Haitian-American views
[Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009]
It is odd to say that I have experienced culture shock because I am a Haitian-American traveling to Haiti for the first time in my life. However, I believe that I experienced a cultural transition that begins at the JFK terminal for my flight to Haiti. The flight to Port – Au - Prince, Haiti was comprised of Haitians and a sprinkle of foreigners such as Westerners.
During the plane ride to Haiti, the woman I sat next to, spoke to me in Kreyol. I responded to her questions and comments in English. At the moment, I did not feel comfortable speaking Kreyol. On the plane ride, I had to fill out a Haitian immigration card and I had a difficult time answering the questions. The Haitian immigration card is written in Haitian-Creole. Haitian-Creole is phonetic, making it easier to figure out. In school, I learned how to read and write in the French language while I only spoke Creole at home. So, I have to read Haitian-Creole aloud to figure out what a document says. The woman next to me told me that the flight attendant can fill it out for me. The flight attendant filled out my card for me and asked me for an address in Haiti for immigration purposes. I did not have the organization Fonkoze’s exact address and I said we will be picked up at the airport by the organization.
As the plane landed into the Port Au Prince, Haiti airport the woman next to me began to react to the turbulence we were experiencing. So, she started to clap and call on Jesus in Kreyol. The weirdest thing happened, the entire plane started to clap and call out to Jesus. The passenger cabin was filled with so many people saying, “Gloire a Jesus. Benir Soir L’eternel.” Passengers were thanking Jesus that the plane landed safely. It was the first and only time that I was on a plane where the landing resembled a church service.
When we arrived in Haiti, we were greeted by a musical band playing traditional Haitian music with a banjo and tall drum. The song welcomed Haitians returning to the country and had a patriotic theme about the country’s beauty. The Haitian immigration officers tried their best to get a Haitian address out of me. Eventually, I wrote down “hotel” on the immigration card and Yesol and I were free to go.
After the airport, we drove to a place called Sodo, located about two hours away from Port Au Prince. Periodically, staff members from Concern Worldwide and Fonkoze stay at the vacation house in Sodo. The vacation house is quite large with spacious rooms shared by two to four staff members each. The vacation house also has a beautiful view overlooking the Haitian mountains and palm trees are everywhere.
[Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009]
Today, we traveled to a zone called Boukan Kare, an area north of our residence in Sodo. The village was named Bozio. Due to the rough terrain, we rode dirt bikes to reach the area. After a certain point we had to leave the bikes next to a house because the terrain became increasingly difficult and at times the path was very steep and too dangerous for a motorcycle. We rode the motorcycle for a few hours and hiked for over an hour. We came across men plowing their land with cattle. After crossing a river stream barefooted and climbing hills we arrived at a local schoolhouse. Chemin Lavi Miyo (CLM) members held a meeting next to the children’s schoolhouse.
The CLM members walked for miles to attend the meeting held under a mango tree next to the schoolhouse. At the meeting, CLM clients were given their weekly stipend of 300 gourdes. The CLM clients receive the stipend weekly for six months. At the beginning of the meeting, the clients signed a Fonkoze contract by imprinting their index finger. In Kreyol, the contract stated that the grant received was a tool in order to uplift them out of poverty, not a gift.
Two out of three enterprises are undertaken by CLM clients. The enterprises are chicken rearing, goat herding and small commerce. The chicken rearing enterprise gives a client five chickens in a coop to start their enterprise. If the client knows a person with a rooster, the client can ask that her chickens mate with the rooster to produce eggs. Or, the client may purchase eggs placing the eggs under the chicken to hatch. A man in the village told me that when a chicken lays an egg, the egg must be placed under another chicken to hatch. Economic opportunities from chicken rearing include selling eggs a chicken has laid, or recently hatched chicks.
The goat herding enterprise initially gives a client one goat. Through successful goat herding, the number of goats a client owns can multiply before their eyes into fourteen goats. The sale of a goat, can give a client enough money to send a child to school. The highest and at times sole financial barrier to obtain childhood education in Haiti is the cost of a school uniform. Sadly, a child cannot attend school free of cost, including government schools. There is always a cost such as purchasing a uniform that costs the equivalent of $10 USD. The financial barrier to access education impedes possibly more than 50% of school age children in Haiti from attending school. The lack of free universal education with a public education system regardless of economic background contributes to the cycle of poverty being transferred from generation to generation.
