Swaf pou yon sosyete ayisyèn k ap fòme sitwayen l

(E. W. VEDRINE, 13 sept. 2005)


«Respè youn lòt» se yon koze ki trè enpòtan nan kad pou fè Ayiti avanse sou tout pwen. An(n) Ayiti, nou leve nan yon sosyete kote «lekòl» pa fè yon seri travay pou drese ti Ayisyen depi piti. Si w bezwen yon ti pyebwa grandi tou dwat, se depi piti pou swen l pou sa.

Lè n al fè fouy sou tèm nan, nou wè sou Divalye (e petèt menm avan), nou wè Ayiti divize an 2 mòso: La République d'Haïti et la République de Port-au-Prince. Se yon koze nou konnen ki te parèt aklè an sou batistè Ayisyen, kote depi w pa t fèt Pòtoprens, enben ou pa t konsidere kòm sitaden , kòm kapitalis. Yo te prèt pou konsidere w kòm yon sitwayen dezyèm klas. Brip la a, nou gen tan wè yon baryè divizyon ki tabli e ki bay nesans a plizyè tip «prejije» nan sosyete ayisyèn nan.

Pwoblèm nan pi grav toujou, menm kan yon moun ta fèt nan yon ti bouk, yon seksyon riral ki apateni a yon komin enben moun k ap viv andedan komin sa a (kote lameri chita ansanm ak tout lòt aktivite enpòtan komin nan) ta konsidere sitwayen ki fèt nan seksyon riral la kòm moun andeyò, peyizan, mònye, nèg fèy, gwo soulye1. Nan Kapital peyi a menm,  bliye sa! Moun Pòtoprens ta konsidere tout moun ki pa fèt Pòtoprens kòm moun pwovens (ki ta sanble yon efemis2 pou di: moun andeyò, peyizan) e anpil fwa, nou gen tan konn kisa sa enplike (pejorativman).

Donk, an gwo, lè nou gade pwoblèm Ayiti nou ka di pwoblèm yo soti depi anlè desann. Sètadi, yo pran sous yo nan moun k ap dirije, yo pran sous yo nan lekòl. Poukisa nou lonje dwèt jouda n sou moun k ap dirije? Sa a se yon bèl kesyon moun tilandeng ka poze e repons lan senp: yo gen pouvwa (vle l ou pa). Sa k enpòtan pou n gade anba etikèt «pouvwa» sa a, se konsekans oubyen enfliyans li pi devan. Sètadi gen tras yon modèl , yon machawuiv ki pa t bon e ke lòt jenerasyon annapre vin eritye.

Lè n di moun k ap dirije tou, nou pa rete senpleman nan kad «pouvwa politik» (kòm plizyè moun ta premye remake), men moun ki gen yon pouvwa kèlkonk, ki alatèt yon enstitisyon, yon asosyasyon, òganizasyon kèlkonk byenke endirèkteman, anpil ta gen tan vize gouvènman ak lekòl. Pa gen pwoblèm nonplis si sa antre nan lespri yo an premye.

Gouvènman an enpòtan antèm «kontwòl» li sou divès branch ki sou lobedyans leta e «lekòl» la enpòtan tou etan youn nan manman enstitisyon ki la pou l fòme. Men malerezman, anpil fwa lè nou gade pwoblèm yo an gwo, pwoblèm moun ki pase lekòl Ayiti bay (paske se plis moun ki pase lekòl ki mete Ayiti nan enpas kote l ye jounen jodiya men pa moun analfabèt yo) se yon bann ak yon pakèt. Donk kòm rezilta, nou ka di: tip lekòl ki egziste Ayiti yo, an majorite, yo plis «defòme» sitwayen olye yo ta «fòme».

Diskisyon nou toujou rete nan kad filyè manman sijè a. Li enposib nan diskisyon sa a pou nou ta kite lakay (fwaye a) kòm youn nan manman enstitisyon pou levasyon. Globalman lè n di «lekòl», nou lonje dwèt jouda n sou yon enstitisyon kote moun aprann. Donk nou vin wè «fwaye» (kote timoun nan leve) ta premye lekòl li. Nou te ka mete antouraj (vwazinaj kote l ap viv la) kòm dezyèm lekòl li epi lekòl (manman enstisyon ki ta dwe fòme l la) kòm twazyèm antouraj li (ou twazyèm lekòl li).

