30644: Fofoye: (reply) Re: 30624: Karshan (reply) Re: 30602: Leslie (ask) Martial Arts practice... (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: FOFOYE@aol.com

Many of us living abroad tend to underestimate the progress taking place
gradually in Haiti. We hear of the bad things and tend to forget that there is
an every day life there, with real people making choices everyday that  affect
their lives and the society.
Martial arts have been practiced in Haiti for years and so has Yoga,  pilates
or ballet. My uncle was jailed under Papa Doc and only yoga  kept him from
losing his mind.

People there are even more progressive than some I have met here.  Those who
can afford it, travel to Europe, Asia and the States and take  ideas back with
them. I communicate often with some who live  there, and I often receive
ecards, attachments and all kinds of ezines  from them.

The change is manifested in many aspects. The son of a boss mason I  knew as
a child became an engineer, and his daughter is in her third  year of medical
school. I even met vendors on the street who were fluent in  several languages.
There is also a social conscience and  awareness among the youth that many
will find surprising. I  was honored to celebrate my birthday with a group of
children at an  orpahnage who  baked me a cake and sang me happy  birthday 
after
we ate dinner togather. A couple of young men at the  orphanage needed a ride
back home to Cite Soleil, and I volunteered to drop  them off. One of them
coached soccer to the kids, and shared with  me during the ride how he used the
sport as a tool to  teach them team work, sportsmanship and social skills. The
 other, a poet taught them performing arts, and was preparing a  theater
presentation with his sister.
When later that day my husband borrowed the band's guitar at the  hotel where
we stayed to play me a song, the waiter followed with  a song of his own in
Spanish, needless to say that he was fluent in that  language as well as
French, English and Creole.
The orphans last month participated in an international competition in
Arizona and walked away with mopst of the awards, and I look forward  to seeing
them all very soon when I move back there after a forty year  absence.
Haitians are a smart people with few resources, but that will not  stop us
from seeing the day when we shall overcome it all, thanks to people  like Bob
Corbett.



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