Gangs currently control over 70 percent of the capital, with the vast majority of neighbourhoods taken over by armed groups. To demand government action, the vendors have been organising regular street protests, and on September 20, they took to the streets once again, marching through downtown Port-au-Prince. Dozens of protesters carried banners with demands that included calls for tax relief, security, state support, justice and reparations, financial aid, and access to education for their children. The demonstrators chanted slogans that included, “We cannot take it anymore,” “Government, say something,” “We need justice,” “We need security,” and “Hunger is killing us.” The crowds eventually stopped in front of the building complex on Avenue Charles Sumner, which houses the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour, and the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Protesters also made a point of standing in front of the official residence of Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, where both organisers and participants made statements. The General Coordinator of the Informal Vendors Collective, Boileau Junior Mondésir, declared: Jodi ya nou devan ministe afe sosyal, kote kob yo te bay pou rekanpe ekonomi nan program precop la, kote 21 milya goud sa pase, 80/100 ekonomi an ki se sekte enfomel la pa jwen yon dola, jodi ya nou pral mande ULCC pou li mande leta ayisyen depi sou Ariel Henry rive sou Didier Fils Aime la, pou li di nou konbyen ki rete nan kob sa, koman kob sa depanse. Today we are in front of the Ministry of Social Affairs. Where is the money that was given to restart the economy through the PRECOP programme? Where did those 21 billion gourdes [USD 158 million] go? The informal sector, which represents 80 percent of the economy, did not receive a single dollar. Today, we are going to ask the ULCC [the Unité de Lutte Contre la Corruption, Haiti’s anti-corruption unit] to demand that the Haitian government — from Ariel Henry to Didier Fils-Aimé — tell us how much of this money is left and how it was spent. He continued: Nou menm ti machann pitit nou paka ale lekol akoz vole ak zam, yo boule anba lavil la, boule mache yo, tout axes yo bloke, madan sara, machan yo paka viv, nou mande jistis ak reparasyon pou ti machann yo. We small vendors, our children cannot go to school because of armed thieves. They burned downtown, they burned the markets, and all routes are blocked. The Madan Sara [rural women traders] and the vendors cannot survive. We ask for justice and reparations for the small vendors. During the protest, demonstrators shouted angry words at government officials, calling them “thieves,” “corrupt,” and even referring to them as “gangs.” What they want, they say, is much-needed government assistance so they can restart their small businesses. One vendor said she felt tired, not even having enough money to send her children to school, while another begged the authorities to speak up: Yo touye nou, yo pran tout sa nou te posede, yo touye fanmi nou, tanpri leta di yon mo pou machann deplase yo, yo touye pitit nou, yo touye mari nou, nou de bras balanse, pitit nou paka ale lekol, di yon mo pou nou leta. They killed us, they took everything we owned, they killed our families. Please, government, say something for the displaced vendors. They killed our children, they killed our husbands, we are left with nothing, our children cannot go to school. Say something for us, government. There are very few public schools in Haiti, and many are currently used as temporary shelters for displaced people. Private schools, meanwhile, cannot keep up with the demand and with masses of people struggling to survive — even before the widespread gang violence — very few can pay. In any case, both public and private institutions have been either looted, destroyed, or used as hideouts for criminal groups. Meanwhile, the vendors promise that as long as the government does not listen to them and satisfy their demands, they will keep taking to the streets in search of justice.

The following is an extract from the Global Voices feature article “‘We cannot take it anymore’: Haiti’s informal vendors protest over gang warfare” by Jude Pierre Louis (2026), reporting on vendors’ demands for security and government assistance in Port-au-Prince.

Jude Pierre Louis, Author, writing in “‘We cannot take it anymore’: Haiti’s informal vendors protest over gang warfare” (2026).

‘We cannot take it anymore’: Haiti’s informal vendors protest over gang warfare

Ahead of this year’s El Niño weather pattern, Indigenous people from Peru’s Cutivireni and Oviri communities approached Cool Earth: they wanted to ensure they were equipped to fight any fires this coming season. The organization’s long-established relationship with the two Indigenous groups and experience working with the Central Asháninka of the Ene River to create the Paamari programme, made it easier to establish four fire crews across communities that were already springing into action. In Cutivireni, the newly formed Chullachaqui fire crew have faced multiple blazes. Named after an Amazonian forest spirit, the crew understand the critical role they play in protecting the land, their homes, and their livelihoods. In early August came one of the first tests of their training: alerted by people in the Tsyapo and Pajonal communities, community brigade members joined up with their partners in Central Cutivireni to tackle the fire, which they successfully put out. Julio Acosta, Cool Earth’s Forest Data Manager, said that the organization really admires and appreciates how the communities have been making the best use of what they have been building with them, adding, “This early action taken in Tsyapo and Pajonal demonstrates how effectively they put into practice what they’ve learned in the workshops.” The training was taken directly from concepts in the Paamari programme. Similar to Paamari, the Cool Earth initiative with Cutivireni and Oviri works around three key concepts: the increased monitoring of satellite fire weather alerts, the introduction of a flag-based system regarding safe times to conduct traditional fire practices, and practical training to contain small blazes and prevent them from causing devastation to the Indigenous people in the rainforest. The communities themselves often act as the brigade’s eyes, alerting them to smoke or flames. Working in close coordination with local authorities, brigade members first assess the wildfires and try to tame the blazes in their initial stage, before they require a more complex response by the authorities. Acosta stressed the importance of highlighting the fact that the main work of these brigades lies in prevention, rather than initial response. “This tends to be less visible,” he explained, {but the measures they take, such as the flag system, help reduce the occurrence of these fires. Seeing the initiative and eagerness to learn more from the brigade members motivates us to expand and improve the work we’ve been implementing together.” Along with protecting their homes, the Indigenous communities act as custodians of the rainforest — a vital global asset for fighting the climate crisis. According to the World Resources Institute, rainforests provide 23 percent of the climate mitigation needed to help stabilise global temperatures. Their destruction from wildfires depletes the world’s natural carbon stores and also releases tons of carbon back into the atmosphere. At the moment, not every fire can be tackled. August saw a fire in Cutivireni that reached a score of three out of five on Peru’s national disaster response. When interviewed, onlookers noted that there was “little that’s left or [that] survived.” The fire raged for four days and went on to destroy 50 hectares of land – about the size 70 football pitches. With communities set to come under more strain, Cool Earth hopes to establish further training, turning the initiative into a fully fledged project. Providing Indigenous people with more finance and training capabilities, they hope to meet the ever-growing demand for wildfire training in the Peruvian Amazon.

The following is an extract from the feature article “Peru’s Indigenous people in Cutivireni and Oviri take the front line against Amazon wildfires”, written by Cool Earth and published on Global Voices (2026).

Cool Earth, Environmental organization and article author, writing in “Peru’s Indigenous people in Cutivireni and Oviri take the front line against Amazon wildfires” (2026).

Peru’s Indigenous people in Cutivireni and Oviri take the front line against Amazon wildfires

Letters & speeches

English A (Lang & Lit)

English A: Language and Literature explores the complex nature of language and its role in communication and culture. Students analyze a wide range of literary and non-literary texts, developing critical thinking and communication skills while examining how language shapes meaning and identity.

P1.6 Feature articles

Question 1

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Question 2

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Question 3

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