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Transcript

[00:00:29] Dr. Ray Thompson: I'd like to just briefly tell you what those of you who have already been to other presentations know that this is an important part of the educational program of Salisbury University. Here at the Nabb Center we're very serious about that and not only has our speaker agreed to talk to us this evening but he's been talking in classes from 8 o'clock this morning until 5:30 this afternoon and we'll be doing the same thing from 9 tomorrow morning until he leaves for the airport. At 12:30 tomorrow, so we are getting, and he came free, he came all the way from Oregon without any charge. Yeah. So we're getting, I think, a good return for our investment. [00:01:13][44.0]

[00:01:13] Phil Decker: I don't know if I should be clapping for that, but why am I clapping? [00:01:17][3.4]

[00:01:18] Dr. Ray Thompson: And the second thing I want to say that's involved with our educational programming is that the introductions are always given by our interns. We have an intern in communication arts this semester, Tierra Collins, and she's going to do our introduction for our speakers. So Tierra? [00:01:36][18.0]

[00:01:49] Tierra Collins: Thank you. Good evening everyone. I'm Tierra. I'm a Communication Arts intern for the Nabb Center this semester. Welcome to the Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History and Culture. This evening we're fortunate enough to have documentary photographer Phil Decker and also Fritz Judy in aid to the local Haitian community as our noted speakers. Phil Decker, a Maryland native, spent the summers of 1983 and 1984 documenting the living and working conditions of a group of Haitian migrant farm workers from Florida who were living on the eastern shore. Decker saw life through the workers' eyes as he documented their plight in the fields and at the isolated labor camps, where the field workers were bussed after a long day's work. In addition to creating this photograph and narrative project, Mr. Decker also worked as an outreach worker for migrant farm workers on the eastern shore during the same summers. Decker says in his photo document, I took these photos to illustrate the horrid living and working conditions burdening migrant farm workers. But more importantly, I took them to help humanize with feelings and faces, migrant labor issues. Mr. Decker earned his bachelor's in philosophy from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and his master's in Latin American Studies from Stanford. This evening, he joins us all the way from Salem, Oregon, where he now resides with his family and where he also serves as an elementary school principal. In this rare glimpse, he will speak about his insights into the origins of the Haitian community here on the shore. Also joining us this evening is Fritz Judy. Fritz was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. In 2000, he moved to Canada and later to Salisbury in 2005. Soon after arriving in Salisbury, he established the Uster Rice Corporation, which sold food products to immigrants, communities in Maryland and New Jersey. He also opened a second business to support immigrants with needed financial services. For the last year and a half, Fritz has been working for Telemann Corporation as a workforce development specialist, where he assists members of the Haitian community in Salisbury in finding employment and accessing other community resources. Fritz holds a bachelor degree in business administration from the University of Haiti and a bachelor's degree in marketing from HEC Montreal in Canada. Fritz and his wife, who teaches nursing here at Salisbury University, have one son. Fritz continues his close connections as an advocate to the Haitian community in Salisbury and other nearby areas. Please join me in welcoming tonight's speakers, Mr. Phil Decker and Mr. Fritz Judy. [00:04:24][155.1]

[00:04:30] Phil Decker: And, um, Fritz is on his way. He's actually... The grand entrance? Fritz Judy! Applause We just introduced you. Make yourself at home. [00:04:45][14.5]

[00:04:50] Phil Decker: So I am really just thrilled to have these images come back home to Salisbury and the shore. This has been a long journey, about 30 years ago that the photos were taken. And they're around us, and there's a wonderful video that the Nabb Research Center helped to produce on it. So I'm not going to jog through the photos. I'm going to... Kind of talk a bit about the project and what I hope it means for this community. And then I am just so thrilled to pass the baton after my talk to Fritz Judy who knows so much more about the current Haitian community here on the shore and will share what he knows with you as well. So I first want to start off with an appreciation. I really appreciate the collaboration and the work. With Dr. Ray Thompson, we've had a great run for the last year and a half, 100 plus emails later, to bring this document to the Nabb. And to me it really is the perfect place for it. Not only is it because it's home where the photos were taken, okay? But I also, in looking at the website on the Nabb and talking with Dr. Thompson, know that this is a place, although a small room, soon to be bigger, I hear, but a place where dialog lives about history and how history impacts our present. And so I think that to have a place where this document can take its role in. And really the dialog about historical social issues on the shore is a real honor for me. And I've really enjoyed our collaboration, and thank you for bringing it home. It means a lot to me. These images have been in my closet for too long. And they served a purpose right when they were taken, kind of as advocacy work. And slideshows were created from them. Publications were created for them to use them in those issues right at the time. But I'm not really a wine drinker. But I hear that if you let it sit for a long time, it kind of savers and gains in terms of importance. And so I think that's happened to the photos. They take on a different meaning now that they've been in the closet for 30 years. And now they're out of the closet. And the beauty is that they really do. Provide not a comprehensive document on the Haitian experience on the shore, but they help to fill that gap. And I think that Dr. Thompson recognized that and I was thrilled to to be able to serve this community by bringing them back. When we had dinner last night we had a nice conversation about how important it is to kind of keep history alive and well and relate it to the present. And that it's definitely not too late to be thinking about the immigrant experience here of our Haitian community and really all of our communities, because we're all immigrants to America, unless you're native to this land. And I commented to Dr. Thompson that, in my background, we're still working through Exodus. Thanks. Thank you. Thanks. I mean, every Passover meal. We still sit at the table and are trying to struggle with Exodus. And that's like 5,000 years ago. So this is just 30. It's only the beginning. And I think I say that kind of tongue in cheek, but my background as someone who is, I consider, a stealth minority. I'm Jewish. And that is as key to this document for me. Okay? Because I am the grandson of immigrants who fled pogroms in Eastern Europe, right? And the classic migration, fled pogroms into the Lower East Side of New York City, Yiddish-speaking, okay? Grandpa Alex was a barber, Grandma Lena was a seamstress, okay. I'm Phil Decker, but I would have been Phil Dekelbaum. [00:09:07][257.1]

[00:09:08] Phil Decker: Okay? I'm stealth, right? You wouldn't know it, okay? But that identity of my immigrant identity and really paying homage to Grandma Lena's and Grandpa Alex's sacrifice to enable me to live a good life in America is what fueled my interest and has my whole professional life in terms of serving other immigrant community. And so. I really love this opportunity for us to explore other immigrant communities, to serve other immigrant communities here on the shore. So let's see, the other people I'd like to honor here before talking a bit about the background of the document is, we have so many experts in the crowd, okay? I'm really thrilled to introduce everyone to none other than the woman who took the the risk of hiring me. My first real job out of college, which led to this document, is Karen Webster. So Karen, you want to stand up and get your round of applause. [00:10:12][64.8]

[00:10:13] Karen Webster: Thank you so much. Thank you. [00:10:14][1.0]