The enterprise of small commerce gives program members the opportunity to become active participants in the local market economy. When a program member takes the opportunity of small commerce, the member may choose to buy various goods such as rice or animals at a local market then return to their village with the goods and selling for a profit.
When given income-generating assets such as goats and chickens related to the client’s enterprise, an immediate concern is animal health and welfare. As we traveled through river streams and passed local villagers planting for harvest. On the walk there, a villager said that a goat had a very swollen leg and was limping. Throughout the walk and at the meeting workers and clients talked about vaccines for animals and animal health. The case managers are the CLM member’s mentors, social workers and so much more. Case managers meet the members on a weekly basis. The case manager for this group is named Es, he as well as Emile gave advice to the CLM members concerning how to care for chickens and goats and how to nurse the animals back to health. Most of the advice included setting an area aside to build a small straw house to help protect the animals from the elements, daily feedings to allow the goat to roam and eat banana leaves and chew on grass as well as a coconut so that the goat can drink coconut water when it pleases.
In Bozio, Boukan Kare, there is an adult education program, called ALPHA, which is held a few times during the week in the children’s colored schoolhouse. The adult education program teaches the CLM members literacy skills such as reading and writing. The program is taught by the local village’s schoolteacher. The schoolteacher is quite involved in the CLM program because he attended the monthly CLM meeting and spoke on the women’s attendance and progress in the adult literacy program. The women learn how to write their names in the adult education program, this way they can provide a signature instead of a thumbprint. Using a signature over a thumbprint gives the women increased confidence as well.
During the meeting, the health component and topic for the day was clean water. The case manager presented three problems from drinking untreated water: diarrhea, stomachaches and Cholera. Water treatments include boiling water or adding a drop of Clorox into a gallon of water. There is a warning/advisory when using Clorox. The case manager said Clorox cuts your clothes so it can cut your stomach if too much is used.
In the future, the area will receive a water treatment system. In the meeting an example came up that you can give a person 10 water treatment systems and the person can still get Cholera. They get cholera because they don’t use the resources they are given. The workers are trying to instill water treatment methods as a common routine practice before a system is installed. This way the practice/habit is already there before the resource, ensuring that the resource will be effectively used. A man asked a question about water. Before the man began, he told the women that if anyone gives them information they need to ask questions on the idea presented to them. The man told the CLM members that critical thinking skills are only improved by offering critiques on a presented idea.
During the meeting, the Fonkoze and Concern Worldwide staff members quoted proverbs about helping each other through tough times encouraging the CLM members to have camaraderie amongst each other. The staff members said that all children need to go to school. Uneducated children will seek means to make money and obtain power to make up for an uneducated, undeveloped mind. An example is that a young person may get money for a gun and shoot people, because they did not have the opportunity to receive an education and develop their mind.
Our attendance to the CLM meeting showed that such an outreach program is good with community-building and CLM members supporting each other. These women are making a better life for themselves and their children and building themselves up together.
There are ten members in a local village committee. Three members are the president, treasurer and secretary. Two members are case managers. A minimum of two members are CLM members. The CLM members are selected and targeted through a through selection process.
Other issues touched upon during the meeting included the point that men need to help their wife. The men should not be doing anything. Fonkoze helps the wife, so the husband needs to help wife as well. For now, women with children are prioritized to participate in the program. The case managers ask the CLM members to take initiative and help elderly people who have no children.
At the committee meeting they did a practice similar to tzu-tzu. In Haiti, it is called Sol, each member puts in 100 gourde and when the money was pooled together one member receives the lump sum. The women receiving the lump sum can buy livestock such as more chickens, goats or a rooster. The women can also use the lump sum to pay for their child’s education in full. Some women may choose to deposit the lump sum into their Fonkoze deposit account. The women decide amongst themselves, which woman has the greatest need for the lump sum with each woman taking a turn.
[Thursday, June 4th, 2009]
Today we followed the case manager Bonis as he went through his CLM activities. Today, Bonis’s group received chickens for their enterprise. Each woman receives five chickens in a coop. The women transport the coop on their head. The chick takes 29 days to hatch. The CLM members can use the funds to send children to school or buy more chickens.
