Fathers’ Wall – Inspiring Haiti
Fatherhood comes in many forms. In a recent interview with Le Flambeau Foundation president Jean St.Lot-Gervais, he referred to the role of the father as one similar to that of the arc in a bow, completed by the string in a role mirroring that of the mother. From this union, born are the children who serve as our living arrows. This perspective is one passed on to him by his father, Senateur Emile Saint-Lot – a historical figure who stands forever tall in his eyes, in the history of Haiti and to the world…clearly this served him well.
Together, parents and members of an entire generation, send our children into the world equipped with advantages bent on accelerating their achievements. The distance traveled by our offsprings depends on the strength of their foundation – a foundation steeped in education and for which a father’s leadership is pivotal.
We received a number of contributions from around the globe in honor of our fathers. We invite you to join in and express your sentiments on our Fathers’ Wall of Inspiration as we celebrate the invaluable accomplishments of our fathers – past, present and future. These written contributions are testaments to the power of a father’s inspiration. This is a wall of strength being built before us from each block we bring, with a focus on educating and guiding our youth and ourselves. We are rebuilding a nation. The celebration is universal, the movement is global and in the end we find that the rebuilding of Haiti is the rebuilding of “us”. The vision for the future and the steps taken forward are positive. We join together and recognize the sacrifices, perseverance, pain and love our fathers put into getting us this far. To the spirit of Fatherhood we show our appreciation in many ways, and each day we say – Thank You.
Le Flambeau Foundation Inc.
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by Johnathon
On June 14, 2012
A truly rich man is one whose children run into his arms when his hands are empty. ~Author Unknown
by Timothy Wright III - U.S., Chicago
On June 14, 2012
Fathers: What can we say?
I have had some pretty incredible experiences in my journey here on earth. Growing up in Compton, with all that would entail (yes there are stories there!). Being the first in my extended family to go on to college. Meeting and working for the first black Mayor to be elected in Chicago, Harold Washington, or becoming President Bill Clinton’s first Director of Domestic Policy, or working for Mandela’s release in South Africa and being part of the international legal team in South Africa that negotiated changes in the constitution that lead to South Africa’s first ever free elections. But I don’t know that any of those experiences have been as incredible as fatherhood.
Fatherhood, from my standpoint, is viewed on a multidimensional plane. When I think of fatherhood, I think first of the Holy Father and what his existence has meant to my salvation and understanding of my existence in this world. I think of my forefathers both in this country of my birth, and on the continent of my ancestors’ birth, and what their struggles for humanity have bestowed upon me.
Clearly, I think of my own father, and how hard he worked to give all of us kids (cousins and neighbors too) an opportunity to succeed in this life. Through him, I learned to be me. While I did not inherit an estate or vast sums of wealth, what he provided was priceless.
I think of the many others fathers that appeared along the way in my life, the neighbors, the school principals, the teachers and advisors, they all fathered me to where I am today, good bad or indifferent.
Fathers and Fatherhood are synonymous with responsibility, not ability. To be clear, it is not the ability to father a child, but the responsibility to nurture, care for, and guide a child, that is the stuff of which fathers are made.
As I constantly reflect on my own role as a father of four (three girls and a boy) it is indeed a daunting challenge for which there is no how-to manual. Nonetheless, if you focus on it, concentrate on it, ponder it, and go at it, you’re bound to get some aspect of it right.
After all, fathering ain’t bean bags! Where does our fatherhood take us? Or better yet where does it not take us? Mine took me to South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, Haiti, and for that matter it brought me to Chicago in hopes of liberating a City!
Timothy Wright III
Board Member
Chicago, IL
http://leflambeau-foundation.org/?p=3859
by Albert Desmangles - Haiti, Port-au-Prince
On June 14, 2012
Un vrai père, c’est celui qui se soucie et qui veille. C’est aussi l’aigle des montagnes qui lutte contre les vents pour porter sur ses ailes, jusque sur d’autres rives, vers d’autres rêves, sa nouvelle nichée. Il connait les embuches. Brave souvent l’orage car, pour défendre ses petits, il ne craint pas la foudre. Arme de courage et de vérité, si plus rien n’est possible, il a cœur d’essayer. Quand s’annonce la pluie, l’amour d’une compagne fait un toit de ses ailes fatiguées. Ses griffes acérées deviennent des attaches. Les oisillons se confortent de tant de fermeté. Et sans être parfait, son regard silencieux dit tous les mots d’amour inscrits sur chaque feuille des arbres sous le vent.