[00:10:17] Phil Decker: So I'm not sure if Karen would tell the story the same way, but I had learned some Spanish while picking apples with farm workers in Washington State. I have a degree in philosophy from the University of Maryland. And what do all philosophy students need to do? To wander, right? That's what you do, right. So I wound up in one of my wanders picking apples in Washington state with a Mexican crew. Was really curious, where are these people from? Growing up in D.C., Mexico could have been Peru for all I knew. I mean, I didn't really have an awareness of the border like I do now. And so I followed them down into Mexico just to explore the land that they came from and picked up some Spanish along the way, contacted the Governor's Commission on Migratory Labor in Maryland to see how could I serve farm workers in my home state of Maryland, and then somebody must have mentioned Migrant Seasonal Farm worker Association, and I You might have more of the story, but that's all I can remember. And so that first summer, I was an outreach worker for the Migrant and Seasonal Farm worker Association and just had a little itty-bitty camera and started taking portraits of farm workers. First photo ever published of mine was in the Salisbury News of a farm worker named Sam back in, I think, '83 or '84. Just close-up portraits. And then decided to take the photography more seriously. And went to the International Center of Photography in New York City for the school year to come back the next picking season and to first meet up with the crew I had already met, meet with them in Florida, and then document them in the fields and in the labor camp. So that's sort of the origin of that. When I showed up in ICP, the International Center for Photography in New York City, they must have thought I was nuts. Because I just showed up with like a bag of some photos of farm workers I had taken, right? And other people had the vest, and the cameras, and the lenses, and I had the little camera where you click the lens, and a bag of farm worker photos. And they took me, it was a miracle. And I think it's because they said first the guy's crazy. And then I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I wasn't waiting for someone to send me on an assignment. I said, I have to learn how to use the camera. I have learn how develop film because I got this crew waiting for me next summer. And I need to get back down to follow them back up from Florida and document them. So they said, sure, let's do this. This will be a bit of a tangent, but for those of you that are interested in documentary photography, Okay, that's sort of the genre this is in. This is not photojournalism. It's not like you're on assignment for two days or a day. This is you hang out with folks, you become part of their community for months, if not years, to really document, have a comprehensive document on their lives. And so in that work, this follows in the tradition of the Farm Security Administration document, Dorothea Lange, Arthur Rothstein, Russell Lee. There's a precedent set especially in terms of farm workers in documentary photography and I found myself fifty years later attempting to do the sequel on my own though to the FSA. But definitely I want to pay homage to that tradition of documentary photography that this is part of. And it's even before them, it's Lewis Hine with child labor. That's why I picked this image as the signature one. Lewis Hine had children working in factories. And this is the equivalent in the fields to show about the child labor. And Jacob Reese even before them in terms of slums of New York City. So there's a long history of photographers taking their time, connecting with people, and doing these long-term documents. And so what you have here is my first one, my first crack at it, when I was about 21, 22 years old, out of college. [00:14:25][247.8]

[00:14:25] Phil Decker: And other expertise in the room. Is the Migrant and Seasonal Farm Worker Association turned into Telemann. And I know Karen was the director for that for many years. But there's a lot of Telemant folks in the crowd. So all you Telemont people, come on wave, stand up. We need to know who you are because you're great resources here for the community. Would somebody like to tell us really briefly what Telemunt does? Because one of the beauties of this great group that is here. For this turnout is to really not just pay homage to this particular crew or to see my photos, but my hope, and I really think it's going to be realized, is that you connect among yourselves and can continue to uncover the stories of the immigrant communities here on the shore. Were you going to speak about that a little bit, Fritz, later about Telemont? [00:15:19][54.0]

[00:15:20] Fritz Judy: Since my voice is here, she can use five minutes of my time. [00:15:23][2.9]

[00:15:23] Phil Decker: Uh-huh.That was... [00:15:25][1.9]

[00:15:26] Fritz Judy: This is Jennifer. [00:15:27][1.1]

