Tag Archives: haiti

New for 2012

Posted on 01/23/2012 | Leave a comment

Hello 2012! It’s been a busy few months here at Paper Turtle and I thought I would take a moment to catch you up on the excitement. First, in case you’re wondering about the picture above… this is one of my favorite images from my recent trip to Haiti (click to enlarge). It’s a photo I took of a painting that was hanging in the Oloffson Hotel (presumably The Last Supper, artist name indecipherable). I think it’s a perfect example of the blending of African & Vodou traditions, with Christianity. I love the spirits in the trees, the girl feeding a mango to the birds, and the cats under the table. Quite a bit more celebratory than traditional Last Supper imagery.

I’m happy to report that we enjoyed great sales in our Etsy store, as well as locally, throughout December. As a result, I was able to return a total of $1,000 for the year to Aly to share with the artisans. Woo hoo! This year, I plan to profit-share every three months, sales permitting. I have also added a Donation page to our web site for those who wish to make direct donations to the artisans. I am currently trying to identify specific needs, such as the fan that was paid for by a direct donation last year.

Speaking of sales, we have expanded our wholesale revenue stream (I’m feeling very professional these days) with two new retail outlets: Country Furnishings of Taos, and Mermaid Alley (The Bahamas). Thank you Mary and Pam for your partnership!

I am currently working on new sculpture designs as well as a more predictable freight shipping schedule (hopefully large shipments, twice per year). It’s really difficult to discuss designs via email, but slowly, Aly and I work out the details. I hope to return to Haiti at least once this year to oversee shipping and meet with Barthold and Aly about production.

In other exciting news, a fabulous designer-artist is creating a Paper Turtle logo and branding materials as we speak. I’ll keep her name a secret until I can share her beautiful creations (I’ve seen the drafts… they are SO BEAUTIFUL!).

Finally, I just finished Island Beneath the Sea, by Isabella Allende, a historical novel that takes place in Haiti just prior to the slave revolt and continues in Louisiana, where many people fled during and after the revolt. It was fantastic — an eloquent, moving, and eye-opening account of the fascinating and heartbreaking history of Haiti during those years (1790s-1830s). Its US publication coincided with the earthquake in 2010.

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Partners

Posted on 11/30/2011 | 1 Comment

This is part 1 of the last, and perhaps most important, post about my recent travels in Haiti.  You can catch up starting here if you missed the previous adventures.

For those who don’t know about the  partnership I’ve formed over the past two years with Aly Abraham, a small-businessman and art designer in Port-au-Prince, you can read more about it on our web site here.  Our partnership, Paper Turtle, grew from my initial contact with Aly in 2009, shortly before the earthquake, when I found him online and commissioned him to create a papier-mache version of my clay turtles.  What began as a one-time job has grown into a trans-Caribbean partnership, small business, and “friends for life,” as Aly contrived.

I met Aly in person for the first time this past August, when he was able to travel to the US and join me in New Mexico for a few days. My trip to Haiti in October was the first time I’d been to his country to see where he lives and meet the artisans who work so hard to create the beautiful sculptures we sell.

Before the earthquake, Aly had a workshop where everything was done under one roof:  metal sculpture, painting, papier-mache.  But the building was damaged in the quake and all of the sections had to be dispersed.  Since the focus of Paper Turtle is papier-mache, we visited Barthold, the master sculptor who works with Aly designing, sculpting and making molds.  Barthold attended the Ecole Nationale des Artes (ENARTS), where we visited on our first day. He enjoys his work very much and is the talent who brings our designs to life, as well as his own wonderful creations.

The entire papier-mache operation is now located at Barthold’s home in the hills of Martissant, a district of Port-au-Prince.  We stopped there on the way back from Jacmel, navigating ungraded roads and the usual plethora of cars, people and street merchandising to get there. The actual road to Barthold’s house is so rocky (eroded down to the bedrock) that it’s unnavigable by car. So we got out and walked up the hill.

Then another hill.

