Democratic Republic of Congo

Arkangel88 on Congoforums.net:

C'est dommage de constater qu'aujourd'hui encore, pour bien des gens, le SIDA semblerait toujours être le Syndrome Imaginaire pour Décourage les Amoureux. Les gens ne prennent toujours pas assez des précautions vis-à-vis de ce fléau.

Tunisia

Tunisian blogger zizou from Djerba, writing from South Africa, where the government has just announced a plan to expand treatment to all HIV-positive babies, talks about the discrimination the HIV-positive face back in his country:

Je suis encore en Afrique du sud. ici, une personne sur deux est infecte par le virus du sida. En Tunisie, l'infection est minime ( moins 0.01% de la population), le traitement gratuit est disponible et pourtant j'ai l'impression que nos seropositifs souffrent plus que ceux qui vivent en Afrique du Sud. Ils souffrent du rejet de leurs familles et de la societe. Ils se retrouvent souvent au chomage et sans aucun soutien… et pourtant! Le sida n'est pas la grippe. Il ne se propage que par la voie sexuelle (et encore! ce n'est pas a tous les coups). Donc chers compatriotes, en cette journee mondiale de lutte contre le sida. Ayez une pensee pour ces gens qui souffrent et surtout reflechissez a ce qu'il faut faire pour stopper l'isolement et la stigmatisation de ces malades.

Tekiano.com writes about Silence, a documentary by Tunisian filmmakers Karim Souaki, which will compete in an upcoming film festival in Marseille, France:

Le film brise le «Silence» pesant sur la société tunisienne au sujet du sida, à travers le portrait de «Jimmy», un tunisien porteur du VIH. Ce documentaire évoque la perception du sida dans notre société. Le regard du réalisateur y croise celui de quelques personnes vivant avec le VIH.

Haiti

The fight against discrimination was also evident in the Haitian town of Jacmel, where hundreds of gays and lesbians took to the streets.  On PawallaPale.com:

Ils ont à leur tête un ancien pasteur américain…qui a mis sur pied une organisation dont le but est d’aider les homosexuels (hommes et femmes) à vivre positivement tout en étant séropositifs.

Ils demandent également aux milliers d’homosexuels haïtiens de cesser toute hypocrisie. En d’autres termes, qu’ils finissent par s’afficher en tant que tel.

Guadeloupe & Martinique

And finally, in the French Antilles, discrimination was similarly at the center of many of the discussions and public awareness efforts.

Bebel971 , a blog of the UNESCO middle school, Bébel, in Sainte-Rose, Guadeloupe writes:

Vingt ans de lutte… Mais guère d’amélioration. En cette Journée mondiale de lutte contre le sida, l’heure est au bilan. La Guadeloupe demeure, cette année encore, la deuxième région de France la plus touchée par l’épidémie, avec un taux de prévalence 4 fois supérieure à celle de la Métropole.

La stigmatisation est forte en Guadeloupe. Il y a des tabous et les gens ne se font pas dépister, même s’ils désirent le faire car les attitudes discriminatoires et le rejet par la famille sont fréquents.

En terme de dépistage, la haute autorité de santé, souhaite lancer une nouvelle stratégie : le proposer à toute personne de plus de 15 ans qui vient dans un centre de santé, qu’il y ait eu risque ou non. « Si 70% des personnes séropositives étaient dépistées, elles prendraient plus de précaution et moins de risque pour leur santé, souligne docteur Marie-Thérèse Georger-Sow, présidente du Corevih (coordination régionale de lutte contre l’infection due au virus de l’immunodéficience humaine).

In an effort to fight the attitudes that help support this high infection rate, a new TV spot airing in Guadeloupe and Martinique calls for solidarity with those infected with HIV (via la discrimination dans la publicité):

In Martinique, madinina972bis on DOMActu.com writes:

C'est a ne rien comprendre ,malgré tous ces appels et ces mises en garde il y ai autant de personne atteint de cette maladie.On parle et on parle et personne n'écoute…

Toussaint 2009, by Fabienne Flessel

In Guadeloupe, blogger Mycho has decided to resume her blogging activity for the occasion. Her short post highlights two important aspects of this celebration of the lost ones, which are the tradition and the family dimension:

Comme d'habitude, les Guadeloupéens vont illuminer les tombes. C'est toujours une occasion de se souvenir de ceux qui ne sont plus là, mais aussi de revoir ceux qui sont bien présents, mais que l'on n'a pas l'occasion de croiser bien souvent. Un moment de tristesse et de joie mêlées.