[00:15:28] Phil Decker: Could you tell us just in a nutshell what Telemann does? Because I think the amazing thing here is that I used to work with that group. Now Fritz took my job 30 years later. But it's a vibrant force supporting immigrant communities in this area. But at that time, I'm thinking, and correct me if I'm wrong, a handful of families. Back in those mid-'80s, it wasn't a Haitian community that's 1,000 strong like it is today. So, I'm so that this document then, although it focuses on one crew, and then actually as you'll learn a family within the crew, still helps to represent the beginning of the Haitian community on the shore. And now it's much more vibrant, many more people, many more stories out there. I wanna just jog through a couple other connections that might inspire some further research or those to dig in a little bit deeper. And actually, before I go there, there's another organization I work with a lot in my role as an outreach worker. And that's none other than Legal Aid, because there was one or two problems out there in the migrant labor camps. And so we do have representatives from Legal Aid. So you have great resources in the room. And one connection with that connection is that Greg Shell, who was the Legal Aid attorney at the time that I was there, we met frequently. And when I had finished this document, I wanted to do the sequel. I said, Greg, I want to continue with other immigrant groups that are part of the migrant stream. And so I wanted it to do a Mexican document. And I did. It's a much larger document than this. It's still being digitized. I'm working on that little by little. It was a year in the life of a crew. I met them in the orchards in Arizona, went down to their villages in Queretaro in Mexico. And when I was young and kind of looked like that and was in better shape, it's an embarrassing picture. I crossed the border several times with them to show the whole yearly cycle. And Greg is the one that said, yeah, you've got to meet Lupe Sanchez. Lupe Sánchez runs the Arizona Farm Worker Union. It's a union of undocumented, and legally sound as an undocumented union. And so I spent about a year, a year and a half. As my next work there. I might as well go ahead and just paint that picture of how I got here from there. And those of you the students in the crowd, those of you who are still studying, the message behind this little bird walk is, you never know where things might take you. And so like I mentioned, the Picking apples in Washington. Gave me a little bit of an intro to farm work. That brings me to Mexico, little bit of Spanish, brings me the Karen Webster in MSFA. Greg Schell sends me on over to Arizona. And I did that document and was widely published and exhibited in the Cannon Rotunda in Washington, DC during the last immigration debate, which was 1985, Simpson-Rodino that became the law. And that was supposed to be, for me, like the great culmination. You know, my gosh, it's in the halls of Congress during the debate. Doesn't get better than that. And I would watch people come by during their lunch break and go, hey, great shot. Beautiful picture. And really, it made me feel like photography is not going to do it. I'm not going be able to change the world with photographs, right? And I also, so I was thinking, you know, how else can I contribute? Although I love photography. And I feel that it's like a... A talent and a joy for me, but I'm not sure that's the way to make social change. And so then I was working with the Inter-American Foundation, they published a story of mine on the Mexican document, and a gentleman said, you know, I think you need to read a little bit of Paulo Freire. And Paulo Freaire, who wrote Pedagogy of the Oppressed, a Brazilian educator, had the point that, and I didn't get it, the light bulb didn't go off. I was being the classic muckraker model. You take the photos, and you go back to DC. You go to New York, and try to spread the word. And so this was a different approach. Why not just teach the people that are organizing themselves to use the media tools for their own development? So I switched my approach and then when I was in Stanford, what I studied was grassroots communication, how to use many media, not just photography, but kind of tucked into grassroots organizations, tucked into development projects to help people, to help themselves rather than me do my exposé of them. And then that led to me meeting my wife and four kids and four grand kids later, you know, photography wasn't gonna pay the bills. So I figured, hmm, bilingual, wanna help immigrant communities, love to teach. And I became a middle school teacher, a bilingual middle school right on the border. And then, but always with the eye of developing community. And so hence an elementary school principal, because what better place to raise community See you then. Something we all share in common, which is the neighborhood school. And so my school's about 70% Latino, bilingual school in Salem, Oregon, another rich agricultural valley. And so that's kind of the route. But the strand that's consistent, going back to my own immigrant roots and being there to serve in different ways, photographer, writer, teacher, principal, the next waves, the next wave of immigrants. And so once again, I really hope that this talk and this archive can help spark more connections so that the community goes deeper into continuing to document and explore their own immigrant communities. All right, on the way down here, I saw the little sign by Easton, right? By the Easton diner, right, which has very good crab soup, by the way. Frederick Douglass's birthplace. I said, oh, I've got to figure out I'm gonna go down there, right? So I had my crab soup and got on my phone and found out that that might not exactly be Frederick Douglass' birthplace and that it is just a sign, not like a big visitor center. So I didn't make the eight-mile pilgrimage down that road, but I found out that Frederick Douglass, and you already know this, Fritz, okay, was the minister to Haiti. Thank you. Towards the end of his life, 1890s, when he was in his 70s. For two years, he was the minister of Haiti. Interesting Eastern Shore connection to Haiti. And then I found out that he had a very famous speech, his Chicago World Fair speech. Haven't read it all, read little excerpts from it. And it was a very important speech, one it. And having lunch with Fritz today. Fritz knew that speech, right? And where he really talks about these deep connections and the lessons you can learn from Haiti's history, right. And so that's also another connection to explore. There's many, many lessons that resonate for us from the Haitian story. Issues of colonization, of slavery, of revolution, of race, right? They're part of that Haitian story, and now they're part of our American story. And it's even richer because those stories have mixed together. I got a fantastic book. The only time I get a lot of reading done is when you're on the airplane, right? So this was my airplane book. I really recommended The Butterfly's Way by Edwidge Danekat. I'm probably not pronouncing that right. Voices from the Haitian diaspora in the United States. And what I've learned is there's multiple diasporas. There's diasporas from earthquakes. This diaspora is coming from the 70s, and that's the diaspora from what? What's the? What's the push factors for this diaspora that brought people to Florida and then brought people the shore? Duvalier. And so it's the baby duck and the boat people times. So these are either boat people themselves or, most likely, or children of boat people. I'm not sure if everyone's in that situation, but I think that's more the origin of this community around Lake Okeechobee and their migration here to the United States. So I wanted to share just a little excerpt from one of these pieces. Marlene Phipps, who is a poet and a Haitian poet and painter. And hold on. Sorry, Marlene. It's not going to be yours. 119. Oh, yes it is. Okay. So and I think what she says here really speaks to all immigrant communities and I really like the way she put this. This is called Poor Water on My Head. She writes... Technically speaking, I can paint any place, but if I choose one place, it has to do with its meaning. Art is an act, an effort of communication. Art cannot survive as only a self-indulgent endeavor. Haiti offers me items of meditation into which because of my particular connection to the country, I can tap and develop further. Cambridge, where I now live, offers me a nurturing environment. Populations of the world are no longer being confined to their original shores. Different cultures are colliding with each other in close quarters and entering each other's consciousness. Through people like me, a Haitian-born painter and poet, foreign imagination is entering American Consciousness and System of Reference. Many of us, the uprooted, may have come empty-handed, but certainly not empty-hearted. I came with all that I have been and felt before, with all of my parents had been and thought before, with all my ancestors had been and felt for, with the company of spirits. So I continue to live and fight, even in those days when there is no wind in my sails. I continue, to pour water on my head so the sun might glimmer on me, on all of us. And I like that as a photographer, the sun glimmering on her head. And so I really think it speaks to how everyone brings their history, and that histories are meshed together here in our community. So with that, I would like to pass the baton to Fritz Judy. And I was really pleased to. Connect with Fritz. I did not want to do this opening alone. I had to have someone who really knew the Haitian community and could speak about that from his personal experience and his expertise. And so that to me is a real joy to have Fritz join me. And I really hope that folks will connect with fritz and folks from Telemont, Legal Aid, and continue this dialog. And the Nabb is a perfect place to continue to. Pull those ideas and people together to keep this exploration of our Haitian community and other immigrant communities alive and well here on the shore. So passing the baton to you, Fritz. Come on down. Thank you very much. I just have to say, we had the perfect place for lunch today. Of course, you know, Jewish guy, Haitian guy, where are we going to be eating? Chipotle. Chipotle, of course. God bless America! (Laughter) [00:28:14][765.8]

[00:28:16] Crowd: Having grown up in the Eastern Shore, what was the typical Eastern Shore reaction to these people? I mean, general people living on the shore, they weren't migrants. Was there a lot of acceptance? Was there discrimination? Were there any directions at all? Were they completely separate? [00:28:33][17.5]

[00:28:35] Phil Decker: That's a great question. Hard for me, from my experience of an outreach worker for a couple summers, to speak for the shore in general. I do know that I interface a lot with the growers. They didn't connect as much with the Haitians as with the crew leader who would seek the work for them. The times we went into town, it felt like there was acceptance. There were many agencies involved in supporting the farm workers, church groups, social service agencies. I think one issue to speak of that was more internal to the camp, which is an area for exploration, is that... For a crew that is part African-American and part Haitian that was quite an interaction and a learning experience because the more you know about the history of Haiti and the United States they come from such different historical circumstance that for the Haitian community it was kind of new to understand and in a sense to be schooled by the African- American crew on what it really meant to be black in America Which is very different than being black and Haiti So, I thought that was the more immediate interaction that I experienced. But others that have been working with the community, with the farmer Christopher Longer, might be able to add to that. Bud Luther had his home base in South Bay. South Bay, which is near Lake Okeechobee in Florida. And just for those that are interested in the local geography, his camp, which was called a hotel, although it wasn't a hotel is not there anymore. It's on Nanticoke Road, about 14 miles out. I went there on my way in to hopefully find something, or at least an artifact, like an archeologist. It said no trespassing, and I went in there anyway, because I thought maybe I'd find something from the camp. But now it's kind of rubble. It's been demolished. It's out on the Anacope Road. It's about 14 miles. About 14 miles out on Anacoke Road on the left-hand side. OK, you ready to roll? I was just stalling for you, Fritz. Thank you. I'm good at that. [00:30:53][138.5]

