Té’m Ba’w On Nouvel

I wrote an article a couple weeks ago, called “Opinions, Opinions” about the riots that happened and I mentioned how I’d do an overview of what was destroyed.

The Aftermath

For starters, MANY enterprises were wrecked like the “Royal Oasis Hotel”. The hotel had events they had to cancel, tires were burned in their parking. Thankfully, places that were damaged became fully functional 2 weeks after the riots.

Source: Instagram @royaloasishotel.

One of the biggest losses during this time was the “Lynn Williams Rouzier dance Institute” that was literally burned to the ground.

“This institution has taught the best Haitian dancers for 50 years. 50 years of passionate and disciplined work to transmit to futures generations our rich folkloric traditions and principles of dance. 50 years of fantastic shows, showcasing Haitian pride, on some of the world’s most celebrated stages. 50 years of solid friendships that started at the institute. 50 years of boundless love for Haiti. 50 years of generosity towards the most vulnerable of Haitian society.

This July 7th, 2018, the terror that set Haiti ablaze did not spare this gem of our culture. The freshly renovated and improved IDDLWR went up in flames.

This Haitian symbol of resilience cannot and will not disappear from our educative and cultural landscape.”

Please help them bring it back to life by sending them your contribution. Here is the link to their gofundme page.

https://www.gofundme.com/we-should-we-will-rebuild-iddlwr

Please be careful, there is a FAKE gofundme page, pretending to be them. As if the situation was not bad enough, there are some low lives trying to steal money while the school really does need your help to be rebuilt.

Source: Instagram @iddlwr.

The second company ill be talking about is also a huge heartbreak. The Delimart Grocery Store was burned as well. Rioters stole a great amount of food and the owners had no choice but to close their doors.

What hurts me the most is the fact that due to the market closing 673 WORKERS lost their job. Even if the owners agreed to keep providing a salary until everything is back to normal, 673 PEOPLE are unsure of their Faith. 673 LIVES that were ruined in less than 24 hours.

Source: Instagram @delimarthaiti.

I understand things were hard and I still think people had all their reasons for what they did but I also think the lack of education of these people doesn't make them realize that they HURT 673 people that were trying to make it just as hard as they are. They thought they were hurting the owners but instead of one or two, 673 people are paying the price.

Education doesn't make you smart but it does teach to have a certain amount of logic when it comes to certain situations. It‘s this lack of common sense that got them to this point, they destroyed and got what they wanted but still live miserable lives. The help they need is the kind of help only an organized government can provide. So far, all they did was fire the Prime Minister.

ZERO mention of raising the minimum wage in the country.

ZERO mention about the private sector claiming compensation for losing their businesses.

ZERO mention of anything that actually matters.

The President made two bull**** press conferences talking mad s*** and nothing more.

In addition to all these amazing things going on, let's add the fact that people are not paid accordingly to their career. You have Parlement members getting THOUSANDS of dollars while POLICE OFFICERS, DOCTORS, TEACHERS are scraping for coins.

People want to close the Parlement as if that was going to change anything. They’ll vote for new members that will still get paid the SAME amount of money while the rest of the population is DYING.

What I suggest is changing THE LAW that benefits the people that work for US more than the actual citizens of this d*** country.

This was “Té’m Ba’w On Nouvel”, 

“The Aftermath” edition, Written by Tiff.

Té’m Ba’w On Nouvel

Even if the World Cup (WC) is over, I am still in a football mood. I wanted to talk about something that involves football in Haiti and while I was doing my research I found a subject that involved Sports, History and Politics.

How To Get Away With Murder

Today’s article is about Joseph Edouard Gaetjens. Notice the last name? Yes.

Joe Gaetjens is my grandfather's cousin and even though the end of this story is very sad, I take a lot a pride in sharing it with you. Joe was placed among 100 players who marked the history of the World Cup.