Yesol and I spook to the CLM members receiving the chickens. A CLM member named Marie Camelle has one child named Medooz, a 6 year old girl. She told us that her daughter’s uniform cost 400 Haitian Dollars (2000 Haitian Gourde or $50 USD). Another CLM member named Jeannette St. Jean has twelve children. I think that she has given birth to six children and her husband has children outside of their union. A 12 year old is oldest. Three children are in school. She has a ten year old female, seven year old female and a five year old male that are all in school. Uniforms cost 300 Haitian dollars per child, equivalent to $37.50 USD. In order to send a child to school, the cost ranges from 250- 800 Haitian Dollars, equivalent to $31.25 to $100 USD.
Bonisante held a village committee meeting that included local religious leaders, professors, around five CLM members, an Episcopalian pastor, Catholic pastor, Catholic school director, carpenter, security official, local elected leader and a local musician. After the 18-month CLM program, the committee will transform itself into an association to continue the social and economic progress of the community. The village committee is an advocate for the poor.
The village committee meeting opened up with an opening prayer and greetings to welcome everyone. The women in CLM are targeted because they have nothing. When it rains these women and their children are rained upon. The CLM program initially started with twenty-five women. The former CLM members have made significant progress in their lives. There were women who were sharecroppers living on someone else’s land. Through the CLM program, these members were able to buy and obtain their own land. These women were also taught how to write their own names as their first literary goal. Many of the former program participants made profits from goat rearing and placed the profits into their bank accounts. An example of a former CLM member initially given two goats from CLM was able to after 20 months own fourteen goats.
The CLM members are given health cards so that they can obtain free healthcare for themselves and their children. General health advice is given to the women. This includes teaching and encouraging people in rural areas to wear shoes at all times, because they can slip or get a cut from mud and poop on the rocky pathways. Another piece of advice is that females, especially female children must wear panties at all times to prevent an infection in the private area and an avoidable trip to the doctor. I really agree with this piece of advice because I would see small babies, boys and girls that were naked sit on the dusty road exposing their genitalia to dust with such close contact with dust. It bothers me so much that ask children, where are your clothes and to at least put on some underwear.
The role of the village committee is advocacy for the poor people in the community. The village committee does not want to see people in the area being abused by anyone else. The local Pastor Nadi was referenced as a person when people ask him for help he offers help to them. During the meeting, a proverb was mentioned that when you help someone today do not look for a benefit from them, instead look for a benefit from up above. The point to solve disputes through the village committee was also brought up. For example, if someone’s goat wanders into a neighbors garden and eats food, the village together can workout a solution/compensation for successful conflict mediation.
[Friday, June 5th, 2009]
The most interesting surprise in Haiti for me is language. At a CLM member meeting, I was asked to introduce myself and make a comment. Immediately after my comment, the Concern staff members asked the women if they understood everything that I just said in Haitian-Creole. The women slowly muttered, “Yes.” So the Concern staff member translated my comments into a version of Creole that the women could understand. In his translation, I realized that he says in Creole,
“le fait coeur mwen content” (it makes my heart happy)
Instead of my statement, this is quite a common French phrase:
“mwen heureuse” (it makes me happy)
When I meet the CLM members, I speak to them in Haitian-Creole. Although I have an accent, most of the women are able to figure out the questions that I ask them.
[Saturday, June 6th, 2009]
Today, we traveled to Bel Bede, Boukan Kare region in Haiti with the Fonkoze and Concern Worldwide staff. Along the way, we met a US-based foundation that provides some funds to the Chemin Lavi Miyo program. The visiting group is from Nebraska and their organization is called the Haitian Timoun Foundation (HTF). HTF’s website is www.HopeforHaiti.org. The HTF group was comprised of some college and high school students as well.
We walked through the villages with HTF to greet and meet CLM members. Along the way, a religious leader told Fonkoze staff that the lessons taught to CLM members slowly spread to individuals of all socioeconomic backgrounds in the rest of the village. The pastor said he has learned ways to improve his life and live better from CLM members and their new practices. He told Fonkoze staff that CLM members taught him water treatment methods such as boiling water and adding droplets of Clorox so that he and his family drink treated water, decreasing the number of water-borne sicknesses.
