Content Knowledge Project:

Haiti
by J ohn Harder
UNC Charlotte

Website: http://contentknowledgeprojectjohnharde.weebly.com/































This Content Knowledge Project is about defining and explaining the Half-Island
Nation of Haiti. This nation is starkly different from our own nation and it is a good
thing for students to learn. So they learn not just about differences in religion, politics,
economics, and culture; but also so they learn to appreciate the differences and what they
have.

Culture

Beyond mountains, lie more mountains. This old Haitian saying is key to their
culture, the saying on the surface seems about the country, which is very mountainous
and beautiful but it means something else entirely. This saying is talking about an old
Haitian belief that beyond their problems, lie more problems (Schwartz, n.d.). This
saying has been true for years in Haiti. With their upheaval in politics, from a more
democratic nation to a dictatorship to an elitist system now. These people have been
through the wringer.
As you step off the plane into the hot, sticky city that is Port-Au-Prince, you will
hear "Bonjou, Me a Ayiti!" shouted at you from all the native Haitians eager to carry your
bags, but only for a price. The main language spoken in Haiti, or Ayhiti (Ay-A-ti) as the
locals call it, is Creole. Creole is a mixture of French, Spanish, and English. Only 2-5%
of the country speaks pure French fluently (Schwartz, n.d.). But since that is a symbol of
high status many will say that they do speak French. The country is not separated into
any official castes or classes, rather only two groups, almost three. The rich elite and the
tear-jerkingly poor. A middle class is slowly emerging into Haiti, but seriously, slowly
emerging. Haitians work in seemingly a few roles. Farmers, Merchants, and the Elite.
Farmers do what their name suggests and they farm their own small private plot of land,
depending on the work and skill of themselves and their families to survive and eke out a
living. The Merchants are the ones on the side of the street and in the small markets.
The one's whose life mission has been made to invade your personal space and sell you
anything and everything they can for a profit. They may seem jovial and nice, and
usually are, just don't make them angry (Schwartz, n.d.).
When they are not working Haitians love to be outside with their families. The
national sport is soccer and they know it. If you carry a soccer ball down the street in an
instant you will have a horde of young Haitians begging you to play soccer. And when
you say yes, they will beat you raw in the game. No question about it. For Haitians
soccer is like American football to us. They love it and their games seem to have the
same tackle rules. Celebrations are also a big part of the culture. There are celebrations
for marriages, baptisms, birthdays, and other holidays. Dancing is prevalent at these
celebrations to go with the music comprised of drums and acoustic guitars.
In Haiti marriage is not as big of a deal as it is here in the United States. Most
Elites are expected to be married but those not in the Elite society are not. Often a
relationship is respected without marriage once the man has built a house for his "wife"
and they have a child (Schwartz, n.d.). Yes you heard me, he has to build a house, none
of this buy one business. Usually couples get married when their children are nearing
adult status. Speaking of the children, in Haiti they are seen as gifts from God in some
families and not in others but they are always important. Mothers will sacrifice their own
health for that of their children in ways we couldn't imagine here. Children are seen as a
blessing but they are also required to respect their families and physical punishment is not
unusual.
As for food, Rice and beans is a staple, and the national food in Haiti. If you go
there you will end up sick and tired of rice and beans, because they eat it with almost
every meal. Haitians are also fond of eating goat meat as well with their rice and beans.
Other important food include sweet potatoes, manioc, yams, corn, rice, pigeon peas,
cowpeas, bread, and coffee (Schwartz, n.d.). And once a mean is done the sweets come
out, important treats include sugarcane, mangoes, sweetbread, peanut and sesame seed
clusters made from melted brown sugar, and candies made from bitter manioc flour.
People sometimes make a crude but highly nutritious sugar paste called rapadou.
Haitians though do not eat like we do here in the U.S. They eat generally two meals a
day. One in the morning, and one in the afternoon with a small snack before bed. Those
in the Elite culture have the benefit of togetherness and family meals but other Haitians
generally just sit and eat wherever is most comfortable (Schwartz, n.d.).
Haitian culture is extremely varied and different from anything here in the U.S.
and more specifically North Carolina; and could not possibly be completely covered in
this website no matter how thoroughly researched. So if you want to learn more please
go to http://www.everyculture.com/Ge-It/Haiti.html#ixzz30G6Hf9US They are a
poverty stricken nation of farmers but they always find a way. And they are on their way
to healing as a people, slowly but surely. Not in leaps and bounds but in small struggles
and stumbles.