Joe started playing soccer around the age of 12, which is considered a late entry since kids in Haiti get initiated into soccer by the age of 6. At the age of 14, he got in a club called “L’Etoile Haïtienne” and won 2 championships, one in 1942 and 1944.

Soon, Joe realizes his soccer career cant help him pay all his bills. Fortunately for him, the Haitian government grants him a scholarship so he can study at the University of Columbia, in New York.

Joe gets to New York, school is working well but he wants to play football, as a result, he enters the “Brookhattan Club” from “American Superleague”. His success will get some people’s attention, with the title of the best scorer of the 1949-1950 season, he got the chance to be recruited in the American National Team.

Right in time for the 1950 WC on the way.

It’s time for the England vs USA game, Joe is playing. England is a strong team and they are putting the pressure, regardless, the score is 1-0 for the USA during the first half, Joe scored.

It only took this one goal for Joe to make history, everyone was talking about it. No one would believe the score, they could not believe the US would be able to score against England. This WC ended for the US, due to them losing against Chili 5-2.

Joe Gaetjens will have the opportunity to participate in the 1954 WC, 4 years later, in Switzerland.

He then got married in 1955 and later had 3 children. Joe said goodbye to his football career forever but the love still very present in his heart made him built a training center for kids aspiring to pursue a football career of their own.

Now, this is the part where we get into the Politics aspect of this story. Joe’s father got married to Léonie Déjoie. During the years of 1956 and 1957, Haiti was politically unstable (shockers) and elections were coming up.
The population had the choice to vote for Francois Duvalier, also known as “Papa Doc”, Louis Déjoie, the family of Joe’s Mother and Clément Jumelle.

They voted for “Papa Doc” and the Déjoie family considered enemies of Duvalier’s had to exile because “Papa Doc” was coming for them. Anyone who knows their Haitian History knows this president did not play.

Joe’s family left for the Dominican Republic, however, he stayed because he wasn't interested in politics and felt like this situation had nothing to do with him. One day, two “National Security Volunteers” also known as “Tonton Makout” went in Joe’s office and took him to a car.

July 8th, 1964, was the last time people ever saw Joseph Edouard Gaetjens.

Rumour has it that Joe was taken to “Fort-Dimanche” or “Fò Lanmò”, in Creole, which literally means “Death Fort”. The story says the one and only Francois Duvalier pulled the trigger. Hows that for History?

Even if the Haitian society never honoured Joe, the United States placed him in the “American Football Hall of Fame”.

In 2005, there was a movie about Joe. In 2010, one of Joe’s son wrote a book called:

“The shot heard around the world - The Joe Gaetjens story”.

In 2014, the book “The Game of their lives” explained the story of the USA vs England match.

Source: Emmanuel Bellevue, Le Nouvelliste.

I am currently looking for these books because I want further details regarding this story. I find it interesting to know that one of my family members made an impact in both Football and Haitian history. I take very much pride in that and I also feel some kind of sadness towards how everything ended for him.

There are so many stories like this one in Haiti and I think there should be a way to include them in our education programs. I feel like everyone would be interested in learning how to get away with murder ... It’s actually pretty easy guys, you just have to be the president.

Thank you for reading this article.

Here is the Creole version of this post. Hope you enjoy.

This was “Té’m Ba’w On Nouvel”, “How To Get Away With Murder” edition, Written by Tiff.

AndroAyiti

During the difficult times, Haiti has been facing recently, I thought it would be better if I wrote something more positive.

Today’s article is about a group of young Haitians who started a project called “CLUB ECHO DES ENFANTS”, in 2009, precisely May 29th. They are located in an old garbage sorting center, situated in Carrefour-Feuilles, Port-Au-Prince. 

The idea is from a young man whose name is Ackimberly Barthelemy, an educator aware of the situation of children at school, not being able to afford extracurricular activities and this situation keeping them from developing certain skills.

The project is all about teaching them different kind of Arts and Crafts like bracelets, necklaces, sandals, additionally theatre and dance. 

Teaching them courses like English, French, basic computer knowledge and etiquette classes.

