Meet the Locals: Janet from Haiti

In the coastal town of Kabik, “DIY queen” Janet Brubacher bakes bread, stargazes, and shares her oceanfront eco-home.

Photographs by Tara Rice

The Local

Janet Brubacher grew up in Canada, the daughter of conservative Mennonite farmers who led a simple life, close to the earth. “I grew up working hard, eating what we grew, preserving for winter, and sharing the bounty,” she said. “It was a simple life, without frills, which taught me to be conscious of others’ needs and my responsibility to help.” It was that rural childhood that led the adult Janet to work at nonprofit development organizations and move from Canada to Sudan and then, in 1994, to Haiti.

When her family of five first arrived in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, they only planned to stay until Janet’s two-year work contract ran out. But as the time passed, Haiti began to feel like home. “I was impressed with the opportunities here, and driven by a desire to help bring positive change,” she said. Janet worked on projects that included supporting new agricultural collectives and assisting in the management of tuberculosis in Haiti. At one point, Janet also worked as the country director for Save the Children, a nonprofit that offers health, education, food, and legal support to impoverished and at-risk children around the world. Janet loved the work. “And that’s how 3 years, for me, became 28 years,” she said.

Her Home

Even with meaningful work in the city, as the years went on, Janet yearned for a less hectic life. In 2014, she took a leap of faith when she quit her job and moved to the coastal village of Kabik. There, Janet purchased a plot of rural land that sloped down to the ocean. She had a goal: to build a light-filled, locally-sourced refuge that would be a part of the local community. The property was big enough to accommodate a jungle mansion, but Janet “didn’t want the house to feel like it could be in south Florida.”

“I wanted to provide a really authentic experience and live close to the earth,” she said. So Janet set out to create the most ecological home she could, a garden oasis with rainwater catchment systems and solar panels.

She began the project by hiring craftsmen from the village, and sourcing her building materials locally, including the lumber felled on the nearby mountain, roof thatching, hand-painted tiles, and salvaged colonial-era shutters. The construction, which took place over the course of a year, was done completely by hand and without the use of any power tools. That’s a point of pride for Janet and also a reflection of the sometimes unreliable electrical service in rural Haiti.

Today, Janet says, her off-the-grid power system means that she’s one of the few accommodations in the area that almost never loses electricity, internet, or warm water.

“The way I designed my house was to have outdoor living so that even when you’re inside you still feel like you’re outside,”Janet said. Guests typically spend their time relaxing on the massive veranda, gazing at the horizon, dipping in the plunge pool, or staring up at the stars.

“The beauty of this place is really compelling,” Janet said. “I think being surrounded by beauty like this actually changes the way you feel and the way you see the world. It does for me.”

There’s one guest room in the main house and a detached guest house that’s modeled after a Sudanese round house. Both buildings are filled with decorations from Janet’s travels in Haiti and Africa.

Outside of the home’s walls, the sprawling property is covered with edible plants: bananas, papayas, lemons, oranges, grapefruits, almonds, avocados, sweet peppers, okra, eggplant, potatoes, and beans. Janet tends, harvests, and cooks them all. “I morphed into a DIY queen,” she said. “(It’s) so different from commanding a large staff to carry out the work (like I used to do) and surprisingly satisfying.” Janet even makes her own bread, pastries, preserves, and yogurt. At one point, she considered turning her property into a small farm, but so far, she prefers hosting travelers.

About half of Janet’s guests are Haitians who have moved elsewhere — “part of the Haitian diaspora” — who come back to this wild and culturally rich corner of south Haiti to visit family. The other half consists of foreigners taking weekend trips from the capital and international travelers visiting Haiti.

Her Neighborhood

Haiti is sometimes a destination where political instability, travel warnings, or perceptions of crime can keep people away. “Yet I’ve never felt safer in any place than I do here,” Janet said. Those feelings of security come in part from the peace and relative abundance in the agricultural region where she lives. “Everyone here lives very simply but there’s plenty of food, both from the land and the sea, so no one goes hungry the way some do in the city,” she said. Plus, Janet knows her neighbors, some of whom live only a few yards beyond her gate.

Despite being a relative newcomer, Janet seems to fit in in Kabik. “As the only person who owns a car in her village, I’m the stand-in ambulance driver,” she said. Other times, she says, a voodoo priest arrives at the door asking if she can provide him with a hen for a ceremony. “Guests often ask about voodoo,” she said. “And if I can, I bring them to church to witness a ceremony and just to show them how normal it is here.”

When guests want to venture out on the water for sunset, Janet asks the local fishermen who live nearby to captain the sunset cruise. When guests want to go farther, Janet recommends the bustling local market and a trip to the port city of Jacmel. A popular vacation destination for Haitians and visitors in need of a weekend getaway, the colonial city is filled with art — both the gallery and street variety.

“There’s a whole lovely boardwalk made of mosaic tiles and galleries filled with works by Haitian artists,” she said. The town also has a rich papier-mâché art scene that bursts to life around the Carnivàle holiday, which happens between late February to early March. It’s part of a life Janet feels happy to call her own.

“You know when a place just has really positive energy?” Janet said. “I feel that in Haiti, and I really love sharing my little bit of paradise with people. In fact, the biggest problem I have is that people don’t want to leave. Eventually, I have to say, ‘I’m so sorry, but I have a checkout time because there are other guests coming.’ I guess it’s a good problem to have.”

Janet’s Kabik Picks:

Port Marigot and fish market: “You get up at dawn to observe a spectacle of manual strength as local porters empty conch, dorade, red snapper, and other tropical fish from large boats. Balancing incredibly heavy loads on their heads they wade through chest deep waters to the shore. You can wander the fish market and buy fresh seasonal produce. I like the timeless feeling that this has been happening exactly this way for centuries.”

Bassin Bleu Waterfall: “Some people come all the way to this part of Haiti just to see this spot in the hills outside Jacmel. You hike through forested hills, ford rivers, belay a rock face to arrive at cascading waterfalls. Then you can leap into three connected cavernous pools of turquoise water. When you’re there, you feel like you’re in the Garden of Eden.”

Fond Jean Noel village and its coffee cooperative: “This mountain village has cooperative farm where they grow, roast, and grind their own beans. You can take a tour there to taste the coffee and eat a meal with the local people.”

Promenade du Bord de Mer: “This is a lovely mosaic-lined boardwalk in a part of town that has French colonial buildings, street art, and tons of galleries. It’s one of the few places in Haiti where it’s comfortable for foreigners to wander the streets and browse an amazingly creative selection of handcrafts and art. My favourite is Gamila Arte Gallery featuring paintings of the mountainous south coast. Meet the artist and have him sign your painting.”

Sunset boat ride: “When local fishermen are done for the day, you can climb onboard one of their colorfully painted wooden boats. They will row you along the coastline, riding the rollers. If you dare, dive right into the warm blue waters. Sunset colors are stunningly reflected in the water, and I always feel like celebrating life with a bottle of bubbly once back in the boat.”

About the author: Breena Kerr is a Maui-based freelance writer and journalist whose work appears in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, The Washington Post, CNN, and BBC, among others.

About the photographer: Tara Rice is a Brooklyn-based photographer focusing on projects related to education, gender equality, community service, and environmental conservation.