Port Au Prince - Post Report Question and Answers
What is the relative size of the expatriate community? How would you describe overall morale among expatriates?
I think it used to be larger, but as the UN has left it has shrunk. I think the morale is VERY low. People work hard with very little outlets other than drinking. - Aug 2019
The diplomatic community is fairly small, though there are many NGOs and PVOs in the capital. The UN had a large presence when I was there but that is smaller now. Morale tended to be reasonably good, since most should know what they are getting into before arriving. - Jun 2019
Expat community is large, but I feel the FSOs have a hard time breaking out of the American bubble because of a myriad of reasons, but principally security restrictions and curfew. - Aug 2018
Between the diplomatic missions, the UN and NGOs it is fairly large. You definitely have to make an extra effort to get out of the embassy bubble. Port au Prince isn't an easy place to live, but people seem to make the best of it. Getting out of the city to the beaches and mountains helps. - Apr 2017
There are many expats living in Haiti. Many are missionaries of some sort. The United Nations are still in Haiti as a peacekeeping force. - Dec 2016
There is a large community of Diplomats, UN, and NGOs but little mixing between the groups. - Sep 2014
Huge. There are 10,000 UN (MINUSTAH) soldiers/police here. Endless NGOs and missionary/church organizations. - Sep 2013
Enormous, however, there is little interaction between groups. State people visit State people, USAID people visit other USAID people. Likewise, the UN folks stick to themselves, and the NGOs stick to themselves, and the other Embassy communities stick to themselves. It's actually quite isolating, especially when you have to debate whether a visit to a friend is worth the risk of sitting in traffic for a minimum of one hour (each way) every time you want to go out. - Sep 2011
Large. The diplomatic community is fairly large, and the U.N. presence is huge. However, the U.N. people mostly keep to themselves and do not interact much with others. NGOs and missionaries are also everwhere. - Jan 2011
Large, and some are even interesting, beyond the security and embassy crowd. - May 2009
Large, if you factor in the UN. - Feb 2009
Pretty large - lots of Embassy, UN, NGOs and lots of expat Haitians. - Dec 2008
Small. - Feb 2008
