Travel Information

   Cultural Differences

• In communicating with friends, direct eye contact, expressive or animated tone of voice, and expressive hand gestures are common, as is touching the other person. Personal space is often not as pronounced as among some other cultures, and interaction may be very close.
• Interpreters outside the family may be mistrusted, but use of children to interpret carries the potential of creating conflict within the family or within the interpreter who may be called on to deal with difficult matters.
  
  
• Women: Arrive and travel around town in a long skirt or pants/jeans and short sleeve shirt. Shorts and showing of the knees/shoulders is not good practice for just about every country but Canada and the US.
  
  
• Do not discuss your dreams. Many Haitians believe in and practive voodou. Within voodou, dreams are taken very seriously.
• When twins become sick within an orphanage setting, it is not uncommon for the children to be separated - one back to the birth mother so that the evil spirits brought on by the other twin can be released.
• Giving a child a bath at night will make a child sick and more suseptible to evil spirits.
• Many Haitians take offense when people ask about voodoo.
• Many people take offense to having their picture taken. They feel as if their poor status is being exploited. Ask before taking pictures of people that can see you taking pictures of them.
• Be open-minded. Haiti suffers from extreme poverty, but the people are genuinely friendly and generous.

Examples:

Russia:

Russians rarely wear shorts, jeans, t-shirts or sneakers.  Whenever we saw someone in this attire, we knew they were most likely American.  For the most part, women, and even men, dress impeccably.  Men wore nice slacks, tailored shirts and dark (usually black) hard shoes.  Women wear mostly skirts, nice blouses, tight sweaters and young women wear mini-shirts.  Almost all women wear high heels (2 - 5 in. heels), everywhere!

Religion in Haiti

The 'official' religion of Haiti is Catholisim, although other versions of Christianity such as Protestant and Baptist can be found. In addition, some voodou* is practiced. It is not at all uncommon to find people that practice both religions.