12720: "N a Sonje" project (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Yacine Khelladi <yacine@yacine.net>


received from Kala:

April 2002
Port-au-Prince, Haiti

	We greet you together with all our family and friends with love and
gratitude on the eve of our (DOA/BN's) 10 year anniversary of
existence.  Our work of presenting, explaining, and exposing the history
of slavery and freedom of Haiti's past resulting in the reality of today
to those who come to have their hearts opened through Haiti,  in all of
her richness, has been an honor.  It is now a joy to present this letter
of introduction for yet another vision evolving out of the same work
only in greater and broader depth.
	First of all, we want to thank everyone who has been part of our lives,
our loving and patient families, our old friends, our new friends and
all those whom Haiti has touched and given new birth to in these past 10
years through her wounds and her strengths.  To the Haitian community
who trusted and shared with us and to those who came (their lives, their
families, their children, their dreams during those visits), we bow our
heads low in respect.
	To know a little more about the scope of our work, here is just a brief
summary of what we have done during this past decade.  Beginning from
the womb of turbulence caused by the coup d'etat of 1991-94,  DOA/BN
began orienting organizations interested in truly knowing the untold
reality of Haiti, such as Christian Peacemaker Teams and Witness for
Peace to serve as a bridge so that these unheard voices might be heard
by the outside world.  We continued by giving cultural sensitivity
seminars and advising the United Nations Civil Observer Mission
(MICIVIH) in their targeted educational programs as well as many
different development organizations and church groups.  A variety of
university groups have been guided by us but immersed by the gentle
hands of Haiti as well especially since 2000, a yearly May term for
Earlham College from Indiana that gives university students a chance to
be integrated by immersion experiences, develop intercultural
relationships through living with host families and participate in
shared community experiences.
	In 1998, we hosted 40 pilgrims during their week-long spiritual journey
in Haiti of "The Interfaith Pilgrimage of the Middle Passage" as they
traveled the slave history of the United States, through the Caribbean
and South America, finalizing their pilgrimage in Ghana, Senegal, and
South Africa.  The pilgrimage's objectives were (abridged): 1) To offer
prayers for the spirits of people of African descent, 2) To open the way
for all whose lives have been affected 3) Reverse historical patterns 4)
Offer multifaceted educational opportunities 5) Transform the thinking
that spawned racism.  This has been a great inspiration to us and for
this future vision.
	Part of the work in bridging the gap of realities that exists between
different histories, cultures and peoples involved doing a wide variety
of documentaries and journalistic work with personalities and
institutions such as  Elizabeth Farnsworth with the (then)
MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour, Tom Brokaw and NBC, Larry Rohter and Rick Bragg
with the NY Times, Gerry Hadden with NPR, Bill Turnbull and the BBC, and
a wealth of others. In all, close to 5,000 visitors from different
countries have blessed us and been sent on with Haiti's special gifts.
	Our mission statement explains our philosophy this way: "We, of DOA/BN,
in the traditional spirit of hospitality, respect and dignity, welcome
people from the four corners of the world and serve as their guides
across the pathway that leads into the beauty of the unexpected gifts
Haiti holds for the world." Our work has convinced us that the deep
roots of Haiti's wrenching history and its eye-opening truths offer
gifts of deeper understanding about our world and our collective role in
it.  Our vision is to bring together people from other places with the
people of Haiti in order to recapture the connectedness of community
shared from the reality of their everyday lives through personal
inter-cultural experiences.  We believe that by leaving the world of
stress and by allowing the rhythms of Haiti's life to flow through one's
soul they will bring out untapped inner strengths in individuals as well
as being beneficial to the whole community.
  	We have witnessed this transformation so much that we believe that
through these experiences people can gain spiritual balance, greater
unity and wiser harmony with the environment, with themselves and
ultimately with the world.  This process of change explains the ancient
wisdom of the Taino people, the original inhabitants, in naming the
island Ayiti (Haitian Creole spelling) which means "a land that enables
or forces one to rise to one's higher self".
	It is with great honor then that we, DOA/BN, in the same spirit as our
mission, present this latest vision of healing and reconciliation of
racism and oppression that has been entrusted to us.  This vision has
been named "N a Sonje" in the Haitian language ("we will remember" in
English) and has begun to unfold before us confirming that its time has
come.  A strong element that remains from the 'older ways' is the wisdom
embodied in proverbs still used in everyday Haitian conversation.  One
of the most telling proverbs in today's language that foretells the
destiny of the future from the past is "Bay kou bliye, pote mak sonje"
which translates into this idea: The one who beats, whips, or hurts
another forgets about it, but the one who carries the scars, the wounds,
the memory, always remembers.  This is a dream that will take the hearts
and energy of many people through many different ways as each are led,
making it the effort of a community.
Foundation "N a Sonje", a non-profit activity independent from DOA/BN,
has as its first activity a living museum, The Memory Village.  This
will be in the form of an alternative interactive historical park where
people will be able to retrace and most importantly, relive the most
crucial points of the history of the slave trade, from the prosperous
period of the great African empires before the time of colonization, up
to the revolt of the slaves of Ayiti which gave birth to its
independence as the first nation of free men and women, formerly slaves,
and the first black state of modern times, January 1, 1804.

		In honor of the 200th year anniversary of Haiti's independence which
marked the beginning of the end to the slave trade  for the whole world,
Foundation "N a Sonje" will be offering, to the worldwide public, The
Memory Village.

	More details about "N a Sonje" and logistics for contributions are
included in the Foundation "N a Sonje" documents partially included
here.

Humbly yours,

DOA/BN
Associates of DOA/BN:
Carla Bluntschli
Harry Nicolas
Djalòki