Bonus Episode: "What Do You Really Know About Haiti?"

Voices of Haiti – Bonus Episode: “What Do You Really Know About Haiti?”

 

[Voices of Haiti intro begins]

 

Patrick: It was kind of surreal

 

Loune: I was there just after the earthquake. You have all the aftershocks…

 

Dimitri: And I could see all the chaos and destruction.

 

Anany: Why I should continue to live if all this have to happen to me?

 

[Intro fades out]

 

 

Leslie: Byenvini or welcome. I’m your host, Leslie Friday. Thank you for listening to Voices of Haiti, a Partners In Health podcast that shares the stories of our Haitian colleagues as they reflect on the January 12th 2010 earthquake.

We’re taking a break this week from our regular podcast. We’d like to share with you the audio from a short animated video Partners In Health produced in honor of the earthquake 10-year remembrance.

It’s called Haiti’s Truth, and it challenges stereotypes about Haiti, while presenting a series of events that defined the country’s past and now weigh heavily on present circumstances.

Today you’ll hear from Dr. Patrick Ulysse, chief operating officer of Partners In Health, who was in our last two episodes of Voices of Haiti. Then Loune Viaud, executive director of Zanmi Lasante, as PIH is known in Haiti, who was in episode 4. And finally, you’ll hear Dr. Maxo Luma, executive director of PIH in Liberia, who was in episode 3.

The video takes viewers from Haiti’s colonial days, through the 2010 earthquake, and up to the present.

The audio features music from Beken, a Haitian musician whose work was well known around the time of the earthquake.

 

[Tribilasyon by Beken plays]

 

Patrick: What do you really know about Haiti?

 

Loune: Like Oh, you read is like how Haiti is a basket-case. Haiti, always violence. They always talk about us in a negative way.

 

Patrick: In 1804, we had the Haitian revolution where Haiti become the first black nation. The only nation founded as the result of slave revolution.

 

Loune:  Haiti was one of the rich country in the hemisphere. We had gold, natural reserves. Unfortunately we’ve been going through a lot of challenges since our independence starting with the Spanish, France.

 

Patrick: Just to remember, Haiti had to pay reparation to France after their independence and just imagine after [how] much Haitians used their blood to get their independence.

 

Maxo: We had to pay for those western countries to even recognize our freedom, despite the fact we fought for it. You know? We-we fought for it. We took it.

 

Loune: After France you have the U.S. They all took most of our resources. It’s a series of bad events that make us where we are right now.

 

Maxo:   What really very scary, very dangerous [is] when you don’t know what you don’t know.

  Psychologically, this is a very strong nation.

 

Patrick:     Imagine how the movement of the Haitian revolution influenced the movement for freedom for the entire world.

Loune:    We should care about each other. What’s happening in Haiti, it will have an impact on the world.

 

[Tribilasyon by Beken fades]

 

Leslie:  If you would like to see the animated video, or learn and explore more stories about Zanmi Lasante and PIH, visit P-I-H-dot-org-backslash-haiti.

Our regular episodes will return next week, so follow Voices of Haiti on Spotify, or subscribe on Apple Podcast and Google Podcast.

Look for us @partnersinhealth on Instagram or @pih on Twitter, and DM us with any comments or questions.

As always, thank you for listening, and talk to you again on the next episode.

[End]