Nan premye anviwonnman an, fwaye, nou lonje dwèt jouda n ankò sou tèm «modèl» la. Pwovèb kreyòl la di nou: Joumou pa donnen kalbas; Ti rat pa fèt san ke. Biyolojikman, lè n antre nan semantik (sans) pwovèb la, nou wè yon kòd jenetik oubyen nou te ka di tou (ak yon lòt pawoli), Ti kochon ti san – toujou nan yon sans pou n fè wè modèl ke timoun nan kopye sou li. Pa egzanp, si papa l se yon gwògmann k ap kale manman l pou ti krik ti krak enben chans pou li menm pa ta bat lòt fanm pi devan lè l vin gran se yon bagay ki minim. Depi piti, si papa l ak manman l anseye l pou l di moun ki pi gran pase l bonjou tonton, bonjou matant enben sa rete ankre nan tèt li lè l vin gran. Si paran l anseye l pou l retire chapo nan tèt li lè l ap salye grandèt oubyen lè l antre nan yon kay enben, sa tounen yon koutim pou li lè l gran, e tout lòt koutim ki ta gen pou wè avèk respè pou moun, pou grandèt (tèlke pa egzanp: tande lè grandèt pale [ konsèy yo se boul lò ], tande lè y ap pale [pa koupe pawòl nan bouch yo], respekte yo elatriye… Tout sa antre nan kad sajès ki bon pou timoun nan lè l ap grandi.

Nou mansyone vwazinay kòm dezyèm antouraj ki ka gen yon enfliyans kèlkonk sou levasyon timoun nan. Wi, li enpòtan pou n fè remak sa a kote enfliyans sa a li menm, kapab pozitif ou negatif. Nan fouy nou, lè n antre nan pawòl filòzòf kouwè Jean-Jacques Rousseau, misye di nou ke lòm fèt ak tout bonte l men se sosyete a ki kowonpi l. Misye pa manti paske la a, nou kapab foure vwazinay, lekòl… kòm kèk engredyan ki konpozan yon sosyete kote timoun nan leve (andotretèm, si vwazinaj kote timoun nan ap viv la chaje ak koripsyon, enben chans pou timoun sa a pa vin kowonpi lè l gran se yon bagay ki minim. Si lekòl sa a kote timoun nan al pran fòmasyon se defòme l ap defòme, enben chans pou elèv sa a pa defòme pi devan, minim).

An gwo, nou toujou ap lonje dwèt jouda n sou mo ki rele «modèl» la, pase se yon miwa ke moun ki manm sosyete a ap gade ladan. E byen avan, nou te lonje dwèt jouda n sou enpòtans fwaye timoun (si l degrenn goch ou pa, epi repèkisyon ou enfliyans sa ka genyen nan levasyon timoun nan). An rezime, se tout yon kòd jenetik sosyal nou kapab wè ki prevwa konpòtman yon endividi nan sosyete l ap viv la.

nòt

  1. Anpil fwa, tèm sa yo ta itilize kòm tèm pejoratif. Nou dwe pran prekosyon lè n ap itilize yo dekwa pou n pa fwase pèsonn.
  2. Yon figi retorik ki sèvi pou evite britalite yon mo. (Wè Gramè Kreyòl Védrine pou plis detay sou figi retorik.
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Thirst for a Haitian society that is forming its citizen

(by E. W. VEDRINE)

13 sept. 2005

“Respect for one another” is another important issue in trying to make Haiti moving forward at all levels. We were raised in a society where “schools” don’t do a series of work to shape Haitian youngters since they were little. If you want a tree to grow straight, it’s since very young you have to take care of it.

When we investigate on the issue, we see under the Duvalier’s Administration (and even before) a divided Haiti or one that is divided into two parts: The Republic of Haiti and the Republic of Port-au-Prince. It’s something we know that appeared clearly on the Haitian birth certificate where if a person wasn’t born in Port-au-Prince, he was not considered to be “sitaden” (someone born in the capital city”. They almost consider that person as a "second class citizen". Right here, we see a sort of dividing barrier that is established and which gave rise to many types of “prejudices” in the Haitian society.

