July 2014 Notes, followed by an Interview in English and in Haitian Creole, with Mandaly Louis-Charles, from 2013 Haitian Migrant Worker Journal

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NOTES FOR JULY 2014: 

Founded in 2010, Migrant Worker Outreach (formerly known as Haitian Migrant Worker Outreach) is a small 100% volunteer organization. Our mission is to welcome migrant workers to New Jersey. Each person who joins us makes a difference! We're Community Partners with Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. We're supported by Hammonton Rotary, and by area schools, churches, synagogues, businesses, organizations and individuals.

*We visit farm labor camps in June and July to teach English as a Second Language (ESL) and to distribute donated books, clothing & bedding.

*We publish the free migrant worker journals in Spanish, English, and Haitian Creole.

 The journals are distributed at migrant camps throughout South Jersey.

*We facilitate the involvement of other organizations, groups and individuals in outreach to the migrant   population.

*Visit our website at: www.MigrantWorkerOutreach.Org

      

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A passion for all things Haitian,     

Meet author and teacher, Mandaly Louis-Charles

       Mandaly is the author of Haitian Creole for English Speakers. She's the co-editor of the

Haitian Migrant Worker Journal. Mandaly does many of the Creole translations for the journal. Check out her popular blog for students of Haitian Creole at: http://sweetcoconuts.blogspot.com/ 

      Mandaly's essay presented here was written at the invitation of the journal, in response to questions we posed.

My heritage   

      I am proud of my Haitian Heritage. It is a great privilege to be part of a country with so much history. We, as a Haitian people, have suffered grave hardships and endured lengthy struggles, but these adversities have given rise to great bravery and courage. We have inherited from our ancestors an ambition to change and become united as a people. I am a product of that change. It is my heritage.

       As I get older, I find that I want to be more in touch with my past. This always takes me back to the culture and traditions that shaped my childhood in Haiti. I cherish our culture and traditions and desire that they will become meaningful to my children who were born in the United States. I take every opportunity to teach my kids to appreciate the differences and similarities between my homeland and theirs. They learn that they are a product of both cultures. They embrace them both. That’s who they are.

       At home we cook a lot of foods from Haiti. I’m happy that my children not only eat these foods, but they also participate in preparing them. My kids are getting very knowledgeable about the different spices that Haitians use in their kitchens, and the role of food in a country where food is sometimes scarce.

       On Haitian Independence Day, January 1st, we always have our traditional soup joumou (squash soup). That day, I wake up early to prepare this traditional meal, and the aroma of the soup wakes the family up. Everyone finds their way to the kitchen to help set the table and heat up our special Haitian bread that my husband gets from Miami. We sit around the table together eating. We talk about the history behind this soup. It's soup joumou day. It’s a little bit festive.

The Haitian Creole language

       The Haitian Creole language, to me, is more than a way to communicate. It’s what sets us apart from other Caribbean cultures; it’s what brings us together. It’s our trademark.

       It’s interesting how we rejected the language that gave birth to us as a people. We were so ashamed of it. In comparison to the sophisticated French, the Haitian Creole language was considered the language of uneducated slaves. It was the language of the poor, the language of those who did not go to school, the language of those who were not skilled enough to pucker their lips to speak the suave French. How people looked down at you if you dared to go to a

government office and speak Creole. How uneducated people thought you were to give a wedding toast in Creole. And if you were thinking of courting a woman and hoping for a

positive answer, you'd better have learned some French. That’s how it was.

       But thanks to many Haitian writers and educators, today we can call the Haitian Creole

language the national language of our country. It’s a huge step forward. It's one more thing that

the Haitian people have in common. Many schools in Haiti have Creole classes as part of their curriculum. And we are seeing more and more books written in Creole.

       I do work hard to promote the Haitian Creole language and culture on my blog; I hope it will add to the available resources. We’re not quite there with the Creole language yet, but we've made a lot of progress.

