Haiti's Poverty
Many of my friends know that for me the biggest tragedy about the mass kidnapping, murder, and enslavement of millions of Africans during the transatlantic slave trade is the lost identities of millions of African-Americans. Specifically, I can trace my roots about as far east as North Carolina. Therefore, I have long adopted the nickname of "An African with no home." Some years ago, I decided that rather than lament my lack of history, I'd rediscover it in my heart through a lifetime of travels thoughout the African continent and African Diaspora. Since then, I've traveled to South Africa, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Kenya, Haiti and Jamaica. During my most recent trips to Haiti and Jamaica, I was both pleased and saddened by the unbelievable parallels of Motherland and her Caribbean diaspora. I was fascinated by the inextricably linked cultures and disgusted by the overwhelming poverty in lands so beautiful and rich with natural resources that continue to be raped and pillaged by those who neither add value or have a rightful claim.
I was invited to visit Haiti for 2 weeks in early August with my graduate school roommate Janouska whose family is Haitian. Her family is from a very small town called Tiburon, located on the Southern coast of Haiti about 8-10 hours from the capital Port-Au-Prince (due to the awful road conditions). During a visit to another town near Tiburon, I caught a glimpse of something that broke my heart. It was a cute little boy dragging along his truck. However, take a second look at the truck in the pictures posted. It's actually a homemade truck made from one of those cans in which the US sends international food aid. I took these pictures initially to show my nieces and nephews how fortunate they are. However, when Janouska and I talked about it later, she had a totally different take on the situation. She expressed pride in the ingenuity of a kid who didn't have the luxury of store bought toys. How creative must this kid be to make this truck. Should we be looking at taking our kids "back to the basics" like this? What do you guys think? Creative kid of whom we should all be proud or outrage about the type of poverty that necessitates homemade toys????
posted by Sisterlock Adoration @ 12:02 AM
6 Comments:
Welcome to the sisterlock family!!! Your locs are wonderfully beautiful.
Blessings to you...
I will say, "Necessity is the mother of invention."
I just returned from a trip to NYC and was impressed as always with the spirit of progressiveness that made and continues to make NYC a world class city. I believe in the human spirit to thrive and survive... to overcome and not just comply... to resist and persevere... to grow.
We,... none of us knows completely what is fully and wholly in us to accomplish. But we all have a spirit to choose life or death... to judge or to applaud. To die for something or to something.
What is more valued... a 5 cent match box or putting two sticks together and rubbing until flames appear. Both are valuable... both hold the potential to be at any point in one's life rare and precious.
I often think of the people who have had all their possessions destroyed, their hope eradicated, their lives exploited, their lives tossed about without a second thought, but somehow people find a way to accept the grace given them to move forward and rebuild... to see possiblity where others may only see lack... To live and choose life (even as meager and sad as it can be) as opposed to rolling over and choosing death.
Value, reestablished... Grace is indeed amazing...
I'm glad he has his truck...
Blessings~
Jena,
I can't imagine a more thoughtful, well-stated response to my post. Thanks for taking time to respond. Your response was truly a blessing.
I couldn't agree more about the thoughtful reply from Jen.
With that said, please continue to share your interesting travels and perspective's with us.
Tra
Hey Sisterloc adoration - G here - thought I'd say something on your blog. I can comment from the perspective of someone that grew up around the ingenious kids in Jamaica that didn't have access to store-bought toys. I have to agree with your roomate's view.
The purpose of any toy to a child is to provide enjoyment and if you could measure that kids level of enjoyment you would most likely find he was enjoying his invention at the same level if not even more (due to the fact that it was made by his own hands) than any child playing with store-bought toys in the developed world.
He remains poor but the toy served it's purpose. What I hope what you'll conclude and share with others is that what this kid needs isn't a toy but a genuine opportunity to develop that ingenuity so he can make a positive contribution to his country and humanity.
Your Funny Valentine
I thought I'd weigh in on this discussion. I am of Haitian decent and am a first generations Haitian-American. I think both trains of thought apply. There is an inginuity of our people that is unique (and when I refer to our people, I'm referring to people of African decent). The old saying still holds true, necessity is the mother of invention.
There is also much to be said of the poverty of Haiti and other third-world countries who find themselves in the same predicament. I have much family still in Haiti (my brothers and their respective families included). The government is a joke and you're right, the land has been and still continues to be used by those that do not have any right to do so. Nothing will ever change w/o action and protest. Haiti is progressively worstening.
I could go on for days on this subject, but that's all I'll say at the moment.
I absolutely love the idea of going back to basics. Teaching our children how to be creative and have their own innocent, child-like fun. That constant push to be creative stretches out childhoods that many of our youth abandon way too soon.
Basics. Not only toys, but household cleaners, hair and body products, the works. We started on this earth with nothing but a garden and animals. You could most likely delve into botanics and find everything you could possibly need - anything you could think of and it would be there in the plants and animals that God put on earth for us to rule over. He has provided us with everything, but we have allowed greed (yes me too - I'll never be holier-than-thou) and laziness (which we constantly disguise as convenience)to rule.
Wow...I didn't mean to get so carried away, guess I'm really passionate about the whole back to nature/back to basics subject. Lol.
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