Anpil men, chay pa lou
With many hands a load is not heavy … Creole Proverb
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – There may be a lot of truth found in this Haitian Creole proverb … and especially poignant after packing 16 suitcases of school supplies, diapers, vitamins, duct tape, sandpaper and paint brushes and heading out to Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Va., after a light dusting of snow.
Last month, I was part of a team of 11 volunteers from Northern Virginia leaving during the wee hours of Presidents’ Day would arrive at Toussaint L’Ouverture International Airport six hours later to the beat of Carnival songs. There were still signs of the 2010 earthquake — from the rubble of the old airport and about 20,000 still living in a tent city.
The sense of frustration over the slow progress of improvements was palpable on the way to Croix-des-Bouquets, a suburb that lies just 8 miles north of the capital. Driving down National Route 1, several bystanders shouted epithets and waved obscene gestures.
“U.S. food aid destroyed the poultry industry here,” said Bert Anderson, director of the Village of Hope School in nearby Ganthier. Haitian farmers can’t compete with imports of cheaper chicken. This also is true of rice and corn — staples of the Haitian diet, priced too low.
Last fall, four historically Black colleges and universities — Virginia State, Florida A&M, Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Central State — worked with the State University of Haiti, the Caribbean country’s largest institution of higher education, to identify needs, according to Dr. Frederick Humphries, FAMU’s former president and coordinator of a consortium of 12 HBCUs.
