Kids in Haiti refugee camps making kites

Mark Frauenfelder at 2:15 PM March 9, 2010

201003091414

Lawrence Downes of The New York Times says: "I was just in Haiti reporting on things there and found amazing makers: boys who make kites. Even in refugee camps, where there’s only tiniest scraps of stuff: plastic, sticks, thread."

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. A boy I met in a camp down the block from the ruins of the Catholic cathedral in Port-au-Prince pointed to the sky. Blinking into the sun, I took forever to find his kite: a darting black dot far above the shattered steeples.
The Kite Makers of Haiti

5 Comments Add a comment

Anon #1 15:06 on Tue, Mar. 9 Reply

woah!!! I take my hat off, just remembering the awkward asymetric cheap news-paper kites I made when I was a kid... btw, making kites is some of the funniest and healthy things these kids can do nowadays.

HowardsGrl #2 15:18 on Tue, Mar. 9 Reply

That is a great story reminding me of the strength of creativity and the human spirit. thanks!

Phrosty #3 15:21 on Tue, Mar. 9 Reply

That kid's fly is undone. Don't ask how I noticed.

steeroy #4 05:06 on Wed, Mar.10 Reply

Kids in Guatemala make these too, and they can get them so high up in the air. I tried to make my own one day, but they commandeered it when they saw how bad I was at flying it.

flytch #5 22:46 on Wed, Mar.10 Reply

that comment about the kids fly made me take a good look at their clothes... you notice how clean and nice they are? my active boys would never stay this clean no matter how hard I worked... LOL
just funny (odd) to see such a clean couple of kids...

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