And one more. It was hot and very humid and I cursed my jeans every step of the way (what was I thinking??)

A third of a steep, sweaty mile later, we arrived at Barthold’s house, where children were running around (he has five), and a helper was painting excellent tropical ant-spiders.

It was my great pleasure to meet Barthold in person–the shy and soft-spoken artist I’d heard so much about. I was able to bring profit-sharing from our Paper Turtles Etsy store and, just as importantly for me, I was able to tell Barthold (through Aly) that what he does matters. That his art is beautiful and people admire it, that I appreciate how hard he works, and I’m working hard for him and Aly, too.

My appreciation for what Aly and Barthold do grew by about 1,000% when I looked around and took in the workspaces:  an open-air painting station under a tarp; and a 20′ x 20′ or so very-hot-hut made of US AID tarps, crammed with work in various states of finish.

Barthold and his son with a deer he's working on.

Sculptures dry outside on the wall, an obvious issue when it rains.  Aly wants to buy Barthold a fan so he can dry things more quickly under the tarps.

Incidentally, when I got home, I found that an awesome customer sent us a $100 donation (thanks Cindy!) which will be used to buy a fan.

Three artisans help Barthold with the papier-mache, as well as his older kids who sometimes help after school, and his wife, Anneleese, who paints.

Cement molds. Sculptures are a combination of molded and hand-cut pieces.

A fish and a turtle in progress.

I also occurred to me that every time Barthold finishes an order and is ready to ship, either he must carry the boxes down that 1/3 mi hill, or Aly must climb up and carry them down.  Aly’s truck was smashed in the earthquake, so he takes a bus or rents a car to get to Barthold’s neighborhood. I was amazed that anything at all happens there, let alone the production of work in the amount and quality I receive. It’s truly stunning.

At the end of our visit, Barthold gave each of us a sculpture to take home and Annelesse walked us back down the hill.  She told Aly that neighbors had already come to their house asking for money because there were white people there. She said the same thing happens when the neighbors see boxes being picked up or walked down the hill.

idea: if Paper Turtle grows big enough, maybe Barthold can give them jobs? Maybe we can find a larger space, indoors with lots of fans?

Annelesse walked back up the hill, we piled into the Mitsubishi and started back the way we came.

Part 2 of our final day will be a short wrap-up of the Haiti series: Aly’s house, the Kinam Hotel, and fried bananas on the way to the airport.  Until then, thank you so much for reading, and if you are interested in purchasing sculpture from Paper Turtle, please visit our Etsy store.

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All Souls’ Day

Posted on 11/10/2011 | 2 Comments

Haitian Vodou is based upon a merging of the beliefs and practices of West African peoples with Arawakian (native peoples of the West Indies) religious beliefs, and Roman Catholic Christianity. Vodou was created by African slaves who were brought to Haiti in the 16th century and still followed their traditional African beliefs, but were forced to convert to the religion of their slavers. The principal belief in Haitian Vodou is that deities called Lwa (or Loa) are subordinates to a god called Bondyé.  This supreme being does not intercede in human affairs, and it is to the Lwa that Vodou worship is directed. Other characteristics of Vodou include veneration of the dead and protection against evil.

We were interested in All Souls Day traditions in Haiti, where I expected to see celebrations similar to our Dia de los Muertos. Instead, they seemed mostly Vodou-oriented. (According to a recent travel documentary, Haiti is “80% Catholic, 20% Protestant, and 100% Vodou”.) On November 1, on our way to the Jacmel bus, we encountered a rah-rah (parade, of sorts) headed for the main cemetery in Port-au-Prince.  We decided to fall in with them to see what it was all about.


Just outside the cemetery entrance were displays of Vodou art, flowers for sale (especially marigolds), and an area set up for music. Above the large, arched stone entrance was the statement in French, “Remember You Are Only Dust.”


Inside the cemetery, everyone marched in sweltering heat up the main hill, past painted tombs and sellers of various things–soda, cigarettes, flowers, and trays of I-don’t-know-what.