Albert Desmangles
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Artist
http://leflambeau-foundation.org/?p=3870
Translation
A true father is the one who cares, watches, and protects. He is also the mountain eagle who struggles against the wind to carry new nestlings on its wings, to other banks, to other dreams. He knows the pitfalls. He often braves the storm because, when it comes to defending his young, he does not fear the thunder. Armed with courage and truth, though obstacles may seem impossible to overcome, he has the heart to give it his best and forge forward. When the rain is brewing, the love of a companion makes a roof of his tired wings. His sharp talons become anchors. His nestlings are comforted by so much firmness. And while not perfect, his eyes speak the silent words of love inscribed on each leaf of the trees in the wind.
by Kim - U.S., Milwaukee
On June 14, 2012
FATHERHOOD IN THE BIG, BIG PICTURE
It’s hard to imagine the effect a father will have on his children many years after they have grown up and left town. Day to day family adventures, laughter, arguments, good times and bad are added to their experiences as they step out into the world. Who knows how each of these events will come to mind, years later, as the child is confronted with difficult life choices? A father can only hope that the million small events will add up to a big picture he can be proud of.
Aristotle saw the political community, or “polis”, as an extension of the roles of individual citizens in their individual families. Developing countries struggling today with their own political identities need to depend on the strong sense of association and mutual care its citizens experience in their own families. The role of the father is important to this identity, not as a paternalistic, authority figure but rather as a model for moral values, for emphasizing the value of education and hard work, for demonstrating
responsibility to others, and for setting an example for attitudes toward women in the society.
So here’s to the fathers in those parts of the world which are challenged economically and which are trying to put in place a true representative government. It’s the little things these fathers do every day that can set the tone for the roles of individuals in the public life of the country. Happy Father’s Day to all of them!
Kim
http://leflambeau-foundation.org/?p=3881
by Chris - Milwaukee, Wisc (U.S.)
On June 15, 2012
I struggle to be the Father that I want to be. If my relationship with my children is a sacred trust, then under no circumstances can anything be more important than protecting and nourishing those in my care. But I can be as thoughtless as the next father. How do I correct their behavior without eating away at their esteem. How do I show them enough love to keep them from strolling down the darker path in life. With future generations at stake, I cannot fail and every day I pray for the wisdom to make the right decisions. http://leflambeau-foundation.org/?p=3895
by Hernice - Haiti, Camp-Perrin, Youth Member
On June 15, 2012
I salute the memory of every Father in the world while wishing them courage, goodwill and a Happy Father’s Day!
I start my perspective today with this little phrase: “No one is good citizenship, if it is not a good father”, to tell you that I see the paternity or the quality of a father as an important and highly influential factor in the functioning of a society. We all know that the family is a small group which consists of the father, the mother and their children. In this small society, I see the father as being the leading senior and responsible and concerned about his family despite the circumstances of life, and to guarantee and ensure the vitality and spiritual, moral, physical, educational, social and cultural development of his children and his entire family. I see in the fatherhood the quality to be a friend, a guide, a compass with the slightest movement, gesture, effects or action; influencing greatly the life and the fate of each child – because man is a being of relationship and relationships.
I see paternity as well and it is the vision of the father that I plan to be. However I asks myself the question: what is it that allowed me to see it thus? Ask yourself the same question before continuing the reading of this piece.
To be honest, I see paternity as the result of my experiences. My early experiences were with the absence of a father in my life for a very long period of my childhood. My life, as most of the children of Haiti who spend their entire lives without knowing, living or understanding, paternity; is an unfortunate and huge loss. My experiences in paternity came by observing the fathesr of others living around me, in the course of my life. I grew up in a family divided since I was the age of about 7 years. My father and my mother are separated. Thus, the because of the breach I was largely away from the influences of my father.
Fortunately, I had the temerity to want to live with my father when I was 18 years old and he accepted. We have passed two long years together was great in helping realize what I lost and was I had. I was able to discover the kind of father that he wished to be for me and what he expected of me as a son. Our relationship was very friendly and was wonderful. One day he told me:
“Son, if there is something that I have not been able to do for you as a father and if there is something that I have done well, do them all for your children”.
