Here in Haiti for an intense week. I wonder if the streets of Port-au-Prince ever get silent or empty. Looking at Haitians moving, moving, resilience comes to mind. But is this just a platitudinous cliché, a patronizing delusion? A sop for helplessness. Better to think of resilience than the vacant silence of the vendeuses at the side of the road, chock-a-block, all with the same menu of goods. None of them making sales for most of the day.
Because what else are people to do in historic, chronic, mind-numbing crisis? The human instinct surely is for survival. We are hardwired that way, to wake up day by day, to put one foot in front the next, to look for sustenance. And that is what Haitians do. They endure. And they laugh, quarrel, fight, work hard, live, love. So, yes, they are resilient.
Yet evidence of the recent past is everywhere. In the mangled steel, in the rubble that dots the landscape, in the pall of dust that pervades the atmosphere. In the stories that people do not speak about but are there one scratch away from active thought.
We are staying at Horizon Suites which to my unease turned out to be a renamed Hotel Montana. Hotel Montana was the go-to hotel of the international development denizens. It was sophisticated and urbane in, yes, a roughish kind of way. Tiles not quite straight, fixtures not quite plumb. Over-sized rooms that the more efficient capitalist them would understand as an inefficient use of space.
The earthquake struck as if the fault lines were located right under the hotel and at that 1 foot away from the surface. Most of the hotel collapsed and with that many lives were lost.
But near two years later, a much smaller version of the hotel is back in business, disconcertingly, yet poignantly on the same location. The dining room remains intact with the spectacular view of the city below and the denuded mountains across the way.
The world is so small. It turns out that the owner, one of them, went to boarding school in Jamaica with Joan, recognizes her from what must be 50 years ago and we get to talking. She is vivacious, energetic, alive, wiry in that hard working looking way. And as she reminisces, talk turns to the hotel. Yes, they are rebuilding. Yes, many lives were lost, including that of her grandson. Her sister was trapped in the rubble and rescued after 4 days. But, life goes on. There are somethings that we cannot control, she says, bringing an abrupt end to a conversation that can only deliver pain.
Is this faith? Is this life affirming pragmatism? I do not know. But one thing is sure. People make choices about how to live with crisis and it is those who are blessed with optimism and determination that overcome. And perhaps resilience is that capacity to discern the forces that you can control and to focus on those and not the areas of powerlessness.
This propensity to look forward in motion might be the outcome of nurture, but perhaps too the luck of nature.
Hi Roberta,thanks for sending this piece…enjoyed reading it and your insight…very well articulated….
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Roberta,
These are sobering reflections. The former Governor General of Canada, Michaelle Jean who is now UNESCO’s special envoy to Haiti was recently quoted in a newspaper article:
“‘I cannot stand hearing … when people talk about Haitians’ resilience,’ Ms. Jean said in a recent wide-ranging interview to mark the anniversary of Haiti’s earthquake. ‘I think that’s the worst that you can say about people, because there’s a sense of fatalism with it, as if we were born for one catastrophe after the other,’ she said.” She is herself Haitian of course.
I have poignant memories of the Hotel Montana, similar to what you described. One of my fondest experiences was sharing zouk CDs with the front desk staff, and they in turn shared Haitian kompa, both musical genres wrought by the African Francophone musical culture in Haiti and some of the eastern Caribbean islands. There is a Haitian cultural ethos that I believe might be one route to restoring the human dignity eroded by successive political and natural disasters. In fact there is a lot of interest these days on the part of donor agencies in cultural education and enterprise, and Haiti should be part of this drive, for economic reasons but also because of the potential to alleviate despair.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/project-jacmel/haiti-one-year-later/not-much-has-been-done-in-haiti-michalle-jean-laments/article1866635/
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There is much to look on at with awe, something about the human spirit, But more so the culture of Haitians. How they work, a certain gentility and reserve and yes, from the music you get the sense of a core of joy.
Joan was remarking that the signs of mental instability that one sees on the streets of other Caribbean towns is not at all so discernible in Port au Prince.
And I do also remember dancing with you in that hotel as well.
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Hi Roberta,
This piece is very, very, touching. The Haitian people seem to have a special quality which we all need to cultivate. Your style or writing is wonderful and is worthy of wider publication. Keep it up!!
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Roberta,
I echo Tina. The resilience is to be admired, but it’s outrage that I feel when I think of the injustice meted out to Haiti by their elite bolstered by the international community. I want to see a different Occupation of Haiti….
I’m in awe of the way another set of ‘internet chldren’ use the technology to mobilize outrage….
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Hi Roberta,
what a touching piece about the people of Haiti. They have overcome so much yet the one thing that is constant, is the strength and resilence of its people who through all their hurdles continue to live and hope and love.
Cheryl B.
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As Valarie says Haitians are living a life which is a far cry from the consumerism of many today. Not sure they want to go there. A local calypsonian calls the current x generation ‘Internet children…like instant coffee, they want it now and they doe want to work for it.’
But basic economic success still seems so distant for Haitians. I am unable to fathom that several decades ago, after WWII, the US government spent 13 billion US dollars (USD) from 1948-1951 rebuilding countries in Europe (a continent) and Haiti with all the aid is yet to find its way…
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Life’s experiences are etched in our outlook.
Compare the last three generations within our regional circle:
our parents who lived through WWII to fighting for independence,
ourselves who benefitted from independence, free education and consciousness
Generation X who are living in times of consumerism, quick gratification, ease of technology
To me it seems that the capacity to endure resided most strongly in our parent’s generation and has appeared to diminish with time. Is there a correlation or is it that we have not yet been tested?
Haiti’s generations after generations have always been tested. How much more can they endure? It’s not fair.
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Hi Roberta, thanks so much for this. It struck a personal note for me at an important time in my handling of a few situations that are quite outside of my control. Your interpretation of resilience has inspired me and I do feel more strengthened to let go of those areas of powerlessness in my life. Thanks again for sharing and Haiti is in my thoughts.
Jackie
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Very touching, Roberta. Much to learn from these amazing people (especially women) but does their life really have to be so hard? “It’s not fair” is a child’s response, but how much longer can the world go on with so much disparity?
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