Flag Day Parade!

Flag Day in Haiti is celebrated annually on May 18th. It is similar to Independence Day in the United States, with parades and celebrations. I was fortunate enough to be in Terrier Rouge for Flag Day in 2023, along with Board President Leigh Jones. The visit was made possible by Sarah Bruno, Jean Robert Bouloute, Dominique Bruno, all of whom are with our NGO partner, Espérance et Vie, as well as the efforts of many others. Thanks to the video editing capabilities of our own Courtney Di Stefano, I’m thrilled that we can bring you a video compilation of the Flag Day parade so that you can enjoy both the sights and sounds of an extraordinarily joyful day. I hope for a few minutes you can feel transported there because I think you may be surprised at what you experience - I know I was! In advance of Flag Day, the band and drill teams of St. Barthélémy practiced tirelessly, and exacting preparations for logistics and attire for everyone were made by teachers, staff and students. On the day of the parade, kids and their parents began showing up at the school well in advance of the parade start time. As you can imagine, the air was absolutely buzzing with excitement! Finally, it was time to start, with the parade lining up on the sidewalk on the school grounds to head out the main gate. At the front of the parade was of course the Haitian flag carried proudly by two students beautifully dressed in the national colors, and accompanied by a student portraying Jean Jacques Dessalines, a Haitian national hero. Behind them was a drill team dressed in white and plaid, led by the indefatigable Mr. Rossenky Djorguinhio Joseph, wearing the white baseball cap. They were followed by a second drill team attired in red and blue led by student Rodayka Joseph (no relation to Mr. Joseph). Next was the school’s celebrated marching band, led by the band instructor and lead saxophone, Mr. Phillippe Etienne. After the marching band came groups of students, waving Haitian flags. The youngest students were in white t-shirts and gently kept in a “lane” with rope borders carried by staff and teachers on each side. The entire town of Terrier Rouge was out in full force to watch and cheer on the parade, with onlookers dressed in Haitian national colors and waving flags. The parade went down the main paved roads through the middle of town as well as dusty side streets, stopping periodically so that the drill teams could perform, which was a big hit with the crowd. The band alternated between playing a Christian Anthem for Haiti, Mon Joli Petit Drapeau (My Pretty Little Flag) and a catchy drum cadence! One of the high points of the parade was a stop at the Terrier Rouge police station where the Haitian national anthem was played by the band. It was a long route and pretty hot, so teachers and staff made sure students were hydrated along the route. Finally, the parade made its way back to the school. I was tired and very hot, but the kids seemed to have caught a second wind and many ran around playing a pick-up game of soccer. People took pictures and everyone was in a celebratory mood. It was my first trip to Haiti and I cannot imagine a better introduction than Flag Day - it was truly extraordinary to experience the joy, dignity and community that exists in Terrier Rouge, despite the many challenges. I wish you all could have been there. I see why so many before me have visited and fallen in love with Haiti and its people and especially with St. Barthélémy. I will be thinking of Haiti this Flag Day of 2024, where the celebrations will be muted, and I’m praying that next year the country of Haiti, and its Flag Day celebration, will have rebounded.           

With Gratitude,

Rennae Henry

Executive Director

JP Spotlight!

"How a Tree is Helping Haiti: The JP Cashew Story" is a video courtesy of Partner For People & Place/JP illustrating how significant cashew trees are to Haiti!

JP's agroforestry approach is to use trees to protect soil from erosion, conserve soil moisture, contribute to soil fertility (fix nitrogen), and realistically provide a source for the fuel that families need for cooking, wood for construction and furniture, and tree crops like cashew for cash crops.

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The seeds of a plant called "Jatrofa" produce oil, which can be used for products like soap and lotion. The origins of Jatrofa Projenou were with this special plant and hence its namesake. But JP has grown to be far more than just about the Jatrofa plant! This program is now centered on 4 objectives, the first two being Protecting Land and Farming Better. JP has its own tree nursery and partners with landowners to plant and care for trees and other plants. This helps fulfill the objectives of protecting the land, which has suffered terribly from deforestation and erosion, and also of farming better!

JP helps farmers earn more by focusing on cash crops and acquiring the means for value-added processing and access to markets. Pictured here is JP’s store, where various finished products are sold. Frequently earning more can best be accomplished by pooling resources and working together - for example, communities own cassava mills and bakeries built by JP. (Cassava is a tuber that can be ground up and made into flour and then baked into flatbread.) What you see here is a giant flatbread baking!

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JP's work is critical in growing trees in its nursery and enabling local families living on the land to plant them - offsetting carbon to limit the rising sea level, increase in hurricanes, and increase in droughts - all endured by our brothers and sisters in Haiti.

$15 is how much it costs to plant 10 trees and make a difference in reducing carbon and reforesting Haiti. Interested in helping heal the land in Haiti? Click here to donate today: https://tinyurl.com/43rfxrc9

Did the peppers pick us?

Many have called to ask if gang violence has come to where we work. Thankfully it has not but its economic spawn has, i.e. the shortages and high prices that hurt people who are living on the edge in the best of times. Like the women in the countryside who can’t get their vegetables to market because they can’t afford a moto-taxi. Fares have jumped out of reach to cover the price of gas. ($15/ gal = three day's wages at the local blue jean factory)

The result? Farmers are losing income, guys with motor scooters are losing customers, and markets are depleted. School cooks aren't finding what they need to prepare good meals and children are eating piles of white rice to fill them up. In a place where half the population are children, where diabetes and high blood pressure are endemic, and where the chances of good health past fifty aren’t great, this is gang violence in slow motion.

What can we do to help I asked the staff. “Peppers,” they replied, "and beans, papaya, carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, squash, yams, and plantain." So in January we cleared land behind our building and put in a big ‘truck’ garden, like the kind that used to supply America’s cities a hundred years ago.

We are now growing vegetables to nourish our town. It’s a small act in the face of things, but we had to act and we did what we could. Did we pick the time to act or did it pick us? Working in Haiti I’m never sure.

Take care and thank you for your interest in Haiti.

Rob Fisher, Exec. Director

PARTNER FOR PEOPLE AND PLACE, INC./JP HAITI