NOTE: THE ACTUAL PIECE IS AN AUDIO. AVAILABLE FOR LISTENING UPON REQUEST.
Transcript:
Stephen Dufort:
When I came back I was like aaahh I'm not gonna go to the Bahamas anymore. I'll garden. I’ll garden. A friend told me “my friend let’s go to the Bahamas”. My friend came back again and said “my friend, let's go” because life is gonna be harder. We have kids, life’s gonna get harder, and we need to do this to provide for them. People who leave find a better life than the ones that stay in Haiti. You don't have any profession, you just garden. When a hurricane comes through or robbers come, we lose everything. So I handed over my cow to the people who had this boat. as a payment for safe passage. And I left.
Level Dufort
Whoever lived down there, they have pigs.
Lumane Joseph
I said that people could say, um how can I say this… a business for everyone. Like because the pigs would have a lot of babies. A pig could have 12 piglets in one litter. Pigs were a great asset.
Ernest Dufort
They were important because they represent the… it's like the.. Haitian, Haitian economy, because when, let's say, when school is about to open, for example, people who has a pig can sell it, or can sell them, to pay for this, for the children's school tuitions and books and and things.
Level Dufort
Even when like they do some garden, they can sell some of the pigs, buy some things to plant, like beans, like rice, like, yum (name), they can sell those things and to buy all the stuff.
Ernest Dufort
For emergencies, for medical, for any type of ceremony that they are doing, like marriage, or anything that they have any money, they know they have to go through that. It's like a source of income it was. That was our… the Haitian bank.
Olandieu Joseph
When, like people living outside the capital, they don't have, they dont have money in the bank. What they have, they have the pigs, they have other things to sell to send the kids to school.
Ernest Dufort
Yeah, they were like a lifeline for the rural family, the people in the rural zone.
Olandieu Joseph
After they killed the pork, so… it was affected so many people.
Level Dufort
They came, some people, I don't know who, they said, “The pigs down there, they are sick. We have to kill all of them.” They will replace them with the new pig they one from here (United States).
Meprisia Dufort
They lied to us. They said that the pigs would make us sick, and they walked and killed them all.
Ernest Dufort
The program was called at the time, “Pepa Dep” with the acronym,
P, E, P, P, A, D, E, P, Pepa Dep. You know that program would exterminate the entire population at that time. Which was estimated at about 1.2 million (US dollars).
Meprisia Dufort
They dug a hole in the ground, and put them in there. They hit them with a hard wooden bat. They yelled “eeee”.
Level Dufort
Yeah. And after that, they got a knife. They go on their their neck. Every single one, yes. Every single one. They took one…one ear, one feet…They put in a big hole, and after that, they burned them. Yeah, I was, I was watching them doing that. One ear, one feet, and after they finish doing all of those, they burn them.
Angie Joseph
Why did they burn the feet and the ears?
Level Dufort
I don't know. That’s the way I saw them doing it. I was there. I watched them doing that. Yeah Gigi. That’s brutal Gigi. That’s the worst thing I’ve seen in my life at that time.
Ernest Dufort
They offered like a little, a tiny sum of money to kill them, to your…to you, to the owner of the pig.
Samm Henshaw
“How rich is rich enough?
How strong is strong enough?
I'm scared of losing touch.
So when is enough enough?”
Lumane Joseph
$40 for big. $20 for medium. $5 for small. That's mean $40 for big, uhh $20 for medium, $5 for small.
Meprisia Dufort
At this time, $10, $20 dollars was a lot of money. When you have $20 dollars, you’d be thinking “this is a lot of money”. $20, you go shopping, and you buy, you buy, you buy. And you’d still have money left over.
Angie Joseph
But what if it was like a chunky baby pork?
Olandieu Joseph
Yeah, they still give you five (dollars).
Angie Joseph
That sucks.
Olandieu Joseph
Yeah.
Level Dufort
And when they kill them, some people try to hide them, the other people just go to report those.
Ernest Dufort
And then, you know what's, what's, what was bad about killing them?
Angie Joseph
What?
Ernest Dufort
They killed them, even though they have that… they were sick, but they killed them, and then we ate them.
Level Dufort
Yeah,
Ernest Dufort
I witnessed, that firsthand. Yeah. I saw and I witnessed that. I witnessed the killing. I witnessed people eating them, even though they claimed that they were, they had, they were affected with the swine… with the African swine fever. But even though we eat them. You know, if something is dangerous for your health, and then you tell me to kill them. Why…you let me eat it, eat them?
Angie Joseph
Right.
Ernest Dufort
The meat of it,
Angie Joseph
Right.
Ernest Dufort
So that they would kill us all at once?
Meprisia Dufort
They lied to us. They told us the pigs would make us sick.
Ernest Dufort
And then they kill them. They kill them. It's like, it's like a crime.
