VoicesfromHaïti ~ Nou bèl. E Nou La.
VoicesfromHaiti is silent. For now.
The old maxim “We are ugly, but we are here” is buried under the rubble caused by 2010’s super quake. Nou pa lèd. We are not ugly, and we’ve only begun to “be here.”
Madame E., a food vendor in Fermathe, speaks about her one wish for the country she loves.
“Our people will band together in prayer. We will work together. We will gather around one table, and celebrate our country. Together.”
Meet Leonie Hermantin of the Lambi Fund. She is a sister, a mother, an aunt, a daughter: “These strong women in my life have shaped me into who I am today. In a sense, they are my launching pad.”
Leonie works tirelessly to support those in Haiti’s countryside to pull themselves out of poverty. She has always been part of the solution.
The following Lambi Fund video–on the subject of reforestation–is one of many on their website. Visit them often.
VoicesfromHaiti.com had an opportunity to speak with Ms. Hermantin. Read the InnerView. Be inspired.
One life. One love. Ankouraje!
-kdu
Wilbert Patrick Lafrance is a kitchen poet, a basement and attic poet’; a ‘don’t tell anyone I wrote this” poet.
On the subject of a KONBIT, read below what Wilbert Patrick Lafrance has to say.
This would be a cool time to work on your Haitian Kreyol, wi?
Happy reading! I’ve got to go deal with the unexpected. Wish me luck. Wish my Grandmother well.
Yon Ti Lide Sou Konbit
written by Wilbert Patrick Lafrance
Gen anpil mo yo sèvi pou jwenn yon esplikasyon pou gwo mo de silab yo rele konbit la: Yo rele-l tèt kole, kole zèpòl, men kontre; men li se tou chwal politichen rat do kale ak gouvelman san manman ki sèvi ak li pou regle zafè yo. Gen lòt moun tou ki ale pi lwen jouk nan drapo nou pou rele konbit“l’union fait la force.”
Tout non sa yo gen anpil valè, men yo pa ase pou esplike konbit tankou yon felomen sosyal. Nou rete kwè moun ki nan zafè lang nan peyi a (languist) gentan depase deba sa
Konbit se yon fòm “koperativ travay” ki gen sous li nan Afrik west, espesyalman nan peyi Dahomey ak Cameroun kote travay latè te jwe yon wòl enpòtan nan ekonomi peyi sa yo. Konsa, lide tèt ansanm tou fè chimen pou rezoud kek pwoblem nan sosyete sa yo tou.
Apre komès moun nan yon sans te fi-n kaba nan karayib la, anpil pèp afro karayibeyen te tounen fermier ak kiltivatè, yo te vi-n rapouswiv ak menm tradisyon “travay troke” nou ta ka rele tou: Banm m-a ba-w, ki pran diferan non ak fòm selon peyi osinon zòn kote y-ap pratike-l la.
Kidonk anpil sosyete gen fòm “koperativ travay” pa yo. Bò lakay pa nou yo rele-l konbit, kote yon manm kominote a bezwen koudmen pou yon travay tankou: plante osinon sekle yon gwo jaden. Li mande yon chef eskwad kout men (ki se yon moun yo fè konfyans, enpi yo konnen tou nan zòn nan) pou mete tout moun ansanm sou fòm gwoupman pou travay la ka rive fèt.
Yon lòt bò moun sa ki jwenn sèvis la osinon koudmen an reskonsab pou li bay manje ak bwè. Nan okazyon sa, chef eskwad lan ak asosye-l pran kontwòl yon gwoupman kiltirèl anndan konbit la ki rasanble zouti tankou: fè, souflèt tanbou, lanbi enpitou yon moun espesyal pou chante yo rele Chantr ap chofe rmoun k-ap travay yo. Anvan ou bat je ou travay la gentan fi-n fèt.
Fòk nou di tou valè yon konbit pa senpman rete nan plante ak sekle latè.
Ou jwenn konbit la nan tout moman nan lavi kominote a kote leta toujou bay demisyon.
Sitirasyon maladi ak lanmò kote yo bezwen konsèy ak men fò. Gid moral k-ap denonse pratik grenn sal ki pa nan interè kominote a, elatriye…
Tradisyon konbit la nan peyi tankou:
jamayik yo rele-l: day work, ak digging
Nan Tobago: land hand
Nan Trinidad, li se Gayap
Enpi bò kote pa noun Ayiti, yo rele tèt ansanm sa, osinon “koperativ travay” sa “konbit” Geyograf Ayisyen Kanadyen yo rele Georges Anglade nan liv li ki rele l’espas Haitien rezève yon ti plas sou kesyon konbit la (Le coumbitisme)
Nan menm sans sa gwo powèt, Romansye, Kominis Ayisyen Jacques Roumain nan ane 1944 yo te ekri yon kokenn chenn roman ki rele“Gouverneurs de la Rosee” toujou gen yon plas enpòtan nan literati pèp karayibeyen ak Amerik Latin.
Nan roman sa, Jacques Roumain montre kouman tradisyon konbit se yon gwo zouti mobilizasyon ak yon sous inite pou moun k-ap viv Nan seksyon riral yo an ayiti.
Se yon roman jenerasyon jounen jodi a kontinye ap aprann nan inivèsite kou nan sal teyat nan karayib, Amerik latin ak ewòp.
When I was a young child, I really did not have clue who my great uncle was. People revere his name and the idea of who he is; yes, they still do. When my family moved back to Haiti immediately after the fall of Jean-Claude Duvalier, I read Gouverneur de la Rosée (Masters of the Dew) at my grandmother’s house. She had all the books. It was a good place for me to be.
Gouverneur de la Rosée jolted a new reality within me. But I didn’t begin to understand who Jacques Roumain was until I became much older.
Being a Roumain has reinforced my belief that we need to work as a community, band around this subject of culture. We need to move things forward in the Diaspora; we have to move things positively in Haiti. We have to work together. We, Haitians, have to get together and work for Haiti. We need the power of the konbit. I believe that artists have power to bring people together around common issues. Let’s not stop. The road ahead is long.