[00:30:53] Fritz Judy: That's a good teamwork. Ladies and gentlemen, before that I start my presentation. I would like to take this time, behalf of the Haitian community, to thank Mr. Phil Decker for this hard work that is accomplished behind the Haitians community. Mr. Decker? And my presentation tonight will be like a bridge between the past and the present. During the documentary that Mr. Dieter introduced to you, you have a chance to get in touch with the Haitian community how they came over here. And now, my job is like to connect, to show you those people, 30 years, 20 years, 25 years since they came, since they moved to the Eastern Shore, what they accomplished. I think a lot of you ask yourself that question. 30 years. The children of those people you saw in the picture, what did they accomplish? That's why I call my presentation an overview of the evolution of the Haitian living in the Eastern Shore. And to be honest with you, the Eastern Shore is very big. And regarding the time, I have 15 minutes. I will be able to cover all the accomplishments of the nation on the Eastern shore. But I'm just going to use those 15 minutes to go over with a couple of them with you. And first of all, I would like to introduce you this man. This man, he is Hibou St. Fleur. This man came to United States when he was about 12 years. He was raised in Long Island, New York, and then moved to Salisbury, Maryland, moved to the Eastern Shore on his early 20 years. And this man, between 50, between 20 years, Since he came here when he was 20, and now he's 45 years, this man won right now one of the large business in the Eastern Shore. And his business is the owner and the CEO of Hebrew Quality Construction. And also, this man is living in Salisbury with his former mayor. That means the tax is good for the other mayor. You know? And the firm also operate the Hebrew quality insulation, Hebrew quality housing, and then development causes on right now about more than 100 house that you went for people. And also Hebrew investment. But last year, regarding all this accomplishment, the Maryland Capital Enterprise, the MC, They took him in body and he became one of the members. Of the body of the director of the MC. That's for Mr. Hebrewson of St. Fluer. I have another one. I have Mr. Jeffan Poin and John DeJure. He's very young. He's just 29 years. And he's got a unisex, he's helping the Latinas and people. He's helping to Haitian and Caribbean people. And he got about five people working for him. So now he contributes to the community to give jobs. To the community. And then we have also Mr. Abakik Peetertion. Mr. Abbakik is running his own business, help multiservices, just to let you know. Help stand for his name Abakkik, E stands for his wife, Edlin, and P for Peetion. It's nice, eh? So now he's doing taxes and also he's do immigration payment for the Haitian community because Most of the cases we have, when the Haitian people came here, they didn't know nothing about English. And I remember every single Haitian that I used to work, even when I used to run my own business here, because since I moved from Canada to come over here, I started to run my own businesses, check-out, touching, things like that, just to help my community. Because the problem is, when they came, the first time they came here... They can't speak English. And every single place they went, they have to speak. And the other thing also for the type of service, they need to pay their bills. They need to send more money to the country. But they have to be able to talk. So I think that's why I think this is a good opportunity when you have the Haitian up in the bills, like that. When the Haitians came, you feel home. You feel a little haily. Because you can ask a question. You can do whatever you want. Because as you know, the language put a barrier. Even though that person is very smart but since that person knows he can't speak the language well he's just put a barrier like that person feels very demonized very very little to do the other person is Caribbean express market the runner is is Mr. Charite Gene Charite I think This business is The first Haitian business in the area is in the Florida Art Venue. All the Latin American people, they went over there to buy food, products. And I think this business has been on the Eastern Shore for more than 15 years to help people. Because, you know, the food is the one of the most, even though I don't like to eat more. And Mr. Phil, so the guy... Only half of your chicken. All right, so this is another accomplishment for those people who came from Haiti, you know, Bay and Bidoc, Duvalier, or the Huffquake, any kind of way they came to Haiti. And when they came here, they worked very hard to contribute to the community. And now we're going to talk about doing churches. The Haitian, the Haitian didn't came here to just do business. The Haitian also, they are very conservative among people. They are strong belief, the Haitian. That's why when the Haitians gonna move to a place, the first question he ask you, a church, they're gonna find a church over there? Right now I'm working as a case manager at Telamon, every time I'm doing outreach and invite them to stay in the area. The first question, as I'm gonna find the church, to worship. So the Haitian, right now, this is a huge accomplishment. This is the first Haitian United Methodist Church. That's just for the Haitians community. And this is the inside Indian church. And Mr. Deke was very happy to see the Jewish flag. Jewish flag? Jewish flag, inside the Haitia church. Yeah, so this is the first session we had at this church, one of the accomplishments of the, and the pastor is Pastor Faubourg Jean-Baptiste, he's the one to, the big dreamer to accomplish this church. And this is a second church, again, World Life Center. So the pastor, this is pastor, Pastor Gary Nicholas and Pastor Roosevelt Thorson. By the way, Pastor Roosevelt and Thorsen. I think it's about 15 years ago you won a Haitian community center here. I don't know what's happened but the community center is closed now, it's closed now so I don't know why that's happened. So we used to have a Haitia community center but right now since we have a lot of Haitian move in the area, I think we're working on that issue to have to set something like that. Mr. Selama, is that you? We work on something like that, right? So that was the end of my presentation. But to finish the presentation, I need to show a story with you. I know a man. This man right now is 85 years, a Haitian. He left Haiti when he was 57. He came to the United States. And he left behind a woman with eight kids. He came to the United States. He worked hard on the field, immaculately. He worked very hard on field, doing tomatoes, to send more money to raise his kids. And after a couple of years, he got a contract with a company they called Sixel's. The Sixel company moved over here, brought them, drove them, and brought them in the Eastern Shore. I think he's um And they went over there, and they tried to work on the tomatoes, and he worked hard on tomatoes. Back and forth, five years, after the fifth year, he said, you know what, I like Eastern show. I fell in love with Eastern show. I'm going to leave. I'm gonna stay in the Eastern show." He decided to stay. He moved. He decided just to stay back on AED, AED1. And then When he decided to start to work at a chicken plant, to do a chicken plan, now he got money, earn about $600 a month, and money he sent money to Haiti. And in 1999, he was lucky, he brought all his eight kids and his wife from Haiti to the United States. In 1999, all those eight kids came. Today, one of them is a physician, one of them a pharmacist, one is an agronomist, two of them is an engineer, and one of the is a nurse practitioner. And as a matter of fact, she's teaching on Salisbury University right now. Unfortunately, she thinks she can make it, because I know that that woman is my wife. Thank you. Thank you. [00:42:28][695.1]

