The road to Freedom in Haiti

Let’s set the stage: what sparked the Haitian Revolution
Declaration of the Rights of Man  1789

The National Assembly of France believed that inequality and abuse of the right of man was the reason for corrupted government.  As a result of the French governmental corruption, the National Assembly of France passed a declaration on August 26, 1789 and called it “Declaration des Droits de L’homme et du Citoyen de 1789” Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.  
As a preparation for this Declaration, on July 14 the French deputies set slaves free with their Declaration of the Rights of Man.  During that same period of time, Vincent Ogé a Haitian mulatto who was living in France and was part of the free the slave movement requested to return to Haiti so he could carry his mission there.  Surprisingly they refused to let him leave France.  What he did, he went and changed his identity, moved to Great Britain then to United States and ultimately ended up in Haiti on an American ship.  In Haiti he met with his two friends Jean- Baptiste Chavannes and the two of them started the movement of freedom in Cap Haitian Haiti.  

Unfortunately that didn’t last long they were defeated along with their 400 combatants and on February 25, 1791 they were sentenced to execution of death on the wheel and a group of their followers were hanged and some sentenced to the galleys.
Stay tuned for more! The road to Freedom in Haiti

Haitian Culture

Today we are going to talk about one of the most famous Haitian proverbs.

Beyond mountains there are mountains “Deye mon gen mon” in order to understand this proverb, you must first understand the Haitian mentality and their background.  The name Haiti means Terre Haute in French which translates into high ground.  Proverbs tend to come from traditional belief of a society; mostly they were at some point in time facts. I am going to take you to Haiti.    Haiti is not an industrialized country nor has it ever been one.  Until recently the main form of transportation was done by animals and people.   Even today you go to some remote areas in Haiti where some have never seen vehicles.  Haitians are used to climbing up hills and going up hills was the hardest part of their travels.   They refer to hills as a burden and hardship.  For some Haitians, if they see themselves climbing up hills in their dreams they translate that as problems that are coming their way.  Hills equal obstacles in life and hardships.  As my grand-mother used to say “deye mons gen mons” she meant to say beyond obstacles in life there are many more obstacles.  The impact of this proverb on Haitians today is that they can and will endure through anything.  They will fall but not get crushed, life can throw anything at them but they will embrace themselves courageously and walk through life. 

The Haitian people have the mentality, the courage and attitude but missing the opportunity.  They have the desire and the will out the support, so help us bring opportunity to the young men and women of Haiti, I guarantee you they will thrive. 

Our next topic will be “ravet pa janm ge razon devan pou;” Roaches are never right when facing chickens.  This proverb is a great one come back next week.