Samm Henshaw
“Hello stranger, the girl's in danger
But you won't fight hard enough to save her
Said it ain't your issue
'Cause it ain't your sister, it ain't your missus
You don't get it, do ya?
'Cause if that were me, I woulda "Ooh"
Maybe I would have thought for a second
And said maybe, I shouldn't
There's blood on my hands after all, oh God
There's blood on my hands after all”
Level Dufort
Yeah, they got a hammer on their head… “Pow!”. And they “ahhhh” and after that, they take a knife. They take a knife on their neck. That's brutal, right?
Ernest Dufort
And then, you know what they do after? They bring they’re..the other version of pig to replace them (Iowan pigs).
Samm Henshaw
“Bow my head, said my prayers
I'm the good one, ain't I?
Wash my hands of all my sins
I'm the good guy, ain't I?”
Lumane Joseph
They came to kill all of the pigs. There weren’t any pigs anymore when they killed them. They killed them.
Angie Joseph
How many pigs… did they give you as many pigs as they like killed? So like let’s say, you had 10 pigs. Would they give you back 10 pigs?
Olandieu Joseph
They don't give you. They just, they just kill the pig you have.
Angie Joseph
Oh…
Olandieu Joseph
They send…they send other kinds of pigs.
Ernest Dufort
You know, it's like…it has to do with money.
Level Dufort
An exorbitant price.
Angie Joseph
What was the price of the new ones?
Olandieu Joseph
They sell like $50 for a small one.
Angie Joseph
That’s craaaaazy.
Olandieu Joseph
Yeah.
Ernest Dufort
They would sell you new pig that would require more treatment. More… expense to to to to uh carry them, to have them.
Level Dufort
We make house for them. Cement on the house. After that, you have to buy food for that pig to eat.
Ernest Dufort
They become like an expense to you. This one become a liability for you. While the other one was asset to you.
Angie Joseph
Right
Samm Henshaw
“I'm the good one, ain't I?”
Samm Henshaw
“I'm the good guy, ain't I?”
Ernest Dufort
The killing of those animals, which was represented…like 30% of the rural community economy, that would, you know, that's, that's, that’s the income that they destroyed, the income of that rural people. That program lasts for about about two, about two years from 1981 to 1983. That was…it was a disaster that happened in the 1980s. 78 to 80.
Samm Henshaw
“How far is far is enough?
How much is too much?
When is enough enough?”
Olandieu Joseph
Yeah, they killed Haitian economics.
Michel Martelly (former Haitian President)
“Haiti is a suffering country
In troubadour we find life
This is where we get our feelings”
- Angie Emily Joseph
Transcript:
Stephen Dufort:
When I came back I was like aaahh I'm not gonna go to the Bahamas anymore. I'll garden. I’ll garden. A friend told me “my friend let’s go to the Bahamas”. My friend came back again and said “my friend, let's go” because life is gonna be harder. We have kids, life’s gonna get harder, and we need to do this to provide for them. People who leave find a better life than the ones that stay in Haiti. You don't have any profession, you just garden. When a hurricane comes through or robbers come, we lose everything. So I handed over my cow to the people who had this boat. as a payment for safe passage. And I left.
Level Dufort
Whoever lived down there, they have pigs.
Lumane Joseph
I said that people could say, um how can I say this… a business for everyone. Like because the pigs would have a lot of babies. A pig could have 12 piglets in one litter. Pigs were a great asset.
Ernest Dufort
They were important because they represent the… it's like the.. Haitian, Haitian economy, because when, let's say, when school is about to open, for example, people who has a pig can sell it, or can sell them, to pay for this, for the children's school tuitions and books and and things.
Level Dufort
Even when like they do some garden, they can sell some of the pigs, buy some things to plant, like beans, like rice, like, yum (name), they can sell those things and to buy all the stuff.
Ernest Dufort
For emergencies, for medical, for any type of ceremony that they are doing, like marriage, or anything that they have any money, they know they have to go through that. It's like a source of income it was. That was our… the Haitian bank.
Olandieu Joseph
When, like people living outside the capital, they don't have, they dont have money in the bank. What they have, they have the pigs, they have other things to sell to send the kids to school.
Ernest Dufort
Yeah, they were like a lifeline for the rural family, the people in the rural zone.
Olandieu Joseph
After they killed the pork, so… it was affected so many people.
Level Dufort
They came, some people, I don't know who, they said, “The pigs down there, they are sick. We have to kill all of them.” They will replace them with the new pig they one from here (United States).
Meprisia Dufort
They lied to us. They said that the pigs would make us sick, and they walked and killed them all.
Ernest Dufort
The program was called at the time, “Pepa Dep” with the acronym,
P, E, P, P, A, D, E, P, Pepa Dep. You know that program would exterminate the entire population at that time. Which was estimated at about 1.2 million (US dollars).
Meprisia Dufort
They dug a hole in the ground, and put them in there. They hit them with a hard wooden bat. They yelled “eeee”.
Level Dufort
Yeah. And after that, they got a knife. They go on their their neck. Every single one, yes. Every single one. They took one…one ear, one feet…They put in a big hole, and after that, they burned them. Yeah, I was, I was watching them doing that. One ear, one feet, and after they finish doing all of those, they burn them.
Angie Joseph
Why did they burn the feet and the ears?
Level Dufort
I don't know. That’s the way I saw them doing it. I was there. I watched them doing that. Yeah Gigi. That’s brutal Gigi. That’s the worst thing I’ve seen in my life at that time.
Ernest Dufort
They offered like a little, a tiny sum of money to kill them, to your…to you, to the owner of the pig.
Samm Henshaw
“How rich is rich enough?
How strong is strong enough?
I'm scared of losing touch.
So when is enough enough?”
Lumane Joseph
$40 for big. $20 for medium. $5 for small. That's mean $40 for big, uhh $20 for medium, $5 for small.
Meprisia Dufort
At this time, $10, $20 dollars was a lot of money. When you have $20 dollars, you’d be thinking “this is a lot of money”. $20, you go shopping, and you buy, you buy, you buy. And you’d still have money left over.
Angie Joseph
But what if it was like a chunky baby pork?
Olandieu Joseph
Yeah, they still give you five (dollars).
Angie Joseph
That sucks.
Olandieu Joseph
Yeah.
Level Dufort
And when they kill them, some people try to hide them, the other people just go to report those.
Ernest Dufort
And then, you know what's, what's, what was bad about killing them?
Angie Joseph
What?
Ernest Dufort
They killed them, even though they have that… they were sick, but they killed them, and then we ate them.
Level Dufort
Yeah,
Ernest Dufort
I witnessed, that firsthand. Yeah. I saw and I witnessed that. I witnessed the killing. I witnessed people eating them, even though they claimed that they were, they had, they were affected with the swine… with the African swine fever. But even though we eat them. You know, if something is dangerous for your health, and then you tell me to kill them. Why…you let me eat it, eat them?
Angie Joseph
Right.
Ernest Dufort
The meat of it,
Angie Joseph
Right.
Ernest Dufort
So that they would kill us all at once?
Meprisia Dufort
They lied to us. They told us the pigs would make us sick.
Ernest Dufort
And then they kill them. They kill them. It's like, it's like a crime.
Samm Henshaw
“Hello stranger, the girl's in danger
But you won't fight hard enough to save her
Said it ain't your issue
'Cause it ain't your sister, it ain't your missus
You don't get it, do ya?
'Cause if that were me, I woulda "Ooh"
Maybe I would have thought for a second
And said maybe, I shouldn't
There's blood on my hands after all, oh God
There's blood on my hands after all”
Level Dufort
Yeah, they got a hammer on their head… “Pow!”. And they “ahhhh” and after that, they take a knife. They take a knife on their neck. That's brutal, right?
Ernest Dufort
And then, you know what they do after? They bring they’re..the other version of pig to replace them (Iowan pigs).
Samm Henshaw
“Bow my head, said my prayers
I'm the good one, ain't I?
Wash my hands of all my sins
I'm the good guy, ain't I?”
Lumane Joseph
They came to kill all of the pigs. There weren’t any pigs anymore when they killed them. They killed them.
Angie Joseph
How many pigs… did they give you as many pigs as they like killed? So like let’s say, you had 10 pigs. Would they give you back 10 pigs?
Olandieu Joseph
They don't give you. They just, they just kill the pig you have.
Angie Joseph
Oh…
Olandieu Joseph
They send…they send other kinds of pigs.
Ernest Dufort
You know, it's like…it has to do with money.
Level Dufort
An exorbitant price.
Angie Joseph
What was the price of the new ones?
Olandieu Joseph
They sell like $50 for a small one.
Angie Joseph
That’s craaaaazy.
Olandieu Joseph
Yeah.
Ernest Dufort
They would sell you new pig that would require more treatment. More… expense to to to to uh carry them, to have them.
Level Dufort
We make house for them. Cement on the house. After that, you have to buy food for that pig to eat.
Ernest Dufort
They become like an expense to you. This one become a liability for you. While the other one was asset to you.
Angie Joseph
Right
Samm Henshaw
“I'm the good one, ain't I?”
Samm Henshaw
“I'm the good guy, ain't I?”
Ernest Dufort
The killing of those animals, which was represented…like 30% of the rural community economy, that would, you know, that's, that's, that’s the income that they destroyed, the income of that rural people. That program lasts for about about two, about two years from 1981 to 1983. That was…it was a disaster that happened in the 1980s. 78 to 80.
Samm Henshaw
“How far is far is enough?
How much is too much?
When is enough enough?”
Olandieu Joseph
Yeah, they killed Haitian economics.
Michel Martelly (former Haitian President)
“Haiti is a suffering country
In troubadour we find life
This is where we get our feelings”
- Angie Emily Joseph