Fiercely independent: Haiti has attitude

Take a stroll anywhere in Port-au-Prince, or even in Jacmel, or Cap-Haïtien. Haitians rise with the sun – because they know that every day is a new chance to do better than they did the day before. Here, the early bird gets the worm, the coffee, and the morning laughs around the merchant serving up bananas and boiled eggs.

You’ll see Haitians eating breakfast on their front porch, in front of their office, or on the tap tap – there is no rest for the driven.

Under the harsh morning sun, bare-chested young men pull giant makeshift wooden wheelbarrows loaded with bags of charcoal. The muscles in their arms and chest strain as they push tirelessly – there’s only one way to stop, and that’s to get to where they’re going.

Midday. It’s time for lunch for most – or for the second shift, job, or side-hustle. The fire that lit up the revolution of 1804 is still alive, pushing people to survive and thrive. There are better days ahead, but we have to live to see them.

For Haitians, this isn’t just a daily mantra, it’s a year-round mindset that feeds into the ebbs and flows of island life. Perhaps the best illustration of this is the annual carnival season.

For many Haitians, the turn of the year is associated with financial difficulties and cloudy horizons. “We know what we have, but not what’s out there.” Carnival, which spans the months of February and March, is a testament to the power of overcoming the unknown.

Passion comes through everything Haitians do. It’s in the young men selling water in the streets. It’s in the late night laughter of people sitting at a bar by the side of the street. It’s in the mornings, noons, and nights of hustlers, of move-makers, of mothers leading households on their own, of families in the provinces, and of spirits young and old.

Haiti speaks purpose; do you?

Written by Kelly Paulemon.

Published December 2018