Thoughts on being a mother in Haiti …
Our monthly newsletter is based on Mother’s Day, a holiday celebrated in Haiti every last Sunday of May. We asked several mothers to share their thoughts about this day! -Darling Seriphin
Yolette Rosier (Madame Darling Seriphin) and son
I greet you under the protection of our divine redeemer and thank you for taking the time to read this letter. First, I am the wife of Darling Seriphin, Yolette Rosier, married on the first of December 2020. I feel so happy to talk to you a bit about the grand celebration of Mother’s Day in Haiti. It is a blessed day to see children who honor their parents, but it is also often a painful day for those who do not have mothers or children to celebrate with. There are many cries of joy and sadness. It is a beautiful day of happiness for mothers who welcome children and those children who honor them tenderly. I honor my parents, and wish to show them my love everyday. After my marriage, I wanted to have a child, but have had the misfortune of two miscarriages without known cause. It is now that I am able to recognize the patience, love, and perspective that my parents protected and have guided me with through such a difficult world. Now, in my third pregnancy, God has granted me the chance to see, grow, and raise my son, Adams Keith Seriphin, born September 28th, 2022, about 8 months ago.
It is not easy to explain, but I want to tell you that leading the life of a mother is not easy. After a cesarian section, my baby spent 46 days in the NICU as he was born premature at 29 weeks. His oxygen saturation level was not stable. The medicines prescribed to him were not easy to find. By the grace of God, his father, Darling, a responsible man, was able to find all that we needed. During the 46 days our baby spent in the NICU, he lost his respiration twice in a single morning, and just as I was losing hope, his father said to me “Because we have already had the fortune to see the skin and bones of this child, God has already fulfilled his promise to us, without doubt or complaint”.
Today, I am Yolette, the mama of the beautiful baby boy Adams Keith Seriphin. We ask God for all of the things we need to be able to raise this little boy on the right and righteous path. I encourage you to trust in Him, mothers. Submit yourself to him, and he will enter your home to protect your children. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
I hope my story will help you orient yourself better, ask God for any favorable direction so that your children will grow up in fear of His name and obey their parents. To my own mother, I love you dearly.
Elda Jn-Pierre (Madame Benz Lucul) and family
I am the mother of four children; two boys and two girls. Today we are rejoicing to be able to celebrate this holiday with other mothers, despite the difficulties and the chaotic situations which prevent us from having children, children who later become so valuable, beautiful, and bountiful to our families. I want to tell you that being a mother is not an easy task. For me, it is a great pleasure to celebrate this day in the month of May which is consecrated to showing our love to mothers. Finally, we pray to God ceaselessly so that our children may have intellectual, spiritual, and social education and that we can help them in their good and bad moments. Thank you.
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Weeslyne Charles (Madame Aldinn Romelus) and daughter
Hello Loving Haiti,
To be a mother is one of the most marvelous stages of life in womanhood, and also an emotional and physical life change. In our country of Haiti, motherhood is an economic, spiritual, social, and health struggle, but despite all of this, God fills us with rich blessings as our eyes are fixed on Him, as Joseph says in 2 Chronicles 20:12. So, I am proud to be the mother of a beautiful baby girl, and I have found grace in the eyes of God. Happy Mother’s Day to all of the mamas of the world.
Thank you to Lauren Thompson for translating these contributions from the original French!