in the shade at the Desayunador Salesino Padre Chava in Tijuana, Mexico. They are waiting news about their asylum procedure. Often they must wait weeks for their appointment with USICS officials. AztlanPhoto /Peter Eversoll
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    Haitian migrants seeking asylum in the United States wait in a shelter at the Desayunador Salesino Padre Chava in Tijuana, Mexico. AztlanPhoto /Peter Eversoll
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    A Haitian migrant waits among other people seeking assistance at the Desayunador Salesino Padre Chava in Tijuana, Mexico. The Desayunador serves up to 1500 people daily, many migrants and deportees. The recent wave of migrants from Haiti, Africa and Asia have stressed the capacity of this organization. AztlanPhoto /Peter Eversoll
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    A man from Ghana stands in the sun outside the Desayunador Salesino Padre Chava in Tijuana, Mexico. He is waiting to speak with Mexican immigration officials and get a free breakfast at the Desayunador. AztlanPhoto /Peter Eversoll
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    A man stands in front of the Desayunador Salesino Padre Chava, Tijuana, Mexico. AztlanPhoto /Peter Eversoll
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    A man from Haiti stands in the sun. The Tijuana Arc and cheap pharmacies are in the background, classic symbols of this Mexican border city. AztlanPhoto /Peter Eversoll
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  Galería de Fotos | 26 Fotos Peter Eversoll

  Over the last few weeks migrants from Africa, Haiti and Pakistan have been arriving in droves to Tijuana, Mexico. This is the second large wave of people from these areas who are using Tijuana as a gateway to the United States in their quest to get political asylum. More than 5,000 have arrived over the last few months, most are from Haiti, but others are from Democratic Republic of Congo, the Gambia, and Ghana; there are also a few families from Pakistan. However, the true nationality of many is uncertain to immigration officials, as migrants are claiming to be from African nations in order to get around the Obama administration’s new stance on limiting Haitian asylum requests which puts those without visas on a fast-track deportation process.

  Many of these migrants have traveled through South and Central America, taking as much as 6 months to make the journey to Tijuana, while others enter by airplane with visas. Some Haitians were previously living in Brazil, given asylum status after the 2010 earthquake that devastated the island nation. The problem, for both migrants and migrant outreach organizations, is that there is a wait for asylum interviews, often between 3 and 4 weeks (although, many Haitian migrants have reported that recently US Immigration and Customs Service has been granting them faster appointment dates.) Once their money for food and hotels run out, they must seek assistance from local organizations such as El Desayunador Salesiano Padre Chava and La Casa del Migrante, where they line up every morning to get assistance, secure lodging for the night and consult with Mexican immigration officials about their cases.