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Diplomas and the Haitian Diplomés' Mission

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Diplomas and the Haitian Diplomés' Mission E. W. Vedrine's Complete Works, including works on Haitian Creole (1992-2005) DIPLOMAS AND THE HAITIAN DIPLOMÉS' MISSION (by Emmanuel W. Vedrine) Dec. 13, 2004 Well, it's a good idea to have DIPLOMAS and I would encourage anyone to go for them. We have been living in a society where the majority of people are ILLITERATE. That has had so far a great impact on that country's development. The more educated people are, the better it is for a country, and we can certainly understand why most French would agree with this phrase: “The French are the resources of France ”. But the BIG questions we may ask are the followings: 1. What have most of those with many DIPLOMAS done for Haiti? 2. What have most of those with many DIPLOMAS contributed to the building of a new Haitian society? We could go on and on asking a series of questions pertaining to the issue, an important one if we would like to get deeper and deeper in the MISSION of the “literate citizen”. Today, it is not surprising to many of us to hear that “THE LITERATE HAITIANS HAVE CONTRIBUTED MOSTLY TO THE FALL OF HAITI”. We could certainly go into details with this issue by developing a whole “philosophy from the Haitian Reality”. A renown Haitian scholar (a man of science and letters), Dr. Jean Metellus, a retired professor of Medicine from the prestigious College de France in Paris and one of Haiti's renown writers, states in his book of essays “Haiti une nation pathétique” that Education in Haiti has always been “un cheval de bataille” used by elite to get to power (in the sense that once getting there, they would do great things about it – quite a nice promise to get votes and people's attention, but as soon as they get there they don't perform it. When one starts reading The 1987 Haitian Constitution, oh Lord! It's so beautiful, and anyone who happens to know a little bit about The First Independent Black Country in the world would say “Gee! These people are quite advanced democratically ” particularly when reading these sections on education: Article 32 : The State guarantees the right to education. It sees to the physical, intellectual, moral, professional, social and civic training of the population. Article 32-1 : Education is the responsibility of the State and its territorial divisions. They must make schooling available to all, free of charge, and ensure that public and private sector teachers are properly trained. Article 32-2 : The first responsibility of the Sate and its territorial divisions is education of the masses, which is the only way the country can be developed. The States shall encourage and facilitate private enterprise in this field. 1 E. W. Vedrine's Complete Works, including works on Haitian Creole (1992-2005) Article 32-3 : Primary schooling is compulsory under penalties to be prescribed by law. Classroom facilities and teaching materials shall be provided by the State to elementary school students free of charge. Article 32-9 : The State and its territorial divisions have the duty to make all necessary provisions to intensify the literacy campaign for the masses. They encourage all initiatives to that end. Article 32-10 : Teachers are entitled to a fair salary. Article 33 : There shall be freedom of education at all levels. This freedom shall be exercised under the control of the State. Well, some Haitian critics may say that it's still early because this Constitution is not yet 100% observed because of the power of darkness that still reigns over the sacred land of Dessalines after the Duvalier's Dynasty. In other words, military dictatorships, internal warfare, civilian dictatorship, “caudillismo”, and a whole reign of terror within the concept of “power of darkness”. The questions in point “1” and “2” should be our focus, and they are also questions for any individual with DIPLOMAS to take a moment to reflect on them. Nothing wrong and absolutely wrong when you go to school, you work hard to get a diploma or diplomas in any discipline. But, what are you going to do vis-à-vis your community /your country in this sense after receiving them? Are you just going to hang them on your house, office walls to impress people? It's good that you have certain qualifications and it's also good for people to know about it, but what is your vision in the sense of changing your community /your country for the best with all the knowledge you've acquired? Our Haitian society has been quite a selfish one, and I should say with no doubt that our scholars have contributed a great deal to the underdevelopment of our country, and to all of its chaos. This is not something new to some of us who have been trying very hard to tell the truth, even if it is risky sometimes. If we go back in history, it has been the same old song, the same tango since after Haiti 's independence where when MOST Haitian scholars after returning from Europe did NOTHING that would change our society or have a POSTIVE impact on it. They've have been an “élite de vaut rien” with neither a short-term nor a long-term vision for the country's development. Scholars MOST take position or side when their countries are in danger. Their voice must be heard when their countries are facing chaos. Haiti is in chaos today under a third visual OCCUPATION and the saddest part of it, the year of its bicentennial of independence when everyone should have united to celebrate with joy and love such an event. So far, nobody knows for sure how long it will last or what it will bring and what impact it will have on our future generations. At this moment we can only guess and keep on guessing. 2 E. W. Vedrine's Complete Works, including works on Haitian Creole (1992-2005) If we are occupied today, truly it is not of the U.S, Canada and France's fault but rather the fault of some of our scholars, our brothers and of many of our politicians or the so- called “leaders” who have invited them to do so in the first place for their own interests. But at the same time, they (those who have invited them) are embarrassed in a way because of their prior expectations. Now if they are smart enough, they must reflect on the taste of occupation. Quite a wrong bet! It is not the fault of the Haitian peasants, the beggars, the little merchants, the illiterates, the innocent children who are sleeping in the streets of Port-au-Prince, the little “restavèk” who have been in-house slaves across the country all their lives or all of the underdogs who are also members of our corrupted society. It's not their fault at all for they can neither read nor write. They have never been to school. They can't go to Washington to lobby in English. They can't speak neither French nor English to be in touch with the International Community that pretends to help Haiti through the powerless U.N. But they are not blind. They've been experiencing on a daily basis the Haitian Reality. They see things with their naked eyes. They can only express themselves behind closed doors with some of their close friends or neighbors. What do most of our scholars do today in the process of DECOLONIZING Haiti as our forefathers have done two hundred years ago? The answer is grate santi or nothing and a absolutely nothing. This is the reality right here in front of us, a mirror in which we are looking at ourselves, and a part of the Haitian Reality. Who can talk about the morgue's condition of Haiti's General Hospital (where hundred of bodies are in putrefaction there; among them, bodies of many innocent citizen who have been gunned down this year, bodies of those who dies because of lack of ! medical care)? If only that morgue could talk… if only these ravines with headless corpses around Port-au-Prince neighborhoods could talk… if only the skinny and hungry dogs that are strolling down the streets days and night in search of a meat-less bone could talk… if only those silent witnesses could let us and the whole world hear their shocking voices of what they have perceived… If only God could talk directly to us, telling us the whole truth… Who can talk about violation of human right that has been going on since the beginning of March of 2004? Who can talk about innocent children who are sleeping in the streets that group of armed bandits kill for no reason in a clean-up process? Who can talk about the condition of the prisoners who've been there since March and have never seen a judge? Who can talk about the real mission of the U.N soldiers, parading the streets of Port-au-Prince and other parts of the country? Are they really doing something to help the people when Port- au-Prince has become a new Baghdad or are they just there for vacations, enjoying the good weather of the country and have all types of fun? What happen to all those people with many diplomas from big universities abroad? Those who also reside in Diaspora? Are they dead? Are they blind? Can they talk? Can! they think? Can they really write? Thinking about the issue has inspired me to write “Nos intellectuels dans l'Histoire Dayiti” (our scholars in Haiti 's history).
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