30769: Vedrine (article) Double nationality: Another false issue (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: E Vedrine <evedrine@hotmail.com>


DOUBLE NATIONALITY: ANOTHER FALSE ISSUE
by Emmanue W. VEDRINE
Boston Haitian Reporter
Vol. 6, issue 7 (July 2007)

Who really cares about double nationality when more than 80% of Haitians are 
trying to leave Haiti to look for opportunities abroad, with the hope to help 
in return some of their love ones back home?

There is a Creole saying that says: Bourik te mèt fè santan nan lekiri li p ap 
janm tounen chwal (A donkey may spend 100 years at a stable, but will never 
become a horse). That’s is, if we were born Haitian, we’ll also died Haitian 
(whether we adopt another nationality of not).

The real issue to debate, I would say is what can we do to help Haiti somehow? 
Can we volunteer some of our time to help? For instance, going to Haiti to 
conduct free seminars; going to local communities (particularly where we come 
from) to see what they need and help that community somehow; visiting some 
schools in these areas (to observe the problems that students and teachers are 
facing and see how we can help them).

Double nationality is not what is going to solve the mountain of problems that 
Haiti has been facing over 200 years. Most Haitians who have adopted another 
nationality have nothing to do with not being a nationalist. As a matter of 
fact, we pretty much doubt that there are “true nationalists” nowadays in 
Haiti. As the Haitian singer, Toto Nesesite puts it, “Tout moun sou blòf ” 
(Everyone is fooling others).

None of us would think that Israel would be what it is today without a strong 
Jewish Diaspora, and the state of Israel was created only after the Second 
World War. How long ago has the state of Haiti been created? The answer: 2003 
year? Where is Haiti now, compared to Israel? There we go! Let’s discuss it! 
What can we learn them?

Not too long ago, I’ve launched an on-line campaign trying to make many 
Haitians think of this genuine idea: taking Fridays off in Haiti’s public 
schools to do activities with students instead of having them going to school 5 
days a week. Taking Fridays off would be a sort of practical education: 
teaching them a trade, organizing fieldtrips with them across the country, 
engaging them in some works or projects that the government is doing (they can 
help not only with joy, but they will also learn something). They will feel 
that they are contributing something to the development of their native land, 
and this would be part of real civics. They can learn a skill (e.g., how to 
ride a bike, a motorcycle, how to swim, how to drive a tractor, how to use a 
computer, how to type, what makes an engine and how it works, etc.).

These fieldtrips can include taking them to the nearby Dominican Republic where 
at least they would be able to compare and contrast the twin republic after 
seeing with their naked eyes what they two have and have not. When coming back 
to school on Monday, they’d write a report based on what they’ve done or 
observed that Friday. There is a lot that we, Haitians, can do for Haiti only 
if we really want to and many of us already have the potentials to do so. All 
the source of energy needed is already stored within us; so all we need is 
putting it into use.

E. W. Vedrine is the author of the forthcoming:
A HEALING PARADIGM FOR A NEW HAITI (essays)

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