People brought offerings of coffee, candles, bread, alcohol, corn, printed paper and other items to the tombs.

In the Haitian Vodou tradition, it is believed that spirits are all around the living and they can be communicated with, but only if living family members know where they are buried. The mass-graves created after the earthquake pose a terrible problem in this regard.

This woman was slapping a tomb (likely that of a relative) and calling out in Creole. Many of the women wore purple or white headscarves and white dresses.


Later that evening in Jacmel, Blaise took us on a detour to a Vodou ceremony in someone’s back yard as we walked home from dinner. There was a typical open-air temple with a blue post in the center, around which offerings were brought for the spirits. A traditional Vodou service includes a day or two of preparation setting up altars, ritually preparing and cooking fowl and other foods, etc. The actual ceremony begins with a series of prayers and songs in French, then a litany in Creole and African langaj that goes through all the European and African saints and lwa honored by the house, and then a series of verses for all the main spirits of the house.

An Houngan (priest) or Mambo (priestess) presides over the ceremony. The Houngans and Mambos are usually people who were chosen by the dead ancestors and received the divination from the deities while he or she was possessed. His or her tendency is to do good by helping and protecting others from spells, however they sometimes use their supernatural power to hurt or kill people.

As the songs are sung, participants believe that spirits come to visit the ceremony by taking possession of individuals and speaking and acting through them. When a ceremony is made, only the family of those possessed is benefited.

We saw women carrying candles and offerings around the temple/yard, singing and dancing, but no possessions (that we were aware of). The Houngan was welcoming to guests (us) and it’s apparently not unusual for outsiders to observe ceremonies. We were there for about 45 minutes and then headed back to the hotel.

Next up:  Aly and Paper Turtle artisans in PaP

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Jacmel, Haiti

Posted on 11/08/2011 | Leave a comment

Jacmel was founded in 1698 as the capital of the south eastern part of the French colony Saint-Dominique. The area was Taino territory ruled by cacique Bohechio. With the arrival of the French, and the later establishment of the town, the French renamed Yaquimel as Jacmel. The town has not changed much since the late 19th century when it was inhabited by wealthy coffee merchants, who lived in gracious mansions that adorned it. These mansions would later come to influence the home structure of much of New Orleans.  The town’s architecture boasted cast-iron pillars and balconies purchased in France.  

We spent only 24 hours in Jacmel, but during that time we saw some amazing local art–papier-mache, steel drum art, wood carving, painting, Vodou sequin flags–and early 19th c. architecture that, although faded, is still beautiful.  Jacmel (pop. 40,000) is considered one of the safest, friendliest, and most easy-going cities in Haiti.  It’s an arts and culture hub with its own annual film festival (est. 2007), a vibrant music community, a renowned Carnival (distinguished by its papier-mache masks), and over 200 resident artists. It sustained considerable damage in the 2010 quake but repairs are in progress. Here is a photo tour of our visit:

 We first visited he small papier-mache shop of Aly’s friend, Blaise.  An artist was working on painted flower bowls of different sizes.

An artist in a different location (above Blaise’s shop)  painted a zebra. A smooth surface is achieved by using something similar to white gesso (primer) and sanding before painting. Blaise is the lead papier-mache artist  for Carnival.

Papier-mache is created by using molds (left) to form the paper/glue; discarded cement bags are a favorite. The form is cut off of the mold after it’s dry and then finished with paint and varnish. I still can’t figure out what the molds are made of, but it seems to be some kind of self-hardening clay.
Here’s Blaise with one of his beautiful roosters. We asked him if he sells directly to people abroad but he said no, he has no way of shipping from Jacmel. He’s done wholesale work for Macy’s, who have a Haitian arts section in their department stores.

The art of papier-mache was originally brought to Haiti in the mid-1800s by the French to make home decor items, and was later used to make masks. According to the artists we talked to, a Haitian artist later went to Germany to study their method of papier-mache and brought back the new skills to Haiti.  It has only recently been created for the tourist market. The man above (unfortunately didn’t get his name) is one of the last of the first generation of artists to start making papier-mache for sale (as opposed to personal use).

