I Still Remember Olivens Louissaint   © Copyright 2024 by Fa

Map by Jean Antoine Pierron at Wikimedia Commons.

There are, in this life, many things that are difficult to forget, despite the strife of time that makes your mind ditch those memories that, formerly, let you taste happiness at the beginning of your journey here below, alongside the many challenges that are always encountered as life begins.

It’s true that I spent my whole childhood in the countryside of province called La Gonave Island, in an area where the houses are scattered here and there like shining stars that dominate the sky despite moonlight, when the sky is still moonlit, or the daybreak approaching. But that did not stop me from finding ways to enjoy my childhood and having some memories that still draw me back to that time once again.

Following my birth in Picmy, my father built a two room house in another place on la Gonave Island, called Grand Piqué, and he moved there with his family. That house was abandoned after the family fell apart.
My father went back to Picmy and my mother joined my grandmother outside of Picmy, and, that area became the place where I spent my childhood before leaving it to move to the town called Anse-A-Galets, still on la Gonave Island.

As I grew up, enjoying my time through the joy and happiness that my childhood brought to me and the activities that served as a way to help me develop my personality and a sense of responsibility (mainly through play, school, and through the influence of my everyday environment) was very significant to me.

As a child, I tried to imitate and reproduce anything that I noticed other people doing, mainly my parents. I remember that one day, my father took a rest from his work in the small garden that was in the backyard of his small house, and he flell asleep, I took his machete without his knowledge and, trying to remove a branch from a pine tree, I awkwardly ended up cutting myself on my knee. The scar caused by that awkward action is still visible. This was the first harm that I did to myself as a small kid.

Soon after reaching the ideal age to go to school, my parents registered me at the Wesleyan School in Palma near Picmy, which was the best and greatest school in the area. 

I remember the first time that my mother took me to preschool there, the teacher refused to admit me, saying that I was too big and tall compared to other children in the class. Yet I was only three years old like almost all other children in the classroom at that time. She wanted to send me to a higher level, but my parents did not want that and, after my parents insisted, the teacher validated my admission to preschool. There I learned to distinguish color and basic geometric shapes, and to pronounce vowels and consonants, etc. 

Every morning, mainly when it rained, my parents and some of my cousins ​​carried the smaller children to school on their backs to help us along the narrow pathway leading to the school building without dirtying our shoes in the mud from the rain or even the wet dew that collected on the grass bordering the path that we had to walk in order to go to school.

Then I continued to grow, studying and doing my homework every afternoon or early in the evening before going to bed, going to church every sunday, playing football bare foot mainly on the weekends, and flying kites during the holidays, especially each Black Friday. These were my main activities before I starting wandering in the woods, chasing after bird’s nests, which I did during my summer vacations 

Beginning on Ash Wednesday, or sometimes earlier, my grandmother bought paper and string for us to make kites with and to enjoy during our Black Friday holiday. As a small child, I spent almost the whole day at an older kid's home in my neighborhood, waiting for him to make the kite for me, until I was able to start making it myself some years later. Sometimes my parents had to either pay the Older kids or buy paper for them to make their own kites, just so they would make one for me too.

My grandmother also used to buy toy weapons, cars and toy airplanes for us so we can enjoy our Christmas holiday each year. At night, every December 24 my parents took us with them to the church to attend a show for the whole night.

My grandmother was also very friendly and hospitable. She always bought enough bread and prepared coffee or sometime tea or soup to celebrate the New Year. All the relatives and some neighbors (also any unknown people passing through at that time) dropped by to eat and drink together. I wished all of them a happy new year.

Besides, in the evening many neighbours, both young adults and old people, would gather at my grandmother’s home to tell tales. Sometimes they shared their own personal stories where great lessons were delivered about morality and justice, and also they liked to challenge each other with riddles before going to sleep.

All those events helped me foster the development of my sense of observation, curiosity and self learning. 

The time I spent at school was, of course, very challenging to me, being a reserved person who tended to stay quiet due to shyness in my childhood. That made it very difficult to me to feel at ease at school, especially after my kindergarten and preparatory levels. I often withdrew into myself and thus, held myself a bit aloof from other students. That often made them keep me in the background, or even make fun of me. As I did not want to talk too much with other people and was often clumsy in my action due to my timidity.

