Bwa Kayiman and Batay Vètyè

Several days ago, I asked one of the sisters for ideas of places I could go historical or touristy, on a Tuesday since that is my day off, and by myself if necessary since everyone else is working or busy on that day.  She said that there were two places close enough that the convent chauffeur would be available to take me in between his normal Tuesday responsibilities.

Yesterday morning the chauffeur and I visited Bwa Kayiman, which is the site where the planning as well a a Voodoo ceremony occurred which began the Haitian Revolution.  (here is a the Wikipedia link for more information https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bois_Ca%C3%AFman )We drove up the mountain and then walked a short distance to a hidden cave; two men showed us where to find it.  They showed us an old bridge nearby that they said had been built by slaves.

Then we spent some time in the yard, below.  There was a school group standing under a tree and a man was talking to them.  I listened to the end of his speech and as took questions from the youth,  grateful that he was speaking Creole (not French.)  His words seemed likely to inspire young people to embrace their culture, beliefs and traditions and not to allow the culture to be destroyed or repressed.        

Next we went to the monument of the Battle of Vètyè.   (Here is the Wikipedia link for more information:   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Verti%C3%A8res )

As a result of my outing, I found myself thinking about history and how so many people have experienced such terrible oppression and discrimination like slavery and being denied the right to practice their religion.  I found myself reflecting upon the concept of freedom and how so much blood has been shed to obtain it.  As I read on-line articles about Super Tuesday results yesterday evening, I could not help but feeling disturbed by the reality that there are Americans voting for a person who speaks of building walls that exclude others and sending refugees away.  Until we are all free of  prejudices,  hatred, and fear of the "other", then I am not sure that anyone of us is truly free.

I was going to put captions under the pictures, include more details and include a couple of other updates, but I am already a day late (according to my self-imposed deadline) and want to publish this tonight before the electricity goes off.  

I hope that you are well.  Have a good week.  Take care. Many blessings!