After visiting artists, we checked into the Hotel de la Place ($80/single) and walked around the central market area.

 We were told that the market refuse is cleaned up at the end of each day.


Next, we headed for the beach.

Just beyond these boys playing soccer was a row of outdoor cooking huts with tables and chairs set up under tarps and grass tiki huts. Cameron had a delicious fish ($5). I declined fish based on the presence of a head and tail and stuck with my new favorite Haitian food, fried potatoes and plantains.

Gabe was deeply satisfied that he was the only one who received a straw.

The next morning, we encountered Berlotte the Tarot Reader-Painter. What’s a visit to Jacmel without a $10 reading by Berlotte?


We left Jacmel around noon after buying some gorgeous art to take home, including papier-mache roosters, a hen, and a sequined Vodou flag. This was the stoic moto-taxi driver who took me back to the van-bus stop.

Riding a moto-taxi in Jacmel is a little frightening, but the good thing is, there aren’t many cars to run you over.  I attempted to communicate my safety needs to the driver along the way, combining, in my anxiety, all of the foreign languages I know (Spanish, sort of) with the little bit of French and Creole I’d picked up, “Merci que mwen continuar de vive,” Thank you that I continue to live.

Tomorrow:  All Souls Day in Haiti

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Haiti Day 2 – Jacmel

Posted on 11/01/2011 | Leave a comment

There is so much to say about Jacmel that I think I’ll split this into two posts, getting to Jacmel and being in Jacmel. But before I can start with any of that–

6:00 a.m. Shower

Believe me when I tell you there is nothing quite so disturbing as getting up early after a poor night’s sleep, turning on a shower that you’re really looking forward to because you’re covered in yesterday’s grime, discovering there’s no hot water, and, as you curse softly to yourself under the freezing stream… a man’s voice replies from the shower in the next room.

‘Scuse me?

It is particularly disturbing when the man’s whispery voice is filled with self-congratulatory gloat because he didn’t want to stay in this hotel in the first place. You’d think the newspapers stuffed in the cracks in the wall would provide more privacy.

We will be moving to the Kinam in Pétionville after our overnight to Jacmel.

Boarding A Bus In Port-au-Prince

Imagined  We arrive at a small station, buy tickets, and wait to get on a bus that resembles a Greyhound (but perhaps smaller and older). Hope we don’t have to wait too long between scheduled departures.  We each take a seat, having placed our belongings in the bus luggage compartment, and enjoy the air-conditioned ride to Jacmel.

Real  The “buses” are “vans” that arrive at random times to the teeming marketplace in downtown PaP. We sit in the Mitsubishi until the next van gets close, and then we are instructed by Aly to go to the bus.  The front door of the van-bus is swarmed by people pushing to get seats, not unlike fans rushing a concert stage, and I am trapped. As I am not aggressive by nature, and sort of stunned thanks to being smacked in the face by Gabe’s backpack as he boarded (he says it was an accident), Jean-Claude advances me in the right direction. I am in the bus. People are yelling in Creole, pushing and shoving and trying to sell me things, I am hunched and hovering over a man and his box in the front seat.  He’s in the middle of the seat and will not move.  I am suddenly too big for the space, a great white insect with too many appendages, long and unwieldy, bottlenecked, unable to move forward or back.

I come to understand that I should sit in the window seat on the other side of the man in the middle, a 10″ x 10″ square that I’m pretty sure my butt outgrew 25 years ago. Still unable to move, I decide that tossing my bags to the floor in front of my prospective seat might propel me forward by some method of physics–like a fishing weight gracefully pulling the lure into the water. This does not happen. I am still stuck and I’m certain the van-bus has shrunk, I’ve swelled, the air has been sucked out of it so the air-sellers can sell me more. No one else can board until I move. Lots of yelling. Finally out of options, I sit on the man in the middle, the great white sweaty insect has landed.  He wriggles with considerable effort out from under me, moves his box, and I take my seat near the window. Cameron drops in beside me. I have never been so happy to see him.

