With the tragedy of the Haiti earthquake on every news channel and website, and distressing images and sounds replaying themselves in our minds, how can we help kids here learn about and better understand kids in Haiti?
Finding happy information about Haiti isn't as easy as some other countries we've researched. The lives of Haitian kids are difficult in the best of times. Few go to school. Many are orphaned by AIDS. Others are "restavecs," child slaves given by their impoverished families (who hope they'll thus receive education) to work for other families. Only about half have access to good drinking water and good toilet facilities. Sometimes there is so little food that they make "mud cookies," which, yes, actually include mud, to stretch the ingredients they have. I can't imagine how life is for them, now.
As with every country in the world, we look for and share the positive aspects of the cultures we study, trying to build connections for children here to better relate to (and find ways to responsibily care about) their peers around the world. Most of this information comes from Haiti: Enchantment of the World, by Jean Blashfield.
About Haiti
- The native Taino word for the country is "ayiti," or "Land of Mountains." 4/5ths of the country is covered with mountains. That name eventually evolved into "Haiti."
- Shaped like a backwards C, the country covers about 1/3 of the island of Hispaniola ("Quisqueya," in the native languages), which it shares with the Dominican Republic.
- The average temperature in Haiti in January is 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Two large species of reptile found in Haiti include the American crocodile and the rhinoceros iguana (yes, it has three horny growths between its eyes and its nostrils, which remind you of a rhino).
- In the late 1600s, what is now Haiti was the French-ruled colony "Saint Domingue." It was France's richest colony.
- In Saint Domingue, African slaves worked the plantations of indigo, coffee, and sugar. In the 1790's, the slaves forced the French to outlaw slavery, and the nation won its independence in 1804. Most Haitians are descendants of African slaves.
- Most Haitians speak Creole, evolved from French and African languages. To say hello, in the morning, you'd say "bonjou." In the afternoon, "bon swa." Thank you is "messy."
- Haitians have a big party before Lent begins. It's called "Rara." Friends make Rara bands and dance, do magic tricks, and chant as they parade through the countryside while dressed in bright, beaded/sequined clothing.
- Music is very important in Haitian culture.
- "Tap-taps" are large vehicles used as buses. They are very colorfully painted and eye-catching!
- Children often make their own toys in Haiti. Here's a toy car made from an old plastic bottle, 5 bottle caps, straws, and some string.
Games Haitian children play:
- Osselets (OOH-slay) - like jacks, but with goat knuckles (can substitute small stones). Directions are here, on page 28-29
- Another game is called Marelles (hopscotch). The game is drawn on a sidewalk: it consists of the word start, followed by 3 circles in a row, then a large rectangle divided into four equal smaller rectangles by a + sign. When it is the player's turn, he throws a stone into the first circle, then hops into it, picks up his stone, hops into the next circle, then the third. When he arrives at the rectangles, he jumps in with both feet, one in each of the closest two rectangles, then hops on only one foot into each of the second two triangles. This turns him around, and he again hops into the first two rectangles on both feet, before continuing, one-footed, into the third, then second, then first circles, then back out. If he touches a line with his hopping foot, touches the ground with the foot in the air, speaks, or makes a sound, his turn is over. If he successfully completes his jumps, he can throw his stone into the second circle and continue as before.
A few other resources:
- To "meet" a Haitian child and learn about her country, check out http://hello.mcc.org/ and click on Haiti (the dot closest to Florida, in this case) when the map loads. Besides meeting Chrismone, there are activities like a matching game and trivia questions that help the visitor learn more about Haiti. You can also download a print version.
- www.haitihouses.org shares a cool project kids can make, then sell to raise money for an aid organization working in Haiti.
- I have not ever used this curriculum, but parents and Sunday School teachers who want to educate their children about Haitian culture may be interested in it: http://www.omsinternational.org/store/mtg/haiti. It looks interesting.
- Here's a book I read, once, too: Selavi, That is Life: A Haitian Story of Hope.
- Listen to Putumayo's Caribbean Playground for two songs from Haiti.
We're hoping to have a guest from Haiti at our summer day Camp, so that we can continue to learn more about this country that is close to us, yet in many ways, so far away.