Toussaint 2009 in Le Moule, by Fabienne Flessel

La collectivité régionale participe à l'opération à hauteur de 20 000 euros.

This is the presentation of the above-mentioned professional integration project:

Depuis samedi [1 novembre 2009], cinquante deux jeunes procèdent au nettoyage des tombes à l'abandon dans le Sud Basse-Terre et en Côte-sous-le-vent.

Domactu also posted about the traditional celebration of “la Toussaint” in Martinique:

Un moment qui rassemble toutes les générations pour honorer la mémoire de leurs morts.

However, in this post, we also learn that the tradition has changed gradually, since families tend to discharge the maintenance of their graves:

Mais c'est aussi l'occasion pour certains de se faire un peu d'argent. Tous les services sont donc bons à prendre.

Nettoyage de tombe, peinture, embellissement des caveaux sont autant de jobs que se partagent petits et grands…

For her part, Martinican blogger Imaniyé has decided to honor her ancestors by taking part in “An mémwa, Véyé Kont pour lézansèt” (Creole for “In memory of the ancestors, a storytelling evening”). Here is what she says about this cultural, historical and religious event:

En ces jours de Toussaint et de Fête des morts, pour la première fois, Amérindiens autochtones et Africains déportés sont honorés au cours de la même cérémonie. C’est très important. Pour les Amérindiens exterminés en 1658, comme pour les esclaves dont la dépouille git dans des cimetières inconnus, partout en Martinique. J’y participe. Je vous y invite.

In this very informative and well-documented post, Pyepimanla explores the celebration of “la Toussaint” among the descendants of the Indian immigrants in Guadeloupe as well as the impact of the recent trend of celebrating Halloween in the French West Indies. This last topic is fiercely debated in a post and comments on Bondamanjak.

From French Guiana, blogger Nuguet expresses his surprise at the fact that a guided tour of the cemetery of Cayenne on All Saints' Day is actually a historical account of immigration and politics in French Guiana. He also had a chance to discover the almost festive spirit of this family celebration.

Finally, blogger Espas Ayisyen Toulouse, a Haitian expatriate in France, republishes a post about the dual celebration of “Toussaint” and “the Guédés” in Haiti:

Le premier jour de novembre est consacré à la fête de La Toussaint. Les fidèles catholiques vénèrent en cette occasion leurs saints et entretiennent la mémoire d’un membre cher de leur famille décédé.
[…]
La fête des Guédés, commémorée le 2 novembre, est typique de la religion vaudou en Haïti. Dans la mythologie du vaudou, les Guédés représentent les esprits de la Mort.

The bloggers from HN2000 also explain the dual celebration, but emphasize the fact that it is not unanimously accepted in Haiti:

En fait, encore une fois les fidèles catholiques et les vaudouisants vont pouvoir rendre nouvellement un hommage ou une nouvelle visite à leurs proches disparus. D’autre en plus, ils vont glorifier leurs dieux, un comportement sévèrement jugé par les protestants.

What is Creole, exactly? This is probably one of the most debated topics among linguists worldwide - it is an incredibly complex and diverse language. The fruit of migrations and population mingling, Creole language has been, since the distant times of slavery, a vernacular language, either prohibited or underrated. But things started to change in the 1980s, as explained by the Creole-oriented Reunionese blog, Renyone [Cr, Eng]:

In 1981 scientists having Creole as their mother tongue started asking themselves questions about the methods that could be used to promote the Creole language, following a scientific symposium organised by the international committee for Creole studies working on the theme: a Creole / Creoles, continuity and creativity in the Creole world.

