Mobiles, Migrants and Money on the Border of Haiti and the Dominican Republic

1. Mobiles, Migrants and Money on the Border of Haiti and the Dominican Republic Heather A. HorstDigital Ethnography Research CentreRMIT University, AustraliaErin B TaylorInstituto de Ciências SociaisUniversidade de Lisboa, PortugalIMTFI Annual ConferenceUniversity of California, Irvine5 December 2012

2. Video

5. The Family and the Household

7. mobility mapsfamilyworkBronte lives in Pedernales, Haitian and Dominican citizenAlainlives in Pedernales, only has Haitian identification

9. “You are obliged to call people, and if you have to call Haiti and you have trouble talking, then you spend a lot of money. You look at your clock and it’s already dinner time, you’re going to end up not having any dinner. …The positive thing about cell phones is to be able to greet your people, to know about your most important friends. For example, you are my friend, I need to talk to you, let me call my friend to see that how you are. ‘Hi Fulano, where are you? I’m in Pedernales, sitting here and drinking a juice. I’m resting, I’m dining, I’m bathing, I’ll call you later, I send you greeting.’ I call my mother, my old woman, and I ask her how her day is going. Because these people are so far away that you can’t see with your own eyes whether they are okay or not.” Alain, PK Study

11. 'Plastic' Objects

12. States and Mobility

13. Work and Livelihood

14. Mobile money at Fonkoze

15. Cross-Border Arbitrage Anse-a-Pitres, Haiti Pedernales, Dominican Republic

16. Where to from here?