Kanaval

February 27, 2011

Carnival is an exciting and colorful event that is celebrated throughout the Carribean, with each island having a unique method and timing of celebrating it. While each are unique, they are commonly known for their elaborate costumes, bands, and parades. Carnival is rooted in European history and falls prior to Lent. It is believed that Carnival in the Carribbean began in the 1700s with slaves blending African traditions in using masks and dancing to scare away bad spirits with mocking the masquerade balls of their plantation owners.

In Haiti, Carnival ("kanaval" in Haitian Kreyol) is celebrated both in Jacmel and in Port-au-

Prince. Kanaval in Jacmel occurs two weekends prior to Fat Tuesday and the Kanaval in Port-au-Prince occurs the weekend prior to Fat Tuesday. Kanaval in Port-au-Prince draws more people, but mostly showcases Haitian Kompas music while Kanaval in Jacmel is known for its traditional paper mache masks, costumes and ra-ra bands.

I was lucky enough to be able to go to Jacmel to experience Kanaval this year. I learned just how creative Haitian artists and people are. I was able to see what they created and what a blend of history, politics, current events and so much more they were able to create and express through this amazing event.

As Leah Gordon describes, "The characters and costume partially betray their roots in medieval European carnival, but the Jacmellian masquerades are also a fusion of clandestine Vodou, ancestral memory, political satire and personal revelation. The lives of the indigenous Taino Indians, the slaves' revolt and more recently state corruption are all played out using drama and costume on Jacmel's streets... [Haitian culture] is a vibrant, living avatar for not only Haitian history, but for all our histories.

During Kanaval, many people walk the streets in masks made from paper mache, singing, dancing and acting out skits. Below is a video of a group who approached us while we were on the beach.

Next, we headed to the parade in town where people showcase their creations.

One of the standard groups present in the parade each year are the "chaloska". They dress in military gear, stove pipe hats and wear masks that have large red lips and animal teeth. They march in rememberance of the 1915 massacre of political priosoners, carried out by the chief of police at the time, Charles Oscar Otienne. They perform politically charged mock trials and read lists of offenses that satirize the Tonton Macouts, secret police of the Duvalier era.

Another staple in the parade are the lanse kòd "rope throwers". They cover themselves in a concoction of cane syrup and powdered charcoal and dart at the crowd, swinging long whips in the air. They often wear Beelzebub's horns and are demonic representations of the experience of slavery.

The political history is always present within the parade, changing from year to year, but always present. Kanaval becomes an open forum for the people to discuss and depict the political struggles and instability as well as the catastrophes and other things the country has endured. Above is a photograph of Aristide along with his passport upon his "return" to Haiti (this did actually happen in March, but prior to his return, it was just joked about). Also above they are dressed as the UN troops who have a very controversial presence in Haiti.

These are the Zel Mathurin (Wings of Mathurin) who are winged devils that act out the battle between good and evil.

The parade also embraces events of current concern. This year, it featured cholera. They had a person depicting the microbe of cholera, a water tap, a bar of soap, a piece of poop, a trash can, a fly and skeletons. The fly flew around showing different means of contamination leading to infection and death by cholera. I thought it was particularly clever.

Other characters that were depicted in the parade included birds, prophets and saints, traditional dancers, heroes of the Haitian culture, creatures of the imagination and so much more.

Above are some of the ones I found impressive from birds to the dinosaurs "fighting" for the crowd. It is hard to believe it is all made from paper mache! I was amazed at their creativity and artistic excellence.

I should also mention that Michael and I got to meet Sweet Mickey (now the incoming president of Haiti) and Wyclef Jean at the parade.

It was a wonderful weekend and experience. I learned how amazingly creative and talented Haitian artists are as well as was able to experience an event that was able to showcase so many different aspects of Haitian culture and history. Kanaval is not just a fun event, but an event that provides a means of expressing the many things they have endured over the years.

Tragedy and justice?

February 2011

Alliance came into my room at 5am, awakening me saying, “I have bad news. Clyford is dead.” I was confused and couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I got up and went outside to find two other staff members sitting outside. I asked what had happened and they said he was killed last night, but they didn’t know much more. They said they had all received messages from other people and everyone heard the same thing, so it must be true. I was instructed to get dressed because we were going to his house. When we arrived, a women was on the floor wailing. They had to restrain her and put her on a bed. His family was walking around in a panic, as if they were looking for him. A group arrived from down the street and went to the club where he had been last night and confirmed everyone’s fears. He had been killed last night.