Creole as it's spoken in different regions

       As a child in Haiti, I was privileged to have many, many caretakers while my parents were in the U.S. working in order to sustain my brothers and sisters and me. The women who took care of us were from many different corners of the country. Story telling was a nightly routine before bedtime, and I heard countless tales from these women. Because they were from different corners of the country, they each brought originality and “spice” to their story telling.

From this experience I gained familiarity with the variety of ways the Creole language is spoken in different regions of the country. I also began to learn about different parts of the country even though I had not traveled to all of them.

A personal challenge

       My biggest frustration, at times, is encountering Haitians who would not give the Haitian Creole language the time of day. It’s sad that some of them treat the language like a bad memory they're running away from.

But I’ve noticed that a growing number of foreigners are speaking and learning to speak Creole. This contributes to uniting Haitians through a recognition of and respect for their language.

Accomplishments

       My biggest accomplishment is my children, my family. They keep me happy. I am glad that I am able to add my little family to my bigger extended Haitian family. We learn a lot from each other. We are growing an army of second and third generation Haitians who benefit from the wisdom and knowledge of our Haitian born mom, grandparents, aunts, and uncles.

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*See below for the same interview, in Haitian Creole:

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Yon pasyon pou tout bagay Ayisyen,

Fè konesans ak otè e yon sipòtè lang Kreyòl la, Mandaly Louis-Charles

       Mandaly se otè liv Haitian Creole for English Speakers la. Li se co-editè Jounal Travayè Migran Ayisyen an. Se Mandaly ki tradui Paj Timoun yo an Kreyòl nan jounal la tou, e li ekri yon blòg ki popilè ki sèvi plizyè elèv ki ap etidye lang Kreyòl Ayisyen an: http://sweetcoconuts.blogspot.com/  

      Mandaly te prezante disètasyon sa a sou envitasyon jounal la, antanke repons sou kèk kesyon nou te poze li.

Eritaj mwen

       Mwen fyè anpil de Eritaj Ayisyen mwen. Se yon gran privilèj pou m fè pati yon peyi ki gen yon istwa ki si tèlman rich. Nou menm, kòm yon pèp Ayisyen, sibi anpil peripesi e nou andire anpil zeprèv ki te soti pou kaba nou, men advèsite sa yo fè nou vin brav, yo fè n vin yon pèp vanyan. Zansèt nou yo te kite pou nou, kòm byen, yon anbisyon pou nou chanje e devni yon pèp ki ini. Mwen se yon rezilta chanjman sa a. Se eritaj mwen.

       Plis m’ap rantre nan laj, mwen remake se plis mwen ta renmen rapwoche tout sa ki te pase m nan tan lontan. E sa toujou kannale m tounen nan kilti ak tradisyon ki te fòme anfans mwen Ayiti. Mwen admire kilti ak tradisyon nou, e dezi mwen se pou timoun pa’m yo ki te fèt nan peyi Etazini ta respekte e venere tradisyon sa yo. Mwen itilize tout opòtinite pou anseye pitit mwen pou apresye diferans ak similarite ant peyi pa’m ak peyi pa yo. Yo aprann ke yo se yon pwodui toulede kilti yo. Se sa yo ye.

       Lakay mwen, nou kuit anpil manje ki soti Ayiti. Mwen kontan paske pitit mwen yo pa sèlman manje manje sa yo, men yo patisipe nan preparasyon yo tou. Timoun mwen yo, kounye a, kapab rekonèt diferan epis ke ou kapab jwenn nan yon kuizin Ayisyen, enpi yo konprann ki wòl manje jwe nan yon peyi kote k’ gen anpil grangou ak famin.

       Jou fèt Endepandans Ayisyen, lepremye janvye, nou toujou manje soup tradisyonèl la, soup joumou. Jou sa a, mwen toujou leve byen bonè pou fè preparasyon repa tradisyonèl sa a, enpi sant soup la reveye tout moun ki nan kayla. Konsa ou wè tout moun leve pran wout kuizin nan pou yo kapab ede prepare tab la ak chofe pen Ayisyen ke mari mwen te gentan achte depi Miami. Nou atable nou enpi nou manje ansanm. Nou pale sou istwa soup la, ak poukisa nou manje li nan jou sila a. Se jou soup joumou pou nou. Se preske tankou yon selebrasyon.

