We continue the story that pays tribute not only to the Theus family but to the thousands of women and men who give their lives' energies, who give up their dignity and freedom to work in the cities so that they can feed and provide education for their children. Their lives represent the determination and force of will in spite of the dangers, disappointments and often betrayal in the midst of the struggle for survival where the most profound wisdom is learned and shared! Many thanks to the voice over translations by, of course, Rachel Stoltzfus for Dieula's voice and my dear, dear brother, Peter Van Dusen, for the male voice over of the tv correspondent on Metropole Le Point Television program.
We hope as you continue to follow our episodes that Creole greetings, "koman ou ye", will, at least, become second nature to your ears! Some links to our music: for the Intro and Outro portions from our band 2 Rasin or 2 Roots album, our music "Women, we're defending women" video. The short audio clips of the conch shell blowing at the very beginning and for the call to action portion with N a Sonje Vèt's colleagues Rocky and Najee are Chou Bwa Libète, a Haitian cultural band and then there's just some of Ron's sweet fingerpicking of the Haitian folksong, Ayiti Cheri. We are still novices at this audio editing but believe that you, the listener, will forgive the bleeps, bumps, hiccups especially from international calls and authentic "on the ground" street noises along the way, all in the name of remembering and hearing the voices of the remarkable people of Haiti.
Here's the English translation of the theme song, "N a Sonje"
"We will remember, and not forget what happened
Let’s take a look back Into the world gone by and we’ll see
How our ancestors were in Africa before they carried us away to America
Ref: Sing for Africa, Sing for America Honor for Africa, Honor for America
Who lost so many in the years long ago it wasn’t the natives of this land that did that to them
It was another nation who had as their mission to make others slaves, making so many cadavers
Pillaging, killing - Indians and Africans in making them work for nothing
This is how their countries became powerful by spilling so much blood.
Ref: Sing for Africa, Sing for America Honor for Africa, Honor for America
Who lost so many in the years long ago"
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