The problem that is worse, even when someone was born in a rural section of town, or a rural section pertaining to a “komin”, well people who are living within the center of that komin (where City Hall is located together with all important activities of the komin) would consider that citizen who is born in the rural section as “someone who comes from the country side”, “a peasant”, “nèg fèy”1 or “gwo soulye”2. In the country’s capital, forget it! Port-au-Prinians would consider everyone who was not born in Port-au-Prince as “people from the provinces” (which seems to be a euphemism for “people from the countryside”) and many times, we already know what that implies (pejoratively).

So, when we look at Haiti’s problems, we can say that the problems come from top to bottom; that is, they have their roots from the people who are leading; they have their roots from schools. Why do we point our finger on those who are leading? That is another nice question some challenging people would ask, and the answer is simple: they have the power (like it or not). What’s important for us to look at under the label of this “power” is: the consequences or influences ahead; that is, there are traces of a model that was not good and that the offspring have inherited it.

When we say people who are leading, we don’t just see those who are only in Politics (as many people would notice), but people who have a type of power somehow, who are heading some institutions, associations, organizations, somehow though indirectly  many of us would focus on the government and schools. No problem either if we were to think first that way.

They government is important in terms of their “control” on different branches that are under the state’s control and “school” is important also as being one of the key institutions that is there to form people. But, unfortunately, many times when we look at the problem as a whole, the problem that those who have been to school in Haiti cause (because it’s more those who have been to school who put the country in the dead-end where it is today, but not those who are illiterate) are a lot to enumarate. So, as a result, we can say: the type of schools that exist in Haiti, most of them “malform” the citizen instead of forming them.

Our discussion always remain focused on the development of the main subject. It is impossible in this discussion to leave out home (the heath) as one of the key institutions for the child’s upbringing. Globally when we say “school”, we point our finger on an institution where people are learning and receiving a formation. So we see “home”, where the child is brought up, to be the first school and school (the key institution that should have had the responsibility of forming him) as the third entourage (or his third school).

In the first environment, home, we point out our finger on the term “model”. The Creole saying says: Joumou pa donnen kalbas (--) ; Ti rat pa fèt san ke (--). Biologically speaking, we enter the semantics (the meaning) of the proverb. We see a genetic code or we could say also, with another proverb, “ Ti kochon ti san”– always in the sense to see a model that the child copies from. For example, if the father is a drunken man who is beating his mother for anything, well the chance for him not to beat other woman later when he becomes an adult is quite low. Since he was a child, if his mother and father teach him to greet people who are older than him by saying good day uncle, good day aunt, well that remains a habit for him when he becomes an adult. If his parents teach him to take off his hat when greeting elders or when entering a house, well that becomes a custom for him when he becomes an adult and all the other customs that would have to do with respect for people and for elders (such as for instance: listen to elders when they are talking [their advice are gold],  listen to them when talking [don’t cut them off], respect them, etc…). All of this enter the term wisdom that is good for the child when growing up.

We mention neighbor as the second entourage that can have an influence somehow on the child's upbringing. Yes, it is important to make such remark where this influence can be positive or negative. In our research when reading a philosopher like Jean-Jacques Rousseau, he tells us that man was born to be good but it’s society that corrupts him. He is not lying because here, we can put neighborhood, school… as some ingredients that compose a society where the child is raised (in other words, if the neighborhood where that child is living if filled with corruptions, the chance for him not to be corrupted when becoming an adult is something quite low. If this school the child is attending if malforming students, the chance for him not to be malformed later on is quite low).

Globally we point our finger on a word called “model” here, because it is a mirror in which people who are members of the society are looking at. Well, before, we point out the importance of the child’s home (whether it’s in good shape or not, and the repercussion or influence that can have upon his upbringing ). In short, it’s all a social code we can notice that foresees the behavior of a person in the society he is living.

Notes

  1. Many times, these terms are used as pejorative. We must be careful when using them in order not to hurt anyone.
  2. A rhetoric figure that is used to avoid the brutality of a word. (See Gramè Kreyòl Védrine for more details on rhetoric figures).
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Emmanuel W. Védrine
E. W. VEDRINE CREOLE PROJECT, Inc.
P.O.B. 255962
Dorchester, MA 02125-5110 (U.S)
e_vedrine@hotmail.com, e_vedrine@yahoo.com
 

 
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