Hey Haiti ...Here's Why I Started This Blog

I'm Haitian American, born in New York City and raised by a Haitian mother from Au Cayes, also known as Les Cayes. I've visited Haiti twice... once when I was 3 and again when I was 7.

My first experience is a little hazy, but I remember bits and pieces: boarding the plane, seeing the island and its trees for the first time, the kids, the people, all of it in the early-to-mid '90s. My second visit at 7 is my fondest and last memory of Haiti... visiting family in Port-au-Prince and Au Cayes. I remember the tap-taps, the goats and chickens, and the family guard dog, a Labrador Retriever. My grandparents fed me anything I wanted, especially Dous Makos and Tablet Kokoye. I remember hanging with my teenage cousin, watching the neighborhood kids play soccer, and playing pebble stone games like jwe mab.

As an adult, I've traveled to places like Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and those places have a way of triggering my 7-year-old memories of Haiti. The experience of being on those islands always makes me wish Haiti was somewhere I could easily travel to again. We all know the current situation in 2026... the sanctions, the gangs controlling parts of the country... all of it making travel unsafe.

I started this blog as a place to keep up with Haiti and the Haitian diaspora, to focus on the positive and progressive, and to hold onto a vision of Haiti's future that I can enjoy, visit, invest in, and one day call home.

translation to creole:

Alo Ayiti.. Men Poukisa Mwen Te Kòmanse Blog Sa a

Mwen se yon Ayisyen-Ameriken, mwen fèt nan vil Nouyòk epi mwen grandi ak yon manman Ayisyèn ki soti Au Cayes, ke yo rele tou Les Cayes. Mwen te vizite Ayiti de fwa... yon fwa lè m te gen 3 an epi yon lòt fwa lè m te gen 7 an. Premye eksperyans mwen an yon ti jan flou, men mwen sonje ti moso enfòmasyon: lè m te monte nan avyon an, lè m te wè zile a ak pyebwa li yo pou premye fwa, timoun yo, moun yo, tout bagay sa yo nan kòmansman rive nan mitan ane 90 yo. Dezyèm vizit mwen an a 7 an se pi bèl e dènye souvni mwen genyen de Ayiti... lè m te vizite fanmi nan Pòtoprens ak Au Cayes. Mwen sonje tap-taps yo, kabrit yo ak poul yo, ak chen gad fanmi an, yon Labrador Retriever. Granparan m yo te ban m manje nenpòt sa m te vle, espesyalman Dous Makos ak Tablet Kokoye. Mwen sonje m te pase tan ak kouzen adolesan mwen an, m t ap gade timoun nan katye a jwe foutbòl, epi m t ap jwe jwèt ak wòch tankou jwe mab. Antanke granmoun, mwen te vwayaje nan kote tankou Pòtoriko ak Zile Vyèj Ameriken yo, epi kote sa yo gen yon fason pou yo reveye souvni mwen te genyen de Ayiti depi 7 an. Eksperyans mwen te sou zile sa yo toujou fè m swete Ayiti te yon kote mwen te ka fasilman vwayaje ankò. Nou tout konnen sitiyasyon aktyèl la an 2026... sanksyon yo, gang yo k ap kontwole pati nan peyi a... tout bagay sa yo fè vwayaj la pa an sekirite. Mwen te kòmanse blog sa a kòm yon kote pou m rete okouran de Ayiti ak dyaspora Ayisyèn nan, pou m konsantre sou bagay pozitif ak pwogresif yo, epi pou m kenbe yon vizyon sou lavni Ayiti ke mwen ka jwi, vizite, envesti ladan l, epi yon jou rele lakay mwen.

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