Chita pa bay is literally translated by “Sitting down brings you nothing”.

Haitian parents usually said that proverb to their children in order to encourage them to be productive, especially when they see them laying in bed during the day as that tends to make a person lazy (from their perspective).

Therefore, they want their child to stand up and look for something to do in the house. Better yet, the parent would love to see the child have a book in hand so that they know at least the child cares about his education.

Sitting down, waiting doesn’t lead to anything productive. It is always good to be creative.

That proverb is there to remind us even when we are sitting we need to be productive.