Sa Bondye sere pou ou, lavalas pa ka pote l ale by Vorb Charles

Sa Bondye sere pou ou, lavalas pa ka pote l ale.

A literal translation would be: "What God holds tight for you, floods cannot take it away."

An island country of the Caribbean, Haiti has faced widescale floods many times in her story due to excessive rainfall and deforestation in the mountains. When the flood causes the river to rush and swell, it brings rocks, branches, and other large debris with it. Often, the flood is so big that it overtakes everything on its path. We Haitians call this kind of flood "lavalas".

Haitians say that even if you or your possession are on its itinarary, it will not be taken away.

This proverb teaches us about the faithfulness of God and His providence in that what God has for you, nothing can prevent it from happening and nothing can take it away.

It is used to encourage people when they are in a desperate situation and when something fortunate occurs to someone out of nothing after a hard and difficult time to congratulate them.

No matter what you are facing, we as Haitians remember  “Sa Bondye sere pou ou, lavalas pa ka pote l ale."

Mache chache, pa dòmi san souple by Vorb Charles

Mache chache, pa dòmi san souple.

One who keeps on searching does not sleep without dinner. This could be the literal translation for that proverb.

In Haiti, life is a struggle.  Whatever you want to find, get, or achieve is not easy. It take time, energy, patience, hard work, and dedication to have it.

The meal that we take at night is called "soupe".  People say that if you take the whole day searching for something to eat, you will, at least, find the "soupe".

This teaches us to be patient and keep hope in our venture knowing that one day we will have the result of our hard work and dedication.   But it also a warning to those who keeps on making poor choices, doing  wrong or accelerating in the bad way. They will have the result of their choices.

People say this proverb as a compliment after an achievement that requires hard working and perseverance or as a blame to someone who gets the results of his/her poor action.

We should remember that any choice that we make, anything that we dedicate ourselves to either good or bad, we will find the result.

So let us take the time to consider the outcome of our actions because

"mache chache pa dòmi san soupe".

Sa k vid pa kanpe by Vorb Charles

"Empty bags do not stand"  is the literal English translation of this Haitian proverb.

In Haiti, people use 'sak'  (bags) for many purposes.  They use plastic, carton, and clothe ones.  They are used in to put goods, merchandise, crops, harvest, food or any personal stuff so that they can transport them and hide them from the sight of people.

As we all know, a 'sak' (bag) cannot stand but itself or stay upright if it is not full, half full or without something in it. If empty, it will lay on the ground.

Haitians use this proverb to say that in the same way a 'sak' (bag) cannot stand by itself if it is empty, people cannot do anything or have strength and energy to do anything or even stand up if they are hungry.

This proverb is used whenever someone is called to do something and he/she is hungry or when he/she gets weak after trying to do some kind of work with an empty belly. So you know immediately that they really need something to eat. And you would rather give them something to eat so that they can recover in strength and energy.

So remember:  'Sa k vid pa kanpe'.

Apre Dans, Tanbou Lou by Vorb Charles

This proverb could be literally translated:  “After dance, drums are heavy."

Tanbou (drums) are one of the typical musical instruments in Haitian culture. Almost all the bands, either formal or informal, has at least one tanbou (drums) amount their instruments. And people like to organize dans (dances) once in a while and on special occasions.

Haitian drummers are used to playing a set of tanbou. - a big one that they call "manman tambou" (main drum), medium and little ones. The set gives a wonderful, powerful and strong rhythmic sound that makes listeners want to dance or even move their toes.

The idea of that proverb is that people have a lot of energy to set up the dance. After dancing, they are tired and do not really have strength to put away the set of tanbou that now looks heavy.

Haitians say this proverb when someone hosted a party and has to clean alone after, while others helped him/her set it up. Or when someone has to assume alone the consequences after a collective action.

This teaches us that there are consequences for any of our actions and most of the time, we have to face them alone even though we were not alone in them.

Byen pre, pa lakay by Vorb Charles

"Byen pre, pa lakay"

This proverb could be literally translated:: " Very near is not home."   Back in the days, even now, in some places in Haiti, people have to walk miles to reach some areas and walk back home. Mostly in the countryside, some people walk to reach the work field or the market to buy or sell stuff.

We have a lot of energy at the beginning and in the middle of the journey. But at the end, it is a different story. We are tired and tend to have a pause under a mango tree or at a friend's house. And the fatigue and discouragement tend to invade us and give us the will to take a nap. The longer the pause, the further home seems to be, even though we are very near.

And people say that even though we are very near, we are not home yet. We need to double or triple our courage and strength to take the road again and finish the journey.

The same thing tends to happen to most people on something they undertook. When they are almost done, they tend to anticipate the joy of accomplishment. And if they are not careful and continue to work with the same discipline, they probably won't accomplish it.