Lang Kreyòl Ayisyen an

       Lang Kreyòl Ayisyen an, pou mwen, se plis pase yon fason pou kominike. Li se sa ki distenge nou avèk lòt kilti Karibeyen yo; li se sa ki ini pèpla. Li se senbòl nou.

       Li enteresan pou w panse kouman nou te rejte lang sa a ki te ban nou nesans kòm yon pèp. Nou tewont li. Si ou te konpare l avèk Franse sofistike a, lang Kreyòl Ayisyen an te pran tit lang moun esklav san ledikasyon. Se te langaj moun pòv, langaj moun ki pa te ale lekòl, langaj moun ki pa’t ka pwenti bouch yo pou pale bon jan Franse swa. Se pa de move rega moun ta ba w, si ou ta al rantre nan yon ofis gouvènman ap pale Kreyòl. Moun ta panse ou san ledikasyon

si w ta bay yon diskou nan yon maryaj an Kreyòl. E si’w te bezwen bon lè w’ap koutize yon

fanm, fòk bwat franse te sifizan. Se konsa sa te ye.

       Men granmesi anpil ekriven ak edikatè Ayisyen, jodi a nou kapab rele lang Kreyòl la lang nasyonal peyi nou. Sa se yon gran pa annavan. Se youn nan bagay anplis Ayisyen genyen an

komen. Anpil lekòl Ayiti anseye klas Kreyòl kòm yon pati entegral nan pwogram yo. E nou ap

wè anpil varyete liv ki ekri nan lang Kreyòl tou.

      Mwen travay di pou m pwomote lang Kreyòl ak kilti Ayisyen an nan blòg mwen an; mwen
espere li va ajoute plis sou lòt resous Kreyòl ki genyen sou entènèt la pou moun k’ap chache resous sa yo ka jwenn ni. Nou poko fin rive nèt kote nou prale a ak lang lan, men nou fè anpil pwogrè.

Kreyòl ki pale nan diferan rejyon yo

       Lè’m te timoun Ayiti mwen te gen privilèj pou m te genyen anpil sèvant ki t’ap pran swen mwen menm ansanm ak frè ak sè m yo pandan paran nou te nan peyi Etazini ap chache lavi. Sèvant sa yo ki te konn pran swen nou, se yon seri de fanm ki soti nan tout rakwen peyia. Zafè tire kont, se bagay nou te konn fè chak swa, konsa mwen te rive tande anpil kont anba bouch fanm sa yo. Paske yo tout p’at soti nan menm kote Ayiti, yo chak te ajoute yon orijinalite ak “epis” nan tire kont yo.

       Se konsa eksperyans sa a fè’m vin gen familyarite avèk divès fason yo pale lang lan nan tout diferan pati nan peyia. Mwen te vin aprann anpil bagay sou diferan rejyon nan peyi a malgre mwen pa vwayaje nan tout.

Yon defyans pèsonèl

       Pi gran kontraryete mwen genyen, dèfwa, se lè m jwenn Ayisyen ki pa kapab tolere lang Kreyòlla. Se tris pou w wè y’ap trete lang nan kòm yon move rèv yo ta renmen bliye.

Men mwen remake ke genyen yon bann etranje ki ap aprann pale lang Kreyòlla. Sa se youn nan bagay ki kontribye fè Ayisyen pote kole pou rekonèt e mete chapo ba devan lang nou an.

Akonplisman

       Pi gran reyalizasyon mwen nan lavi a se timoun mwen yo, se fanmim. Yo ban m kontantman. Mwen kontan m te kapab ajoute ti nwayo fanmi pa’m nan gwo fanmi laj Ayisyen mwen an. Nou youn aprann anpil nan men lòt. N’ap fè levasyon yon eskwad dezyèm ak twazyèm jenerasyon Ayisyen, e yo benefisye anpil nan sajès ak konesans manman, granparan, matant, ak monnonk natifnatal nou yo.

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