Renyone gives more details about the establishment of what has become a tradition in most Creolophone countries [Eng]:

In 1982 the Seychelles government organised a Creole week.
[…]
The first international BANNZIL KREYOL day took place on the 28th October 1983. Ever since, the 28th October has been celebrated annually in all Creole countries the world over.

Since then, the preservation of this vernacular language, sometimes called a dialect, has been a great concern for many people as shown by this statement of objectives published by the International Organization of Creole People. A Facebook group named “Annou Palé Patwa” (Creole for “Let's speak Patois/Creole) relays this concern since in a topic entitled Creole Month, a Trinidadian user wonders about this year's celebration [En]:

Well October is Creole month the world over, what can we do to promote it in Trinidad?
[…]
What do you think will be the best way to go if we were to do something national?

Initiatives to promote, preserve or celebrate Creole are local field work as much as governemental policy. Here is a post published by Dominican blogger Living Dominica two years ago in which we can see that in some countries, this celebration is not just a token gesture [En]:

This month is Creole time here on Dominica, which is my very favorite celebration. This time of year is a festival honoring all things Dominican. Everyone gets into the spirit of things in the days leading up to Independence Day (Nov. 3) and the World Creole Music Festival (Oct. 26-28)

Mentioned above, the World Creole Music Festival was born 13 years ago from the Dominican government's will to associate the International Creole Month to its celebration of the Independence of the island on November 3rd 1978.

From all this, it is quite obvious that Creole Month and Creole Day, October 28th, are not uniformly celebrated worldwide. Here are some posts about 2009 Creole Day events:

From London, the group MBMB “Minm Biten, Minm Bagay” (Guadeloupean and Martinican Creole phrases which mean “it's all the same”) wrote a post in order to invite people to the event that took place on Sept. 27th 2009 and also to recall previous editions of their “MBMB Kreyol Day”.

In Canada, the Creole-oriented organization Kepkaa invites people for “Mwa kréyol la nan Monréyal” (Haitian Creole for “Creole Month in Montreal”) in a post entitled “Ann fété kilti kreyol nou yo” (Haitian Creole for “Let's celebrate Creole cultures together”). Another Canadian event was announced on Miss Creole Canada Pageant and relayed on Facebook, it was the first of its kind, crowning of a Miss from Creole heritage, which took place on October 17th, as part of the celebration of the Creole Month.

In Paris, blogger Anba pyé mango-la announces a cultural evening called “Tan Kréyol” (Creole for “Hear Creole”) where the oral transmission of Creole is given a place of honor [Fr Cr]:

Senn-la wouvè ba tout moun : poèt, chantè, slamè, makè, kontè, mizisyen… .

In Guadeloupe, the local authorities have organized a month-long program taking place in different locations, in order to celebrate “Mwa òktòb kréyol an mouvman” (Creole for “October, Creole in motion). Here are the two main points of this program posted by guadeloupe.coconews [Fr Cr]:

1. Prèmyé dékatman ba tout moun
2. Dézyèm dékatman èvè zanfan-lékòl

Finally, from Martinique, montraykreyol publishes a post which questions the Creole Month celebration there and most precisely the relevance of celebrating Creole in a week-long festival [Fr Cr]:

Es ou ka kwè ki an sel simenn pou défann kréyol adan tout lanné-a sifizan ?

CLAUDE MARLIN : Dapré mwen non, sa ja an pal pou kréyol-la menm manniè ki tout travay-la ki za fet asou lang-lan. Men fok pandan tout lanné-a, ni travay ki pou fet, fok véyatif toulong, pas menm si kréyol ka rantré latélévizion, laradio, nan piblisité kontel, bien délè sa ka an kréyol toubònman, tjòlòlò ek sa pé désèvi lang-la.

In The French-speaking Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, also dubbed “the Island with Beautiful Waters”, water is vital. It is all the more central since it defines the two seasons of the Guadeloupean climate either because it is scarce or because it is plentiful: “Carême” is a 6 month-long dry season and “Hivernage” is a 4 month-long hurricane and rainy season. Unquestionably, Guadeloupeans not only depend on the availability of water resources but also on the quality of this precious liquid.

