Jean Dondy Cidelca recounts his story of traveling from Haiti to Miami, and what that experience means to him.
Learn about Sant La’s efforts to support the Haitian Community in Miami.
TRANSCRIPT:
Cidelca (00:01):
Hello, everyone. My name is Cidelca. I was born and raised in Haiti. The story of me coming to the US really started with my uncle. He left Haiti in 1970 and went to New York. And then in 1996, he got my father to the state. In the early 2000s, my father came to Florida, Miami, Florida, to be exact. And then in 2004, I myself was brought over here. I’m living in Miami as a Haitian away from my homeland. It’s actually ugly wording thing compared to how big the US is in house. At times, other Haitians are so far away from home, meaning that the temperature, the environment, the food, the culture, the music is very similar to how Haiti is. Especially, for example, during the month of May, it’s Haitian Heritage Month in Miami. The community really come alive, not just locals, but tourists as well.
(01:03):
And people actually do travel from Haiti. They come to Miami to be part of one of the biggest events that we have here in Miami, which is the Haitian Compas Festival. And I can say that I’m going through this time right now with the virus. It’s very hard for a lot of people, because you really are move or you move away from your normal activities. But even though things are hard right now, I can only say it really shows how you are resilient in terms of a community. If you even want to take it, let’s say, to a bigger scope, as a species, where adaptation is the biggest asset that we have to our disposal as human humankinds, which really put us at the top of the food chain.
(01:51):
Even though we are not the top predators in this world, we’re far from it. And that really shows through the way that we live where we built to design, in order to give us the maximum for our safety due to the fact that we like that in the first place naturally. All I can say is keep strong and be safe out there. And I hope everybody recovers from this epidemic sooner than later. And take care. See you soon.