[00:42:36] Dr. Ray Thompson: Does anyone have any questions of Phil or Fritz? I'm sure they'd be happy to respond to any questions you might have. Whoops. Sorry about that. Thanks, Chris. Oh, go ahead. I'm sorry. [00:42:52][15.9]

[00:42:53] Crowd: I was sort of struck by, even though they were taken in 1980, there's almost a little bit of an out of time type of quality. I was like, if I looked at them, they could easily be mistaken for 1950 or something. I didn't know if that was something intentional that you were trying to do with your photos. There's a symptom in which the time period is... [00:43:14][20.9]

[00:43:17] Phil Decker: So that's a great comment. Let's dig in there a little bit more. What do you think about the photos gives them that quality? [00:43:22][5.5]

[00:43:27] Crowd: I don't know if it's the... [00:43:28][1.0]

[00:43:29] Phil Decker: It's not intentional, but I'm curious what you see in them that would give them that quality. [00:43:34][4.7]

[00:43:34] Crowd: I don't know if it's because of the black and white and maybe on one hand it seems like there's not a lot of detail on some level. [00:43:42][8.6]

[00:43:45] Phil Decker: I think it has a lot to do with the documentary image. To me I think that's a nice compliment because they should be somewhat timeless, although they do speak to the time. So let me do a little rabbit trail to answer that about black and white. So this is the photographer I'm speaking in here, is that, I mean, I'll just take one, for instance. This image, I love this image of this Haitian couple together, they were madly in love in the labor camp. This is Augustine, I forgot his wife's name, but they really loved each other and they were happy because they were together. And so that's what I'm trying to capture, that embrace, and then there's geometry involved and some elements of light. But this could be like an orange door, right? And so if this was an orange door. You're not going to stay here, but you stay right there, framed by these geometric elements, the circles and the square, and they're framed in there. But the color could be distracting. So when you're doing documentary work, especially black and white, you're focused on different things. And actually, I find myself now returning to black and White. Because it really sort of, the word comes in Spanish, es drei. They like to extract, okay? You're extracting from what you're seeing more about gesture and emotion and expression and light than about exactly what it looks like. So I think they become more timeless because of that extraction of what you are seeing in black and white. And then also, if you were to look at the Farm Security Administration images, You know, from the 1930s, the Dust Bowl images of migrants, and you were to look at these, and you look at my Mexican document, and other photographers since then that have documented a similar theme. They all have that quality, because we're really seeing, over such a long period of time, these same issues coming up over and over again. I always remember Lupe Sanchez. Who was the head of the union when I did my Mexican document. I was so excited. I had these pictures, and I was developing them in the bathroom of his apartment. I set up my little dark room, and then I'd come running out and go, Lupe, Lupe, look at these pictures. Look, this one's incredible. And I remember him telling me, you know, I'm sick and tired of those pictures. You know? I go, what? This is a great shot. Look at the angle. Look, you know this is fantastic. He goes, I am already looking forward to the day when I don't see any more of those pictures. Because he's waiting for the reality to change. But until it does, they become timeless because you've seen it before as well. [00:46:51][185.7]

[00:47:20] Phil Decker: Yeah, so there's still work to be done. Yeah [00:47:23][3.3]

[00:47:25] Crowd: It remains the same. [00:47:26][1.2]

[00:47:28] Phil Decker: Yeah, I think you're right. Yeah, that's good. [00:47:30][2.5]

[00:47:31] Crowd: Look at how in some of it, these are basically not semi-nomadic gatherer people who are living, not under-gatherers, but I mean we're looking at they have what, a suitcase on average? Is that about right? [00:47:41][9.9]

[00:47:41] Phil Decker: Yeah, a suitcase, a bag, mm-hmm. [00:47:42][1.7]

[00:47:43] Crowd: That's it. Each person has a suitcase. So you're looking at what they're housing, and they don't have stuff. I think that's the biggest thing. But there's nothing decorating it. [00:47:54][11.2]

[00:47:57] Phil Decker: And in Florida, where you would call home, there was a bit more stuff. I mean, you have an apartment and you have some clothing you leave behind, but when you come on the migrant stream, you're carrying a suitcase with you. [00:48:11][14.0]

[00:48:11] Crowd: Is their home just another place they rent from the same people? [00:48:15][3.8]

[00:48:16] Phil Decker: And there's some pictures here of the apartments. This is a nice image of sort of like the Haitian part of town in South Bay. And they were small apartments. So these are all kind of way stations. One of the things that's unfortunate is I haven't kept touch and I don't know where these particular families are, and I really wish I did. Two in particular, you'll see this photograph document focuses on Clacelia, a 13-year-old girl. The magazine article that was published on that is part of the archive, plus many of my field notes. Karen made sure I wrote down everything I did every day, and I kept some of them. And so some of the are here as part of archive. [00:49:03][47.7]

[00:49:05] Crowd: One of the Haitian fellows who came with by the right about your time was Jean St. Val. Well, not long afterward. He calls me mother. Not long afterwards, he started college, graduated from FSU and then got a master's. [00:49:24][19.0]

[00:49:24] Phil Decker: Master degree. Fantastic, yes. [00:49:27][2.4]

[00:49:37] Phil Decker: So I'm going to make a shameless plug for a project that hopefully, because I've got to go back to Oregon, I've gotten my hands full, I have a school I need to raise up, but what would be an incredible compliment to this document, and I've talked to Fritz about it over half of a salad at Chipotle, and and I talked to Nicole about that in in the class as well. And I've been putting the bug in other people's ears is that you have people's stories here that would bring this document up to date. I really don't want to be the voice. I'm not the voice for the Haitian history and Haitian community. I mean, I would love this to be sort of a catalyst for people to collect more stories. And if you had an interview with John Vowell, if you have interview with your father-in-law, right? And, um... And to marry that to the photographs, you have the origin in pictures. And then to have, whether it's video or transcripts or more photographs, you could really fill in that document and bring it to the present and talk about people's stories. And that's a great project for students. Fritz was talking about maybe a church group getting involved, one of the Haitian churches. But it's just rich. It's a rich history to start to collect. And you already have a great beginning here at the Nabb with a deposit of these images and some of the field notes to get it started. Yes. [00:51:09][92.5]

[00:51:10] Crowd: I have no sense of... Migrant workers now. When I first came here, people were always talking about the migrant workers, migrant workers and migrant workers. But we went deep winter. The church I went to had services in Spanish. And I'm saying, well, they're here in the wintertime, they are not migrating anymore. So, anytime you have a regular schedule, that might suggest that they're here when it's not. The season for something. So I have no clue for the Haitians. I've heard people say there are a lot of Haitians here. We were in some discussion and they said there were a lot of Haitians, but I guess it wasn't time for them to tell me where they are. [00:51:49][38.4]

