Independence Day and January News
Sisters Ro and Micheleda Bain, originally from Pignon, are seen here enjoying soup joumou in their home in Fort Collins. Soup joumou is traditionally eaten in celebration of Haiti Independence Day, January 1.
This month Darling shares about Haitian Independence Day and the state of affairs in Pignon.
During the month of January, considered the month of our national independence, we celebrate by feasting on a simple dish called Soup Joumou (the national dish of Haiti), a food once very commonly prepared but now becoming less so as families do not have the economic means to prepare it, especially in this time of high financial crisis.
The Northern department of Haiti is not improving. As in the rest of the country, the population does not know to which saint to devote oneself. The citizens of Pignon are entering a new year. A year which does not start so differently from the previous five, marked above all by disturbing socio-political issues. Despite the diminishing value of the Haitian gourde, the price of basic necessities starts the same and the population continues to lose purchasing power. The worth of the Haitian gourde compared to the US dollar this time last year was 131 gourdes per US dollar. This year, it is about 15 gourdes lower.
In terms of security and safety, even with the presence of a small number of police officers, the town has experienced apparent calm since last November without any cases of homicide or robbery to report, outside of the lynching of a person suspected of being the author of evil acts in the town of Fontaine in Savanette. At this time, many people are migrating externally, especially to the United States with the Humanitarian Parole Program in place.
On January 8th, educational institutions reopened their doors without major difficulties, beginning this quarter (which ends in March) on a positive note.
Like the rest of the country, Pignon is waiting for the elections to elect its local authorities. Since the end of the mandates of municipal elected officials, the lapse of parliament in January 2020, the assassination, and the villainous attack and murder of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, the country has known no legitimate authority.
We want to thank you for your concern, and for supporting the people of this community who have faced dark moments for years. We ask for your prayer help for a better Haiti. We know our faults and would like to take a new positive step. And we hope to be available to enhance the gospel of Jesus Christ for a new Haitian community.
Darling Seriphin
Translated from the original French by Lauren Thompson