Follow up - Do not give up on yourself

When it was announced that mineral wealth was found in Haiti, I was so glad that I instantaneously forwarded the good news to all my friends and readers. I took no time to think. Perhaps if I did I would have not passed the news on. I'm glad I did. For, a good news is a good news - even when it is about Haiti. Not too long ago a friend was telling me about a documentary on NPR indicating that Haiti has been doing relatively well in controlling the AIDS virus. They did not expect that. Good news again. We all who are of age would never forget when AIDS was very bad news for Haitian. The fact is there could be bad news; there could be good news.

We are the ones who should continue to work to bring more good news and reduce bad news.

I don't want any of my friends and readers to give up on the mother country. Haiti is us. Of course one could take certain standing against what is wrong in Haiti or with Haitians. I have no problem with that. In fact, I encourage that. We should never accept what is wrong. For instant, I strongly deplore the current government's aggressive taxing of the Diaspora, (phone, transfer, airplane ticket, etc.). Likewise, some people may support that. That's okay. The point is, we are all still Haitian. In the industry that I am, almost a day does not go by that someone does not ask me where I am from. And, I am always obliged to respond, "Haiti." No matter how negative it may sound, I cannot deny my nationality. And, many people would not buy it from me anyway. For, they are quick to respond, "I thought so," when hearing that I am Haitian. Plus, they are quick too to make you feel the negativeness of yourself, as they would begin to throw sympathy on the poor Haitian nature. Still, after all, Haitian we are.

We have the tendency to blame all others for what has gone wrong. We are innocent? I don't think so if I could believe Felix Morisseau Leroy's "We are all guilty and likewise innocent..." You may ask yourself, "What have I done wrong?" Good question. You probably have done nothing right and nothing wrong. That justifies Tonton Moriso then. What that means? We all have some responsibility to our Haitian nature. And, if we don't fulfill such responsibilities, we are as guilty as the other guy. I mean, I may be opposing Marteley's aggressive taxing of the Diaspora; yet, I could remain positive to contribute to something else - as I would like to implement a project of alternative ways for Haitians to cook their foods instead of destroying the land environment by cutting down all the trees.

Do not even thinking of given up. Haitian is us. If you don't agree with something, there is always something else you could do to bring some good news. Some people must be doing a good job with the AIDS epidemic. Also, I was in Haiti when the cholera struck. The people of Doctors without border did a magnificent job attacking it. There are always other things to do to bring good news. The international community is always ready to come to our rescue, even when it could be of mercenary nature. Still, we Haitians have to strive to make good news happen for our nation. Then we could take Tonton Moriso on his words.

By E.C. GRANMOUN

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E.C. GRANMOUN is the writher of "Bully: A Novel" on amazon.com /book.

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