Most, if not all of the CLM members do not have birth certificates because they cannot afford to obtain one. So, the government does not recognize or know that the CLM members and their children exist because there are not any documents to prove their existence. The Haitian Timoun Foundation provides funds to pay for a notary public to come into the village and provide the CLM members and their children with birth certificates. This is quite important because we have met a CLM member that did not know her age as well as her children’s age. The CLM member’s children did not go to school, due to the financial barrier.
Recently, the CLM program’s 18-month pilot (phase I) was successfully completed. Currently, the program is in (phase II) with the second CLM program. As we come across more CLM members, it is apparent that many women live on other people’s land/home/property. At times, some of these women are sharecroppers on the owners farm.
During phase I of the CLM pilot program, CLM members were discouraged by fellow villagers on joining CLM. It took sometime before the Fonkoze and Concern Worldwide staff could gain the trust of the CLM members and their village. The CLM members and their remote villages are ignored and forgotten about by the government and the world community.
At the conclusion of our day with the Haitian Timoun Foundation, we ate dinner at a restaurant named Las Vegas. While we were there, we met three little boys in the street. We ate and drank with the boys as they told us about the difficult lives they lead. The three brothers are aged five, eleven and thirteen. The boys work and go to school. They earn ten gourde per week doing metal work. It hurts the heart to know that these boys have no choice but to be victims of underage employment and raise themselves.
[Sunday, June 7th, 2009]
As I was reading this quote can help explain how poverty became so extreme in Haiti and other impoverished countries throughout this world.
“Although introductory economics textbooks preach individualism and decentralized markets, our safety and prosperity depend at least as much on collective decisions to fight disease, promote good science and widespread education, provide critical infrastructure, and act in unison to help the poorest of the poor. When the preconditions of basic infrastructure (roads, power, and ports) and human capital (health and education) are in place, markets are powerful engines of development. Without those preconditions, markets can cruelly bypass large parts of the world, leaving them impoverished and suffering without respite.”
Quote from “The End of Poverty- How we can make it happen in our lifetime” By Jeffrey Sachs
It is odd to say that I have experienced culture shock because I am a Haitian-American traveling to Haiti for the first time in my life. However, I believe that I experienced a cultural transition that begins at the JFK terminal for my flight to Haiti. The flight to Port – Au - Prince, Haiti was comprised of Haitians and a sprinkle of foreigners such as Westerners.
During the plane ride to Haiti, the woman I sat next to, spoke to me in Kreyol. I responded to her questions and comments in English. At the moment, I did not feel comfortable speaking Kreyol. On the plane ride, I had to fill out a Haitian immigration card and I had a difficult time answering the questions. The Haitian immigration card is written in Haitian-Creole. Haitian-Creole is phonetic, making it easier to figure out. In school, I learned how to read and write in the French language while I only spoke Creole at home. So, I have to read Haitian-Creole aloud to figure out what a document says. The woman next to me told me that the flight attendant can fill it out for me. The flight attendant filled out my card for me and asked me for an address in Haiti for immigration purposes. I did not have the organization Fonkoze’s exact address and I said we will be picked up at the airport by the organization.
As the plane landed into the Port Au Prince, Haiti airport the woman next to me began to react to the turbulence we were experiencing. So, she started to clap and call on Jesus in Kreyol. The weirdest thing happened, the entire plane started to clap and call out to Jesus. The passenger cabin was filled with so many people saying, “Gloire a Jesus. Benir Soir L’eternel.” Passengers were thanking Jesus that the plane landed safely. It was the first and only time that I was on a plane where the landing resembled a church service.
When we arrived in Haiti, we were greeted by a musical band playing traditional Haitian music with a banjo and tall drum. The song welcomed Haitians returning to the country and had a patriotic theme about the country’s beauty. The Haitian immigration officers tried their best to get a Haitian address out of me. Eventually, I wrote down “hotel” on the immigration card and Yesol and I were free to go.
After the airport, we drove to a place called Sodo, located about two hours away from Port Au Prince. Periodically, staff members from Concern Worldwide and Fonkoze stay at the vacation house in Sodo. The vacation house is quite large with spacious rooms shared by two to four staff members each. The vacation house also has a beautiful view overlooking the Haitian mountains and palm trees are everywhere.
[Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009]
Today, we traveled to a zone called Boukan Kare, an area north of our residence in Sodo. The village was named Bozio. Due to the rough terrain, we rode dirt bikes to reach the area. After a certain point we had to leave the bikes next to a house because the terrain became increasingly difficult and at times the path was very steep and too dangerous for a motorcycle. We rode the motorcycle for a few hours and hiked for over an hour. We came across men plowing their land with cattle. After crossing a river stream barefooted and climbing hills we arrived at a local schoolhouse. Chemin Lavi Miyo (CLM) members held a meeting next to the children’s schoolhouse.
The CLM members walked for miles to attend the meeting held under a mango tree next to the schoolhouse. At the meeting, CLM clients were given their weekly stipend of 300 gourdes. The CLM clients receive the stipend weekly for six months. At the beginning of the meeting, the clients signed a Fonkoze contract by imprinting their index finger. In Kreyol, the contract stated that the grant received was a tool in order to uplift them out of poverty, not a gift.
Two out of three enterprises are undertaken by CLM clients. The enterprises are chicken rearing, goat herding and small commerce. The chicken rearing enterprise gives a client five chickens in a coop to start their enterprise. If the client knows a person with a rooster, the client can ask that her chickens mate with the rooster to produce eggs. Or, the client may purchase eggs placing the eggs under the chicken to hatch. A man in the village told me that when a chicken lays an egg, the egg must be placed under another chicken to hatch. Economic opportunities from chicken rearing include selling eggs a chicken has laid, or recently hatched chicks.
The goat herding enterprise initially gives a client one goat. Through successful goat herding, the number of goats a client owns can multiply before their eyes into fourteen goats. The sale of a goat, can give a client enough money to send a child to school. The highest and at times sole financial barrier to obtain childhood education in Haiti is the cost of a school uniform. Sadly, a child cannot attend school free of cost, including government schools. There is always a cost such as purchasing a uniform that costs the equivalent of $10 USD. The financial barrier to access education impedes possibly more than 50% of school age children in Haiti from attending school. The lack of free universal education with a public education system regardless of economic background contributes to the cycle of poverty being transferred from generation to generation.
The enterprise of small commerce gives program members the opportunity to become active participants in the local market economy. When a program member takes the opportunity of small commerce, the member may choose to buy various goods such as rice or animals at a local market then return to their village with the goods and selling for a profit.
When given income-generating assets such as goats and chickens related to the client’s enterprise, an immediate concern is animal health and welfare. As we traveled through river streams and passed local villagers planting for harvest. On the walk there, a villager said that a goat had a very swollen leg and was limping. Throughout the walk and at the meeting workers and clients talked about vaccines for animals and animal health. The case managers are the CLM member’s mentors, social workers and so much more. Case managers meet the members on a weekly basis. The case manager for this group is named Es, he as well as Emile gave advice to the CLM members concerning how to care for chickens and goats and how to nurse the animals back to health. Most of the advice included setting an area aside to build a small straw house to help protect the animals from the elements, daily feedings to allow the goat to roam and eat banana leaves and chew on grass as well as a coconut so that the goat can drink coconut water when it pleases.
In Bozio, Boukan Kare, there is an adult education program, called ALPHA, which is held a few times during the week in the children’s colored schoolhouse. The adult education program teaches the CLM members literacy skills such as reading and writing. The program is taught by the local village’s schoolteacher. The schoolteacher is quite involved in the CLM program because he attended the monthly CLM meeting and spoke on the women’s attendance and progress in the adult literacy program. The women learn how to write their names in the adult education program, this way they can provide a signature instead of a thumbprint. Using a signature over a thumbprint gives the women increased confidence as well.
During the meeting, the health component and topic for the day was clean water. The case manager presented three problems from drinking untreated water: diarrhea, stomachaches and Cholera. Water treatments include boiling water or adding a drop of Clorox into a gallon of water. There is a warning/advisory when using Clorox. The case manager said Clorox cuts your clothes so it can cut your stomach if too much is used.
