TITLE: City Soleil : a light in the darkness

City Soleil is a small village within the Port-au-Prince in Haiti. Unlike its name–City of the Sun–however, it seems as though there is only a glimpse of light remaining. The city has become poor as its history of rebellion and conflict extorted its economic power. What is more, because the people were not able to have proper drainage system, their home was crammed with unfiltered waste and sewage. Overall, this part of the city today is experiencing extreme poverty and hunger, unemployment, formation of armed gangs, violations under violence, as well as various diseases and, for this reason, the United Nations has announced City Soleil as one of the most dangerous villages of the world. The UN Stabilization Mission (MINUSTAH) has been dispatched since 2004 in order to stabilize the violence but they withdrew since last October.
Ironically, though, the majority portion of the population of City Soleil consists of children; that is, 65% of its population is under the age of twenty five. The children in this village are exposed to poverty and violence; they watch and learn from the adults, following their footsteps. They may have not chosen or expected life such as this one. No one does. This is not their choice but what they are born with. However, Another finding that surprised me was how passionate these children were about learning. Human beings can indeed adjust to their environment but one can nurture the courage to face it through learning. Saying no to their destined environment and learning continuously by dreaming for a better tomorrow, it was their passionate heart for learning that made it possible. This is their story, especially the narratives of the children who prevail in hunger but in sincerity.

AUTHOR: Urim Hong (Korea, Republic of)

Urim Hong is a photographer who searches for light in the isolated world. After majoring in the humanities as well as pedagogy, he taught children for a decade and, in that process, found himself called to photography. He majored in photography at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. Currently, he is leading a project for the children and orphans in Citi Soleil, a small village within the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area in Haiti. He was selected as Editorial Photographer of the year at the International Photography Awards(IPA) 2018 through this project.