People were just pouring into the house to see what was going on and to offer condolences to the family. As shocking as it all was, it became all the more real to me when I saw his mother and she grabbed onto my arm and just started shouting and began to collapse. I helped her to a seat and she sat down next to me, wailing and rocking back and forth, yelling – “Where is my son? No, No, he is supposed to be here with me eating right now. Where is my son? This can’t be true. He survived January 12^th. He can’t be gone now!” My heart just ripped into a million pieces. How do you ever console someone at a time like this? Their loss was so profound and their emotions were so deeply expressed, all I could do was sit there with tears streaming down my face.

As the day went on, more and more details emerged about what had happened to Clyford. He had gone to a club down the street by himself and was inadvertently hit in the head with a bottle (whether someone was trying to start a fight or how that happened is unclear to me), he approached the group of guys responsible and they proceeded to beat him up and stabbed him twice in the chest. He was put on a moto to take him to the hospital, but he died on the way. The moto driver just dumped his body on the street and left him there (I later learned it was because the driver didn't want to be accused of having killed him).

All of this was so unbelievable to me. First, that my good friend and colleague was no longer with us, secondly that something like this would actually happen in a place where I felt so safe (the whole town was so upset about it because these things really don't happen here), but lastly that other people could have such a disregard for another person's life.

Me & Clyford at Kara and Guesly's wedding reception, December 2010

As the days following his death passed, I visited his house often. I would always find his mother sitting and rocking back and forth in a chair, sometimes crying and moaning and sometimes with just a blank look on her face, and the mother of his child was either crying, laying in bed or just sitting there with her head in her hands. The most difficult part was to see his 3 year old daughter walking around, unaware of what happened to her father. It broke my heart to hear her ask Alliance, "Where is my Daddy?"

Our whole team at work took this very hard and I just wish there was a way to console them and comfort them, but there wasn't much I could do. As difficult as life is already and as much as they have had to endure, I knew this was the last thing they needed. I soon learned how much more difficult it appears to be for many Haitians to deal with a death that occurs after January 12th. It is as if they seem to think that if someone made it out of the earthquake alive, that they've made it, so when a tragedy happens, they take it that much harder and it makes it that much more difficult to deal with.

While I had always known that one of the things that Haitians spend the most money on is funerals, I had never actually experienced a funeral, let alone one for my close friend. It is tradition to have a wake the night before the funeral where friends and family gather, play games and drink. The first time I saw one, I thought it was a party. The best way to describe a wake in Haiti is a celebration of life the night before the funeral. On the night before Clyford's funeral, I went with all of the guys from work to his wake. I saw the toll it took on the guys as they just kept saying, "You don't understand, tomorrow his body will be placed under the ground and Clyford will be gone forever." In Haitian culture, it is very important to bury their loved ones body and many believe the soul can not rest until the body has a proper burial.

Sadly, another tragic event occurred on the night of the wake. Alliance, his brother, Yvens, and several other people were being driven home from the wake. The driver had been drinking and was so mad about Clyford's death that he started driving too fast. They told him to slow down, but he didn't listen. He ended up losing control of the car, going off the side of the road and hit a cement lotto stand. They all went to the hospital, but tragically the driver (a good family friend of Clyford's) died. Luckily, the rest of them survived, but one had a severe brain injury, and others had stitches, lost teeth, etc. It is hard to understand why so many tragic things were happening - how much more can they stand to take? They all said to me that it meant that Clyford didn't want to go alone.

The car after the accident

What was left of the lotto stand

On the day of the funeral, everyone gathered in the Catholic church in town. They passed out programs and flyers that said

"Justice for the Rebecca family" with gruesome pictures of Clyford's dead body and the names of some of the known murderers to put pressure on the police who normally would not do much to convict the murderers. At the end of the funeral, we began the walk to the cemetery. The path chosen took us by his house and the club where he was murdered. Everyone stopped in front of the club and they lifted the casket up over their heads until they reached the cemetery. All along the way people were screaming, breaking down, collapsing and shaking violently. It all reached a climax at the entrance to the cemetery and many didn't have the strength to enter. I was walking with another employee, an adult male, and he just fell to his knees wailing and couldn't stand or enter the cemetery. It was heart wrenching to see. I was struck by this completely physical expression of emotion. I had never seen anything like it in my life. It is also strikingly different from the stoic way Haitians conduct themselves daily. I learned that it is as if there is this window for grieving, between when the person dies and when they are buried, after that, they must move forward, so they let out all their emotions before it is time to put it behind them.