In the future, the area will receive a water treatment system. In the meeting an example came up that you can give a person 10 water treatment systems and the person can still get Cholera. They get cholera because they don’t use the resources they are given. The workers are trying to instill water treatment methods as a common routine practice before a system is installed. This way the practice/habit is already there before the resource, ensuring that the resource will be effectively used. A man asked a question about water. Before the man began, he told the women that if anyone gives them information they need to ask questions on the idea presented to them. The man told the CLM members that critical thinking skills are only improved by offering critiques on a presented idea.
During the meeting, the Fonkoze and Concern Worldwide staff members quoted proverbs about helping each other through tough times encouraging the CLM members to have camaraderie amongst each other. The staff members said that all children need to go to school. Uneducated children will seek means to make money and obtain power to make up for an uneducated, undeveloped mind. An example is that a young person may get money for a gun and shoot people, because they did not have the opportunity to receive an education and develop their mind.
Our attendance to the CLM meeting showed that such an outreach program is good with community-building and CLM members supporting each other. These women are making a better life for themselves and their children and building themselves up together.
There are ten members in a local village committee. Three members are the president, treasurer and secretary. Two members are case managers. A minimum of two members are CLM members. The CLM members are selected and targeted through a through selection process.
Other issues touched upon during the meeting included the point that men need to help their wife. The men should not be doing anything. Fonkoze helps the wife, so the husband needs to help wife as well. For now, women with children are prioritized to participate in the program. The case managers ask the CLM members to take initiative and help elderly people who have no children.
At the committee meeting they did a practice similar to tzu-tzu. In Haiti, it is called Sol, each member puts in 100 gourde and when the money was pooled together one member receives the lump sum. The women receiving the lump sum can buy livestock such as more chickens, goats or a rooster. The women can also use the lump sum to pay for their child’s education in full. Some women may choose to deposit the lump sum into their Fonkoze deposit account. The women decide amongst themselves, which woman has the greatest need for the lump sum with each woman taking a turn.
[Thursday, June 4th, 2009]
Today we followed the case manager Bonis as he went through his CLM activities. Today, Bonis’s group received chickens for their enterprise. Each woman receives five chickens in a coop. The women transport the coop on their head. The chick takes 29 days to hatch. The CLM members can use the funds to send children to school or buy more chickens.
Yesol and I spook to the CLM members receiving the chickens. A CLM member named Marie Camelle has one child named Medooz, a 6 year old girl. She told us that her daughter’s uniform cost 400 Haitian Dollars (2000 Haitian Gourde or $50 USD). Another CLM member named Jeannette St. Jean has twelve children. I think that she has given birth to six children and her husband has children outside of their union. A 12 year old is oldest. Three children are in school. She has a ten year old female, seven year old female and a five year old male that are all in school. Uniforms cost 300 Haitian dollars per child, equivalent to $37.50 USD. In order to send a child to school, the cost ranges from 250- 800 Haitian Dollars, equivalent to $31.25 to $100 USD.
Bonisante held a village committee meeting that included local religious leaders, professors, around five CLM members, an Episcopalian pastor, Catholic pastor, Catholic school director, carpenter, security official, local elected leader and a local musician. After the 18-month CLM program, the committee will transform itself into an association to continue the social and economic progress of the community. The village committee is an advocate for the poor.
The village committee meeting opened up with an opening prayer and greetings to welcome everyone. The women in CLM are targeted because they have nothing. When it rains these women and their children are rained upon. The CLM program initially started with twenty-five women. The former CLM members have made significant progress in their lives. There were women who were sharecroppers living on someone else’s land. Through the CLM program, these members were able to buy and obtain their own land. These women were also taught how to write their own names as their first literary goal. Many of the former program participants made profits from goat rearing and placed the profits into their bank accounts. An example of a former CLM member initially given two goats from CLM was able to after 20 months own fourteen goats.
The CLM members are given health cards so that they can obtain free healthcare for themselves and their children. General health advice is given to the women. This includes teaching and encouraging people in rural areas to wear shoes at all times, because they can slip or get a cut from mud and poop on the rocky pathways. Another piece of advice is that females, especially female children must wear panties at all times to prevent an infection in the private area and an avoidable trip to the doctor. I really agree with this piece of advice because I would see small babies, boys and girls that were naked sit on the dusty road exposing their genitalia to dust with such close contact with dust. It bothers me so much that ask children, where are your clothes and to at least put on some underwear.
