Hinche
Encyclopedia
Hinche is a city in central Haiti
. It has a population of about 50,000. It is the capital of Centre department. Hinche is the hometown of Charlemagne Péralte
, the Haitian nationalist leader who resisted the United States occupation of Haïti (1915-1934)
.
The official religion is Roman Catholicism, but the constitution allows the free choice of religion. There are also many non Catholic Christian churches in the city and the surrounding communities. Groups, like the Haiti Endowment Fund (HEF) of Southern California send medical missionaries several times a year to provide medicines and basic healthcare. HEF has also helped build community churches. Some of the people also practice voodoo.
, lobster is well-known here. A wide range of microclimates produces a large assortment of fruits and vegetables. Vegetarians will have a difficult time here, because pig fat is often used in food preparation, so even beans are to be avoided.
The people enjoy a strong, sweet coffee—Rebo is one brand, considered by some to be the best. Also popular is the excellent Barbancourt rum.
Interesting cuisine-related features of Hinche, include a market and the “Foyer d’Accueil”, an unmarked guesthouse above a school that is behind a blue and white church on the eastside of the main square.
and single engine planes to land. Usually, these flights are chartered from Port-au-Prince
. As of January 2010 there are 3 flights a week to Hinche from Port-au-Prince. East of Hinche, Bassin Zim is a 20 m waterfall in a lush setting, a 30-minute drive from town.
In the city you will also find the Cathédrale de Sacré-Coeur.
via Croix-des-Bouquets
. Here, a newly improved road branches off southeast through a parched, barren region, skirting Lake Saumâtre before reaching the Dominican border at Malpasse
. There are regular flights 3 times a week from Port-au-Prince to the 2,500 foot gravel and rock runway at Hinche. Before a flight comes in livestock and people must be cleared from the airstrip. The airport is located right near center city and right across the street is the hospital. The RN3 heads north out of Mirebalais on to the Central Plateau, where the military crackdown was especially harsh after the 1991 coup because peasant movements had been pressing for change here for years. After skirting the Peligre Hydroelectric Dam
, now silted up and almost useless, the road passes Thomonde
and reaches this city.
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
. It has a population of about 50,000. It is the capital of Centre department. Hinche is the hometown of Charlemagne Péralte
Charlemagne Péralte
Charlemagne Masséna Péralte was a Haitian nationalist leader who opposed the US Invasion of his country in 1915. Leading guerrilla fighters called the Cacos, he posed such a challenge to the US forces in Haiti that the occupying forces had to upgrade their presence in the country...
, the Haitian nationalist leader who resisted the United States occupation of Haïti (1915-1934)
United States occupation of Haiti (1915-1934)
The United States occupation of Haiti began on July 28, 1915, when 330 US Marines landed at Port-au-Prince on the authority of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson to safeguard the interests of U.S. corporations. It ended on August 1, 1934 after Franklin D. Roosevelt reaffirmed an August 1933...
.
Culture
The majority of the population are of African descent with a small minority being French-African.The official religion is Roman Catholicism, but the constitution allows the free choice of religion. There are also many non Catholic Christian churches in the city and the surrounding communities. Groups, like the Haiti Endowment Fund (HEF) of Southern California send medical missionaries several times a year to provide medicines and basic healthcare. HEF has also helped build community churches. Some of the people also practice voodoo.
Cuisine
The cuisine is Créole, French, or a mixture of both. Créole cuisine is like other Caribbean cuisines, but more peppery. Specialties include griot (deep-fried pieces of pork), lambi (conch, considered an aphrodisiac), tassot (jerked beef) and rice with djon-djon (tiny, dark mushrooms). As elsewhere in the CaribbeanCaribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, lobster is well-known here. A wide range of microclimates produces a large assortment of fruits and vegetables. Vegetarians will have a difficult time here, because pig fat is often used in food preparation, so even beans are to be avoided.
The people enjoy a strong, sweet coffee—Rebo is one brand, considered by some to be the best. Also popular is the excellent Barbancourt rum.
Interesting cuisine-related features of Hinche, include a market and the “Foyer d’Accueil”, an unmarked guesthouse above a school that is behind a blue and white church on the eastside of the main square.
Post-Earthquake Difficulties
In the wake of January 12, 2010, while no casualties or serious damage were reported in Hinche, thousands of refugees began pouring into the town.Attractions
Hinche can be accessed by road or plane. It has one of the major Haitian airports which has a dirt runway that will allow a small CessnaCessna
The Cessna Aircraft Company is an airplane manufacturing corporation headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, USA. Their main products are general aviation aircraft. Although they are the most well known for their small, piston-powered aircraft, they also produce business jets. The company is a subsidiary...
and single engine planes to land. Usually, these flights are chartered from Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince is the capital and largest city of the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The city's population was 704,776 as of the 2003 census, and was officially estimated to have reached 897,859 in 2009....
. As of January 2010 there are 3 flights a week to Hinche from Port-au-Prince. East of Hinche, Bassin Zim is a 20 m waterfall in a lush setting, a 30-minute drive from town.
In the city you will also find the Cathédrale de Sacré-Coeur.
Transportation
Route Nationale 3, the 128-km semi-dirt road northeast from Port-au-Prince to Hinche requires a four-wheel drive and takes at least three hours (much longer by public transport). About 70 percent of the this road is now paved as of January 2010. It starts by crossing the Cul-de-Sac plainCul-de-Sac Depression
The Plain of the Cul-de-Sac or Cul-de-Sac Depression is a lowland on the island of Hispaniola. It extends from southeastern Haiti into the southwestern Dominican Republic, where it is known as the Hoya de Enriquillo...
via Croix-des-Bouquets
Croix-des-Bouquets
Croix-des-Bouquets is a city in the Ouest Department of Haiti. It is located to the northeast of Haiti's capital city, Port-au-Prince. Originally located on the shore, it was relocated inland after the 1770 Port-au-Prince earthquake. Due to this fact, it was not as badly affected in the 2010...
. Here, a newly improved road branches off southeast through a parched, barren region, skirting Lake Saumâtre before reaching the Dominican border at Malpasse
Malpasse
Malpasse is a town in the Croix-des-Bouquets arrondissement, inside the Ouest Department of Haiti. It is located around . Its border crossing to Jimaní is one of the four chief land crossings to the Dominican Republic....
. There are regular flights 3 times a week from Port-au-Prince to the 2,500 foot gravel and rock runway at Hinche. Before a flight comes in livestock and people must be cleared from the airstrip. The airport is located right near center city and right across the street is the hospital. The RN3 heads north out of Mirebalais on to the Central Plateau, where the military crackdown was especially harsh after the 1991 coup because peasant movements had been pressing for change here for years. After skirting the Peligre Hydroelectric Dam
Péligre Hydroelectric Dam
The Péligre Dam is a hydroelectric dam located off the Centre Department on the Artibonite River of Haiti. It is the largest dam on the island of Hispaniola consisting of Haiti and the Dominican Republic....
, now silted up and almost useless, the road passes Thomonde
Thomonde
Thomonde is a town in the central part of Haiti. It is located in the Centre Department or "Plateau Central", arrondissement Hinche. The geo-coordinates are 19.02N and 71.97W. The population was about 2,381 in 1982 and about 3,784 in 2007 - as reported by the government of Haiti...
and reaches this city.
Radio
- Radio Seven Stars
- Radio Super Continentale
- Radyo Leve Kanpe
- Radyo Vwa Peyizan
- Radio Quotidien FM
- Radio Immaculée Conception
- Radio MBC