Eighteen of us are wedged firmly in place, Gabe and Aly in the back, Cam and I in the front.  We sit in the heat and humidity and our own trickling sweat for another 20 minutes while the 19th seat is negotiated, street vendors push things into the windows–food, soda, water, sunglasses.  A final seat is added at the end of our row, the 19th passenger sits down, the blessed A/C comes on, and we move.

Once out of PaP, the road to Jacmel is long and winding through the beautiful, but deforested mountains.

The main reason for deforestation in Haiti is that trees are the only source of fuel. Trees are cut down and brought to large fire pits where they’re turned into charcoal. It takes about 50 trees to make one of these bags of charcoal.

There are no speed limits on the road to Jacmel. Rather, every so often at a village there are enormous, undercarriage-devouring speed bumps (unpainted and therefore invisible until you are upon them). This is where an experienced driver is a must.

Two-and-a-half hours later we arrive in Jacmel, get off the bus, and quickly (before I have time to panic) jump onto four moto-taxis that take us to the beach.

Tomorrow:  Jacmel Part 2

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Haiti Day 1: Port au Prince

Posted on 10/31/2011 | 4 Comments

Welcome to Haiti! Here’s little tour of our first day. Wi-fi is spotty so I’m not sure how often I’ll be able to write, but for now:

We arrived at the tiny airport around 10:30 and grabbed our bags.
Aly met us at the airport with a car and driver, Jean-Claude, who is also Aly’s childhood friend. The five of us piled into Jean-Claude’s Mitsubishi and headed out to see some sights in PaP (estimated population of metropolitan area = 3 million, nearly half the country’s total population). Driving in Haiti is complete mayhem: no traffic laws, no signs, no speed limits, very few stop lights. First impression: people and more people stuffed into cars, motorcycles, trucks, women carrying bundles high on their heads, street vendors selling every imaginable thing, and the occasional dog or pig, all negotiating for space, all vibrating against a backdrop of high heat, humidity, diesel fumes, noise and urban detritus. Just when I was sure we were going to hit one or five people, the flow of chaos moved around us and we continued on.

Traffic etiquette here seems to be watch where you’re going, pedestrians have the right-of-way, use your horn to communicate all things, miss the pothole (where’s the road?) don’t get smashed by the tractor, ooooo that was close. Similar, I suppose, to driving in other developing countries. But there were just so many people, so very many people.

Aly pointed out the tent cities that had sprung up in parks and public spaces after the earthquake. The biggest cathedral in PaP was totally demolished. I thought the ruins were still beautiful.


Haitian people were happy when the Presidential Palace was damaged beyond repair in the quake because it’s such a symbol to them of political corruption and abuse of power.

We stopped at the Ecole Nationale des Artes (ENARTS), a free school for performing and visual arts.  Students learn theater, music, painting, sculpture and dance.  Josué Blanchard was kind enough to give us a tour.

He was recently featured in this publication for the fiberglass sculpture he created of a woman peeing in a bucket, which was viewed as scandalous.  He said the subject matter is just part of life in Haiti.

ENARTS re-opened only two weeks ago after being shut down 5 years ago (plus damaged in the quake) due to instability in the government(s).

One of the most interesting things at the school was the defunct foundry. This was the very first foundry in the Caribbean and it was once used to cast bronze sculpture.


The crucible was fueled by wood and kerosene that heated boilers for the pour. (I know there’s a more eloquent way to describe that but the words are escaping me after only one rum punch. And the power just went out as I’m writing this, so it’s dark.)


I was required to dispatch this little mouse with a good stomping before Gabe would set foot into the old foundry; and even then, he refused to go much past the doorway and was ready to jump on the blue chair at any moment.

After ENARTS, we checked in at the hotel to rest and eat for a while.

