Palmis kap boujonnen

Ou se yon pye palmis ki chaje ak grenn pou chak madan sara vin poze soutèt ou. Pou chak madan sara vin prann yon ti grenn nan palmis la. Mwen pa ta renmen ou mouri. Mwen ta renmen yon sous dlo anba pye palmis. Pou palmis la toujou fè grenn. Madan sara yo prale. Yo pral relechi. Pou dlo a pa janm seche anba rasin palmis la. Nou prale, nap vole, nou pral priye pou sous la pa janm seche, pou li toujou ap boujonnen.
Nale.

Inspirasyon de Marie Alina Cajuste
Alias Ti bèbè

.........................................

Flowering Palm
You are like a palm tree full of fronds for each little bird to come rest on your shoulders. For each bird to come take a spot on the tree. I wouldn't like for you to die. I would like to make myself a spring beneath the palm so it can continue to blossom.
The birds will go eventually go, they will wish for the water never to dry up beneath the palm's roots. We too will go, we will fly, we will pray for the spring to never dry up, so the palm will continue to blossom forever.
Here we go.

Inspiration by Marie Alina Cajuste
Alias Ti bèbè

Kote ou ye, èske w sou la tè?

Eske ou pa konn fè rechèch pou konnen sak pase vrèman lè ou voye yon kat?

Menm jou m te jwenn kat la, m tap mache nan lari a, m tap vann. Yon moun ki rekonet mwen ki konn fanmi m te vin jwenn mwen pou di m ke yo te jwenn yon anvlop avek non m kote yo tap retire dekomb bo la pos tou pre mache ti goav. Lè yo te di m, m pat kwe l men m te al gade bo pos la pou wè.

Lè m te rive, m te jwenn anpil lòt moun te kampe nan liy nan pou yo wè si yo pat jwenn kat pou yo tou. Lè yo rive sou mwen nan liy nan, yo te bam pam nan tou chire e m te al depose lakay mwen.

Yon mwa apre, m tap chech act nesans pitit mwen e m te jwenn kat la. M te pè ouvri l men m te pote l pou pastè a legliz mwen. Lè li te ouvri l, li te jwenn yon kat visa ki tap konfime aplikasyon visa papam lòt bò gentan tan fè pou mwen lane 2007. Ekri jou 1 novanm, 2008, kat la te bam nouvel ke si m pat kontakte biwo a tout swit, you tap anile nimewo visa yo tap kenbe pou mwen.

Jounen jodia, preske 3 an apre, m mande m si yap toujou kenbe l pou mwen. M mande m kijan lavi a tap diferan si m te jwenn li nan 2008. Apre trembleman de tè a, apre tout mizè, apre m te viktim kadejak mwa sa, m mande m kijan bondye ap chwazi chemin pou nou.

E m mande m, èske moun ki tap chita andann biwo via lòt bò, ki te imprimi kat sa pou voye l bam mwen, èske yo tap imajine chemin kat sa tap prann. Èske yo pa tap mande, lè yo pa janm jwenn repons pam, si m te toujou sou la tè?


Viktim Ti Goav

.....................

Wherever you are, are you still on this earth?

Have you ever thought to look into what really happens to a letter once you mail it?

The day I received the letter, I was walking through the street, selling. Somebody who recognized me and knew my family came over to tell me that they had found a letter with my name on it over where they were removing rubble at the site of the old post office near the Petit Goave market. When he told me, I didn’t really believe him but I walked over to where the post office use to be to see for myself.

When I got there I found a big group of people, standing in line to see if letters had been found beneath the rubble with their names as well. When I got to the front of the line, they gave me my letter, envelope all torn, and I went to drop it off at my house and continued selling.
A month later, while I was looking for my daughter’s birth certificate, I found the letter. I had been scared to open it myself but brought it to the pastor at my church. When he opened it he found a letter from the U.S. National Visa Center, confirming the application my father in the States had filed for me back in 2007. The letter was dated November 1st, 2008 and explained that I needed to contact the visa office immediately in order to retain the visa number they were holding for me. After one year, all open visa applications are closed.

Today, nearly 3 years later, I wonder if they are still holding that number for me. I wonder how life would have been different if I had actually received that letter in 2008. 14 months after the earthquake, after all of this suffering, after I was a victim of rape this month, I wonder how it is that God chooses our destiny for us.

And I wonder if the person who was sitting in that visa office, the one who printed that letter to send to me, I wonder if they imagined the path that letter would take. I wonder if they asked themselves, when they never received my response, if I was indeed still on this earth.

Victim from Petit Goave

Viktim Koperativ

12 desanm, 2002, viktim yo te pedi kob nan yon koperativ nan potopwens. Nou menm te ladann. Depi lè sa nou gen anpil pwoblem. Nou te pedi tout mwayen ekonomik nou te genyen e leta sa pa fè anyen pou nou.

Lè tou sa te komanse, se te leta ki tap ankourage nou ale depose kob nan koperatif la paske yo tap ba nou 11%. Nou te konn se yon bon bagay. Gen anpil moun ki te kouri vin mete kob yo pou kapab pwofite. Men lè nou tout tonbe nan pwoblem sa, nou pat jwenn oken apui nan leta ankò. Tout kob sa nou te jere, tou sa nou te genyen, nou te pedi l.

Se te prezidan Aristide ki te mete yon biwo reparasyon pou nou pou ede nou vin rekipere kob la. Men nou pat gen tan touche kob nou avan yo te voye Aristide ale nan 2004. Biwo reparasyon an pat janm ouvri ankò e depi lè sa nou lage de bra balanse. Nou pa konn sa pou nou fè. Leta sa a pa vle fè anyen pou nou. Jounen jodia 12 janvye vin rive e nou vin nan pwoblem pired. Sa nou ta renmen se pou leta ta ede nou jwenn lajan nou te depose ou byen ba nou yon ti kob poun fe komes poun nou ka voye pitit nou lekol. Nou pa ka tann ankò. Nou pa gen oken mwayen pou kenbe fanmi nou. Èske nou pa genyen rezon mande kob sa jounen jodia ke nou te travay pou li anpil? Tanpri, di nou, ki sa pou n fè pou n viv?

Ajan Fanm Viktim Koperativ

...................................................

Victims of the Cooperative

On December 12, 2002, many victims lost money in one of the financial cooperatives in Port-au-Prince. We were among them. Ever since then, we have had serious problems. We lost all of the economic means we had and the government has done nothing to help us.

When all this began, it was the government that encouraged us to deposit money in the cooperatives because we would get an 11% return on our investment. We knew this was an incredible opportunity and we all ran to put our money in to take advantage of it. But once we fell into this problem, the government was not there to support us. Everything we had earned, everything we had, we lost it.

It was President Aristide that opened a reparations office for us to help us recuperate the funds we lost but we were unable to get our money back before he was sent out of the country in 2004. The reparations office was never opened again and since then we have been left with nothing. We don’t know what recourse we have. The government has does nothing for us and now since January 12th, things have only gotten worse for us. All we ask is that the government help us to recuperate the funds we deposited or to provide us some seed funding for a little business in order for us to send our kids to school. We cannot wait any longer. We have no means to provide for our families. Are we wrong to ask for the very funds we worked so hard to earn? Please tell us, how we are supposed to survive?

Agents of Women Victims of the Cooperative