Emerging Adulthood: Faith In The Haitian Community

Today whenever you look on the television, mainstream media showcases Haitians in a negative light, resulting to misleading stereotypes and accusations of Haiti and Haitians in general. They always appear to have skin dark as night or that Haitians are the great whisperers of voodoo and dark magic. Majority of their government is corrupt and unjust due to the unfairness of money distributed in the country and poverty rising every year. Most hurtful of them all, is Haitians are poor and live in shacks made out of aluminum sheets and tires held together by the AIDS virus. Even after the unfortunate earthquake that Haiti had encountered in 2010, people were still condemned Haitians and their country, but now with sympathy in their eyes. All

Haiti is a prime example of how human needs in one area of the world are interdependent with social conditions elsewhere in the world. Haiti, for most of its history has been overwhelmed with economic

"Haiti is a country of youth, which means it's a country that has a future, we must stop saying Haitians are resilient and begin to say Haitians are capable" quoted by Michelle Jean. Growing up with a Haitian background where people just didn't get along with us or they just didn't accept us for who we naturally truly are. Rumors spread across the nation that we do a certain thing or eat certain animals. Younger years I was just bullied for just being Haitian. It was ridiculous because nobody took the time out to know who I was, never seen how strong I am, nobody took the time out and step out to say "Let me get to know her regardless of her background". So I had to represent my community, my family, and my blood as a Haitian that I am capable of standing strong to show that I inherited good jeans from strong people. "Enseigner, écouter, faire ce qu'il faut faire pour être grand. Ne laissez pas votre garde vers le bas pour

Buddhism teaches people to live honorably and follow the Eightfold Path to reach release from the state of infinite re-incarnation and reach nirvana, which means the end of the life cycle by living a life full of dignity and refuse from all other attachments causing their desires and strifes McKay et al., 2008)

From the very beginning of life, children are thought of as gifts from God. Families will do anything and everything to make sure the children are taken care of and that their needs are met. Parents will even sacrifice their own necessities to be sure that the children get what they need. Mothers will feed their children and make sure they can go to school before they will eat. In Haiti, children are raised by the whole family, which includes older siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and even members of the community that are not

As of 2015 the U.S Census Bureau revealed that approximately 116 million families are living in the United States. These families possess their own unique style, culture and set of beliefs. My family, consisting of my married parents and my older sister, are no different in the aspect that we too hold our own set of beliefs. The socially constructed term ‘family’ traditionally is defined as a unit that is related by marriage or blood, share financial responsibilities and care for any children/dependents (Lofquist et al., 2012). Growing up as a Haitian American, my ideas of what it means to be a family have been greatly influenced by my cultures and my religion. The Haitian culture greatly emphasizes family relationships and familial

Purpose: To understand how Haiti became what it is and all the trials it has endured

Haiti has a very interesting history of culture and religion. Currently, while Roman Catholicism is the official religion, Voodoo can be considered the national religion; about half of all Haitians practice it. This culture and religious history – and current practice – is essential in understanding one of the most important genres of music in Haiti; Rara.

The culture of Haiti is a various mix of African and European elements due to the French colonization of Saint Dominguez. I chose to research this culture for two reason one reason being that I have a friend who is Haitian and I never understood why she did what she did, or even her mother. The second reason is because many people in Haiti is associated with voodoo, and that’s something I personally wouldn’t get to involved with due to my religious views. Throughout this essay we will see in detail the differences in culture from ours to theirs. We will learn about their primary language, religion, their different values and beliefs and last but not least their social practices. While reading on Haiti I started to appreciate their culture more due to the fact that know.

What does the average American really know about the country, Haiti? Is the lifestyle all black magic, spells, and séances? Is this media portrayal of Voodoo the only way of life and what is Voodoo, any way? These questions come to mind when someone wants to know the truth about Haitian culture and life in Haiti. Haitian culture consists of deep rooted religious beliefs, music, and Haitian cuisine.

Today Haiti is consider one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. Religion takes an important part in this country in which catholic is considered the top religion, which contains eighty percent of people. Over time Haiti has been affected by Diseases that are common. This is the cause to why the orphanage has a high percent.This

English is the most broadly spoken language worldwide. However, there are many non-English speaking countries in the Americas and the Caribbean. Haiti is one of the non- English speaking Caribbean countries. Their way of life of a group of people developed over time and passed down from generation to generation. The Republic of Haiti is located in the Caribbean Sea, between Cuba and Puerto- Rico. It is a tropical country with an average temperature of 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The capital of Haiti is Port-au-Prince and its official languages are French and Creole. It would be impossible to cover every aspect of Haitian culture in a short cultural paper. We have therefore, chosen to take a values approach to discuss power, prestige, filial responsibility, modernization, status and roles of older adults in that culture.

For the most part, the interaction between the colonizers of Haiti—the Spanish and the French—was negative, and lastingly so. Haiti has remained a turbulent and impoverished landscape. Social and economic indicators remain doggedly low, year after year. Haiti, although technically independent as of 1804, has never been able to support itself. There is a lot of heartfelt sympathy for Haiti, and the hope is that the legacy of colonization is not unending fate. But it will take a lot of work to get Haiti to a place of true freedom and independence, and sometimes outside help, however well intentioned, only unwittingly fuels the legacy.

     The Voodoo religion is one of the most, if not the most misconceived religions of our time. Often when Voodoo is mentioned, it is related to evil, black magic, devious sorcery, cannibalism, and harm. Although the Voodoo religion appears to the outsider as an illusion or falsehood, it has been an instrumental political force because it has helped the Haitians resist domination and form an identity of their own. Since the end of the 17th century, Haitian Voodoo has overcome every challenge it has been faced with and has endured. The religion is based on a polytheistic belief system and represents a significant portion of Haiti’s 8.3 million people. The engaging religion plays an important role in both the family

Buddhism began in the fourth and fifth centuries before Christ by Siddhartha Gautama. The teachings of Buddha, also known as Siddhartha Gautama, are the major beliefs of Buddhism. Buddhism is a belief and religion based on an assortment of customs, principles, and practices. The name Buddha means the awakened one. Buddha’s teachings were of the termination of suffering, attaining nirvana, and absconding from the cycle of suffering and rebirth. Buddhism has spread all across Asia and throughout the world, now with between two hundred thirty million and five hundred million followers. Buddhism is largely based around the belief of Karma. Karma is the “action, seen as bringing upon oneself inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or in a reincarnation” (Dictionary.com) or “the cosmic principle according to which each person is rewarded or punished in one incarnation according to that person’s deeds in the previous incarnation.” (Dictionary.com) In simpler words, how you live your life now determines how you will come back when your current soul expires. Buddhists live their lives in hopes of achieving to be placed in the highest state known as Heaven. The after-life stems from Karma and leads into Rebirth. Rebirth is a course of action where humans proceed within multiple lifetimes in one or more of the six states of after-life. Each lifetime begins with birth and ends with death. Buddhists believe that we should not fear death because