The island of La Gonâve and its treasured human resources by Winy Lundi

Last year, I wrote an article for the National Alliance for the Advancement of Haitian Professionals’ blog (NAAHP) titled La Gonâve: Gold in the Trash. In the article, I wrote about my memories as a child on the island of La Gonâve (an offshore island from Haiti’s mainland) its history, how it has changed from the time I was a child to what it is today and its’ wasted potential. My goal in the article was to show the world what La Gonâve is about and what it can be if given the right amount of attention. I ended the article with a call to action to help make Haiti a better place. In my article for the Haitian Times, I wanted to keep my focus on La Gonâve, but this time show the world what people from La Gonâve can do despite all the odds against us.

Haitian people are strong, resilient, and are all over the world. Many of the Haitians who end up in different countries may come from Port-Au-Prince, Cap-Haitien, Les Cayes, Jérémie, and La Gonâve. Unfortunately, the island is still unknown to many people within Haiti and is ignored by Haitian society. Outside Haiti, it is probably much worse. However, the people of the island are strong, smart, and able to achieve if given the opportunity. I wanted to use this platform to highlight some individuals from the island who are achieving some great things.

Rebel Pakamo: He is an artist that raps about the inequities in Haitian society. He released his first album called Letouvet. According to some news reports, Pa ka mo was expelled for bringing attention to the conditions at the State University of Haiti. (UEH)

Jean Bradley Derenoncourt : He is currently Councilor at Large for the city of Brockton in Massachusetts. Brockton is the reportedly the sixth largest city by population in Massachusetts. Last year, Derenoncourt ran for Mayor of the city but was defeated.

Fred Lagrandeur: Mr. La grandeur was named political attache to a Canadian Minister in December 2019. He has been active in the political scene in Montreal for years and was the President of the Association of Haitian Students in the University of Montreal.

William Hyppolite: Hyppolite was left an orphan when his pa rents dies. He was able to at tend medical school in the Dominican Republic when his school was destroyed in the 2010 earthquake. His education was financed by people in the United States who heard his story and wanted to help. According to some news reports about Hyppolite, he plans to start a mobile clinic to help people in Haiti.

Afelene Rosemond: A professor wrote about Afelene and her struggle to teach people how to grow their own food to combat food prices. According to the professor’s article, Afelene also operates a theater group called Fanm Kouraj where they tackle a variety of issues in Haitian society.

Outside of these great superb individuals, there is a group of actors, producers, and writers that created web series that appear to be based on the island. Two of the series are called Fanm La Gonâve and Elle a tout gâché on YouTube. Fanm La Gonâve is produced by Farinay Productions and Fednaëlle François. She is from La Gonâve. Elle a tout gâché is produced by Wilmix Productions. Both series has received hundreds of thousands of views online with a very engaged fanbase. While I’m not sure how many of the actors in these series and others are from the island, it has at least helped people know about La Gonâve.

All the people of La Gonave need is a chance to succeed. The list of people from La Gonâve should be longer. These individuals are just some of examples of what I think many of us Gonâvians can do if given the chance. * Windy Lundi

Winy Lundi is a student, model, and singer. She finished in the top eight in the 2019 Miss Haiti competition. Winy was the winner of the 2015 Miss BP and 2017 Miss IHECE beauty pageants. In 2018, she won Meilleur Talent contest and was named 2018 Miss Excellence in the International Junior Miss Haiti competition. She also hosted a cultural program on Tele Éclair. She is the host of an upcoming documentary about the 1974 World Cup Haitian football team by Street Team Productions. The documentary is titled Haiti 1974: A Moment in Time. Winy has been featured in publications like Le Nouvelliste and Ticket Magazine and now she is working on creating an organization to Help the young people of her beloved island. She was also profiled by the Haitian Ladies Network in 2019. You can contact her via social media on Instagram(@ winylundi _official) and Twitter (@winylundi).

cet article est publié par l’hebdomadaire Haiti-Observateur NYC, le 28 octobre 2020 VOL. L, No, 42 et se trouve en P.3 à : http://haiti-observateur.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/H-O-28-octobre-2020-1.pdf