[00:51:51] Fritz Judy: But it depends, because right now, regarding the Telamonte, or the corporation that I belong, we have a difference between the seasonal farm worker and migrant farm worker. The big difference is, for the migrant farm worker, when the people came and they already live in the area. And they just decide to go to work on the field, you know, like that, we call them migrants. But when the people, they don't live in the area, they came from, like every year for the summer time we have people who came from New York, came from Jersey, came from Florida, came to work here, you know, and they just worked like a seasonal. They came seasonal and back and forth. They finished work and they go. Because [00:52:45][53.9]

[00:52:45] Crowd: Using that pattern? [00:52:46][0.9]

[00:52:47] Fritz Judy: Yeah, but, I got the reverse? I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. The seasonal is the one will stay, will leave, yeah. Because the thing is, for the farm worker, they move place to place, you know? So I think in between, in March in Florida, they have the oranges. And now in May, June is gonna start the watermelon year. They move here, they follow, they flip follow. And then they're going to North Carolina for the street poor, or what it is. They're going for the Alapagos, so that's. [00:53:21][33.5]

[00:53:20] Crowd: So this is, this pattern is still going on? [00:53:23][2.5]

[00:53:23] Fritz Judy: Yeah. Yeah, it's still going on. Ancil, Telamon, Kemi Telamun said, we have a better offer for you. We invite you to us in the area. That's the part of our job. [00:53:33][10.1]

[00:53:33] Crowd: You know, 40 years ago there were a lot of seasonal people in the area. They just aren't here anymore. And Senator Stolfus just closed his cabbage operation. And we used to get people from there. The only work they did was, you know, raising the baby cabbage plants. And then if they wanted to settle out, they would come and we would work with them. But those places just don't exist anymore. Settle out. It used to be when farm workers went to the job service and said well it's winter time, I need a job. Job service said to them, just wait until the next season. That was the solution. And then it went to federal court and they told job service, you have to, you know, if a farm worker wants to work in the winter, it's your duty to help him find a job if that's what he wants. [00:54:38][65.4]

[00:54:39] Phil Decker: This is a picture of a family that I helped settle out. I remember her baby was born at the hospital here, and we were there for that. I even have a picture with Karen, your late husband holding that baby when it was recently born. And so the big thing was, like, he got a car. He got a job at the plant. We helped him get an apartment to rent. So he was able to settle out and I think that's kind of how the community grew was individual by individual over the years [00:55:17][38.2]

[00:55:19] Crowd: I'd like to add, if I may please, some different organizations have a different meaning for migrant and seasonal work. The legal aid may have one definition and migrant education may have another one or, you know, like Telemonte or other organizations that help farm workers. We want to introduce other members of the country. Even healthcare. Even healthcare, right. [00:55:44][24.9]

[00:55:48] Crowd: I just had a, on the topic of settled out, an estimate on numbers, I mean including actually there's a large community in Seaford as well, what kind of estimates, I know these numbers are very very slippery, but you know what's the size of the Haitian community these days that is settled in Delmarva if we take it the whole way? [00:56:12][23.5]

[00:56:12] Fritz Judy: All right, that's a good question. I remember that was the first question I was asking myself because when I was trying to run a business here, I have to get, so my target was the Haitian and the Latino people, so I have to get a great idea about the number. So I went to a lot of research, the census, I went everywhere, the Congress. They can't give me a number exactly. Why? Is they put, when they're doing the census thing, they put the Haitian as a black inside the African-American. They put them together, they're there. So it's very hard to get. But I'm gonna give you a number, but it's not very, very, you know. But regarding the people when I'm doing outreach, because I have a connection with all the pastor, all the Haitians community, right now, I think it's a very reasonable, if I say in the Eastern Shore, they have about more than 3,000 Haitians. Right now. [00:57:11][59.4]

[00:57:14] Phil Decker: How many? 2,000. [00:57:15][1.2]

[00:57:15] Fritz Judy: Three thousand. Three thousand? Yeah, three thousand. [00:57:16][1.7]

[00:57:17] Crowd: I have a number, but I know as far as the minorities, after Hispanics, it's like a battle between the Korean and the Hispanics. They're like the number two minority on the eastern side, and that's something I have heard from Dr. Memel there. [00:57:31][14.8]

[00:57:34] Phil Decker: Mm-hmm. [00:57:34][0.0]

[00:57:35] Crowd: Because I know at the time of the earthquake, people were floating around in the sand. Ten thousand when you included Seafloor. That's the number I had at about. Ten thousand? That's that number that was floating around during. Nobody had a really good idea. [00:57:48][13.4]

[00:57:51] Phil Decker: Did you have a question in the – sir, sure. Other questions or noticing, connections? [00:57:58][6.7]

[00:57:59] Crowd: One of the folks who was looking at the exhibit a few days ago asked a question or pointed out that a lot of the crops that you see being picked here as you mentioned the cabbage aren't really here like the landscape of the shore has changed, the crops have changed. [00:58:16][17.1]

[00:58:16] Phil Decker: Mm-hmm. [00:58:16][0.0]

[00:58:17] Crowd: So they were curious as to what crops are out there now for which this community migrates here. The seasonal rubber bands to pick. What a moment. I don't know if you all know. [00:58:29][12.0]

[00:58:29] Fritz Judy: Yeah, right now... [00:58:31][1.6]

[00:58:32] Crowd: Tomatoes and watermelons. [00:58:33][0.7]

[00:58:34] Fritz Judy: Tomatoes are watermelons, yes. Watermelons. [00:58:36][2.9]

[00:58:41] Crowd: So what, how do the children, the Haitian immigrants view Haiti? [00:58:44][3.0]

[00:58:46] Phil Decker: But we should repeat the question for the gentleman in the back. Do you want to repeat the questions so they can hear it on the microphone? [00:58:52][5.8]

[00:58:54] Fritz Judy: Can we put in question again? [00:58:55][0.9]

[00:58:57] Crowd: Children of the immigrant community, how do they view their home in Haiti itself? I mean, this is their home, and here's the solitary, or is it... How do they see Haiti? Is this... [00:59:07][10.4]

[00:59:08] Fritz Judy: Oh, oh, oh. Okay. Now, I think for most of the Haitians, Eastern Shore in the heart is a second place for them. Haiti is still the first place. [00:59:20][11.9]

[00:59:20] Crowd: It shows that there are children that want to be your children. [00:59:24][3.1]

[00:59:25] Fritz Judy: Okay. This is the big issue right now. During the lunch I have with Mr. Decker, we spent about half an hour to talk about that. That's the main problem we have right now with the Haitians, with the children of those people. Because it's like they're more connected to the American culture. They're more connective. Because there is a problem of the communication because most of those people... Even though they can say I, they can Say some word in English, but they are not fluent in English. In African South analogy, they said the language is the first, is the first step to communicate. So if we have some problem to communicate, we can go nowhere. Inside the family, if inside the family you already have the problem to communicate, the kid, even when the parents speak English with the Please. Speak Creole, they answer in English, that's a huge problem. They understand Creole like I have my son. He's five years. We speak Creole. We have him. But every single thing we say, he answer you in English. He's 5 years. I think that's very tough. [01:00:44][78.3]