The procession to the cemetery

Not only was I struck by this physical expression of emotion leading up to the burial but also what a lack of justice there is for the Haitian people To live in a country where there is very little hope unless you have power or money in order for someone who has brutally taken another person's life to be punished, was unbelievable to me. Everyone laughed when I asked if the police would find them. They said they are far away from here and won't be found. What kind of justice is that?

Clyford Rebecca: November 4, 1980 - February 5, 2011

My new home

I moved to an area about 10 minutes outside of the town of Leogane called Plaslo. It is beautiful and refreshing to be a little outside of the city, surrounded by more farming land. I have the privilege of amazing views like the one below on my daily morning run.

My new home is tucked back amidst foliage, including really beautiful mango trees.

The front of the house (we are using the driveway to store some Gadyen Dlo buckets).

The living room

There are a few cracks in the walls as a reminder of the January 12th, 2010 earthquake.

My bedroom

The kitchen.....with not nearly enough counter space.

The broken latrine out back that is much easier to use than hauling water upstairs to flush the toilet.....

At least it has a beautiful view.....

Pikline just had 6 puppies, so I am clearly in heaven!

Our other dog, Remen tout "Likes everything", because the dog eats absolutely everything.

Pwadel getting water from the well.

Alliance, my coworker, playing DJ. He loves music and can be found in his "studio" producing music when he isn't working.

My new home and the people I live with have been amazing in supporting me, taking good care of me, and patiently teaching me things.

My new life in Leogane

I am sorry it has been so long since I last updated everyone. The past two months of being back in Haiti have been very different than my time in Haiti before Christmas. During this time, I have grown immensely as a person and learned so much about Haitian culture.

Upon my return after Christmas, I found myself in quite an awkward situation. The Country Director of CNP decided that I was not allowed to live or even co

me to work in the CNP/DSI house. Amidst my contract being terminated early with CNP due to funding cuts, a lot of changes were made in CNP in terms of staffing and the way in which the situation was handled on the ground. There were a lot of decisions made that I didn't agree with and I spoke my opinion to the Country Director (I am sure this is no surprise to anyone). Let's just say, that didn't go over very well and she took it upon herself to ban me from the house because she felt that my attitude was detrimental to the living and working environment.

Not being able to live in the house forced me to do something that I had wanted to do – to find a homestay family - because I didn’t like being so isolated from the community in the house. However, it did take on a different meaning when it was something that was forced upon me and not a choice I had made. Unfortunately, my potential homestay families fell through. There are so many people in Leogane that don’t have a home themselves, so it is difficult to find a house to stay that is liveable and has some security measures. I ended up being taken in by a Gadyen Dlo staff member, Jean Alliance, who lives at his grandmother’s house. During this time, I was overwhelmed by the support of all my Haitian friends, co-workers, etc. They all were very upset and wanted to make sure I knew that even though I didn’t have family here, that their families and homes were mine as well. It was ironic that the people that I had supposedly come here to help were the ones now helping and taking care of me. I experienced firsthand the amazing and generous way that they take care of each other, including me.

My whole way of life in Leogane, a place that I had come to know and feel a part of, was completely changed. It was quite an adjustment going from living in an amazing house, feeling like I was part of an ex-pat club, to living in a house with no electricity, running water, no one to cook or clean for you, no car to drive you places, etc. In addition to my housing situation, sadly most of my friends had finished their contracts and were no longer here. Also, the entire dance scene in Leogane had changed (no more Tuesday and Saturday pratik) which was my usual outlet and social time during the week.

I struggled with feeling like I didn’t have a place where I belonged and in many ways, things were very foreign to me. I realized how spoiled and isolated I had been during my previous stay. I truly had no idea how difficult daily life is for Haitians.

I soon adapted to life here - learning to work from cyber cafes, taking motos and tap taps to get around (and how much you can actually carry on a moto), bargaining at the market, making dinner just using my headlamp for light, realizing the convenience of the street vendor food, and so much more.

Here are just a few things I have learned….

1) You should always carry your cell phone charger with you to take advantage of electricity when you find it.

