The Big Difference: Cuba Really Helps Haiti! / La Gran Diferencia: Cuba Ayuda A Haiti De Verdad.

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Cuban musicians embrace their Haitian roots

The members of the Creole Choir of Cuba aren't just Cuban fans of Haitian music: They're ethnic Haitians, descended from refugees who fled to Cuba in the early 1800s and settled in the city of Camaguey. Courtesy photo.

North County Times
(Serving North San Diuego & SW Riverside Counties)

By JIM TRAGESER jtrageser@nctimes.com North County Times | Posted: Thursday, October 27, 2011 6:00 am |

Creole music is to Haiti what son is to Cuba, flamenco to Spain, blues or bluegrass to the United States.

Both the language and the traditional music of Haiti are called Creole, and both the language and the music are uniquely Haitian mixtures of the French spoken by the European colonizers of the western half of the island of Hispaniola and the numerous languages brought to Haiti by slaves from Africa.

So to find a musical outfit called the Creole Choir of Cuba (playing Tuesday at Mandeville Auditorium at UC San Diego) is a bit like finding a blues band in Belgrade or a bluegrass band in Japan.

Except the members of the Creole Choir of Cuba aren't just Cuban fans of Haitian music: They're ethnic Haitians, descended from refugees who fled to Cuba in the early 1800s and settled in the city of Camaguey. Their music is their way of embracing their heritage and keeping it alive.

Emilia Diaz Chavez, the choir's founder and director, said in an email exchange (with the assistance of a translator) that Cubans celebrate their family ethnic histories in ways that would seem familiar to most Americans.

"In Cuba, many events celebrate the cultures of various ethnic groups, and Haitian culture also has several special spaces dedicated to it, such as 'the Feast of Fire' in Santiago de Cuba, 'Eva Gaspar' in Ciego de Avila and 'The Days of Haitian Culture' in Havana."

According to the band's official biography, the Creole Choir was formed in 1994 by Diaz Chavez out of the existing Haitian ethnic singing groups, which she wrote are popular even among Cubans not of Haitian descent.

"They want to know information about the Haitians and their descendants in Camaguey. The stories of our journeys here, which are diverse and adventurous. Culturally, there is much to know because we are the country's oldest Haitian dance group, based in Camaguey for over 80 years."

Living in a nation like Cuba, known globally as one of the most musically rich cultures, pays dividends even for a band such as the Creole Choir, Diaz Chavez wrote.

"Music is part of the life of the Cuban people. Every day is filled with cheer and dancing in our community, so it is a natural inspiration for our work."

And the two islands' music developed along similar paths, particularly in the religious traditions that fused Catholicism with African beliefs.

"There are many similarities between musical Cuban Santeria and Haitian Vousdous as to the ritual ceremonies and the act of singing to their respective gods. The ceremonies in Haiti are more holy, or 'Iwas,' which is something that our parents have passed to us and our generation now safeguards."

One of the challenges of trying to preserve Haitian music from Cuba is trying to keep up with current developments in Haitian popular music. Diaz Chavez wrote that this can be difficult.

"It is not possible to follow the Haitian music scene directly from my house because I do not hear much the broadcasting directly. We keep a connection through music recorded and obtained in Haiti or other countries that is passed to our friends who live outside Cuba and brought to us. When we were in New York in June, although only in town for 24 hours, our priority was to find music to bring back to Cuba to aid us in our work. That music is shared in the Haitian community in Cuba. There is also a lot of Haitian music produced in Cuba which we have access to."

And while the universal access of the Internet has been slower to make its way into Cuban society than elsewhere in the West, with the ability of young people today to hear music from any part of the world, Diaz Chavez said she does not think this exposure to various folk music will weaken the appeal of local folk styles.

"Each musician has his own charm, and our identity is based on geography."

*** PLEASE pray for Haiti***

"Insignificant"

This is how I feel about my blog.......or most blogs on a day like today.

Because when there has been a tragedy of the magnitude of what has happened in Haiti.

I think to myself....."Who cares about all this goofy stuff on blogs"......unless it deals with the current issue at hand.

I always have to pause and recheck my values especially at times like these. And wonder if I am being foolish with my time on this planet.

"Am I making a DIFFERENCE or NOT?"
You see this troubles me greatly.....because I dearly WANT to "make a difference."

So forgive me I don't put any photos of my family having a fabulous time at Christmas in New York right now while hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children are dead or dying in Haiti.

I just can't do it. Not right now.
I'll do that later.

Because my mind runs back to the memory of the Cabbie driver that took us to the movie theater on Christmas Day and we asked him where he was from and he told us...."Haiti."
I wonder about how his loved ones back in that country have fared.

And the time I was in Nicaragua and was SHOCKED and appalled at the great poverty and the condition of the country.

While I was having a conversation with the Missionaries wife we were there with I said to her......."This has the be the poorest country in this hemisphere" and she told me....."No Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, it's way worse than Nicaragua." I just couldn't even comprehend that thought after seeing what I was already seeing there and this was just after the civil war had ended. All I could think was "How could Haiti be much worse than this country??"

But through the years and through many friends of mine that have gone...I've read and learned much about the country of Haiti and it has suffered one thing after another it seems.

BY the way....there is NO condemnation to any of you that do blog and do what you do. Don't misunderstand me.
This is just something I need to do for this moment.

Here are some things that we will do as a family regarding Haiti for now:

#1.GIVE ...locally to our church which is involved in partnering with other relief organizations that are already there working as recently as last evening in this sad, tortured, country.

Not to brag but the churches in this area are nearly "experts" at "disaster relief" due to the work they and others in our area partnered together to do in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

#2. We will PRAY..which is so important right now.

#3. We have offered to "GO" if they need us....we have "valid" Passports and have offered our help in any way possible.

PLEASE take this opportunity to "SHINE" to these people who are so in need right now.
Everyone can do something.
Trust me...no matter how small it may seem to you, no good deed will go unnoticed.