| Titid's
boys targeted by death squads
by Lyn Duff
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Two
years after a bloody U.S.-sponsored coup
overthrew the democratically elected
government of President Jean Bertrand
Aristide, ordinary Haitians are still
struggling to put their lives back together.
Blanchard Vital, 24, is a former street child
who was raised in one of Port-au-Princes
popular zones. As a young boy, his mother
died, leaving Blanchard and his older brother,
Vital, orphaned. The boys were taken in by
Aristide, who was then a parish priest running
Lafanmi Selavi (Kreyol for The family is life)
center for homeless children.
Raised
in Lafanmi Selavi, Blanchard survived the
1991-1994 coup, even after death squads
firebombed the center, killing several
children and one adult staffer. After the
restoration of democracy in 1994, Blanchard
joined the staff of Radyo Timoun, an
innovative child-run radio station
headquartered at Lafanmi Selavi, and completed
his education at a vocational school.
When
rebels advanced on the capital last year,
Blanchard and many of the other young people
who grew up in Lafanmi Selavi were forced into
hiding. Death squads specifically targeted
Titids boys, seeking them out and executing
them in their homes and on the street. Some of
the Lafanmi Selavi graduates were killed by
foreign troops, such as one young father of
three who was killed March 12, 2004, by
American marines in Bel Air. Others were
executed by armed masked men, officers from
the Haitian National Police and ex-soldiers.
Despite
successful elections Feb. 7, in which
progressive candidate René Préval was chosen
as president, little has changed for the
thousands of Haitians still in hiding. Préval
is due to take office May 14, but some in
hiding still fear the inauguration will not
take place or that Préval will not be able to
change the conditions which led to their
persecution. Its for this reason that after
two years of living in fear, Blanchard Vital
has chosen to share his story with Bay View
readers.
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| In
2003, Blanchard and three other young
men lived rent free for a time in the
top floor of a dilapidated old house. It
was rotting and falling apart, but it
provided a roof over their heads as they
tried to work and go to school. Everyone
in the house often shared what food they
had. |
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Photo: ©Jennifer Cheek Pantaléon
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I feel so alone
by Blanchard Vital
This is my story
of the situation that Im actually living in.
To come straight to the point, I must first
tell you how wretched my real way of living
has become. It hurts so much when Im reminded
of how happy I was in the past. Sometimes when
I remember what life in Haiti used to be like,
I feel like crying out because I cant stand
for this situation anymore!
This is not a
situation in which I am pretending to be on
the spot. Indeed, my life and the lives of my
friends has been threatened. The danger and
persecution has advanced to such a degree that
I dont know any longer what to do with my
life.
It is profound.
When I compare the situation that we are
forced into today with how we lived in the
past, when I take a long hard look at my life,
I am struck by the fact that today there is
nothing left but bitterness, humiliation,
sadness and despair.
My actual living
conditions are worse than ever. I am living
alone, away from my family and friends. I was
forced to leave my old life and now have no
opportunities to go to work or continue in my
university studies.
I do not have
enough to eat. When I run out of food
supplies, I drink a lot of water and go to
sleep because there is a proverb that sleep
does not know hunger. So I try to find a
little food when I can, and if I cant, then I
drink water and sleep.
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| After
the coup, Blanchard could no longer
afford to go to school. By April 2004,
he was thin and no longer had his
glasses, but his sense of humor and
thirst for life were still strong. |
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Photo: ©Jennifer
Cheek Pantaléon
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But my biggest
fear is that because I am alone, no one will
know if something happens to me. I can be
taken away at any moment, and no one will
know! And what will happen if I fall ill?
There is no one to take care of me; indeed, no
one even knows where I am. I could faint or
even die, and no one would know. I could fall
ill and no one would know to bring me
medication or help me.
You may understand
what a hard thing it is to live all alone in a
room. I dont live with anybody, not even a
member of my family. I cannot leave the
compound in which I live because I am only
safe here.
Since Feb. 29,
2004, so many of us in Port-au-Prince have
been trapped in this kind of situation. You
dont know who you can trust; you dont know who
your friends are anymore, because when people
feel afraid and threatened, their loyalties
change.
My younger
brother, Lionel, left Haiti for the United
States a long time ago, after the coup, and I
have not heard from him since. I dont even
know exactly where he is right now, and it has
been impossible to get in touch with him. This
political situation has torn our family apart.
Even after this
coup is over, our lives will still be
difficult. It will take time to pick up the
pieces, and we will struggle to even achieve
the kind of life that we had before. I am
afraid for myself and for Haiti. And
personally, I feel so alone. I dont know who
to turn to. The people who used to help me are
away in hiding or in exile outside of Haiti.
I have been an
orphan since 1991. In a few words, I can
honestly say that I am discouraged. All I have
left is God; he is everything that I am, he is
the only one I can turn to and he is all I
have in my life.
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