Sunday, April 14, 2013

Song in Creole...

The morning was spent in Church. 9-noon. We didn't go with the rest of the household who started at 6 am. We slept in. Well, not really sleep in. I was awake at 4 and up on the roof at 5. I thought about Peter when he was up on his friends roof (Acts 10).

I took a videos before we left for church. It's point of interest is the hymn you will hear sung. Whoever knows the hymn, please send me your reply.

 
 
We went to Fort Jacques yesteray and this is some info from the internet about the fort Jacques we visited. Very interesting!

Pétion-Ville’s two forts

Text and Photo: Amelia Duarte de la Rosa, Special correspondent

DEEP in the mountains of Kenscoff – close to Pétion-Ville – and 1,500 meters above sea level, are the ruins of Fort Jacques and Fort Alexandre, vestiges of Haitian history. Both fortifications, destroyed by the January 2010 earthquake and abandonment, symbolize the birth of the first consolidated republic of Latin America.

Built in 1804 during the colonial period in 1804, under the command of Alexandre Pétion (subsequently appointed first President of the Republic in 1806), and following the instructions of Governor-General Jean Jacques Dessalines (Emperor Jacques I of Haiti), the objective of the forts was to protect the incipient independent Republic from French or pirate attacks. The defensive system in the Kenscoff peaks assured the west and southeast of the country, while La Citadelle, in Cap Haïtien, safeguarded the territorial integrity of the northeast coast.

The forts, named after their creators, are approximately 800 meters apart and linked by a narrow underground tunnel which can only be transited in a crouched position.

Located on the eastern slopes, Fort Alexandre was flanked by four angled bastions. Fort Jacques, on the other hand, was initially armed with cannons, and its cavernous interior, constructed of local clay and stone, was used for Haitian army activities. Soldiers here had visual control of the entire city of Port-au-Prince, the bay and Étang Saumâtre Lac Azuéi, the country’s largest lake, 30 kilometers from the capital.

The current state of both constructions is distressing. Only traces remain of their splendor and the foundations of Haiti’s history, taken advantage of by some people living in the surrounding area.

Visited by tourists maybe seeking something more than luxury mansions, the property of the wealthy in the pleasant mountain climate, the ruins of the forts seem to reflect the history of a people who made a decisive revolution in the context of Latin American independence and a nation which is now one of the poorest on the continent.

 


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