The Oloffson is full of *charm* and *character*, but this did not appeal to Gabe, who complained that it was old, the beds didn’t have mosquito nets and you could see under the walls between rooms (discovered later).
Cam and Gabe discussed the appeal of character and history vs. more modern conveniences at a hotel in Pétionville where Gabe wanted to stay
such as wi-fi in the rooms and hot water (also discovered later). Gabe was ultimately out-voted 2:1 and we checked in. Cam and I wouldn’t have dreamed of visiting PaP without staying at the famous Oloffson.

We had sandwiches on the front porch and Cam and I made plans for the rest of the afternoon. Gabe announced (12 hrs after arriving) that he would not be visiting Haiti again “because I have other places to see, like Smyrna.” He never re-traces his travel steps. I was about to argue but he broke into song, “I’ve been to paradise but I’ve never been to me” and I was stunned into silence. Unbelievably, he knew all 4 verses.
Cam enjoyed reading Amy Wilentz’s book outside of their room, named after the author.

In the late afternoon we went to Pétionville, a relatively affluent suburb located in the hills east of PaP. It was named after Alexandre Sabés Pétion (1770–1818), the Haitian general and president later recognized as one of the country’s four founding fathers. It is one of the wealthiest parts of the country, where many diplomats, foreign businessmen, and a large number of wealthy citizens do business and reside.


The central park in Pétionville is now a tent city. Near the park, there was a high school above a flower market and lots of people selling all kinds of art on the streets. I was shocked by how many hundreds of original paintings (not prints) covered the walls.

We ate dinner on the way home, not far from our hotel.  There are street vendors all over Haiti selling food–cooked, packaged, dried, fresh. This woman and her daughter or friend were set up across the street from our restaurant selling hot dogs.

There weren’t a lot of vegetarian options among the fried goat, chicken and pork on the menu, so we had a veggie pizza for dinner while we watched various things on TV, including Haiti’s musician-President, Michel Martelly’s, music video.  And now, here I am, trying to finish this post at the end of the day in the lovely Oloffson (famous for rum punch) Lounge. Bye for now.

Tomorrow:  Jacmel.

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Haiti – on the way

Posted on 10/30/2011 | 3 Comments

I’m in Miami staying overnight with some friends of my two traveling buddies, Gabe and Cam. Our flight to Haiti leaves Miami at 8:30 tomorrow morning.

I thought I ‘d take a minute before I go to bed to tell you a little about my traveling companions and the hotel where we’ll be staying in Port-au-Prince because it has a really interesting history.  First, Gabe and Cam:

Since it’s late, I’ll go with wellness.com’s description of Cam:  ”… a Critical Care Surgeon located in Albuquerque, NM. A Critical Care Surgeon, acute care, emergency medicine, surgery, surgeon, respiratory failure, shock, renal failure, sepsis, life-threatening illness, ICU, intensive care. 

I feel pretty confident that my various organs would be in good hands with Cameron in an emergency situation.  Plus, he’s been to Haiti before and speaks French so technically he could be a tour guide.

Gabe is an Engineer-Lawyer-MBA, who I suspect will be fairly useless in Haiti despite his considerable academic achievements. I base my assessment on the following criteria:

1. Is Gabe a hypochondriac?
Yes.

2. If Gabe walked into a room full of power tools, what would he do?
Ask me what they are.

3.  If someone tried to abduct me, what would Gabe do?
Run.

4.  If a mouse ran across the floor, what would Gabe do?
Jump on a chair and scream like a girl.*

5.  If Gabe caught a mouse in a live-trap, what would he do?
Call me to come and take it away.* 

But he is my friend and I love him despite his obvious shortcomings.  Plus he’s a guy, he’s tall, and he can probably carry heavy things for me advise me on how best to carry heavy things.
*actual events

Hotel Oloffson

The hotel was constructed in the late 19th century as a private home for the Sam family.  The head of a
prestigious and influential family in Port-au-Prince, Tirésias Simon-Sam was president of Haiti from
1896 to 1902. The mansion was built by Tirésias’s son, Jean Vilbrun Guillaume Sam. The Sams lived in the mansion until 1915, when Guillaume himself was selected from among a group of powerful politicians to assume the post of president, the fifth president in five years. Guillaume would be president for a scant five months, however, before being torn to pieces by an angry mob.