This is the reason why 46 years ago, the Syndicat Intercommunal de l'Alimentation en Eau et d'Assainissement de la Guadeloupe [Fr] (Intermunicipal Syndicate of Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation) appeared among Guadeloupean institutions. At first, it started providing water to three cities and now it offers services to thirteen out of the thirty-six municipalities in Guadeloupe. But today, the syndicate has to face a great number of issues that range from technical difficulties to environmental questions and they have, for the last eight years, organized les Journées de l'Eau en Guadeloupe (Water Days in Guadeloupe) in order to share their thoughts and projects with the professionals and the public. Blogger JarryCafé [Fr] who specializes in the daily life of Jarry, the economic center of Guadeloupe, promotes the 5 day conference:

Du 13 au 17 octobre venez vous informer au WTC de Jarry sur les problématiques environnementales de l’eau et ses enjeux dans les années à venir.

Stakes are numerous indeed and Guadeloupean blogger Indiscrétions [Fr] reports on different topics discussed by the president of the syndicate, like the deterioration of the waterways and the water purification plants, the huge waste of water and the possibility to stock water in case of droughts. Besides these concerns, it seems that for years now a great environmental catastrophe has captured the interest of the Guadeloupean population, the Kepone crisis and Indiscrétions reports the president's cautious statement about it [Fr]:

Il y a eu des générations d'agriculteurs qui ont utilisé des produits phytosanitaires qui ont pollué les nappes d'eau, surtout en Basse-Terre. On dit qu'il y a des eaux polluées…

GaïaSoleil also explains that the Kepone pollution in Guadeloupean waters, among other topics, will be tackled during the course of the conference [Fr]:

Le problème de la pollution de rivières à la chlordécone est certes dans toutes les têtes lors de ces journées. Cette catastrophe écologique n’est qu’un aspect de la pollution générale des milieux aquatiques : d’autres produits phytosanitaires et d’autres pollutions, dont celles pouvant être occasionnés par les déchets ou les vidanges sauvages sont en cause.

Domactu has also mentioned the event and highlighted the regional cooperation implied by the theme of the conference [Fr]: “eaux: nécessité, vérités et solidarités dans la Caraïbe” (water, necessity, truths and solidarities in the Caribbean). GaïaSoleil also insists on this feature as it presents the foreign guests and their collaboration to this conference [Fr]:

…les intervenants de Cuba, de République Dominicaine, d’Haïti ont eu l’occasion d’exposer les problématiques de l’eau sur leurs territoires et les solutions qu’ils ont choisies.

This last quote from Indiscretion is all the more central since it goes beyond the Guadeloupean concern for its waters and echoes a widespread feeling among Caribbean people: isolation and lack of regional cooperation [Fr]:

…Je vous parlais de l'eau de la Dominique pour irriguer Marie-Galante. J'ai vu, à Santo Domingo, une station d'épuration qui fonctionne parfaitement, qui coûte moins cher à la construction que tout ce que nous avons. Il faut regarder ce qui se fait autour de nous. Nous avons beaucoup à donner, beaucoup à apprendre.

Ce sont les jeunes du foyer d'insertion de Sainte-Marie qui ont bénéficié de cette formation.

They benefited from the knowledge and experience of the Caribs, by learning to build a canoe and then ride it from Martinique to Antigua. But before reaching to all these islands from le Prêcheur in Martinique, many young adults in search of a professional project and practical training participated in the creation of the Kanawa (the native name for a canoe). The social integration building site quickly became a genuine shipyard, where the traditional skills of the native inhabitants were used to create this massive canoe. A comment on CocoNews post gives us more details concerning the measures of the canoe [Fr]:

Le kanawa pèse plus d'une tonne ( à vide !) , 18 mètres de long et 27 rameurs.

One of the team members has posted pictures of the construction site and lists the 4 steps involved in the making of the Kanawa: cutting the tree, transporting the trunk, preparing the top of the trunk and finally digging it up. Here is a diaporama describing all the different steps of the making.

CocoNews Guadeloupe introduces the project to its readers and reveals the itinerary of the ride [Fr].