That was the main reason why I was the favorite child of my parents. They always took me with them when they went to attend any ceremony whether it was a funeral, a wedding, a conference, or a festival at a church. I wasn't happy unless I was with them.

However I was also among the most brilliant students in primary school. Besides I was open minded despite my shyness. I remember when they asked us to go to my Aunt Venite’s home, either to fetch or to bring something to her, as she lived not so far from my grandmother home, it was always a challenging time for me and my cousins. We would all stand on the same line and, while the hubbub of our childish babbling was heard alongside the tiny and rocky path that linked my grandmother's house to my Aunt's, we started running all together in order to see who will get to my Aunt’s house first, after one of us saying "1, 2, 3." Having long legs, I always got there first. All those events fostered the awakening of curiosity, imagination, the development of my morality, empathy, and my habit of observation while continuing my journey in life by exploring myself and the world.

Therefore the years I spent at my grandmother’s home just outside Picmy, on la Gonave Island were very important to me. It was the time that helped me enjoy the wonders of life while trying to face its challenges and discover some of its mysteries. My tendency to withdraw into myself, staying in the background and being sometimes clumsy in my actions due to shyness, mainly at school, also made me annoying. Be that as it may, I managed to enjoy my time in this first stage of my existence. 

After I reached elementary level of education, my mother left my grandmother’s house and went to stay in another area not so far away. Then I had to focus more on my school activities while continuing to enjoy my time outside the classroom in a new neighborhood during after-school hours when it was not our holiday time.

It was a very challenging time for me after we moved to that new location. Unlike at my grandmother's home where a donkey could be saddled and ridden as to go fetch water at a public water pump, my mother had neither a donkey nor a horse. We had to walk miles away from our new location in order to reach the water pump, either at the dawn before going to school or after returning home from school in the afternoon. The pump was often crowded. So it was often very difficult to me to fill up two gallons of water fast and then, head back home, holding each one in a hand. That often made me arrive at school late, and thus allowed the director to flog me fo being late. We had to go to the pump even when the basin that was behind our house had water so that we can water to drink or even to cook.

I still remember the time when I wandered in the woods, chasing after birds during the years I spent in that new area especially when school was closed during the summer vacations. Sometimes I was all alone and sometimes I was accompanied by friends and cousins who came for vacation. Once in the woods, no tree was ever too high to climb. Because I was always thrilled to spy on the birds' nests. I also used to climb trees to pick fruits. 

Sometimes, I spent the whole afternoon, wandering in the woods. When I came back home in the twilight, I was often beaten by my mother for returning home too late. I also used to play marbles in the backyard of the house with other children, and to build toy houses by making mud with dust mixed with cinders or ashes. During my vacation time, I also used to help my parents in farming the land and I started making my own garden in August as we wait for the school to reopen in October. I also engaged myself in cattle breeding and had some goats.

After I successfully ending my primary studies, there was no secondary school anywhere in my area. Therefore my parents were forced to move us Anse-A-Galets so that I could pursue my secondary studies at the Wesleyan College. That town was where I spent my adolescence and the beginning of my adulthood before leaving it to go to Port-Au-Prince, so that I could pursue my higher studies following the end of my classical studies.

So I now had a better environment to explore and enjoy my time, having new experiences, new neighbors, and meeting new people, some of who became my long term friends. Being raised in the countryside, I was very curious and observant after I moved to Anse-A-Galets. I started wandering in the street under the sun in the morning and sometimes early at night to explore my new environment and, as the sea was not far from me there, I often went to the beach with my cousin who came to that place before me, and I learned to swim.

All of those experiences were not just about balance and connections of joy, time, freedom, imagination, exploration and creation to help me enjoy my life from the first stages of my journey, but they also contribute to the process that helps me shape my future and sharpens my mind by forming my personality, developing my imagination, and improving my perception of life and the world to make me the person that I am now. Although my tendency to regard the fact that I used to withdraw into myself stays in the background, and the fact that I was often lumsy in my actions due to shyness made it hard to me to be at ease at school.

Growing keen on Literature and endowed with a deep sense of curiosity and observation which allows him to explore his environment, and draw his inspiration to create his work, Olvens Louissaint is a bilingual self taught writer, Translator and Human rights defender. He was born and raised in La Gonave island.  Dedicated and emerging writer who treats both personal and universal subjects through his writings and, who is used to address complex issues strategically and confidently through his work, Olvens is an eclectic reader who writes poetry, critical essay and short story.