United States President Woodrow Wilson, concerned that the Haitian government might be seized by Rosalvo Bobo (who was thought to be sympathetic to the Germans) ordered the United States Marine Corps to seize Port-au-Prince. The occupation would eventually extend to the entire nation of Haiti. The Sam Mansion was used as a US military hospital for the duration of the 15-year occupation.

In 1935, when the Occupation ended, the mansion was leased to Walter Gustav Oloffson, a Swedish sea captain from Germany, who converted the property into a hotel with his wife Margot and two sons, Olaf and Egon. In the 1950s, Roger Coster, a French photographer, assumed the lease on the hotel and ran it with his Haitian wife, Laura. The hotel came to be known as the “Greenwich Village of the Tropics”, attracting actors, writers, and artists. Some of the suites in the hotel were named after the artists and writers who frequented the hotel, including Graham Greene, James Jones, Charles Addams, and Sir John Gielgud.

A Connecticut native, Al Seitz, acquired the hotel lease in 1960. During the 1970s and early 1980s, the hotel enjoyed a brief period of fame and good fortune. Celebrities such as Jackie Onassis and Mick Jagger were regular guests, and like Coster before him, Seitz named favorite rooms at the hotel after the celebrity guests. After Al Seitz died in 1982, his widow continued to operate it. As the grip of Duvalierism closed over the country, however, the foreign tourist trade dried up. The hotel survived by serving as the desired residence for foreign reporters and foreign aid workers who needed secure lodging in the center of town.

In 1987, with the help of his half-brother Jean Max Sam, Richard A. Morse signed a 15 year lease to manage the Hotel Oloffson, then in near ruins after the final years of Duvalierism. In restoring the hotel business, Morse hired a local folkloric dance troupe and slowly converted it into a band. Richard Morse would become the songwriter and lead male vocalist and the name of band, RAM, comes from his initials. Throughout the political upheaval of Haiti in the 1990s, RAM’s regular Thursday evening performance at the hotel became one of the few regular social events in Port-au-Prince in which individuals of various political positions and allegiances could congregate.

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Aly’s Visit

Posted on 08/29/2011 | 3 Comments

For all our readers who are not part of our Kickstarter tribe, here a re-print of the update I just posted there.  Enjoy!

[August 19, 2011] Finally, Aly & I met in person after almost two years of working together long distance! We were both pleasantly surprised by the fact that there were no surprises: each was as he or she had seemed over the phone and email.  We fell in together just as if it had always been.  It was a fun and busy four days.  As promised, here is a short pictorial of Aly’s visit.
 
I picked Aly up at the airport after a lo-o-o-ng 12 hr day (3 stops between NY and NM, sorry Aly!).  I recognized him by his carry-on items: a backpack, a giraffe, and a lovely flowered mirror frame.

The next day, we started sorting everything Aly had brought in three huge duffels on the plane. We also talked about new designs and creative aspects that were too hard to discuss by email.

Aly brought me and my family these t-shirts that his artisans designed as a surprise. Love them!

Tuesday, Aly went to Santa Fe with my step-father, Jerry Ortiz y Pino. They visited the International Folk Art Museum and Aly recognized the names of many Haitian artists represented there.  I spent the day getting ready for the reception and dressing up the studio.

Velma was a big help.

Aly got back around 4:30 and everyone else began arriving at 5. Aly said a few words and we answered questions at 6.

Whew! It was a busy and fun evening. Many Rewards were distributed and people purchased additional items, which was unexpected and much appreciated.  These birds were a favorite.

So were the butterfly mobiles.

The next day, I gave Aly the choice of sight-seeing things he would like to do. He chose the zoo and the Museum of Natural History. I took pictures with his camera of him in front of every single animal and every single dinosaur bone we saw. Really. He was so intrigued. 

