Remembering my Summer... Part 1

As soon as school is out, we are all going to Plaisance! But first, mom had to go downtown to buy some "allonge" to get my hair braided for the entire 3 months. This hairdo usually takes all day or two days to be done! It use to be torture, but my short hair needed it so I could enjoy my vacation and so it could grow a little bit during the summer (Or so they used to tell me!).

My dad usually coordinated the trip. A truck full of people and usually a trip to remember! Guerda, Nounouche, Laurana, Ti Garry, Yves-Lyre, auntie Madan Oreste, mom, Magda and the list goes on! Our first stop was in Montrouis. We stopped to get Griyo, bannann Peze, lambi for the adults (I couldn't taste the lambi because my dad said it makes girls "hot"), dad got his usual Pwason Gwo Sèl... Montrouis was it! We then drove for hours. And I mean hours! We passed St. Marc, L'Esther, Gonaives but rarely stopped in any of these towns. We sang, we slept, we stopped for "bathroom" breaks or to stretch our legs. Not to forget a flat tire here and there. By the time we get to Morn Marmelade, our next stop, it was night time. Late night. But Lydia, this lady who lived there and sold food in a little shack, would always wake up just for us, if she was already in bed. By that time we were all tired and hungry again. Lydia would sell us some good food. Her goat meat was usually so good!

After eating, and doing other "business" at morn Marmelade, we headed down to Plaisance. Within an hour, we would reach Bourg Plaisance. That's the "town" but we had to keep driving inside, on some very very rocky roads. We had cross many "pass dlo", rivers before we get to Kafou Roger, where my uncle Tisson, who was a voodoo priest and a businessman and his family lived. We HAPPILY greeted them, got some groceries and drove about twenty more minutes to get to "Dlo de woch". Our driving stopped there because we had to walk to my grandmother's house. By that time, it would be late and peach dark! This is truly country. From 6PM, it's dark; there was absolutely no electricity in that area. The only light we could see were fireflies!

I would be so scared on that small little road that leaded to Grandma's. Not only it was dark, despite having multiple flashlights, we would fall. After it rained the width of the road would reduce to almost nothing. As a matter of fact, one time, Nano, my cousin's boyfriend and Ti Garry fell and roll down in the bushes. A tree stopped them from going inside the "Basin Figue", the only "basin" that no one swam in, except a Mambo (voodoo priestess) named Ti St. Anne when she has "Loa". Because the "loas" she served live in that basin. (RIP to nano, Nounouche, mycousin/his girlfriend and Ti garry, my cousin who I miss so much!)

When we finally reach Grandma's we would be exhausted but so happy! We would start talking with the "Plaisance" accent right away and asking for all kind of things in the middle of the night! At that time, there were no Digicel phone service, like they have now. So, unless we found someone days before we go to let them know we are coming, it would be a total surprise to them. Grandpa would get up to greet us with his huge smile. He was a smooth old guy, always with his cane and his hat. Auntie Yonne would go dig for some fresh yam off the ground, cut some bananas, and some good "Pwason chech" (Dried fishes) up in the "Galata" (attic) to cook for us. All of that done with a small lamp "Tèt gridap". While the food was being cooked, we went to clean up a little bit. To clean up we had to go down a rocky road closed to the house at a water stream. There was no fancy bathroom or anything. But that's what vacation was about! Showering in "basins", like "Basin Fafaron" (the basins were those fresh water pools, all natural, with water coming from a water fall, through the rocks or from nowhere), eating freash yams, bananas, catching crabs, fishes from the basins, playing at night with each other or simply sitting while grandpa told us stories in the dark. These were the best time of my childhood!

To be continued.....

Wyclef Jean: The Authentic Haitian

More than three hours after the famous list was made public by the CEP, I am still amazed about how much Mr. Wyclef Jean was able to make the entire world watch, write and follow the "election" process of Haiti! This is particularly amazing for me because until the earthquake of January 12th, many didn't know who was Haiti's President. As a matter of fact, I didn't know or hear anything when Preval, Haiti's current president was elected.

