Fò m kanpe pou ou. Ou te egziste. Yo fè w mal, men m pap bliye w, frè m. M pap bliye w, sè m. Non w ekri yon kote, e fòk nou fè yon jan pou nou ba w jistis.

Pierre Richard is 25 years old and has been a student at ENARTS since 2012. His two projects with Belo and Gessica Généus, which I mentioned above, came out earlier this year. This would have been the end of this blog post had I not enjoyed a fresco and a heart-to-heart with Pierre Richard that day. Since then I've learned that he has been drawing since he was four years old, but as a child, dreamed of being a diplomat like his neighbor who always wore fancy suits. When it became time to attend college, Pierre Richard realized that diplomacy involved more than fancy suits, and decided to enroll in an IT program, per his father’s recommendation. However, when you like technology, but hate math, you might prefer to spend your time drawing during lectures instead of listening to what’s being taught. So after spending 3 years studying things unrelated to art, he decided to tell his family that he would enroll at ENARTS. His parents, like all Haitian parents wondered how he would make a living as an artist. However, once they noticed his success, they started to support him 100%.

I woke up the other day and told my family that I needed to go to Cap Haitian. I told them that I wanted to go, and I intended to stay for a while. I love Cap Haitian because it is a part of my family’s heritage, and because of the city’s historical significance. But what keeps Cap Haitian’s space in my heart is the proximity of the ocean, and the feeling that the ocean is walking side by side with you when you are in the city. (Not to mention the fact that everything is so much more affordable here than in Port-au-Prince.) Tonight, as I was lying down listening to the sound of the ocean, (because I’m lucky enough to be staying near the water) I closed my eyes to let the peacefulness around me enter my body. I realized then how badly my body, mind and soul had needed a moment like this to recuperate.

1 an depi nou eseye kouvri tout moman enpòtan nan peyi nou ak bay ayisyen isit kou lòt bò dlo posibilite pou yo pale de eksperyans yo. Nou tande vwa doktè ki te vle pale nou de enpòtans pou nou konn kijan pou nou pran swen tèt nou ak konn sitiyasyon sante nan peyi a. Nou tande vwa nitrisyonis ki raple nou kijan manje lakay se li ki pi bon. Nou tande vwa jounalis ki pale sou sitiyasyon raptriye yo sou fwontyè Sen Domeng lan pandan ke près lokal ak gouvènman an pa te ba yo enpòtans. Nou tande vwa defansè lang kreyòl la. Nou tande vwa moun ki te vin fè nou konfidans sou sa yo ap viv ki pa pale chak jou nan lakou lakay nou. Nou te tande vwa senp sitwayen ki te vle pataje lide yo sou yon sijè patikilye.

Degre bote yon moun diferan selon moun ki ap gade li a. Chak moun gen kritè bote pa yo ki chita sou kote yo sòti, jan yo leve yo ak jan yo wè tèt pa yo.

When people speak of Haitian women, the expressions that come to mind are ones having to do with strength and bravery. “Poto Mitan” is one of the most common phrases used to praise the Haitian woman. The term poto mitan comes from vodou, it is the column or pillar that stands in the middle of the sacred temple, it is one of the central elements of every ceremony. In our society and others in the Caribbean, people use this phrase to describe women, to describe their hard work and important role in society. Although unfortunately, many times patriarchal societies do not recognize or value the role women play in the development of communities. Beginning from childhood, a woman is taught to be a strong woman, a dynamic woman, a woman willing to do anything for her family. This means:

Many parents will tell their young babies mwen renmen w’ while they are still too young to understand, then stop as soon as they start to mature a little. They treat mwen renmen w’ like a curse word that should not be repeated, or an epidemic that can kill them. To me, a child needs to grow up in an environment where they feel valued and loved, so they can in turn to value and love themselves. These little details apply to adults as well. We all deserve to know and hear how loved we are. We need to know that we will have the support of the home we are evolving in if/when we need it. In this support, there is love, and in this love, there is the ability to say it, to show it.

As little children, we start to imagine what we want to become when we grow up. We think about what career we would like to get into based on the examples in our surroundings, what we see on television, or stories the adults around us tell us. Veterinarian, ninja turtle, a bird, a street vendor…all these dreams, we used to say them out loud. We kept these dreams alive as we invented the story of our futures, as we played pretend alone and with our friends. As this happened, the adults around us watched us with a smile, a smile at our innocence and enthusiasm, a smile at how earnestly we believed in our dreams, and surely a smile at the memories of their own childhood.