They always have a “day of recess” every February and a Christmas party at end year, where they exchange gifts. 

Since schools can′t finance the materials and provide the time to perform the handmade works.

Mr. Barthelemy created this with nine other volunteers to help the kids, protect them from violence, in hopes of helping them in becoming respectful, responsible young adults in the community.

The children are invited to come to their first class with their parent's permission, they are registered for free. The organization receives kids from 4 to 17 years old. They monitor around 110 kids. 

I’ve had the opportunity to speak to one of the volunteers and he says:

“The children are very excited about the activities, some of them come before the time, they are very eager to learn.”

Opening hours are every Friday from 3 PM to 5:30 PM.

Every craft the kids do is kept by the staff, so they can organize cultural activities in their honour.

“We are planning to help the children with school supplies, every year they have to start with school; it’s a long-term project because we are looking for partners, so we can help more.”

They don’t have help from any other organizations yet, they are open to any kind of support.

“We don’t have assistance, so we collect from our staff to buy materials.” 

This is a very beautiful initiative and I don’t understand how they are not getting more help from the government. It should be THEIR job to provide similar opportunities to our kids.

They finance all kinds of Bulls*** but they cant finance necessities like this one. 

In Danemark, the government established a law where for 25 HOURS every week children from a certain age and background are taken away from their parents (whether they want it or not). During this time, they are given basic education, etiquette classes and so on.

This was the method they decided was better in order to give those kids a fair chance to grow up as honest citizens, regardless if they are from the “ghetto”.

Education is such an important tool in society, the Haitian government should care about the population that doesn't have access to one. Don’t they know that if half of the population was educated, ALL OF THEM wouldn't act like the “savages” the media, rich people and others are trying so hard to portray them to be?

But I guess this is a conversation for another day.

If you wish to help you can get in touch with AndroAyiti by the following ways:

Facebook page: Clubecodesenfants 

Instagram: @clubechodesenfants

E-mail: androayiti@gmail.com

Or their main platforms Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube: @androayiti

I thank you all for reading this article, I thank AndroAyiti for agreeing to do this article and sharing all these pictures to be featured in the post.

Here is the creole version on this post, enjoy.

This was “AndroAyiti”, written by Tiff.

Opinions, Opinions

The World Cup (WC) is some kind of distraction for haitians. For a couple of hours, they forget their problems, cheer for their teams, kick back with friends and so on. 

Brazil is one the favourite teams in Haiti and Brazil losing their chance to win the WC was not well taken for sure. Now add the gas price potentially going up, all of this just reminding them that once again, life is hard and someone decides to make it even harder.  

Contrary to popular beliefs, and may I add, denial from the people that know the real issues. This was not just protests for the gas price, one of the biggest problems in our country still exists. This was the protests of the “have-nots” against the ones that do.

There's no “middle class” in Haïti, they've been trying to instore one for years but the reality is, it’s either people are really really poor or really rich. Those that should fit in the “middle class” are just considered rich because they still are able to afford the same basic education rich people get, also they almost can afford the same lifestyle. They have to work twice as hard but its possible. 

When I say lifestyle I'm talking about the basics.

If we get into properties, travel destinations, etc you'll see the difference.

Bottom line is, in Haïti, its either you have money or you don't.

Social class in Haïti is defined by last name, hair type, skin colour, proprieties etc. 

I, for example, is considered a bourgeois because of my last name and the other factors that define it. However, I know I’m in the “middle class” because my parents are not rich, both of them went through a lot and made many sacrifices and efforts to reach a certain position in life but still, they are not bourgeois.

Try explaining this to people that believe if you can afford the bare minimum, well you’re “rich”. 

With the slave system that still resides in people’s mentality,  skin colour, hair type and so on sure doesn't help the situation.

Can you imagine? There are actually people that think that they are better than others just because they have lighter skin. (Hysterical laugh)

Even worst, this is the part that breaks my heart, many people think they are lesser than someone else because they have darker skin.