@ CocoNews Guadeloupe

The journey was scheduled as follows: leave le Prêcheur in Martinique on May 21st and go back to le Prêcheur on June 1st, after stops in the Caribbean islands of Dominica, les Saintes, Guadeloupe (Basse-Terre then Grande-Terre) and Antigua. The trip included about thirty people, including historians, athletes, sociologists and writers, but it was also open to anyone else who had an interest in the project. This post lists all the participants.

Quite apart from its social integration and historical aspects, this project has had an important impact at the level of memory and conscience. To understand this better, CocoNews quotes one of the objectives of the project [Fr]:

L'objectif de KYTANGOMINGO EMA est la réouverture symbolique et matérielle de la route de navigation maritime des temps anciens,…

But the best way to understand the motivation behind the project is to read about the experiences of the passengers and rowers [Fr]:

L'aventure Martinique-Antigua a été pour moi une expérience très valorisante humainement parlant. Découvrir les îles des Caraïbes comme nos ancêtres amérindiens et pouvoir ressentir les moments forts de leur arrivée sur une terre inconnue

The general success of the initiative has gone a long way to inspire the team in its plan for next year: reaching Puerto Rico by kanawa.

On May 1st, the first massive demonstration took place since the end of the strike: Guadeloupeans got together in Petit-Canal after marching from 9 am to almost 1 pm, and spent all day together listening to music, watching dance performances and paying close attention to speeches from local union leaders. The occasion has helped make Shakazulu, who blogs in Creole at Gwakafwika, very prolific lately, as May is traditionally “identity” month in Guadeloupe and it's one of the blogger's favourite topics.

In his first post about the season, “Arété kouri ba patron” [Guadeloupean Creole] which means “Stop running for your bosses”, the blogger denounces a new sport challenge called Relais Inter-Entreprise [Fr] (a relay run by employees of public or private Guadeloupean companies). For the past 12 years, this race has been taking place on May 27th, to the point where it has become an integral part of some companies' annual schedule. But Shakazulu [French Creole] reveals much more about this crucial date, echoing this post from the Caribbean bloggers at Repeating Islands:

27 Mé an péyi an nou, on jou a mémwa, on jou otila pèp Gwadloup ka chonjé konba a Ignas, Dèlgrès, Masoto, Solitid pou libérasyon a gwadloupéyen anba gyouk a lèsklavaj é kolonyalis fwansé.

Indeed, May 1848 was the year of the second abolition of slavery in the French possessions of Guadeloupe and Martinique, which partly explains Shakazulu's conclusion about the post [Guadeloupean Creole]:

Alò ki jan nou pé konpwann, jou-lasa, chak lanné, travayè Gwadloup pé ay swé ba séla ki toulélanné ka fann kyou a yo?

Instead, Shakazulu suggests a march whose slogan is [Guadeloupean Creole]:

Fè mémwa maché, fè konsyans vansé pou nou sonjé gwadloupéyen ki goumé é ki tonbé anba bal fizi a kolon an lanné 1802 é 1967

This march mentioned by the blogger has actually been in existence for a few years, attracting people who are in quest of a symbolic act by which to remember their ancestors. Here is the program of this two-day-long march, which goes across the island [French/Guadeloupean Creole].

In this same post, the blogger deals with a new date: May 1967. At that time, social protests were frequent, as the sugar cane workers were dissatisfied with their working conditions and salaries. Shakazulu explains here what happened during one special demonstration [Guadeloupean Creole]:

Mé 1967- Mé 2009! 42 lanné! 42 lanné léjyonnè fwansé kyouyé gwadloupéyen an vil Lapwent. Moun ka palé dè 8 moun, dòt ka palé dè 87 moun, on dòt pati ka palé dè plis ki 100 moun mò Lapwent

Nobody really knows what really happened that day as no official toll was ever communicated and the entire affair was filed “Confidential” - but some Guadeloupean directors decided to highlight the voices of witnesses about those memories which still haunt their nights. Here is a series of videos (made available on YouTube) called “Sonjé Mé 67″ [Guadeloupean Creole], which means “Remember May ‘67″:

…and here, another YouTube find, which deals with the events of both May 1802 and May 1967.