2) You should always get on a motorcycle from the left side, not the right side. The exhaust pipe is on the right side and it is really hot and will burn your leg (I have the scar to prove it now).

3) It is extremely difficult it to plan ahead for meals and to try and save food when you don’t have a refrigerator.

4) The advantage of “road side” service. The little shops and mechanics along the side of the road do come in handy when your car breaks down. They can fix your car way faster than having it towed to a garage....

5) It is actually very nice it is to buy things out of your car from people on the street. It just means you have one less place you have to go when you get home. (I may have been spotted buying TP from a box truck in a traffic jam).

6) I resent NGOs in their nice vehicles who drive by, kicking up dust that flies into your face as you walk or are on a moto.

7) I appreciate the people who throw water on the dirt roads outside their homes to prevent the dust from stirring up when people drive over it.

8) It is easier to eat a big lunch than dinner. When you have no electricity at night, it is difficult to make meals, so it is easier to buy a big lunch and eat something little for dinner.

9) You should never give a Haitian woman an entire container of your good laundry soap. She will use it all on just a small amount of clothes.

10) You should always clean with something that smells good, even if it isn’t the intended purpose. Clearly it is necessary to put shampoo in with the bleach water you are mopping with just because it smells nice....what was I thinking?

11) Their lives are difficult and no matter how hard we try to understand their lives, we will never completely understand. The opportunities available to us as Americans (i.e. access to education, ability to travel anywhere in the world, etc.) are unbelievable and something that not everyone in the world has.

While life has been exhausting in many ways, I have come to love my new life and my new home. It is nice to come home from work every day and actually be done with work. While life is far more difficult in many ways, it is also refreshing to not have the internet at home and to enjoy the quiet and beauty of both this country and its people. I have a new profound respect for Haiti and its culture.

Looking forward, not back

As many of you know, January 12th was the one year memorial of the earthquake in Haiti that claimed over 300,000 lives and left over 1.3 million people homeless. Sadly, one year later, not a lot of progress has been made. There are certainly many more organizations here on the ground trying to help, but progress is still very slow. The “temporary” shelters and tents that are beginning to wear are now home, the cracked walls and rubble everywhere are now the ordinary, work is still difficult to find for most Haitians, providing for daily needs still consumes everyone’s thoughts and daily time, and access to basic sanitation measures are still scarce. It is very much like Haiti was before the earthquake, but now to further exacerbate things, many people don’t have a permanent home.

How did people handle the one year mark of the day that forever changed their lives in one way or another? For most, it was just another day. Many commemorated by going to church to pray or some attended some of the festivities in town including a procession to the cemetery, but many just took things the way they have always lived their lives - one day at a time.

Christmas time?

So, as I am sure many of you can relate, it is really hard to believe it is almost Christmas time. This time of year always seems to creep up, but for me, this year it has happened in a very different way. First of all, this is the first time that I have been in a tropical place during the winter months. The weather here is beautiful…in the upper 70s every day. Therefore, it is weird to hear that we got snow at home or see pictures of all of you in sweaters, jackets and all bundled up for the winter .

However, what is also missing is the hustle and bustle of the holiday season at home, especially the lack of commercialism here. There are no Christmas trees, no Christmas decorations, no advertisements or sales, no talk about Santa Clause coming and no discussion about what gifts people are getting for others. I asked what Christmas is like in Haiti and everyone says, it is mostly about going to church and then eating a nice meal with your family, maybe with some extra items they can’t usually afford. I actually find this environment so refreshing.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas time at home, but I don’t love the added pressure of all the things that are supposed to be done at Christmas time from writing Christmas cards, to buying people gifts, to baking Christmas cookies, etc. I dislike how far away from the true meaning of Christmas this time of year has become in the states.

I have been finishing up a needs assessment conducted in the rural areas of the Leogane commune where households were asked what the biggest needs in their communities for women and children were. For women, the top responses were work, food, a house, education/literacy, hospital/health center and toilets. For children, it was school, food, health, hospital/health center, and clothes/shoes. For the children, a few people did mention the need for play, toys and camps, but only a handful of households identified these things as need. It reminds me how much the basic needs of people here are not met. They don’t have the luxury of thinking of the things they want because there are so many things that they need.