Economics

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and one of the poorest in
the world. It is a nation of small farmers, referred to as peasants, who work small private
plots of land and depend primarily on their own labor and that of family members.
Although only 30 percent of the land is considered useable for agriculture, more than 40
percent of the land is worked (Schwartz, n. d.). Real life income for the average family
has not increased much if at all in over twenty years and has declined with alacrity in
rural areas. In most rural areas, the average family of six earns less than $500 per year if
that.
Since the 1960s, the country has become heavily dependent on food imports
primarily rice, flour, and beansfrom other countries, particularly from the United States.
Other major imports from the United States are used material goods such as clothes,
bikes, and motor vehicles. Haitian production has become primarily domestic, because
the items they make are almost entirely for domestic consumption (Schwartz, n. d.). A
vigorous internal marketing system dominates the economy and includes trade not only in
agricultural produce and livestock but also in homemade crafts.
The land game is where it's at in Haiti. The market is vicious and fast moving.
Empty land is quickly taken over by squatters and other land is sold quickly to finance a
major life crisis, birth, or burial. Land is also bought, transferred, traded, and sold often
and most likely without documentation of the transaction (Schwartz, n. d.). There is a
thriving market based on female merchants selling goods like sugar and tobacco to
anyone who will buy it.
In the 1800s, the country exported wood, sugarcane, cotton and coffee, but by the
1960s, even the production of coffee, long the major export, had been all but strangled
down through excessive taxation, and lack of investment in new trees, among other
things. Recently, coffee has yielded to mangoes as the primary export. Other exports
include cocoa and essential oils for the cosmetics and pharmaceutical companies. Haiti
has sadly become a major transshipment point for illegal drug trafficking due to the
gridlock of the country that prevents proper law enforcement from doing their job
(Schwartz, n.d.). Haiti has one mill and only one cement factory. So most of their
cement they have to use is imported from China and Cuba. Most imports though come
predominately from the U.S. and include used clothing, mattresses, rice, and other items
(Schwartz, n.d.).

Religion

There are three main religions that compete every day to become the dominate
one. The country religion is labeled as Catholicism and is widely practiced, just not like
we would here in the U.S. Those in Haiti don't usually have too much extra time to get to
mass, or even a church to go to within walking distance. The percentage of professing
Catholics has decreased from 90% to near 70% as of 2000 (Schwartz, n. d.).
Haiti is famous for it's "black magic religion" also known as voodoo or "serving
the lwa". It is popularized as black magic and in some places that is what it is practiced
as but most who practice voodoo in Haiti do it for the healing powers and do not see the
lwa as demons to be avoided like the Catholics and Christians do. Many have rejected
voodoo entirely becoming "mixed Catholics" that do not associate with the lwa (Schwartz,
n. d.).
As for those that live in Haiti to serve their religion and aside from the priests of
the Catholic Church and thousands of Protestant ministers, many of them trained and
supported by evangelical missions from the United States, informal religious people are
everywhere. Most notable are the voodoo specialists known by different names in
different regions ( houngan, bok, gangan ) and referred to as manbo in the case of
women. (Females are viewed as having the same spiritual powers as males, though in
practice there are more houngan than manbo; or more males than females.) There are also
bush priests ( p savann ) who read specific Catholic prayers at funerals and other
occasions, and hounsi, initiated women who serve as ceremonial assistants to the
houngan or manbo (Schwartz, n. d.).
Belief in the afterlife depends heavily on the religion that that particular Haitian
subscribes too. Strict Catholics and Protestants believe in the existence of reward or
punishment after death. While practitioners of voodoo assume that the souls of all the
deceased go to an abode "beneath the waters," that is often associated with lafrik gine
(Schwartz, n. d.). Concepts of reward and punishment in the afterlife are alien to those
who practice voodoo. The moment of death is marked by ritual wailing among family
members, friends, and neighbors. Funerals are very important social events and involve
several days of social events, including feasting and the consumption of rum and other
special foods. Family members come from far away to sleep at the house, and friends and
neighbors will gather. Men sometimes play dominoes or other games while the women
cook meals (Schwartz, n. d.). Usually within the week but sometimes several years later,
funerals are followed by the pri, which includes nine nights of socializing and ritual.
Burial monuments and other mortuary rituals are often costly and elaborate. But Haitians
still pay for them as they are so important to their culture (Girard, 2010).