In Haiti, I found that many of the families work with a picture of the absentee father or irresponsibility, either by cowardice, or for the sake of confidence to their partners. In many cases it is by malice. All of my life I have seen fathers who do not heed to their families, to their children. They remain and watch their children become what they are and earn what they earn throughout their lives, with only the help of their mother. And some fathers can look at their sons with a single stroke of the eye and then down their heads with shame because they have done nothing to improve their lives.
I am among those who are aware of the root and the origin of such situations and for this I am thankful. I would say that this is a problem of education in every sense – in academic, social, economic, financial etc. Immaturity also. Because to my knowledge I see most often these situations are in the poor class of Haitian society. Therefore, I suggest that some fathers stay away from their families and their responsibility with regard to paternity, because they become fathers without have been prepared to be fathers. Large premature or early rate at this level in Haiti is blatant testimony! I also confess that in Haiti I see much more importance given to the mother’s day than that of fathers in Haiti.
I confess to be aware of this unfortunate situation and I would like to advise my youth that instead of accusing our fathers of irresponsibility or abandonment and their inability to take care of their families, that we seek to allow them a chance to explain their reasons. I would also ask my youth to show that we love our fathers and that they are important in our lives. Our fathers have many things to say and many have much to give us, even if later in life.
I salute the memory of every Father in the world while wishing them courage, goodwill and a Happy Father’s Day!
I start my perspective today with this little phrase: “No one is good citizenship, if it is not a good father”, to tell you that I see the paternity or the quality of a father as an important and highly influential factor in the functioning of a society. We all know that the family is a small group which consists of the father, the mother and their children. In this small society, I see the father as being the leading senior and responsible and concerned about his family despite the circumstances of life, and to guarantee and ensure the vitality and spiritual, moral, physical, educational, social and cultural development of his children and his entire family. I see in the fatherhood the quality to be a friend, a guide, a compass with the slightest movement, gesture, effects or action; influencing greatly the life and the fate of each child – because man is a being of relationship and relationships.
I see paternity as well and it is the vision of the father that I plan to be. However I asks myself the question: what is it that allowed me to see it thus? Ask yourself the same question before continuing the reading of this piece.
To be honest, I see paternity as the result of my experiences. My early experiences were with the absence of a father in my life for a very long period of my childhood. My life, as most of the children of Haiti who spend their entire lives without knowing, living or understanding, paternity; is an unfortunate and huge loss. My experiences in paternity came by observing the fathesr of others living around me, in the course of my life. I grew up in a family divided since I was the age of about 7 years. My father and my mother are separated. Thus, the because of the breach I was largely away from the influences of my father.
Fortunately, I had the temerity to want to live with my father when I was 18 years old and he accepted. We have passed two long years together was great in helping realize what I lost and was I had. I was able to discover the kind of father that he wished to be for me and what he expected of me as a son. Our relationship was very friendly and was wonderful. One day he told me:
“Son, if there is something that I have not been able to do for you as a father and if there is something that I have done well, do them all for your children”.
In Haiti, I found that many of the families work with a picture of the absentee father or irresponsibility, either by cowardice, or for the sake of confidence to their partners. In many cases it is by malice. All of my life I have seen fathers who do not heed to their families, to their children. They remain and watch their children become what they are and earn what they earn throughout their lives, with only the help of their mother. And some fathers can look at their sons with a single stroke of the eye and then down their heads with shame because they have done nothing to improve their lives.
I am among those who are aware of the root and the origin of such situations and for this I am thankful. I would say that this is a problem of education in every sense – in academic, social, economic, financial etc. Immaturity also. Because to my knowledge I see most often these situations are in the poor class of Haitian society. Therefore, I suggest that some fathers stay away from their families and their responsibility with regard to paternity, because they become fathers without have been prepared to be fathers. Large premature or early rate at this level in Haiti is blatant testimony! I also confess that in Haiti I see much more importance given to the mother’s day than that of fathers in Haiti.
I confess to be aware of this unfortunate situation and I would like to advise my youth that instead of accusing our fathers of irresponsibility or abandonment and their inability to take care of their families, that we seek to allow them a chance to explain their reasons. I would also ask my youth to show that we love our fathers and that they are important in our lives. Our fathers have many things to say and many have much to give us, even if later in life. http://leflambeau-foundation.org/?p=3910
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