Biography

I was born and raised on a beautiful farm in northwestern Haiti. My childhood was ordinary. There wasn’t much to do, especially for me, except feed the livestock. We had all kinds: chickens, lambs, goats, donkeys, pigs, horses, and mules. At one point we even had a few turkeys. It was a nightmare to handle them; they’re loud and they shit everywhere.

I began school when I was seven. I would have grown up illiterate had it not been for a divine intervention. The school was far, about ten miles back and forth. Two years later in the local school, my father sent for me and I moved to the big city. At the time, it was everyone’s dream to move to Port-au-Prince.

My first day in my new school was a nightmare. Nobody liked me. I was like a lost alien. They began calling me names—and I will not indulge you by telling you which names I’ve been called. Let’s just leave it alone.