THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, March 19, 1996 TAG: 9603190267
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
The frustrations of life in Haiti today are painfully clear in the eyes of Lorguide Previus.
Previus, 18, was among a group of youths gathered outside the gate to U.S. headquarters in an industrial area of the capital Sunday. He is a frequent visitor there.
``I come over here looking for jobs,'' he said. ``But everyone says, `Sorry, no jobs.' ''
He lives with his mother in a nearby neighborhood. His father is dead.
He worked about three months for $6 a day picking up trash for the U.S. forces, he said. That brought him enough money for nine months of school. He has completed seven years of schooling.
``I want an education,'' he said.
It's an uphill battle. About 20 percent of the schools in Haiti are public, said Air Force Capt. Andy White, a public affairs officer for the U.S. forces. That helps explain Haiti's illiteracy rate, which was estimated at 85 percent last year by the International Monetary Fund.
Now he has no money, Previus said, displaying his empty wallet - not even fare for a ``tap-tap,'' one of the makeshift buses that ply the streets of Port-au-Prince. So he walks to school.
An American captain who has befriended him occasionally gives him a ride, he said. The captain also bought him the clothes he is wearing: a clean, neat pair of jeans and a Hooters T-shirt.
Education is important, he said, because he doesn't want to end up like so many Haitians, begging on the streets of Port-au-Prince.
Unemployment is a massive problem. The monetary fund put the jobless rate at 75 percent last year.
``When you finish school, you shouldn't just sit down and beg,'' Previus said. ``You should work.''
What kind of work would he like to do? The question doesn't make sense.
``I just want a job,'' he said. ``Any job.'' ILLUSTRATION: Lorguide Previus, 18, center, is one of many young Haitians who
hang around U.S. military installations and do odd jobs for money.
KEYWORDS: HAITI by CNB