Fri May 18, 2012
Junette Maxis
Hope for the Future
“A little space for all children, a little space we are asking all adults
Whether it’s on the radio, on TV, or newspapers, we want a chance so we can do our homework
We are children today, but tomorrow we’ll have your responsibilities.
We just want a chance so we can prepare for tomorrow. If we are given that chance, tomorrow there will be no suffering.”
International Children’s Day will be celebrated on June 15 in Haiti
Haiti’s Hope
By Junette Maxis, Haiti – June 2010
I sang this song in Creole when I was a child but today I feel like screaming the words. Why? Because the children in Haiti have never been given a chance – they’ve never had the chance to live like “normal” children, let alone have a chance to prepare for their successful futures.
In Haiti, generations children have endured the same struggles. They fight to survive – often risking their lives for a better tomorrow. Days come and go and nothing ever changes. We dream that tomorrow will be better. It never is.
In trying to change my future, I met with “Active Thinkers,” a relatively new group comprised of Haitian students who, in 2008, were directed to help rebuild our country.
I first met the group at the Champs de Mars in Port-Au-Prince. After a couple of drinks, we felt ready to leave the bad things behind us and focus on the future.
“Man, why is it so hard for God to move forward with us, Negroes,” one man said. “We have come a long way, but it’s hard to pull us out. Remember the times when we were five, six, eight years old, when little Negroes didn’t know the difference between a rainy day and a hurricane? Every day was just a normal day? Rain be falling heavily, lightning be striking the sky, trees be falling everywhere. Little Negroes had no idea what was going on. We’d be running everywhere filling bags with mangos and apricots, then going home to enjoy. Remember those times?”
How could one ever forget those times, when nature, whether it brought good or bad news, was always a good friend, a mother. The saying then was, a mother never bites her child to the bone.
“Times have changed since then,” another person said. “But Negroes haven’t really changed that much you know. Remember 2004, when a boy needed to go to school, the streets were on fire, tires were burning everywhere, guns were shooting from everywhere, and yet Negroes took the road. Negroes’ feet never get tired. Running, jumping, there was no wall feet couldn’t climb – nowhere they couldn’t go. Funny thing is, Negroes would never lose their heavy bags of books and notebooks. We were rebellious…we never stopped for nothing when it came to reaching school.”
Haitian students are known for their strong determination in completing their studies. Since social participation is very limited or non-existent, school is the only thing students can hold on to. It is a treasure on which one’s entire existence depends. Once you have it you will risk your life to secure it.
“Guys,” another person interrupted my thoughts, “I don’t talk about those days. They remind me of Ti-Max. Remember T-Max? The dude who every day would make the trip from Leogane to Port-Au-Prince to attend the university? Poor dude, he spent three consecutive all-nighters because he was scared he would not make it back for the exams if went home. When exams were over, he was determined that he would make it home despite the danger in the streets. He was shot just 15 minutes after he left the university. Even now, I can hardly believe that we lost Ti-Max. His intelligence was unique.”
Life as a student had never been worse than it was in 2004, after the ex-president Jean Bertrand Aristide was exiled. For many gunmen, the uniform – any uniform was the desired target. It was less dangerous to be anything but a student in a school uniform. T-Max was a victim of that time.
Maybe we realized something that night in 2008. Despite everything – the earthquake, the political corruption and turbulent times in which we live in Haiti – we are nonetheless among the lucky few who survived higher education for reasons other than the educational challenges.
One question stayed with me since that night – “If you don’t do it, who is going to do it for you?” Like many other Haitians, these students claimed ownership of their educational responsibilities to make Haiti a better place to live.
The members of “Active Thinkers” were all students at the State University in Haiti. Most of them are our country’s future engineers. They share a common goal – to bring together all of the students in the country to help rebuild it.
I wondered why these students became engaged in this mission. “We want to set an example for the younger generations after us,” one person said. “We want them to know that their hard work is not in vain, that there is something they can get if they work hard for it. We want them to know that life does not reside only outside of Haiti. Life can be built here. It requires great vision, a good strategy, and hard work. Today we are surviving, but tomorrow we want them to live.”
Haiti has been fighting a multi dimensional war, a war against a political, economic and social instability. In the process of attacking those issues, it has been primarily established political figures and international NGOs that have been invited to discuss solutions. Students are always left out of these discussions. Yet no group is intellectually better equipped to identify the problems of the country and mobilize communities. Amidst the struggles of daily life, it is the students who are dedicated to building a Haiti where younger generations can live and not just survive.
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wow, that is just amazing how you have said out loud what we are all whispering…Maxi, I know that you are an amazing young woman, which Haiti really needs right now…thank you for inspiring me, my fellow haitian women….Keep up….very proud of you..