Some artists have many unfinished pieces of art because they continue to say it needs a little work to be done but never have the time or the will to get it done. This also happens to people in other areas in life. Every time they are almost done with something, they know they can finish it any time with no real effort, they leave it and start another one.

Haitian say " Byen pre, pa lakay" to remind themselves that something is really done or accomplished when it requires no more work.

Pye kout, pran devan by Vorb Charles

Pye kout, pran devan. It could be translated by " Short legs, go ahead"

In Haiti, community is valuable. People like to travel and work in groups. Sometimes, the group of workers is going to work some place else. The group has tall and short people, fast and slow walking ones. Those that are short, given the length of their legs, they like to start the journey early, before the others that are fast walkers, so that they can arrive on time or not being left behind.

Slow workers like to start their jobs before the fast ones and before the time set to have enough time to finish.

This proverb is used to encourage people that are planning ahead an event. People that start a journey early. It is also used to remind people that they have to measure their talent, capacity and ability and act accordingly. If we do not have the same ability, resources , connections, resilience... We might not be able to keep up with the others without putting in extra time or effort.

This proverb has also the idea of anticipating an event. Sometimes you sense something will happen given some signs/factors. You make due decisions before they happen and get prepared for it.

If your legs are short, remember to go ahead, to leave early.

Bagay piti pa chich by Vorb Charles

Bagay piti pa chich

This Haitian proverb could be literally translated as "little gifts don't mean stingy".

Haitian people are used to living in community.  They know others' names, stories, and family trees. They like to share what they have (food, information, money, pain, joy...). Sharing is one of the Haitian values that is taught from childhood.

Sometimes people have something insignificant in quantity, and they feel the necessity or the willingness to give it or to share it with someone else. To show respect to the receiver and their will to give, they say : "bagay piti pa chich" after handing it to him/her or when the receiver gives thanks after receiving it mostly when it was sent. Or sometimes when the giver calls the receiver to tell him/her that he/she has sent something for him/her.

With this proverb we know that everyone can share what they have -  as little as it may be. And we should be humble enough to receive what somebody offers/gives us with all his/her heart.

(Note:  It is a shame to say no to the giver when he/she takes pleasure to share the little he/she has, specially for the elders. But we can say no if this could hinder our faith, leadership position, or if we know that the giver has a bad intention).

Bagay piti pa chich.

 Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything. The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed. 

Proverbs 11:24-25

Bat Chen an, tann mèt li by Vorb Charles

Bat Chen an, tann mèt li

This could be literally translated as: "Beat the dog, expect its owner."

Dogs are one of  humans best friend among all animals. For people, dogs can be either good companions, security guards, helpers, guides, and more.   People take time to take care of them, bring them to the hospital, feed them and protect them. For some people, dogs are like their own children.

On the other hand, some people hate dogs. Any time they see one, they feel like beating them, throwing rocks at them and possibly harming them in some manner. They tend to ignore that every "chen" (dog) has a "mèt" (owner).

People say this proverb to remind those that hit/beat/harm a dog that its owner will take revenge.

Haitians say that proverb also to remind anyone that robs/mistreats/harms a less fortunate, weaker or unprotected person that someone is going to take revenge for him/her.  And often,, people refer to God as the avenger/revenger of the poor/week and unprotected.

This proverb teaches us to think twice before doing any harm to those that are less strong/ fortunate than us. And it also reminds us that "dèyè mòn gen mòn" (we will find someone more powerful than us to pay us back our harm). When one acts like that, he attracts trouble to himself.

Let us do good to everyone anytime everywhere anyway because God will ask us about our actions.

Twò prese pa fè jou louvre by Vorb Charles

Twò prese pa fè jou louvre

In English, literally, this proverb would say: " Too much hurry does not advance the daylight."

In Haiti, people travel a great deal from place to place. They like to start their activities early in the morning.  At night, retailers, street vendors, gardeners, tap tap/bus drivers, travellers, local tourists, and others want the next day to come fast so that they can run their activities.

In some places, people do not have watches or clocks. At night, they watch the stars in the sky from time to time to guess the hour. Some other people pay attention to the song of roosters during the night to have the hour.  Some people, even though they have a watch or a clock, they keep on guessing the time instead.

Sometimes, people want so much for the day to come that they do not beleive the time displayed on clocks or watches.

Sometimes when we have something to do, we are so excited that we are impatient to have the opportunity to do it.  We can not wait until  the right time comes to do it - either an announcement, a surprise to do to someone, a place to visit, or a decision to make, especially if it is for the first time.

People say this proverb to remind impatient people that we cannot make the night or the day shorter. It will take the same amount of time as usual. We also say this proverb to encourage people to go through the process in doing something. Skipping necessary steps is fatal to quality and sustaining results.

Let us take the time to enjoy the process, to pause, and sometimes relax, in our endeavours.