Konbit Pou Ayiti

When the Spanish were leading expeditions for gold they were the first European settlers in Haiti. In 1698, the Spanish allowed the French to settle in the Southeast and Jacmel was founded. We celebrated our three hundredth anniversary in 1998.

In 1804 when Haiti became independent, Jacmel wasn’t chasing the colonists out. Jacmel was a hospitable town filled with loving people. In 1886, when Miranda wanted to liberate the countries of South America, he came here and we gave him support. Two hundred Haitians with guns and ammunition went with Miranda. In 1816, when Simon Bolivar returned to give Venezuela independence he was here. When Venezuela gained its independence the flag they flew was sewn in Jacmel.
Ever since the beginning, Jacmel has welcomed everyone – even in the United States, in New Orleans, a lot of artists came from Jacmel. That is why Jacmel was and is unique.

At the end of the nineteenth century, Jacmel established its first high school. We had potable water in 1874 and we were the first village in the Caribbean to have electricity at the end of the nineteenth century. We had it starting on December 24, 1895!

Unfortunately, from September 19-21, 1896 Jacmel had a fire related to the production of electricity. We were using charcoal at the time. It wasn’t until 1922 that Jacmel was electrified a second time, this time with the same water powered system we are using today.
Jacmel is not too strong into politics. There has only been one president from Jacmel and he was only president for three months! That was Michele Ores in 1912-13. But many artists come from Jacmel. Every time we stick our nose into politics our candidate loses. We are strong in the arts: poets, painters, and musicians. The first twoubadou was Jacmellian and the biggest romantics are from Jacmel as well.

Jacmel has a national carnival because we are a welcoming town. A lot of the images and characters of carnival were inspired by foreigners who have visited. Each group in the nineteenth century brought their own culture and all were celebrated during the carnival. One example is the mathurin (see below), a scary creature with wings made of iron that the wearer claps as he parades down the street. These are a German inspiration.

Jacmel doesn’t abandon its heritage but instead is a mix of the old and the new. Carnival today is truly a marriage of tradition and modernity. Papier-mache gives artists a way to express themselves that you can’t see anywhere else. You can see that here – from animals to people – you name it! If you want to experience it, you can even call and artist to make a mask of your own face!
What makes carnival the best in Jacmel is the fact that young and old can participate without fear of violence. All the nooks and crannies of society can come out.

There are two carnivals in Jacmel: national carnival where everyone comes to see what Jacmel has to offer, but what it comes down to is the serious carnival that happens the Friday, Saturday and Sunday before Fat Tuesday. During national carnival there is a designated parade route, but during carnival weekend the street theater takes place throughout the town.

Questions and Answers

When was the road built from Port-au-Prince to Jacmel?

Before the US occupation in 1915, the road was built, but many small roads were built during the occupation to open up the communities and smaller villages. This was bad for Jacmel because Jacmel lost contact with many of these smaller communities who began sending their produce directly to Port-au-Prince.

Was Jacmel once a thriving port?

In the nineteenth century, Jacmel was the only town with a port big enough to link Europe to Haiti which is why we always had so many foreigners. Twenty percent of the exports to Europe came from Jacmel. All the main produce of the island came through here, including: coffee, cocoa, cotton, saffron, sisal, lime oil and vetiver oil. Jacmel doesn’t have big commerce anymore so they mainly rely on tourism and art. The commerce declined during the era of Papa Doc. He closed the port in fear of invasion from the south. Another thing was the declining price of coffee which led people to begin growing other things.

Is there any international commerce today in Jacmel?

There is a lot of “pepe”, used clothing from the United States, mainly New York and Miami. Also cement from Venezuela and South America. Edo Zenny, who supplies nearly all the motorcycles in the city of Jacmel, imports them through Port-au-Prince in containers.

Is there a drug problem in Haiti?

There is not too much of a problem with Haitians abusing drugs, but Haiti is a trans-shipment point. The big dealers from South America use the ports for trafficking and the ports that are closest to them are most popular. Colombia is directly to the south of Jacmel. During his first term in office, President Preval gave the U.S. Coast Guard access to all of Haiti’s ports in order to help. I went to a seminar on the subject and they explained how drug dealers have the strongest army and the best communications systems.

Would you advise on what we should look for in the carnival this year?

Keep your eyes open for the creativity and innovation of the artists – Jacmel is the richest place in the Caribbean when it comes to creativity. There is a real difference between carnival here and elsewhere. Other places have make-up, etc. but we also put on costumes in the morning (madigra) and carnival in the evenings (music). Also there is a variety of carnival experiences available in Haiti – no one else is like Jacmel! In Port-au-Prince, Petit Goave and Cap-Haitien they have to borrow masks from us!

Because Jacmel is a beautiful, peaceful place, does it get more money from the government?
No, it’s not the government of Haiti. It is the people of Jacmel, who know their culture and have standards for security and cleanliness. That is why Jacmel is ahead and a leader for the development of the country. Jacmel got its first phones without the government, was electrified twice without the government, built its own high school without the government and paved its roads without the government.
Jacmel is a location with a lot of water and good rain, and there is not too much erosion, which is why Jacmel is doing better. Because of our hospitality and location, we have a lot of nongovernmental organizations that come here and do projects, like irrigation canals.

What is the religious meaning of carnival?

A lot of the things you see are vodou images, but it depends on your perspective because Catholicism is celebrated, too. Throughout the world, carnival follows the Catholic calendar. It begins on Epiphany and ends on Ash Wednesday. There are forty days of gluttony followed by forty days of fasting until Easter Sunday. If you look at a calendar you’ll see it is technically forty-six days, but six of them are Sundays and Catholics don’t fast on Sundays!
Has the national carnival led to more commercialization of the carnival celebrations?
We can accept that carnival has become more commercial because of the benefits. We get to share what we have, and Jacmel is really a small town that is receiving half of a million people! We don’t have places for all these people to sleep and eat, though. That’s why we have to realize the success we achieve and ask ourselves: is carnival going to destroy us instead of helping us advance? We are receiving so many people but we can’t offer the services we want to, and this could hurt us. We’re trying to work things out. One idea is to have three days of national carnival, but we need proper lodging available to make the carnival more feasible.