When the rumors started flying around about Wyclef's candidacy, I knew I would support him because I was one of those people who used to say "Wyclef for President" way before the earthquake even happened. Then all of these articles about money and Yéle started to surface. It would hurt to read them, because Wyclef is my joy, pride and role model. He is that guy who came from nothing to being Wyclef Jean that the entire world knows and talks about. Once I realized that the people who were the quickest to call him a thief were some who are also cashing in in the name of Haiti and "bigging" up themselves for "saving Haiti" without seeing any result; when I look at how Wyclef's NGO was the only one run by a Haitian getting donations and international media attention, that they believe should have gone to them; when I read his explanation, when I remember that he started Yéle with his OWN money, I forgave him, hoped nothing else surfaced and supported him 100%. I refuse to be one of those self-destructive Haitians who joined voices with others to swing mud at him. You may not support the man, but it made no sense to tarnish his reputation for every little petty things. He is not a saint. But he probably was the cleanest candidate on the list!

Wyclef didn't win tonight. But I believe history was made. I will be able to tell my children that in 2010, Wyclef Jean made the entire globe talk about Haiti's elections and shed light on how dirty and unfair the process is. He energized the youth in Haiti, had the diaspora fired up and ready to go vote, and showed the "intellectuals" that they are miserable failures, since they have been there for decades and have managed to make everything worse. The January 12th earthquake has proven that Haiti's so called "intellectual" class are failures and they no longer belong in the leadership team of the country. They failed to make any kind of impression after the earthquake and seven months later, Millions - if not Billions later, they still fail to regulate the organizations who flooded the country and demand them to employ Haitians to get them back up on their feet instead of waiting on a hand to come feed them.

Wyclef's short run also helped many struggling writers, contributors and ex-celebrities get back on the limelight. They all came out of nowhere and all of a sudden, they had this "deep love and interest" in Haiti. When it comes to SOME of those "contributors" and "journalists', I am sure their work in Haiti is already over and will be on the first plane to wherever the next juicy story is. Their sole purpose for being in Haiti or writing refurbished articles about Wyclef was to get attention and twitter followers. Haiti's elections would not be so talked about if Wyclef was not a candidate. I hope they'd prove me wrong, but I am positive that I will not see one article about Haiti's elections until they are over. Unless, of course, Wyclef decides to keep the heat on, somehow. I am not sure how he can do that but I know he can.

I am sure Wyclef can still help the youth of Haiti stay focus, energized, calm and inspired to do good. Wyclef is still powerful enough to do just about everything he wanted to do as a president. One thing that I am hoping he will focus on is creating jobs for these young men who believe in him so much. Although, THEY only see them as weed-smokers and rejects, I believe they can be used efficiently for the betterment of themselves and Haiti. Jobs, jobs, jobs! Put them to work because "an idle mind/hand is the devil's playground". keep them busy, give them a way to earn a paycheck and we will see a change in our people and country. This will not happen overnight and I am not naive to think that they will all give up certain ways that they acquired over the years of misery they were subjected to, but we have to give hope and take a chance on them. When they catch a boat to other islands, or even to DR, they contribute greatly to the economy, pay taxes etc... So, I believe it is possible to change the image that we all have of the youth of Haiti. Wyclef could be that role model; that someone they will listen to, look up to and the one who can bring jobs to Haiti even if he is not President.

After recovering from tonight's deception, I am hoping that Wyclef will continue to represent, and work for Haiti. Continue to be the subject of my pride and make my heart swells every time you take the stage to either perform or talk on behalf of the voiceless.

Stay true to yourself, generous, kind and the beautiful person that you are. You are an authentic Haitian, like my dad told me yesterday on the phone.

May God continue to Bless You beyond measure! I was called an "ignorant" for supporting you, but I will definitely support you again should you decide to run in 2015.

Wyclef Running For President of Haiti: Keeping An Open Mind

For the past week or two, the web has been buzzing about Wyclef Jean running for President. Personally, I was one of those who said "Wyclef for President" even before the earthquake. But after the earthquake so many articles surfaced about Yelé's books not being correct and him paying his mistress thousands of dollars from Yéle's money. It made me sad to read these articles because I love Wyclef. He is our pride and represents his country around the world! So, it's hard to accept that he would PURPOSELY waste money donated for his people . I still do NOT believe that he would splurge on a mistress with Yéle's money. My opinion. I want to give him the benefit of the doubt.

