Thousands of Haitians live in Sosúa and its surrounding areas. The populations in the village opposite the Air Force base (El Batey de La Unión) and in Montellano consist of 80% Haitians, who generally work in the sugar cane industry. Many Haitians return to their homeland at Christmas to visit their families. However, over half have not yet returned, and their friends and other relatives in and around Sosúa are extremely worried. But they are also worried about the fate of their own families who live in Port-au-Prince. The problem is that they can see the extreme damage in Haiti on CNN of other TV channels, but they cannot contact their families because telephone communication is impossible. They have no idea whether their families are still alive.