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Marc Vanhauter Part 3
Dear
Wednesday, the 6th of September, we left at 6.45 am to commence our trip to Mombin Crochu. What a Haitian achievement!!! The day before Jan announced that we would leave at 7 am to avoid the big rush at the ‘carrefour’. I added, smiling that who was not in the car at 7, wasn’t going to join us. A weakness of the Haitian is that they do not bother about an agreed timing for things. So you can imagine how amazed I was when I arrived the last to take my seat in the car. Everyone really had fun about me being last. Maybe they wanted to pull my leg a little, this way.
It was, as I remembered from my last trip to Mombin Crochu (which I undertook seven years ago with my partner Gino deceased), an exhausting trip. At first it is comfortable as we are driving on asphalted road but then it deteriorates step by step and becomes all roads of grind and finally sand. Just when you think, it cannot get any worse, you notice after the next turn through the mountains that it can. Jan was demanded to use the extremity of his driving skills and experience. Mainly the route between Hinche and Mombin Crochu is really miserable and deteriorates more and more as you approach Mombin Crochu. At the end you cannot talk about a road any more but you are driving straight on the rocks. The distance Port-au-Prince and Mombin Crochu is 171 kilometers, but we had to drive during 6.15 hours to drive this distance. In Haiti the distance is not indicated in kilometers but in the time, which is needed to get from one place to the other. In Hinche we stopped for a break. After having visited the young people, whom we will take with us when we return to Port-au-Prince, we paid a visit to the 'atelier' (studio) from Piet, a colleague of Jan. This studio is divided in three parts, a cabinetmakers’ part, a smidge and a garage. This project is taking care of it own proceeds. The main attention is pointed at the production. They are working for externals, as well for religious societies as for schools and Haitian private persons. This is also an educational center pointing at the practice. The responsibles of the 3 departments are fix personnel but the other co-workers, are following a practical training during 2 years. The experience they got here can be used to find much faster a job somewhere else. Around 2 pm we arrived at Mombin Crochu. As mentioned before, without the stop of 1 hour, we drove 6 hours and 15 minutes. Under the circumstances this can be considered to be fast. But, Jan is a very experienced driver in Haiti. After everyone got out of the car, we still needed to bring Floraine home; she lives 9 kilometer from the centre on the road of Bois de Laurence. You can imagine that also this short distance took some time. After this exhausting trip I went to bed at 7.30 pm already and I slept until 17.15 am the next morning. After a revitalizing shower (only cold water) and a nice breakfast, I started exploring for the second time Mombin Chrochu. First I visited, together with Jan and Wilnise and Védeline, the currently unused working place where they used to cultivate manioc into cassava. This project stopped because it didn’t respond to the real need. After all, in the environment, there is not a lot of cultivation of manioc and it had to be imported from far. Subsequently we went to the nearby host centre, where groups can spend the night and can use the infrastructure (kitchen, hall etc.) There are 2 bedrooms with bunk beds. The showers only have cold water. When we will be visiting Monbin Crochu with the Cunina Godparents they would have to spend the night here. We terminated the morning with a visit to Nadège, who joined us from the foyer, and is spending some days at her home (with her parents). After lunch, I was able to observe 4 voodoo-rites, which were taking place in front of the church. This was related to the parish party in honor of the patron saint of the liberation. The simplest ceremony is the voodoo-prayer. This can be done in-group or individually. Whenever a Haitian wants to get something from his or Loa (spirit) then he or she put a ‘rad de voeu’ on (oath dress). The color of this dress depends on the Loa; the color of the saint of liberation for example is white and blue. Red and blue is the color of the Loa Ogoun, the spirit of fire and war, which is recognized in Saint-Jacob. This 'rad de voeu' needs to be consecrated in advance by a bokor (voodoo priest). Also this event, I witnessed. I also witnessed the fact that she put out her normal outfit and changed into the oath dress in white and blue. An other oath cloth, which I saw as well, was made out of Jute sacs. When someone wears such an oath dress, this means that he or she needs to hold a pilgrimage; he or she needs to participate in the Voodoo activities from July until September, in different villages. The third Voodoo rite, which I could experience, was more complicated. It was the offering of food (rice with beans) to the Loa and this ended with the distribution of food to the participants. At another place, they hit on several congas, while the participants of this ceremony danced on the rhythm of the music and got into trance. Once in a while they blew 1 or 3 horns and this in the different wind directions. I also saw (this rite and other ones) a Haitian women being possessed by a Loa. All these rites are accompanied by a bokor (a voodoo priest). Although a distinction needs to be made between a bokor and a houngan. A houngan also is a voodoo priest but someone who has more respect than a bokor. A houngan is trained and this consecration to become a houngan is given from father to son. A houngan really knows very thoroughly the voodoo-religion. A bokor is someone who nominates himself. Many become a bokor because they can gain money with it.
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