How do you erase a system that's been rooted in people’s minds for hundreds of years?

I blame the rich people of the country honestly, they went to the best privates schools, lived the most exciting travel experiences, met so many foreigners, witnessed peoples reactions when they said they were Haitian and come back to the country just to look down on their people because of SOCIAL CLASS. At this point, my question is

“Sa edukasyon nou an sevi’n si se mantality kokorat sa nou genyen?”

Like really? What’s the point of being so well educated if at the end of the day acting like a complete low life is all you do? They know this social sh** only matters in Haïti 

because if they moved to other countries they would be considered as HAITIAN IMMIGRANTS and yet they 

continue with this fake idea of being better than the rest of the population. 

In a way, that's what the population has been trying to fight against for years and everyone pretends to care for a second then get back to their life. The truth is, we cant blame rich people for being rich, someone worked to get where they are today. What we can blame them for is not denouncing the social injustice, feeding off poor people and not knowing when to stop and start giving back. 

I hope they understand that one day they’ll be the ones to pay for those years of silence. When the population will finally put two and two together and realize they are the majority and they can destroy that 5% if they want, it’ll be too late! 

I keep telling people to open their eyes and take action but hey what do I know right? It's just my opinion. 

I've had the opportunity to talk to Rudolf Roux a civil engineer who took footage of the riots and I asked him a couple of questions. 

Instead of reading my opinion over and over, here’s his. 

Where were you when the riots started?

Had just gotten home when I received the messages of the tires burning near the old Pétion-Ville cemetery.

How did you take the videos?

I have a drone and used it as a tool to see what was happening nearby. 

Care to share your position on what happened?

My position:

No matter who you are, or social standing, having access and securing the basics (Electricity, water, roads/transportation and security) is an everyday struggle in Haiti. #Fact

I'm convinced that good intentions or good will aren't sufficient to actually deliver results; let alone make you qualified to run a country. Otherwise, we'd be having a much different conversation today.

In any business, vision and accountability go hand in hand, and running a country is no different. However this evades many, and it's a process of repeating the same procedures and expecting a different outcome.

It doesn't take a Ph.D. in economics to know that any government that subsidizes food, electricity, and fuel coupled with an aggressive currency inflation rate is sitting on a time bomb.

What do you think can be a solution?

Compared to many problems that other developing countries face, I don't believe Haiti's issues are complex. 

We all want change but are unyielding to change.

1) vision, perseverance and continuity

(instead of always having to destroy to start over)

2) Accountability.

(Result driven, and zero tolerance for "se pa fot mwen"-“it’s not my fault”)

I thank Mr. Roux for answering my questions and allowing me to share the videos he took of the riots.

Next week, I’ll do an overview of what was damaged and how we can help. 

Thank you for reading this article and I thank my faithful readers for always staying updated with my posts.

This was “Opinions, Opinions” written by Tiff.

Wake The F* Up.

*sigh*

I don't even know where to start, honestly, if you read my previous post about what's going on in Haïti, you know what happened yesterday.

Little recapitulation, protesters have blocked most of the roads of the city of Port-au-Prince because gas prices have gone up. Last week, the President voted to raise gasoline prices. Regular gas will go from 224 Haitian Gourdes (HTG) to 309 HTG, meaning this price went up 38%. Diesel will know an increase of 47%, the price being 179 HTG will now be 264 HTG. Let’s not even mention Kerosene which increased by 51% going from 173 HTG to 262 HTG, in all the gas stations.

Source: Roberson Alphonse, Le Nouvelliste.

Even if gas prices have been going up everywhere, the situation is different in Haïti. The way the news was announced was all wrong, people are protesting because the minimum wage in Haïti is 300 HTG and a gallon of gas is 309 HTG. 

How are they suppose to survive? It's hard enough going to work for 300 HTG per day, feeding a family, saving to send kids to school. 

Life in Haïti is getting more and more expensive but salaries are not going up.

