23840: Nikita: (pub) locally published article about College Students (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Nlbo@aol.com

The following appeared in the November edition of the Boston Haitian Reporter
under the title:

            College Students : A Neglected Resource in Boston


Last October, Rev. Jean Hoet a native of Belgium, the director of “Bon
Nouvèl, Haiti’s largest circulation (20,000 a month) addressed a group of about 30
at MIT in Cambridge, Mass.  Joel Theodat, program director at West Roxbury High
brought Claudie Paul, Steven Morency and Paul Guito as entertainers.
Together those young men eloquently performed several historically based skits on the
heroes and heroines of Haiti.  Yvon Lamour kept the audience’s attention in
interpreting Manno Charlemagne’s songs.  Father Hoet,  a Mission Hurst
missionary known also Skeuth Fathers who lived in Haiti for over 35 years talked about
the hardships and the joy of publishing a Creole monthly since 1967.  Lack of
electricity, high price of gasoline to operate broken generators, subscribers
who don’t always pay, readers who can not afford 5 gourdes,  operating costs,
and other minor factors such as making a phone call, getting on line  are
elements that impede publication. Despite of these extraneous publishing
conditions, Pè Jan as he is called puts energy also in educational, recreational and
humanitarian projects that his order had been engaged in Haiti for decades.

Father Jean mentioned that the magazine “Bon Nouvèl” plays significant role
in reaching the majority of Haitians in the country side.  The original aim of
the monthly was to give those who participated in literacy projects a tool to
continue reading. Without continuous reading practices, one becomes
functionally illiterate after the preliminary stages of learning to read.  “Bon
Nouvèl” besides information on catholic  teachings, covers a wide range of subjects
in science, agriculture, medicine, education, sports, national and
international news.

My favorite rubric is the “touris lokal” (local tourist) one which provides
detail coverage and pictures of a region or a town in Haiti in each issue.
The  pictures, the interviews with local inhabitants and an objective analysis
of the author gives one an general overview  of the particular town.  As a 20
year subscriber, the “local tourist” section had given me a geographical,
demographical and cultural perspective of Haiti’s various regions.  Life in the
provincial towns, the villages, and the country side constitutes the cultural
and survival make up of 8 million people, not the “Republic of Port-au-Prince”
or the 200 years of a political disarray and the current ecological quagmire
of Haiti.

“Bon Nouvèl” publications also disseminate many Creole books for adults and
elementary schools.  In the  Plateau Central region  (outskirts of Hinche i,e
Papaye, Thomassique) where most of those books are used,  80% of the
population could read as opposed to the average national literacy rate of 49%.  Among
Bon Nouvel’s 20,000 issues, 400 are mailed monthly around the globe.

Father Hoet alluded to the national volleyball club Banzai composed of six
teams of 260 young people actively involved in a national tournament.  Pè Jan
also runs a summer youth camp for about 150 adolescents between ages14-17, and a
home for the poor and neglected .  Father Jan raises young Haitians whom
parents can’t take care of them.  He sends them  to the university and  some of
them have become  become nurses, agronomists who go back to the countryside and
work there.  This year one of them got a scholarship to study in a four year
college in New York, and one is in his 4th year of medical school.

Besides physical and health benefits, the 260 or so young Haitians involved
in volleyball tournaments get  to work in team, be involved in shared decision
and even get scholarships to study in the States. The summer camp  held at the
Seminaire St. Martial  last summer provided a safe environment ,food,
nutrition. and exposure to seminars, lectures on AIDS, sexual behaviors, and social
manners for close to 150 adolescents who have nothing to do and would have
gotten into more problems in the streets of Haiti.  Father Hoet spoke also at the
Immaculate Conception church in Cambridge where he received a warm welcome and
support for his program. Several teachers, subscribers and Creolists had
dinner with the Skeuth missionary and a Haitian style serenade animated by Joel
Theodat.

The event organized by MIT Haitian Student Association under the leadership
of Natalie Paul- its president, is an example that can be followed.
Representatives of area students from Harvard University, Emerson college, U/Mass
Amherst, Cambridge Rindge and Latin High as well alumni from area colleges including
professional adults were present.  The 30 or so who gathered at MIT on
October 16th, represented a microscopic sample of what should occur more often in
the Boston community. A church representative, artists, educators,
intellectuals, young adults, and blue collar Haitians assembled together.

Though this  event was intended  for 35 people, I would recommend the
involvement of additional educators, clergy, other community leaders, and high school
students in future student organized activities be it in MIT or other
universities.  For instance, the community could have been more involved in the
National Haitian Student Conference held at U/Mass Amherst two years ago. Means of
communication could be established when Haitian collegians are organizing
educational activities for high school students, such as the College Prep seminar
on November 13 at MIT.  Clergy members could insert the flyers and announce
those programs in the pews.  Radio and TV hosts could make these as part of
their public service announcements. Teachers could use the internet to share
events among themselves.   A web site could be established for general community
information. This generation of Haitians don’t seem to have “21rst century”
role models among them.   Established adults could collective provide a structure
of nurturing, of hospitality, a home outside of the home , and a mentoring
system to collegians.

Moreover, many of these 20 year olds born during the l980 mass migration of
first generation Haitian immigrants live out of state and can’t afford going
home for semester breaks and holidays like Thanksgiving.  The community could
organize activities such as holiday or occasional dinners and dances in many
churches that  have the large halls or are empty in some cases.  University
students are important sources and assets  a society  needs to support.  Given
Black students’ low scores in state and national assessments, the increasing
incarceration and early death of young Blacks, or the lack of role models’presence
in the Haitian communities, it is an utmost urgency to reach out to
collegians and young professionals so they could be an integral part of the Haitian
milieu.  It will  be a well spent investment if state and/or local officials
intervene to provide means to collectively organize and maintain a long term
healthy environment for young Haitians in Massachusetts - some thing that church
and community agencies have not yet managed to do; for the offsprings of an
estimated 80,000 Haitians in Massachusetts, or 1 million will have a significant
impact not only in the New England area, but in the nation as well.

If there were a supportive and understanding environment for US educated
Haitians,  the community would not probably have buried Bettina François and
Julaine Jules last month, two  college graduates in their late 20’s victims of
domestic violence.    Educated Haitians who massively  left Haiti for Africa,
Canada, Europe, and the United States in the later half of the 20th century have
in most part abandoned the diasporic communities.

Being involved with collegians in the dawn of the 21rst century might avoid
more “brain drainage” in the diaspora itself and hopefully Haitians might
regain the respect, the positive reputation and image we had up to the  l970’s.

Nekita Lamour, is an essayist , an experienced educator who  had been working
in the field of  ESL/Bilingual Education since l980.  She migrated from Haiti
to the Boston area in l973 and had been involved since in the Haitian
community. She is a regular contributor to the Boston Haitian Reporter.