Political

Political life was dominated between 1957 and 1971 by the initially popular, but
quickly brutal, dictator Franois "Papa Doc" Duvalier. He was elected in 1957 and
quickly drove his enemies into exile from Haiti and then he had himself made President
of Haiti for Life. Haitians began fleeing for their lives from the brutality that Papa Doc
brought to the country (Coyne, 2008). And just as his reign seemed to be coming to a
close he was able to pass an amendment that his son (Baby Doc) could continue in his
father's place as the automatic President for Life. Papa Doc died on April 21, 1971 and
the next day his son took power over Haiti as the President for Life (Girard, 2010).
Jean-Claude Duvalier reigned much in the way that his father had and kept a tight
leash on the Haitian people. Soon after becoming President For Life he married in 1980
and later created a post for Prime Minister in Haiti and amended the President For Life
law so that he could appoint his own successor (Coyne, 2008). Later that year three boys
were killed in an anti-government demonstration. Early in the year after that it was
rumored that Baby Doc had fled the country. A few days later, he and his entourage took
a quick tour of Haiti as a show of force (Girard, 2010). Then he fled the country. A mass
upheaval occurred involving Baby Doc's military, the UN and a host of other countries.
Eventually the President for Life rule was taken out and a congress of sorts was put into
place (Coyne, 2008).
Since 1995 the U.S. Government has had a hand in guiding Haiti's future through
Rene Preval who has ruled the country. Though much of his rule is made ineffective by
the poor and gridlocked country.
Ever since Haitis independence vigilante justice has been a mounting problem.
Especially in the gridlocked country (Girard, 2010). Mobs frequently kill criminals and
abusive authorities. With the breakdown in state authority that occurred over most of the
20th century comprised of political chaos, both crime and vigilantism have increased.
The security of life and of property has become the most challenging issue facing the
country of Haiti as a whole (Coyne, 2008) (Schwartz, n. d.).

References
Common Core State Standards. (n.d.). Retrieved April 29, 2014, from
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/acre/standards/new-standards/social-
studies/6.pdf
Schwartz T. T. (n.d.). Countries and Their Cultures: Culture of Haiti. Retrieved April 29,
2014, from http://www.everyculture.com/Ge-It/Haiti.html
Coyne, C. J. (2008). After war: the political economy of exporting democracy.
Stanford, Calif.: Stanford Economics and Finance.
Ghachem, M. W. (2012). The Old Regime and the Haitian Revolution. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Girard, P. R. (2010) Haiti: The Tumultuous History--from Pearl of the Caribbean to
Broken Nation. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Haitian Culture Sheet. (n.d.). . Retrieved April 29, 2014, from
http://www.in.gov/isdh/files/Hatian_Culture_tip_sheet-IDMH.pdf
The World's Favorite Currency Site. (n.d.). XE: (---/---) --- to --- Rate. Retrieved April
29, 2014, from http://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/convert/?Amount=1
&From=USD&To=HTG
"Timeline of Haitian History." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 02 Aug. 2014. Web.
10 Feb. 2014.