Herv' Sabin, now 35 years old, fondly recalls his childhood in Port-au-Prince, where he spent his days studying, playing soccer, and watching films at the neighborhood movie theater. The streets were clean; the city felt safe. “I had everything a kid could want,” he says, noting that he was oblivious to the rising political tension that spurred countless Haitians to flee the country. “I didn’t really see it.” As conditions worsened under a military regime, Sabin migrated to the United States in 1989, at age 13. But he always vowed to return to his homeland.
In March 2010, shortly after the 7.0-magnitude earthquake ravaged the island country, Sabin made good on his promise. Armed with an M.Arch. from Pratt Institute and several years of professional experience at a New York City firm, Sabin moved back to Port-au-Prince—a city much different from the one he grew up in. Today, destitution is ubiquitous. “I was out last night, at midnight, and there were so many kids on the street asking me for money. It’s a shock,” he recently told RECORD. “Where are their parents? Why aren’t they in school? I broke down in tears in the car.”
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