As we approach this holiday season, please take the time to remember the true meaning of this holiday season and think about how lucky we are in so many ways – myself included. I am so grateful for the many special people in my life, both in the states and in Haiti. I am so grateful to have been brought up in a home where more than just my needs were met, where I had the luxury of achieving an amazing education, where I grew up thinking that I could be anything I wanted to be and had the opportunities to achieve them. All of these things lead me to be able to live in Haiti. I am also so lucky to be able to come home for the holidays to spend time with the many friends and family members who have provided for me and supported me in all of my endeavors. Thank you all for being so wonderful!

Vacation

Life has been more than stressful over the past few months. CNP has undergone severe cutbacks due to a financial crisis. They scaled up rapidly post-earthquake, were forced to compete with the other larger NGOs that are now in Leogane, and were reliant on subgrant money from Save the Children to fund many of their programs. Now, they have learned they will not get any funding (compared to the $1 million they received post-quake) from Save the Children in 2011; therefore, they have to scale back rapidly in order to stay afloat. As a result, they made major cuts, both in programs and in employees, including myself. They terminated my contract early. Luckily for me, I was able to go full time for the month of December with the other organization I work for. However, the not knowing what was going to happen and the stress of seeing employees being cut back, etc. on top of dealing with the poor way it was all handled on the ground, was all very stressful. I ended up getting sick and getting shingles, so it was definitely time for a break.

My friend, Elisa, learned that her contract would not be renewed after November, so we decided to take some of our vacation days and travel in Haiti together before she returned home to Italy. We ended up going to the Southwestern part of Haiti, where the beaches were supposed to be beautiful. Let me just say, we were not disappointed.

We began our trip in Port Salut. All of the hotels around were very expensive for Haiti (at least $120 a night), so we decided to stay in a little hostel we found. It ended up being a perfect little place to stay. It was a nice change of pace to not have electricity all the time, to take bucket showers, etc.

Elisa inside our hostel

The view from upstairs

Our room

I fell in love with Port Salut! It was such a cute, quiet, clean city to live. The beach even had a sidewalk that was donated by the Taiwan government. It was refreshing to get away from the NGO infested beaches near Leogane. There were times where we were the only two people on the beach. We ended up spending 4 days there. We went to bed super early, I went for runs on the beach, read two books, watched the sunsets and best of all, we had no internet or computers with us, so we couldn’t do work at all. One of my favorite parts was the amazing dinners we had each night - grilled lobster. It was by far the best $10 dinner I had ever had!

Port Salut

Our nightly lobster dinner

The town of Port Salut

We ended up making some friends while we were there and took a day trip to Les Cayes and then to a waterfall. I found Les Cayes to also be a busy, but clean city without trash everywhere. Then, we left to find the waterfall. After driving for several hours through some very rocky roads in the mountains, we finally arrived at the waterfall. We had to find someone to open the gate and walked down to the waterfall. It was amazingly beautiful! I couldn’t help but go for a swim. The water was freezing, but it was totally worth it. I am so glad we were able to go. It was quite the hidden treasure!

Saut Mathurine

After leaving Port Salut, we went to the island off of Les Cayes called Ile-a-Vache for a night. We ended up taking a taxi boat over with a bunch of Haitians and an entire boat full of wooden boards. It was quite comical. There are two resorts on the islands and we stayed at one, Abaka Bay. As we pulled up, we were met on the dock with a drink. We could only afford to stay for one night and it turned out that Elisa and I were the only two people staying there. The place was built by a Haitian man and his wife who had lived in the states and returned to Haiti after years of working. It was amazingly done! We definitely got spoiled from the nice rooms to the amazing food to the hot shower. It felt like we were on our own private island. However, I felt guilty about being waited on hand and foot. Sadly, the time to leave came entirely too quickly. The weather was perfect on our whole trip and I definitely didn’t want to return to Leogane after such a relaxing 5 days.

Elisa and me at lunch

Our view from lunch

Our room

The view from our balcony

The dining room

Sunset at Abaka Bay

Elisa and me on the pier

I don’t think I realized how much I needed that vacation. Not only did I sleep for like 12 hours every night, but I also slept most of the day on the beach - I hadn’t realize how exhausted I was. With everything that had been going on combined with working for two organizations (where I clearly tried to work full time for both), I had done a horrible job at forcing myself to stop working. It was also so nice to be in a more laid back environment and to get away from what has become of Leogane. I don’t think I heard a single “hey you” or “blan” during my entire time there. It was a reminder of how beautiful Haiti is and what great potential it has. I feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to travel and see other parts of the beautiful country that Haiti is.