Rocks in the Water, Rocks in the Sun: A Memoir from the Heart of Haiti

When Joegodson Déralciné was still a small child, his parents left rural Haiti to resettle in the rapidly growing zones of Port-au-Prince. As his family entered the city in 1986, Duvalier and his dictatorship exited. Haitians, once terrorized under Duvalier’s reign, were liberated and emboldened to...

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Main Authors: Paul Jackson, Vilmond Joegodson Déralciné
פורמט: Online
שפה:אנגלית
יצא לאור: Athabasca University Press 2021
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גישה מקוונת:19410
תגים: הוספת תג
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author Paul Jackson
Vilmond Joegodson Déralciné
author_browse Paul Jackson
Vilmond Joegodson Déralciné
author_facet Paul Jackson
Vilmond Joegodson Déralciné
author_sort Paul Jackson
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description When Joegodson Déralciné was still a small child, his parents left rural Haiti to resettle in the rapidly growing zones of Port-au-Prince. As his family entered the city in 1986, Duvalier and his dictatorship exited. Haitians, once terrorized under Duvalier’s reign, were liberated and emboldened to believe that they could take control of their lives. But how? Joining hundreds of thousands of other peasants trying to adjust to urban life, Joegodson and his family sought work and a means of survival. But all they found was low-waged assembly plant jobs of the sort to which the repressive Duvalier regime had opened Haiti’s doors—the combination of flexible capital and cheap labour too attractive to multinational manufacturers to be overlooked. With the death of his mother, Joegodson was placed in his uncle’s care, and so began a childhood of starvation, endless labour, and abuse. In honest, reflective prose, Joegodson—now a father himself— allows us to walk in the ditches of Cité Soleil, to hide from the macoutes under the bed, to feel the ache of an empty stomach. But, most importantly, he provides an account of life in Haiti from a perspective that is rarely heard. Free of sentimentality and hackneyed clichés, his narrative explores the spirituality of Vodou, Catholicism, and Protestantism, describes the harrowing day of the 2010 earthquake and its aftermath, and illustrates the inner workings of MINUSTAH. Written with Canadian historian Paul Jackson—Joegodson telling his story in Creole, Jackson translating, the two of them then reviewing and reworking—the memoir is a true collaboration, the struggle of two people from different lands and vastly different circumstances to arrive at a place of mutual understanding. In the process, they have given us an unforgettable account of a country determined to survive, and on its own terms.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-585632023-12-20T16:24:14Z Rocks in the Water, Rocks in the Sun: A Memoir from the Heart of Haiti Paul Jackson Vilmond Joegodson Déralciné JZ2-6530 2010 earthquake macoutes garment factories Gildan United Nations Port-au-Prince MINUSTAH Aristide bic Book Industry Communication::J Society & social sciences::JP Politics & government::JPS International relations When Joegodson Déralciné was still a small child, his parents left rural Haiti to resettle in the rapidly growing zones of Port-au-Prince. As his family entered the city in 1986, Duvalier and his dictatorship exited. Haitians, once terrorized under Duvalier’s reign, were liberated and emboldened to believe that they could take control of their lives. But how? Joining hundreds of thousands of other peasants trying to adjust to urban life, Joegodson and his family sought work and a means of survival. But all they found was low-waged assembly plant jobs of the sort to which the repressive Duvalier regime had opened Haiti’s doors—the combination of flexible capital and cheap labour too attractive to multinational manufacturers to be overlooked. With the death of his mother, Joegodson was placed in his uncle’s care, and so began a childhood of starvation, endless labour, and abuse. In honest, reflective prose, Joegodson—now a father himself— allows us to walk in the ditches of Cité Soleil, to hide from the macoutes under the bed, to feel the ache of an empty stomach. But, most importantly, he provides an account of life in Haiti from a perspective that is rarely heard. Free of sentimentality and hackneyed clichés, his narrative explores the spirituality of Vodou, Catholicism, and Protestantism, describes the harrowing day of the 2010 earthquake and its aftermath, and illustrates the inner workings of MINUSTAH. Written with Canadian historian Paul Jackson—Joegodson telling his story in Creole, Jackson translating, the two of them then reviewing and reworking—the memoir is a true collaboration, the struggle of two people from different lands and vastly different circumstances to arrive at a place of mutual understanding. In the process, they have given us an unforgettable account of a country determined to survive, and on its own terms. 2021-02-12T02:26:36Z 2021-02-12T02:26:36Z 2016-08-09 23:04:46 2015 book 19410 19216661 9781771990127 9781771990141 9781771990110 9781771990134 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/58563 eng Our Lives: Diary, Memoir, and Letters image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International http://www.aupress.ca/index.php/books/120241 Athabasca University Press 10.15215/aupress/9781771990110.01 10.15215/aupress/9781771990110.01 6b1b8af7-79e4-4b18-b297-b983df0f073f 9781771990127 9781771990141 9781771990110 9781771990134 390 open access
spellingShingle JZ2-6530
2010 earthquake
macoutes
garment factories
Gildan
United Nations
Port-au-Prince
MINUSTAH
Aristide
bic Book Industry Communication::J Society & social sciences::JP Politics & government::JPS International relations
Paul Jackson
Vilmond Joegodson Déralciné
Rocks in the Water, Rocks in the Sun: A Memoir from the Heart of Haiti
title Rocks in the Water, Rocks in the Sun: A Memoir from the Heart of Haiti
title_full Rocks in the Water, Rocks in the Sun: A Memoir from the Heart of Haiti
title_fullStr Rocks in the Water, Rocks in the Sun: A Memoir from the Heart of Haiti
title_full_unstemmed Rocks in the Water, Rocks in the Sun: A Memoir from the Heart of Haiti
title_short Rocks in the Water, Rocks in the Sun: A Memoir from the Heart of Haiti
title_sort rocks in the water rocks in the sun a memoir from the heart of haiti
topic JZ2-6530
2010 earthquake
macoutes
garment factories
Gildan
United Nations
Port-au-Prince
MINUSTAH
Aristide
bic Book Industry Communication::J Society & social sciences::JP Politics & government::JPS International relations
topic_facet JZ2-6530
2010 earthquake
macoutes
garment factories
Gildan
United Nations
Port-au-Prince
MINUSTAH
Aristide
bic Book Industry Communication::J Society & social sciences::JP Politics & government::JPS International relations
url 19410
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