Bel Air, Haiti

Bel Air is a neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital city. Joseph and Mira grew up in a more rural area of Haiti, but they moved to Bel Air as adults. They lived in Bel Air with their wives and began to have children. Eventually, Mira and his wife left Bel Air to go to America, leaving their two children in Joseph’s care for the next few years. Joseph lived in Bel Air for the rest of his life. In his early eighties, after the death of his wife, he left Bel Air to escape the rising political violence there.

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous borough of New York City. After leaving Haiti, Mira and his wife moved to Brooklyn. They had two children there and eventually brought their two older children from Haiti to Brooklyn as well. Mira had several different jobs...