[01:00:46] Phil Decker: You have to give him stickers. That's what you gave him when I was... Stickers and... Stickers and Dollar Tree, Stickers to Dollar Tree. Here we go, here we go. That's some tips. [01:00:58][12.2]

[01:01:00] Crowd: Do the children of immigrants view Haiti? I mean, do they go back to Haiti? No. I've traveled to Haiti quite a few times. It's an extremely different environment than Salisbury. How do children see Haiti and understand Haiti? How do they see Haiti, their parents' land? [01:01:20][19.7]

[01:01:20] Fritz Judy: Yeah, that was my, I'm going to give it to you, Salama. That was my... That was another side of my answer. The problem is there is a problem with the miscommunication inside. To be able, I am the one to sell my country to my kid, to my five-year-old kid. If I can't talk to my kids to sell my country, how come my kids will be interested to go back? So that's my point. So that why I'm trying to explain to you The kid is so hated differently than they are. Parents because right now we have to do something. [01:01:53][32.8]

[01:01:53] Crowd: How did they see me? [01:01:54][1.1]

[01:02:02] Crowd: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's like whatever view that they have is what they see, although if their parents travel back and forth they can see the picture, if they don't go back there themselves, but they see what the media shows, so that's their main connect to Haiti, other if they had like personal experiences of going to Haiti themselves. So unfortunately, that's the only reality. [01:02:36][34.4]

[01:02:37] Crowd: The media has a portrait of Haiti as a very violent place, as a dangerous place, a very corrupt and dysfunctional place, and it is that, but it's a lot of other things that are fascinating and interesting and neat. [01:02:53][16.7]

[01:02:55] Fritz Judy: But on the other hand, also, beyond his answer, I think also if I raise, if I try to raise my kid in a way to sell the story of my country, even though the media is going to hurt the type of view my kid will have, but I think I have, as a parent, I have my part of I don't know if you can see my point. It's why the media is dependent on us to say the country is bad, but as a parent, if I do my job to sell my country to my kids, I think my kids will have another view. [01:03:32][36.8]

[01:03:33] Phil Decker: We had a hand up in the back, did you want to share about this? [01:03:35][2.5]

[01:03:37] Fritz Judy: Yes, you will. Yes, we will. [01:03:38][1.1]

[01:03:38] Tierra Collins: Well, what I wanted to add, because I knew from the originality as well, and I also have... I also have a teenage daughter and one of the issues that I have with her is because again, the view, the media presents what she sees. But as a mother, what I do is I teach her about the history of our culture and I point out the good things, the accomplishment that we've accomplished as a country. So when she hear the negativity and she can say, oh no this is this you know I am part um I am from Haiti as well my parents is from Haiti as well this is what we represent and it kind of I kind of want to give her a different view versus what society is showing to her and again with what Fritz says and what Salama say it starts from home it's I think because of the lack of knowledge with a lot of the um with the um Haitian people They don't know how to get that information to the to the children so they can have a different set of mind So I believe that with our generation versus you know with my parents It's totally different and we raise our kids and we try to give them a different image than what society is given to them [01:04:51][73.6]

[01:04:52] Fritz Judy: You are a good one. [01:04:53][0.6]

[01:04:56] Crowd: I was in Haiti last week, and one of the things that struck me was our translators asked us not to take pictures of our team. Unless we had pictures that were different than the other two years when I was there. Because the Haitian people were so upset with the way they were being portrayed in the media. That it was giving negative feedback to everyone. And so any picture we took, we asked permission. If the person said no, we didn't take it. And we understood why. [01:05:30][34.8]

[01:05:30] Phil Decker: Yeah. [01:05:30][0.0]

[01:05:32] Crowd: Two of our young translators that were with us shared that many of the young people in Haiti hoped to get out, which was a real issue for their parents and the people of Haiti, because they just wanted to get out. And that part was sad to me. It hurt my heart that, you know, that... [01:05:55][23.1]

[01:05:55] Phil Decker: Yeah. Would you like to introduce yourself and why you're here? So people can understand your connection. Yeah. Thank you. [01:06:01][5.5]

[01:06:02] Crowd: I'm Benita Harrison, I'm a pastor at Asbury United Methodist Church, and I do mission work in Haiti is one of the places I do it, and Peru is another place. [01:06:10][7.8]

[01:06:10] Phil Decker: Thank you. [01:06:11][0.7]

[01:06:11] Crowd: So that's why I was there. [01:06:12][0.8]

[01:06:14] Crowd: Can I ask you, I'm curious about that title, Hebrew, no, something like that. Here we go, here we go again. [01:06:22][7.8]

[01:06:24] Phil Decker: When I was coming down here, I saw a whole bunch, I go, you know, here's your reality. But no, take it away from us, it's not a Jewish Haitian necessarily. No. No. [01:06:39][15.4]

[01:06:41] Fritz Judy: His first name is Hebrew. Just the first name. [01:06:44][3.6]

[01:06:48] Crowd: Actually he's a really neat guy. My husband and I were struggling in the Lowe's parking lot to get something in our car and he came and helped us and shared with us that he had come from Haiti a number of years ago and that he was here to be a part of the community and help. And we were recipients of that. [01:07:06][17.8]

[01:07:10] Crowd: Tonight I learned, I didn't realize I've seen deeper qualities lately. It's just no idea. I was like, maybe I could try to stay away from it. But I think it's interesting that that story, it's a great one positive story. I'm glad I learned that. Thank you. [01:07:28][18.6]

[01:07:31] Crowd: One of the things I think that demonstrates how much the Haitian community wanted to succeed was the first clients that we had that settled out and we found jobs for it, they needed a car to get to work, but most of them couldn't read English, they were just learning it. And so what they would do is, and they didn't know how to drive, but what they do is to send a friend to the of motor vehicles and with their stuff. And that friend would go get the driver's license. Of course, it had the friend's picture on it, but it had their name, right? Then you remember there used to be, on the end of the driver license, a little card that if you lost your license, you could take the card in and get a new license. So they'd wait a couple of months, take the car, go back, and take their picture. You know, that was really ingenious, because they so wanted to get good jobs. Find a way and you know they had to have a car and they were learning to drive it's just that they couldn't read the the test in English. [01:08:39][68.0]

[01:08:43] Phil Decker: They wouldn't have learned that from you at all [01:08:45][1.8]

[01:08:52] Crowd: I'd just like to point out that Salisbury University and their nursing faculty, even on the website, there's a very good document on Haitian culture for anybody who wants to know more about Haitian. I'm married to Haitian, I live with Haitians all the time, and I don't know what I would say that is not true in that document. [01:09:16][24.4]