The role of the village committee is advocacy for the poor people in the community. The village committee does not want to see people in the area being abused by anyone else. The local Pastor Nadi was referenced as a person when people ask him for help he offers help to them. During the meeting, a proverb was mentioned that when you help someone today do not look for a benefit from them, instead look for a benefit from up above. The point to solve disputes through the village committee was also brought up. For example, if someone’s goat wanders into a neighbors garden and eats food, the village together can workout a solution/compensation for successful conflict mediation.
[Friday, June 5th, 2009]
The most interesting surprise in Haiti for me is language. At a CLM member meeting, I was asked to introduce myself and make a comment. Immediately after my comment, the Concern staff members asked the women if they understood everything that I just said in Haitian-Creole. The women slowly muttered, “Yes.” So the Concern staff member translated my comments into a version of Creole that the women could understand. In his translation, I realized that he says in Creole,
“le fait coeur mwen content” (it makes my heart happy)
Instead of my statement, this is quite a common French phrase:
“mwen heureuse” (it makes me happy)
When I meet the CLM members, I speak to them in Haitian-Creole. Although I have an accent, most of the women are able to figure out the questions that I ask them.
[Saturday, June 6th, 2009]
Today, we traveled to Bel Bede, Boukan Kare region in Haiti with the Fonkoze and Concern Worldwide staff. Along the way, we met a US-based foundation that provides some funds to the Chemin Lavi Miyo program. The visiting group is from Nebraska and their organization is called the Haitian Timoun Foundation (HTF). HTF’s website is www.HopeforHaiti.org. The HTF group was comprised of some college and high school students as well.
We walked through the villages with HTF to greet and meet CLM members. Along the way, a religious leader told Fonkoze staff that the lessons taught to CLM members slowly spread to individuals of all socioeconomic backgrounds in the rest of the village. The pastor said he has learned ways to improve his life and live better from CLM members and their new practices. He told Fonkoze staff that CLM members taught him water treatment methods such as boiling water and adding droplets of Clorox so that he and his family drink treated water, decreasing the number of water-borne sicknesses.
Most, if not all of the CLM members do not have birth certificates because they cannot afford to obtain one. So, the government does not recognize or know that the CLM members and their children exist because there are not any documents to prove their existence. The Haitian Timoun Foundation provides funds to pay for a notary public to come into the village and provide the CLM members and their children with birth certificates. This is quite important because we have met a CLM member that did not know her age as well as her children’s age. The CLM member’s children did not go to school, due to the financial barrier.
Recently, the CLM program’s 18-month pilot (phase I) was successfully completed. Currently, the program is in (phase II) with the second CLM program. As we come across more CLM members, it is apparent that many women live on other people’s land/home/property. At times, some of these women are sharecroppers on the owners farm.
During phase I of the CLM pilot program, CLM members were discouraged by fellow villagers on joining CLM. It took sometime before the Fonkoze and Concern Worldwide staff could gain the trust of the CLM members and their village. The CLM members and their remote villages are ignored and forgotten about by the government and the world community.
At the conclusion of our day with the Haitian Timoun Foundation, we ate dinner at a restaurant named Las Vegas. While we were there, we met three little boys in the street. We ate and drank with the boys as they told us about the difficult lives they lead. The three brothers are aged five, eleven and thirteen. The boys work and go to school. They earn ten gourde per week doing metal work. It hurts the heart to know that these boys have no choice but to be victims of underage employment and raise themselves.
[Sunday, June 7th, 2009]
As I was reading this quote can help explain how poverty became so extreme in Haiti and other impoverished countries throughout this world.
“Although introductory economics textbooks preach individualism and decentralized markets, our safety and prosperity depend at least as much on collective decisions to fight disease, promote good science and widespread education, provide critical infrastructure, and act in unison to help the poorest of the poor. When the preconditions of basic infrastructure (roads, power, and ports) and human capital (health and education) are in place, markets are powerful engines of development. Without those preconditions, markets can cruelly bypass large parts of the world, leaving them impoverished and suffering without respite.”
Quote from “The End of Poverty- How we can make it happen in our lifetime” By Jeffrey Sachs
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