Art transcends cultural boundaries.
– Thomas Kinkade
Each year Sister Cities International holds a Young Artists and Authors Showcase (YAAS) competition, offering prizes and a celebration of youth art contributions that showcase the mission of Sisters Cities International. This year we entered it!
Borgne, Haiti and Honeoye Falls, NY have been Sister Cities since 2011. We are one of the few small city collaborations that are part of Sister Cities International. It was Dick Haviland who championed the effort to create the connection between the two cities when Francius (Johnny) Estimable, who was then Assistant Mayor of Borgne, visited in 2010 and took a walking tour of Honeoye Falls with Mayor Rick Milne. The two Mayors realized that there were many commonalities between their jurisdictions, including the location on a river, relative size, and an agricultural base. The official ceremony was held at Harry Allen Park a year later, beginning more than a decade of collaboration.
The political situation prevents people from Borgne from visiting here – we tried to bring a farmers’ association up for the ceremony but visas were very difficult to get and now impossible – and us from visiting there as we once did. Still, we have continued to share culturally through art, music, and our love and concern for children.
This year Friends of Borgne and the Foundation Dauphin decided to participate in the YAAS competition. Foundation Dauphin member and 15 year old poet Soline Dulcio contributed an original work for the theme “Friendship: The Heartbeat of Global Peace.” We are still awaiting the results of the competition, but already the seeds have been planted for more intentional art and writing support in Borgne into the future.
Next year we will start early to encourage and support many children of the Foundation Dauphin, pupils at the St. Rose de Lima school where many of our sponsored children attend high school, and children at our sponsored schools to participate. May this be the beginning of more new art and artists in Borgne!
PEACE
English translation
Peace is a chain of love, in love we make connections, and in our connections we will find a strength that no trial can break, a strength that can lead us all to a better world. Oh, my Friends! Oh, my Friends! Oh, my Friends! The earth is crying, the world is calling out asking for peace. Nature is perishing, the beauties of the world are being torn to pieces. They are asking for peace. We say we are fighting for a better world, to help those that are the most vulnerable, but why are they always the victims? If we don’t make peace, how can we ever help them? If we do not make a chain of connections, how will we have a better world? Ukraine, Russia, the United States, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, China, Japan, England, France, etc. Oh, my friends! The world is exhausted by nuclear weapons, by chemical illnesses. We have different colors, but the color of the blood in our veins is verifiable proof that we are all one people. Peace, peace we ask for in the world; that is how we will regain a natural world of wonder. Then our roots will grow and sprout fresh and cool in peace.
LAPÈ
In original Kreyol
Lapè se yon chenn lanmou, nan lanmou nap rive fè linyon, nan linyon na va jwenn fòs ke oken eprèv pap ka brize, yon fòs kap kondwi nan yon mond meyè. Mezanmi! Mezanmi! Mezanmi! Mond lan ap kriye, mond lan ap rele, l ap mande lapè, lanati ap fin de peri, tout bèl yo fin chire yap mande lapè nan mond lan. Nou di nap batay pou nou gen yon mond meyè, pou ede sak pi piti yo men poukisa se yo ki toujou viktim, si nou pa fè lapè, kijan nap fè ede sak pi piti yo ? Si nou pa fè yon chenn linyon kijan nap fè gen yon mond meyè ? Likrèn, Larisi, Lèzetazini, Liran, Lirak, Somali, Chin, Japon, Angletè, Frans elatriye Mezanmi mond lan di l bouke anba kout zam nikleyè, anba maladi chimik, se vwe nou chak, nou tout ka gen yon koulè diferan, men san kap koule nan venn nou an se yonn nan pi gwo prèv ki pwouve nou, nou se yon sèl pèp. Lapè, lapè nap mande nan mond lan, konsa na gen yon nati mèvèye e rasin nou va pouse ak frechè nan lapè.