Faces of Haiti: Hormise

Her name is Hormise Datos.  For 9 years she was living illegally in the United States.  She is a Haitian and this is her story.

She grew up in the vicinity of Saint Marc.  Her parents worked in the rice fields to put food on the table for Hormise and her seven brothers and sisters.

“I think a problem is that people have so many children and no jobs,” she said.  “I know one lady with 18 children.”

Hormise’s father died when she was 8 years old, leaving her mother to raise them alone.  A few years later, however, her mother remarried another widower who was already the father of five.  Together the couple raised all 13 children.

“When I was in my twenties nobody ever talked to us about family planning,” she said.  “Now clinics will give condoms out if people ask for them.”

Hormise has 3 children of her own: Miland, Romald, and Kettia.  Miland and Romald’s father deserted her before Kettia was born.

“My last child had a different father, but he would not give me anything,” Hormise said.

In 1999, Hormise moved with Miland and Romald to the Bahamas to live with her cousin.

“I went to the Bahamas because in Haiti, we do not have any jobs,” said.  “I was pregnant when I left for the Bahamas.”

Hormise gave birth to Kettia in the Bahamas.  After 11 months of searching, she still had no work and was growing frustrated.  One day, she saw an opportunity.

“I was just going to the hotel to see somebody else and I saw these men with a small boat,” Hormise said.  “I thought they were Americans because they were not black and spoke English.  I asked them, ‘Can you take me to Miami?’  They asked if me if I had a passport, and I said I didn’t.  But they took me anyways.”

Hormise arrived in Miami in 2000, and made her way to Boston to receive assistance from her family in the United States.

“My mom became an American citizen and she lives in Boston,” said Hormise.  “She has been there for ten years.”

While in America, Hormise adjusted to a world completely different than the one she had grown up in.

“It’s very, very different,” she said.  “In Haiti we have nothing to do.  You wake up, sit, and have nothing to do.  When you are in America, you can enjoy yourself.”

In the United States, Hormise was finally able to find a job.

“I worked at McDonalds.  I flipped burgers, made fries, cleaned . . .  I did everything.”

“I hated it.”

America also provided Hormise with other opportunities besides work.  She met a Haitian man who was working to get his green card.  She fell in love with him and the two were soon married.

But one day, Hormise said that he was just gone without a word or note of explanation.  Shocked, she called one of his friends to find him, and the story came out.

“He used to have another girlfriend in Haiti,” said Hormise.  “He planned to get his green card and go back to her.  But then he married me and never told me.  I don’t know what caused it, but he left me to go back to her.”

When Hormise tried to get her own green card, it was discovered that she was an illegal immigrant.

“When I went to apply for the papers, they found out I was there, so I got sent back to Haiti to wait for a green card.  The lady said I would have to wait ten years because I was here illegally.”

“I am still waiting.”

Hormise is determined to go back.  She plans to go to school in the United States to pursue her interest in medicine.

“When I go back to America, I can go to school and get a good job,” she said.  “I want to go medical school.  I want to be a nurse.”

Hormise arrived back in Haiti on June 3rd, 2009, only months before the earthquake.  When it did hit, she was at ground zero, staying in Port-au-Prince at her cousin’s home.

“I was asleep,” she said, “and then I heard everybody crying and screaming.  I tried to run but I fell.”

“The house got a big crack, but stayed intact,” she said.

Hormise and all three of her girls survived.  Others in her family were not as fortunate.

“My cousin’s wife died and his little girl who was only 7 days old,” Hormise said.  “Another cousin; his wife and all 3 of his children died.”

Hormise came to the Iglesias Grace Baptist clinic in the village of Charet because of back pains she had been having that were affecting her periods.  The doctors gave her pain killers, but due to the lack of medical equipment in Haiti, were unable to do more.

Hormise was open to discuss her story, but did not feel it was necessary to tell.

“I don’t have to put it in the newspaper to remember it,” she said, “because it is in my mind, and that makes it mine.”