What I do find strange is how everyone is interested in how Yéle spends its money. I don't disagree with that. BUT why don't I see the same interest in other organizations that used Haiti to collect millions? Especially organizations that grew like mushrooms after January 12, 2010. Yéle existed BEFORE January 12. While I may agree that it's far from being a perfect organization when it comes to how its money is pent, at least I know it was not created because the earthquake looked like an opportunity to its creators. How about the other big organizations that received most of the MILLIONS donated by using pictures of our people suffering, crushed under concrete? If there was the same outrage, and articles about their books, maybe they would actually use those funds on what they received them for.

It's just strange that the ONE organization run by a Haitian that gets some media attention ,gets it for all the wrong reasons! Something is not right with that! When watching reports on Haiti or reading articles from the media giants, you would think that no Haitian is helping, while there are organizations run by Haitians that are doing what they can to help, with very little financial help. They get NO media time because there is no "smoking gun" information to put about them on the internet and no one knows them. It would not be juicy enough. Yéle gets all the attention, but for all the wrong reasons. Makes me wonder....

Now the big news is that Wyclef MAY run for president of Haiti in the next elections. So far they are rumors and people are freaking out already. Why? Some say he is not qualified enough. He doesn't have any political background. Some others say he doesn't speak French or he doesn't speak Creole enough (he is not Haitian enough like Oabama was not Black enough). Some say 'popularity doesn't mean qualification to be a leader" but even in the USA, running for office is about popularity (why didn't McCain win? He clearly had more experience). I even saw a tweet saying he is too ugly.

I understand why some may say he is not politically qualified for the job. But, for as long as I can remember, Haiti has had very politically qualified leaders, but look at where we are today. Even before the earthquake, Haiti was already a mess where money just vanished, the president doesn't care about the people, food prices skyrocket, everyone fix their own prices in any currency that pleases them, parents could not afford to pay their children tuition etc... Parents were giving away their children before the earthquake because they could not afford to raise them. All of this was happening with "politically qualified" people in power. And the earthquake just showed all of us that it's not about diplomas, and which language you speak to do good. Unfortunately, just about all of the heavy politically educated "leaders" of Haiti survived and look at where the people are six months later? Still under sheets, tents with babies, and they are not even able to provide security to them. Women, young girls, as young as 5 years old are getting raped; they are not even smart enough to demand all of the organizations to provide jobs to young Haitians even those with multiple degrees! Proof that diplomas don't make a man patriotic. Once they get paid, they don't care about the population.

Some others are panicking because Wyclef, so far, has shown some signs that he cares about the "little ones". And that won't work for SOME, should he become President. Since he was raised in the United States, he may want to set some standards for workers, for example, or even listen to the people when they talk to him (which never happens in Haiti). Some Haitians WANT Haiti to stay in limbo, so they can be in business and don't pay any taxes, pay less then minimum wage etc... A President who is listening to the people, grew up in the USA and might start doing things the normal way can be panicking to some.

Personally, I don't care that he doesn't have any political background. I think if he surrounds himself with new people, not those who are already there, he MIGHT do well. I think, if Wyclef runs and becomes President of Haiti and remembers how a real country should look like, he can rebuild and restart tourism again. By restarting tourism, jobs will be created for the people and they will start taking care of themselves, instead of begging, risking their lives catching boats to other places or go get lynched in the Dominican Republic. That's just one of the good things I can see coming out of this. So far, NO PRESIDENT has seen the potential of Haiti being a destination for tourists again. They are too busy begging and filling their pockets.

I am not sure how I feel about a potential run of Wyclef for President right now, but i am not against it. I am open to it. If he runs and presents plans that look like they may work for the betterment of Haiti, I'm all for it. Because I am tired of those beggars who have done nothing but making us look like fools to the world. All they have done is thieving and squeezing everything out of the population, selling the country piece by piece to whoever wants some. Next week, we will all know if he will run and if he does, I can't wait to see what he has to offer. Everyone makes mistakes; no one's perfect. If his plans sounds right to me, besides the fact that he is not some broke man who just wants the highest paying position in Haiti, he has my vote.