Haiti: Main Holidays

Official Holidays - (Same date every Year)
January 1 Jour de l'Indépendance; Jour De l'An - Independence Day; New Year's Day
January 2 Jour Des Aieux - National Day of the forefathers
May 1 Fête de l'Agriculture et du travail - Agriculture and Labor Day
May 18 Jour du Drapeau - Flag Day
October 17 Mort de Dessalines - Anniversary of Dessalines's death
November 1 La Toussaint - All Saints' Day
November 2 Jour des Morts - Day of the Dead
November 18 Bataille de Vertières; Jour Des Forces Armées - Battle of Vertières' Day* also used to be Armed Forces Day
December 25 Jour de Noel - Christmas
Other Legal, Religious and Traditional Holidays for 2003
March 2-4 Carnaval - Annually from the Sunday through the Tuesday (Mardi Gras) preceding Ash Wednesday
March 5 Mercredi Des Cendres - Ash Wednesday
April 18 Vendredi Saint - Good Friday
April 20 Dimanche de Pâques - Easter Sunday
May 25 Fêtes des Mères - Haitian Mother's Day the last Sunday in May
June 19 Fête Dieu - Corpus Christi. The Thursday following Trinity Sunday
August 15 Assumption - Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary

*Vertières is the site of the last battle for Haitian Independence versus the French

Haiti: Main Events in History
Events
December 5, 1492 Columbus arrives at the Taino island of Hayti
August 14, 1791 Ceremony of Bois Caiman led by Bouckman
August 21, 1791 1st General revolt of slaves in the colony
April 7, 1803 Toussaint dies in the Fort de Joux in the Jura mountains in France
May 18, 1803 Dessalines and Petion meet at Arcahaie, in the west to create the first flag
November 18, 1803 Bataille of Vertières; last great battle against the French
January 1, 1804 Haiti's Independence was proclaimed. The island was renamed under its Taino name of Haiti
October 17, 1806 Dessalines was assassinated at Pont Rouge
July 27, 1915 US marines land in Port-au-prince starting the American occupation that would last until 1934
September 22, 1957 François Duvalier is elected president. In 1961, he made himself President-for-life
April 22, 1971 Jean-Claude Duvalier becomes president-for-life after his father's death
February 7, 1986 The Duvalier Dynasty ends
February 7, 1991 Aristide becomes the first president elected by a popular vote

(source: http://www.discoverhaiti.com/history_holidays.htm)

Do you remember? Eske ou sonje? Tu t'en souviens?

Where were you on January 12, 2010?
Ki kote-w te ye jou ki te 12 janvye 2010 la?
Ou étiez-vous le 12 janvier 2010?

Your thoughts about the earthquake in Haiti

January 12, 2010 a day that we will never forget! This day changed our perspectives on life ( at least some of us). What we can all agree on is that it pushes back at least 50 years or more. I have written a lot about it, specially the way the aid is administered and I also have some testimonies and many pictures.

Haitians are very resilient and will get through this hard time but it will take time and effort and healing and even a change in the mentality and this is before even receiving help form other country. We are the ones (Haitians) who can change the situation in our own country we surely need help but no amount of money will change our mentality, attitude or belief for good if we are not willing to or unite ourselves for the greater benefits of our beloved country.

I went myself to help as an interpreter and saw first hand what was going on and I was there a month ago and can still see the impacts.

No matter where you are from, if you have a wish, a word of wisdom or encouragement, a poem, a prayer or if you have participated in any rescue mission directly or indirectly, please let us know what you would like to say either to the world or the Haitian people about this event.

God bless!

The Dear Santa project

We are going to have fun with this post and I am calling on all my readers to participate in it. All you have to do is to write Santa a one-sentence letter about anything preferably regarding Haiti. It will start with Dear Santa and then your one-sentence letter.Please encourage your friends to participate as well and forward it to as many people as you can. Who knows what could happen! I hope it will at least bring awareness about the situation in Haiti. Have fun and thanks for your kind participation!

Let me lead by example then:

Dear Santa,
Have you finally updated your GPS to include Haiti and its streets?

One more thing Haiti needs...

It's been a while since I posted anything on the blog and I do apologize about it, I have been really busy. Nevertheless I never stopped reading your comments and reacting to them. Thanks for your interest and thanks for letting others know about this wonderful blog.

Everyday I have people coming to me asking me suggestion on how they can help Haiti or what is it that Haiti needs. Of course it is a long list of stuff and I have debated on many of them on my previous blogs just browse around and you will see for yourself. But, there is one area that I have not emphasized on enough and please give me a minute of your time to let you know about it. Now, as a disclaimer before I start, I am not a psychologist or a professional of any sort, I am just a regular Sam putting down on a blog what he thinks and I welcome your comments whether you agree with me or not as long as we respect each other and my other readers.

What is need that we need that I have not mentioned on my blog till now? (drum roll.........) It is entertainment! Yes entertainment! Growing up, we used t play soccer every night till we could not see, as a matter of fact the darker it gets the more fun it becomes since every time we get to kick the ball we yield gooooooooooooaaaaaaallllllllll(we were cheating, since any of us could barely see the ball! Oops!) Anyway, here in the US or any develop countries, there are hundreds of recreational parks! We are lacking that. If you go in the street of Haiti anywhere you will see some rocks in the street 'cause some young guys have been playing soccer and you will also see many makeshift basket ball goal sometimes using electrical polls (dangerous!!!). They do it because they need to entertain themselves. They even have tournaments in the streets and believe me this attracts a huge crowds and of course drivers are not happy since they still have to use the street and spectators are frustrated because of the interruption (recipe for a little not so pleasant moment).

This means, we need gymnasiums, soccer fields, basket ball fields and any other facilities that we can use to accommodate different disciplines. Let's be honest, you know Haiti is always on the news because there is always something going on there if it's not a natural disaster, it is a some political turmoil or diseases or hunger and what have you.

I believe in the power of entertainment. We have to entertain ourselves otherwise we will go crazy and this goes for every one. Have you ever been to Haiti when there is a championship in Europe, America, the Caribbean or better yet the soccer world cup? Believe me crime goes way down ( I do not know if anyone has done a research on that) but I can tell you it goes down because people are busy sitting on their TV sets or their neighbor's watching TV and when there is a team scoring you can hear noises for miles. One of the biggest rivalry that I know of is when Argentina and Brazil are playing against each other. Not traffic jam, as a matter of fact there is barely anyone in the streets.

Haitian people need to be entertained that will calm down on their frustrations. How many times here in the US we have people snapping 'cause of stress? It goes the same way for Haitian people, they have been through so much and they are still going through some! What do you expect? If you sit at home everyday or under a tent and doing nothing but thinking what do you expect? If you do not have a way to relieve your tress, you will find a way and this is how it can get ugly since it just a vicious cycle!

Let's be clear on that I am not condoning any bad behavior but I am saying this is how regular people react to situation but unfortunately some go further than the others.

More movie theaters are needed for young lovers or people dating or talking to each other or just for someone to go and relax. We have beautiful beaches but are neglected this needs to be taken care of as well.

There are many others areas I can bring up but I am stopping right here and I am eager to read your comments. God bless and have fun!


Your servant!