29, refrigerator mechanic
Bonhomme Peterson lives in a house in Ti-Place Cazeau1 that his mother left for him. After the earthquake, U.S.A.I.D. gave him the opportunity to learn a trade.2 He has a girlfriend and two children. He has found his dream job, and he hopes that one day his child will find what he likes to do, too.
My name is Bonhomme Peterson. I was born in Baradères, and I was raised in Delmas with my mother.3 My mother was Mona Theodore, and my father was Andre Jeudy. Life was good.
My parents did everything they could so that I could go to school. I went to school on time, and I was provided for until I lost my parents. I lost my mother first. She had diabetes and a heart problem. It greatly affected me. She probably would have lived longer if she had received proper care. My mother was with me, but my father was andeyo.4 I had a good relationship with my father. He was a farmer. He grew roots, sugar cane, and coconut. He used to sell the cane to the wine-press. My mother used to have a business and she used to sew. I don’t have my father’s last name. My stepfather adopted me. My stepfather was nice too. We didn’t see each other very much. He lived on an island near Baradères called Boukan. He had a big boat and used to fish for catfish and sell them to other countries. We used to go during the summer. He had money. He was killed. I’m not sure how, but I know that it was a conspiracy. People hated him because he was successful.
I lost my stepfather, then my mother, and my father.
I have three siblings. Jean-Gardy, Mardochee, and Cherline. Jean-Gardy is the oldest. We have a good relationship. He’s my brother. We help each other.
This house is mine. It was left to my mother after my stepfather died, and now it’s ours. It’s a small house. I live with my girlfriend and our child. We are not married, but we live together. These houses in Ti-Place Cazeau were built in the years ’83, ’84 by Duvalier. The houses were given to factory workers by the Duvalier family. Some people didn’t like the neighborhood and sold their houses. Back then, it wasn’t a developed place, so some left it to live in Carrefour or somewhere closer to the city. My stepfather bought that house in ’82, I think he bought it for 4,000 gouds.5 I was raised here, and my child was born here; I have no other choice but to love it here.
My mother died when I was fourteen years old, but I was able to keep going to school. I went to school at SOS Children’s Village, Ti-Place Cazeau.6 I went to public school, and after I graduated I wasn’t able to go to college. I didn’t really have tuition to pay. It was a public school. Nonetheless, I had to eat every day and provide for myself. That is what was hard—food, laundry, shoes, clothes. My girlfriend at the time’s father encouraged me to learn a trade. He told me that if I couldn’t provide for a woman, she would leave me to be with someone else. I am not with his daughter anymore. However, it was because of him that I can even be proud of who I am now.
I tried once to find out how much it would take me to learn my trade but it was very expensive. I needed to pay 3,000 gouds upfront and 2,500 gouds every month.7 Fortunately, after the earthquake, I was able to learn few trades because of a program run by U.S.A.I.D. I enrolled in that program when it started. It is a nonprofit. We didn’t have to pay. I was twenty-six years old. I learned to fix refrigerators and tiling. We came to class every day, and after each session, we received free lunch. We also had rotation hours. That was a great initiative. I wish I had the opportunity to help others like that.
These trades help me to survive. Even if I don’t have a job every day, I have something to provide for myself. To work, one needs to learn how to do something first. If not, how would one find a job?
My first job was hard. I had to make a cold room. I had to call some of my classmates who were more advanced than I was. I knew what I needed for the job, and I was able to write a quote for my employer. I was taught how to do that, but I didn’t know how much electric charge it would need to keep it cold. I asked my teacher for help. I made 4,500 gouds.8 I took 1,500 and the rest was for my teacher and classmates who helped me.
I think I am living my dream. I always loved fridges. My mother had one. I would see how she would beg the technician to fix her fridge. After she died, I ended up selling the fridge, but I always wanted to know how to fix them. My other dream is to have my own fish business. I want to sell fresh fish in the neighborhood. I love fish. I am from Baradères. I love fish and the sea.
I do masonry and carpentry as well. You know that there isn’t always electricity, so sometimes I can’t find jobs fixing fridges. During my two years at the center, I used to pay attention when teachers were teaching students about masonry and carpentry. I picked them up that way. They have been very helpful. My girlfriend has a little business, but it can’t help much. So my trade is what helps me. After the earthquake, I found a government job, rebuilding the public school of Ti-Place Cazeau. It was 50 gouds per day.9
Because of the earthquake, I was able to learn my trades. The earthquake was a disaster. I never thought that something like that could happen. I’ve seen many things that I never thought that I could have seen in my life. I’ve seen people buried alive. I’ve seen police officers losing their life trying to help. There was a fraternity and solidarity among Haitians. They loved each other. There wasn’t color or social class among us. I thought that life was going to be good after the earthquake. Some people found jobs with those NGOs, even though they lost them after the nonprofits left from the city. I thought that the Haitian mentality would change. However, now, things are going back to how it was before.
My family slept in the street for two to three days after the earthquake, then we moved back in our house. The people who stayed in camps were people who lost their houses. Many of them didn’t have houses to begin with, but they said that they lost houses. You can see that there are still people in camps. Even after some nonprofits tried to help them and give them money to rent houses, but they would take the money and move to another camp. Some people even rent tents in those camps. I’m sure some people will forever stay in camps because it benefits them. Some of those people don’t even need the help.
We have the youths, and they need to be proud of Haiti. They can’t go to school, so they spend their daily life drinking beer and talking nonsense. Every youth wants a job with the government or a visa to the U.S.A., but they don’t try to make things work here. They should try to stay here and work and build a future here the same way everyone does it in their country. Most of them don’t even know how to speak English, and they think that life will be better there. How would they live? They should stay home and learn something and find a job here. I have friends and family members who left. Some of them had parents who sponsored them. Others left on a visa, and now they are illegal. They always say that they would be much better off in Haiti, but they never come back.
This government is not working for the youth. The youth need to stay in school. That’s young people’s only hope. They used to say back then that the youth is the strength of the country, but now I think that it is money. I think there should be a plan of retirement for every child that starts the day that child is born at the hospital. Imagine that old people don’t even have retirement. Let’s say that the parents die; how would the child survive? The government should think of a program like that.
I have two children, one from a previous relationship, and I’m ready to do everything to take care of them. I send them to school and I do my best to keep them on the right path. I learned what I liked, so I want my children to do the same. They are still babies, but I ask God to give me guidance and strength to take care of them. Religion doesn’t save—it is faith. I have my experience to tell to my children and hope they learn from it.
Haiti is a great country; the government is what is bad. They make it hard for young and old. If I found money, I would help. The earthquake was a disaster, but I benefited from it and I wish I could help young people learn something to protect them in the future.