I asked Aly what one of his biggest impressions of the US was:  ”People are busy all the time.”  And one thing I learned about Haiti?  There are no liquor laws.  Anyone can drink anything, whenever and wherever and as much as they want. (Aly was continually surprised that he couldn’t order beer for breakfast at most restaurants.)  

Finally, here are a few things Aly saw or did for the first time on his first trip to the US:

1. Watch a gorilla eat corn.

2. Watch a gorilla stand on its head, regurgitate corn, and eat it again.

3. Swim with a polar bear.

4. Sit on a dragon.

5. Stay at a B & B for one night (thanks Tammy at the Mauger Estate for the wonderful hospitality!)

6.  Meet me.

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Aly’s Coming to New Mexico!

Posted on 08/12/2011 | 2 Comments

Yes, that’s right, Aly will be leaving Haiti for the first time and traveling to New Mexico, and we’re both very excited to meet each other.  He arrives late on Sunday evening and leaves Thursday.  We will use those few days to talk about our business, new designs, and meet our local Kickstarter supporters at a reception in my studio on Tuesday, August 16 from 5-7 p.m.  Are you in Albuquerque and interested in attending? Please email me at laura@paperturtle.com and I’ll give you the details.

I will post pictures of our adventures during his visit–hopefully, we can fit in a little sight-seeing and fun in with everything else.

Meanwhile, I just finished reading The Rainy Season: Haiti–Then And Now, by Amy Wilentz, a journalist who lived in Haiti in the late 80s.  It’s a fascinating look into what was happening in Haiti at that time (Duvalier’s 30-yr regime finally ended, Aristide gaining popular support, several coup détat, etc) as well as an overview of Haiti’s history since the slave revolt in 1791.  It’s only a beginning, but I’ve learned so much from just one book about why Haiti is the way it is and the radical political, environmental, and social challenges they face. Here are a few of the things that really struck me:

  • At the time of the first European contact, 75% of Haiti was covered in forests; by the time this book was written is was less than 7%
  • Unlike other revolutions, the Haiti Revolution (slave revolt) was not orchestrated by people with government experience from their home countries. So after the French were successfully kicked out, the Haitians had only tribal and plantation systems as governing models. The authoritarian system still in existence grew from that.
  • As in many other countries, there is a class system based on skin color, with lighter colored mulattos typically enjoying higher social standing
  • Both voodoo and the kreole language spoken in Haiti (considered a “living” language) are both amalgamations of African + other influences. In the case of voodoo, it’s Christian and African; and kreole is French and African.
  • In the author’s opinion, voodoo is used as an instrument of control of the peasant class by the government/army.  Local voodoo houngans, or leaders, receive favorable treatment from the government. As long as the people believe that famine, floods or sickness is the result of improper ceremony or tribute to the gods, they will not question social injustice that keeps them poor and powerless.
  • As late as 1924, Haiti was described as the “jewel of the Antilles” because of its intense beauty, even among neighboring tropical islands
  • The Haitian Revolution altered the course of world history. To paraphrase Wilentz (p. 76), after losing Haiti, Napoleon liquidated the entire remaining American Empire, which was sold by the Louisiana Purchase (1803), thus making the USA a continent-wide power.

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Posted in News from Albuquerque, News from Haiti

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Fundraising Project – Final Week

Posted on 06/07/2011 | Leave a comment

As many of you know, Aly and I launched a fundraising project on Kickstarter almost 60 days ago to raise seed money for inventory to expand our business.  With seven suspense-filled days to go (Kickstarter is “all or nothing”), we have almost met our goal of $9,000! A big thank-you to all who have pledged — see the whole glorious list here.

For anyone who is hearing about our project for the first time or is still contemplating a pledge:  this is a great opportunity to support our business and own a lovely papier-mache sculpture handmade in Haiti–for less than current retail prices.  Plus, shipping within the US is free.  Please check out our project, watch the video, and, hopefully, be inspired! 

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