The Haitian community in Dominica will show support for Michel Martelly, Haiti’s President-elect, when they meet for a “Compas night” at Krazy Kokonuts tonight.
This will be segment one of the celebration which is to continue tomorrow when Martelly will be sworn in officially as President of the French island.
Martelly is known most popularly by his stage name “Sweet Mickey.” Speaking ahead of the inauguration, Roland Desir, President of the Dominica-Haiti Friendship Association, said the people of Haiti see Martelly as a “man of goodwill”. He said he does not see Martelly as a politician but as one who is willing to help rebuild Haiti.
Martelly’s appointment comes at a tough time when many Haitians are still trying to deal with the effects of the devastating earthquake of January 12 2010. Many have complained that assistance pledged, have not reached them. The election process that preceded Martelly’s selection, included clashes among the Haitian people.
Ok so they can go back when things are good? I don’t like the idea of them in my country.
scared of all the sins they brought with them to Dominica…
Hey I know some of you guys will not like my comment but that’s how I feel.
Haitians in Dominica? What a mess! Very sad indeed.
I hope that means they want to go back…
Haiti is not an island. It share the island of Hispanola with the Dom Rep and it is not
french. Let us peopwelyeducate the students.
French is the official language doo doo head.
Haitian official language is CREOLE not French, Haitians should be proud of their native language, yes they speak french mixing it with Creole, i meet Haitian who speak Creole and Spanish and no French
Agree Haiti share the island with the Dominican Republic formerly known as Hispaniola yet they are not welcome there
Creole, Not French, Is Haiti’s Official Language, Fatcs About Haiti And The Haitian Culture Creole is a language
http://www.haitibio.com › The Haitian People – Cached – Similar
Two languages were spoken in Haiti: Creole and French. The social relationship between these languages was complex. Nine of every ten Haitians spoke only Creole, which was the everyday language for the entire population. About one in ten also spoke French. And only about one in twenty was fluent in both French and Creole. Thus, Haiti was neither a francophone country nor a bilingual one. Rather, two separate speech communities existed: the monolingual majority and the bilingual elite
The tendency to use French sounds became common in the Port-au-Prince variant of Creole. By the 1980s, the Port-au- Prince variant was becoming perceived as the standard form of the language.
Language usually complicated interactions between members of the elite and the masses. Haitians of all classes took pride in Creole as a means of expression and as the national tongue. Nevertheless, many monolingual and bilingual Haitians regarded Creole as a nonlanguage, claiming that “it has no rules.” Thus, the majority of the population did not value their native language and built a mystique around French. At the same time, almost every bilingual Haitian had ambivalent feelings about using French and did so uncomfortably. In Creole the phrase “to speak French” means “to be a hypocrite.”
Fluency in French served as an even more important criterion than skin color for membership in the Haitian elite. The use of French in public life excluded the Creole-speaking majority from politics, government, and intellectual life. Bilingual families used French primarily for formal occasions. Because Creole was the language of informal gatherings, it was filled with slang and was used for telling jokes. Haitian French lacked these informal qualities. Monolingual Creole speakers avoided formal situations where their inability to communicate in French would be a disadvantage or an embarrassment. In an attempt to be accepted in formal or governmental circles, some monolingual Creole speakers used French-sounding phrases in their Creole speech, but these imitations were ultimately of little or no use. Middle-class bilinguals in Port-au-Prince suffered the greatest disadvantage because they frequently encountered situations in which the use of French would be appropriate, but their imperfect mastery of the language tended to betray their lower-class origins. It was in the middle class that the language issue was most pressing. The use of French as a class marker made middle-class Haitians more rigid in their use of French on formal occasions than Haitians who were solidly upper class.
haiti is french because they speak french just like dominica is english in those cases french and english are being used as adjectives and not nouns
There support for him would even be greater appreciated if they went back to rebuild their country not only those in Dominica but those all over the world. Sweet Mickey will make an excellent President its a start of big things for Haiti
Are you living in 2011? A person can only contribute to their country by living there? hmmmm.
Welcome back sweet Valda where have you been my girl long time we have`nt connect. LA-Plaine.??
Sorry D.N.O but the last time i checked Haiti was a republic and not a french island. Also the republic of Haiti shared the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican republic. Please lets correct this error so our readers are not feed the wrong information. Oui les Haitiens parlent francais, mais Haiti n’est pas une ile francaise.