Haitian Music & Arts Cultural Festival.

By Charo R. Walker
BlackFood News Reporter

SWEET Haitian music filled the air at the Q.E. Sports Center this past Saturday as the Creole community in The Bahamas got together in support of the Haitian Community Emergency Fund (HCEF). The gathering was a perfect example of Africans putting their welfare into their own hands.

SakPaseBahamas, an online community (www.sakpasebahamas.net/) focusing on the Haitian community in The Bahamas, spearheaded the Haitian Music & Arts Cultural Festival and was grateful for a host of volunteers and sponsors such as BTC, Flamingo Restaurant, The $20 Shops and Oh Andros who assisted them in getting it off the ground.

Mark Desmangles, one of the Festival’s coordinators and its Public Relations Representative said that the primary purpose of the event was to help with the development of the HCEF. “There are Creole people in Haiti and here who are still struggling because of the storm,” stated Desmangles.

In 2008 four tropical storms (Fay, Gustav, Hanna, and Ike), ravaged Haiti during the months of August and September. Hurricane Ike set a record as the largest tropical cyclone ever observed in the Atlantic basin and was also the most destructive and strongest storm of the season.

Over 800 people in Haiti were killed and according to the FAO: “The hurricanes had a significant impact on Haitian farmers and rural communities. More than 50,000 families lost access to their usual food supplies and to their means of subsistence.”

Monies put into the fund will also be used to assist Haitians who have been apprehended in Bahamian waters and detained at the Carmichael Road Detention Center here in Nassau. “Some are placed in the detention center and they too may need some aid like food and clothing; the necessities of life, really … so we want to put something in place to assist them in their times of need … we might have something like a handy basket … to assist them with these matters,” shared Desmangles.

The HCEF will, therefore, provide the Haitian community in The Bahamas with funds to assist Haitians here and in Haiti who are experiencing misfortune.

Another benefit of the Festival was that it provided an opportunity for Bahamians to experience Creole culture; an opportunity that is always welcomed since the Creole community and English speaking community in The Bahamas seem to be worlds apart.

Desmangles also saw the Festival as an avenue to foster trade between Bahamians and Haitians and to also foster Bahamian investment in Haiti.

Additionally, he hoped that the Festival would open up Bahamian businesses to the possibility of selling products to the Creole community here in The Bahamas.♦bf

Look below for more pictures of the event: