Discovering the Invisible: pictures of kite flying in Haiti with Easter

Kite flying is a tradition around Easter to be found around the Caribbean. It is also a popular activity by children in Haiti who are painting the sky with kites in all forms and colours the past few days. In Haiti flying kites is called 'monte kap'

(NYT 06.03.2010): The Haitian boy’s kite starts with thin sticks — woody reeds or straight twigs scraped smooth with a razor blade and cut to equal length, about eight inches. These are lashed in the middle to make stars of six or eight points, sometimes more. Thin plastic, ideally the wispy kind from dry-cleaning bags, is stretched over the frame and secured with thread. Rag strips are knotted for the tail, then tied with thread to two of the star’s lower points: a Y with a long, long stem. More thread is tied to the kite’s taut chest, the rest spooled on a can or bottle. The kites are beautiful: some have layers of black and clear plastic forming diamonds and stars. Some have decorative edges, the plastic razor-sliced into piñata fringe. But they work, catching the breeze and jack-rabbiting into the smoky air. Small kites are notoriously hard to fly, but these are perfectly engineered.

Boys are flying their kites on top of a large pile of debris in Fort National - a neighborhood that is among the most violent and depressed in Port-au-Prince. Happy and excited faces.

At the steep slopes of Carrefour Feuilles many boys flying their kites. There is hardly any space in this neighborhood. The only space to fly a kite is to stand on the roof of a house. I must say that I haven't seen a single girl flying a kite over the past week.