I’ve been wanting to write about this for a while. I have seen many people complain and wonder why young Haitians in the diaspora are not more involved in their community. I was a bit confused too. Growing up in Haiti and living in a non-Haitian community in the US most of my life, I’ve always wanted to be as involved as I could. Yet, I know so many young Haitians who would rather get involved in other movements than those concerning the Haitian community. Not to say that as a Haitian you should only care about other Haitians but I believe that one of the responsibilities of calling yourself Haitian is to care about your fellow compatriots. Lately, I’ve been around many Haitian adults of my parents’ age and I was shocked to hear the way they spoke of Haiti and Haitians. I heard many swear off Haiti and consider Haitians a lost cause. I’ve also asked many young Haitians born in the diaspora why they’ve yet to visit Haiti, many answer either that their parents would never let them go or they were too scared to go. And these answers aren’t coming from young people who’ve never traveled, many of them have traveled to other developing countries and have been to neighborhood statistically more violent than most places in Haiti. Having lived in Haiti I know what it has to offer good and bad so I shouldn’t be too judgemental of parents who have recounted their negative experience of Haiti but at the same time, there has to be a balance to the stories told. The more these young people are discouraged the less likely they will get involved in anything relating to Haiti, and the Haitian community, in the diaspora and in Haiti, needs these young people. Yes! Haitians have suffered very much but there are many many other positive aspects to Haiti, to Haitian culture and a possibility of a future. Yes! We’ve all encountered rude and ignorant Haitians in the diaspora but haven’t the majority shown otherwise? How can we balance the negative stories that the closest people to us have recounted?

What can we do to prove that Haiti is not the violent and poverty-stricken country that it has been portrayed to be?

How can we showcase the beauty of the Haitian people, in Haiti and abroad?

What do you think is the reason why young Haitians are not involved in the community?