The President's answer was that prices are still less expensive than the ones in the Dominican Republic, our neighbours.

Today, the Prime Minister posted a letter saying that the new prices are suspended, asking authorities to help and protect the population, asking protesters to stay peaceful after they’ve been rioting for almost 24 hours. 

Markets, hotels, tires got burned, business windows have been shattered with rocks, protesters are shooting and threatening civilians, they are stealing food, people are still blocked and still can't go home.

They want the President and the Prime Minister out of office and unfortunately, they have all their reasons. Not saying their method is right, but riots are usually the only way less fortunate get to be heard.

Everyone is asking for a solution and no one knows what to do so here is my opinion.

This situation is the result of corrupt governments and the silence of the generations before the “90’s babies”. They stayed silent every time riots happened before because things always got “fixed” but not really, now things have reached a point of no return. They stayed silent even when the population SCREAMED that they were starving and wanted to have fair chances like rich people do. They stayed silent when foreigners came and stole from us. They stayed silent WAY too many times.

“90’s babies” need to stop ignoring these issues, let’s open our eyes and not make the same mistakes our parents did. For those of you raising young children, even if they don't need to struggle like YOU did in the past, TEACH them to understand that some people are still struggling. TEACH them to respect everyone regardless of what they do for a living. TEACH them that even if they have all the privileges in the world thanks to your efforts, they have to understand that some people are still working to get there. TEACH them that someone is not better or worst because of their skin colour, their hair type or what they own or their F**** last name.

One of the biggest problems of this country is making the MAJORITY feel like a MINORITY when the percentage of “rich” people is barely 5%. We kept the slave system where dark-skinned people are lesser than people who have pale skin. 

This 5% refuse to acknowledge this issue because nothing really affected them until this day. Now protesters are robbing their businesses and they are no longer safe in their houses in the mountains. Protesters are coming to them now.

WAKE. UP.



For those of you that will take over your parents businesses soon, stop feeding off poor people and start investing in the Haitian community.

Listen to the population and find common ground. It’s time we take action since obviously, the government can't.

I know it all seems like I'm all talk and I’m not doing anything but my blog is the first start and I'm looking for ways to provide some help. If you care about the country I suggest you do the same too.

And to all the people with a voice that can be heard. I am talking about RAPPERS, MUSICIANS, don't just make a song and not do anything, this is your country too you need to do something and know that your fans follow you for a reason.

Thank you for reading, Tiff.

ATTENTION, ATTENTION

“Ujans nan peyi a, tout bagay BLOKE!”

“Emergency in the country, everything is BLOCKED!”

Today Friday, July 6, 2018, after the Brazil vs Belgium World Cup match many riots started in Port-au-Prince. People thought it was because Brazil lost and some Haitians are huge Brazil fans.

Turns out, it was another day protesting against the President's choice of raising the gas price in the country. I am not sure of the exact number but I understand that the new price is around 85 gourdes more.

Understand that it's about one dollar and couple cents, however, the majority of the Haitian population CANNOT AFFORD these new prices.

Because of these riots, people ARE STUCK in markets, restaurants, work, etc. Those who were lucky enough to be home already are giving friends shelter for the night because their house is close to where they were stuck.

Protesters are burning tires in the middle of the streets, breaking car windows, attacking people. The whole town is BLOCKED. People are obligated to leave their car somewhere safe and have to WALK home.

These riots have been going on for days and the President needs to do something about this, I hope you understand the SEVERITY of this situation. If you are in Haiti right now PLEASE STAY SAFE. If you are not PLEASE CHECK on your loved ones.

This is the only information I gathered tonight, I'll give you guys an update when I'll have further details.

My readers know I'm against posting negative pictures of the country because I find them unnecessary,

BUT I WILL POST PICTURES OF TODAY.

  

Source: @ogunation

I will add that they are planning to do the same, FIRST THING TOMORROW. 
PLEASE BE CAREFUL.

Thank you for reading, Tiff.