[01:09:18] Fritz Judy: Very good, very good. [01:09:19][1.2]

[01:09:18] Crowd: Very good. [01:09:19][0.6]

[01:09:21] Dr. Ray Thompson: Thank you. [01:09:22][0.6]

[01:09:25] Phil Decker: Well, have we run out of questions or are we still on a roll? Still on a role, good. [01:09:28][3.7]

[01:09:28] Dr. Ray Thompson: Now, how does the Haitian culture succeed in Haiti if everyone wants to come here and settle out? How does that develop their culture in Haiti? [01:09:42][14.0]

[01:09:44] Fritz Judy: The good thing in Haiti is that there is a huge difference between the sub-urban people and the people who live in the huge cities. There is a different mentality in Haiti. If you go like, let's say, when you go to Haiti last week, you go and you say I'm going to Port-Au-Port, the capital. The mentality is different. People are more willing to to go to France, to go, to move, to live, to, to leave the country, you know. But if you take your car, your drive, and you go further, you go like about with, um, job mail, you, you like about care, care patient, those people, they are so proud about their culture, most of them, they don't want to live. They don't wanna live. Most of, of, most, of the, of them they don, they want to leave. That's why when people came and people invited them, because right now I think they are making go of them and they have like a visa, a garden visa for mom work. They went over, there's a couple of cool leaders, they went over there, that's because I got the story from my friend, they went to over there. Most of the people they got is from poor, poor, poor people. But when they try to go over there nobody want to leave those places. And that's why I've always said, for all the presentation that I made in Canada and everywhere, I said the spirit of Haiti is not on the capital. The spirit in Haiti is on those people. It's on the other people. That's why, I'm still thinking Haiti will survive a day. Because those people still kept the culture from our ancestors. [01:11:31][107.5]

[01:11:35] Phil Decker: Okay. [01:11:35][0.0]

[01:11:37] Crowd: Just something, um, I taught development on English for a long time while I was at the Warwick and worked in the labs. About ten years ago I was working with a patient student, one-on-one with like extra tutoring for English fluency. One of the things I was [01:11:50][13.3]

[01:11:50] Fritz Judy: Excuse me, used to be my teacher in Warwick. No. [01:11:55][5.1]

[01:11:56] Phil Decker: Ha ha ha [01:11:57][1.1]

[01:11:59] Crowd: You can go ahead. I want to talk afterwards, I just don't remember. But it's fine, too. I saw him recently. He transferred to Stanford University. And I was talking with him, and he was also older than I thought. He turned 40. For some reason, you're about ready to graduate. He's getting a degree in business and accounting and stuff. And I said, well, what are your plans? And he said, I'm going to go back to Haiti. And so not everybody is able to. What do you think? That's interesting. What are you going to do? I've got business and finance stuff. I'm a bilingual man. [01:12:32][32.8]

[01:12:33] Phil Decker: Mm-hmm. [01:12:33][0.0]

[01:12:33] Crowd: I've got really good skill sets, and so I think I'll be better with my family and everything moving back. And there's all kinds of different events, and stuff like that. It's just a really interesting turnaround. We're talking about people settling out here, but I don't know what's the rate of the people that stay versus how many eventually have a plan they want to go back home. [01:12:53][19.8]

[01:12:54] Fritz Judy: Yeah as a matter of fact we have an example right now in the in the room you want to go back he's waiting to go but he studied the English now but he want to go by he think about that day and night to go about this country like I want to do but sorry boss I want to get back to my country I want to I want a go back one day because I think like if you if you follow the story for all the great people in the world all the revolution made by the the world is too strong, not revolution all the change all the changes was made by most of the people from the diaspora in this country all the story the people like China right now China is huge right now. But most of the China, of the Chinese people... They send their kid to study in Canada in the United States. And guess what? They come back to the country. And they just put together what they learned from this country, what their country, they put them together, and you got China. And I think there's the same thing have to happen for Haiti one day. Okay. [01:14:08][73.9]

[01:14:12] Dr. Ray Thompson: Any other comments? [01:14:13][0.6]

[01:14:15] Crowd: I do immigration work, and recently with the TPS after the earthquake in Haiti, a lot of people came to me for their documentation. TPS, Temporary Protection Society. Thank you. I found quite a few females that are studying nursing aid and going to, and that's what their dream is, to go back and work in hospitals or put their own businesses there in healthcare. Quite a few of them, especially the females, it has, you know, touched me with that conversation. Hopefully, you now, we saw that with the Hispanic. A lot of them wanted to go back. A lot them, their mission or, you, you know their idea was to stay here enough to make money and go back But they got trapped here with wages, with sending money back and forth, and all the issues in their country. But hopefully, some of them, or space, with a reform, and some of the immigration reform, or some of then will go back with a legal status as a citizen, and have the freedom to come back. And with the children. Because I've seen a lot of children born here taking back and they have no other ways to return to their country. [01:15:49][93.5]

[01:15:49] Phil Decker: Mm-hmm. [01:15:49][0.0]

[01:15:50] Crowd: I saw a documentary many years ago about Haitians going to Dominican Republic. [01:15:55][5.2]

[01:15:56] Phil Decker: Mm-hmm. [01:15:56][0.0]

[01:15:57] Crowd: And they have no legal status in Dominican Republic. And their children were born in Dominican republic. But they don't have no status in Haiti either. So they are children without a country. [01:16:10][13.3]

[01:16:16] Fritz Judy: Right now, my wife and I, we have a project right now, we're working on that project. The project, my life, we think we have given back against our country, toward our country. Right now the project we're walking in, we hope at some moment we'll be able to to accomplish that project. We went to go... Like a medical hub, to find some doctors, some equipment, some things, and go with some doctor available, some nursing available, and some nurses available, to go back to Haiti in the summer time, spend a week. There's a lot of people in the sub-European community, they don't never see a doctor, they don't have any doctor, they do not have any physician, they are not all things. We want to spend a week or two weeks over there and bring all the things we would be able to check their blood pressure, to check everything for them, and it's going to be huge, this simple job is going to a huge thing for them. So that is only a way to help your country. And I remember that, I think as Kennedy said, never expect what your country will do for you, you have to do something for your country [01:17:31][75.1]

[01:17:34] Dr. Ray Thompson: Well, thank you, Fred Stead. Thank you, Mr. Todd. [01:17:38][3.8]

[01:17:38] Fritz Judy: Thank you all so much. Thank you. Mr. Thompson, thank you a lot, thank your love. [01:17:48][9.1]

[01:17:52] Phil Decker: I just want to say thanks to, once again, to Dr. Ray Thompson for making this form possible and helping me to bring this document here. So big round of applause for Dr. Thompson and the Nabb. [01:17:52][0.0] [4406.1]