We end our week in Haiti with our own take on a Haitian rara. Contemporary rara processions start taking place on the Catholic holiday of Ash Wednesday and end on Easter Sunday. The songs are in Haitian Creole, a language largely based in French, though influenced by Spanish, Portuguese, Taino and languages from West Africa. Lyrics are often political in nature and may include both playful and powerful social commentary, challenging the powers that be. In class we simulate a rara by giving kids hand drums, shakers, rattles and other hand instruments — the louder the better! — and using our percussive powers to whip up enthusiasm to elect one of our classmates as Haitian president. A tough job to be sure, but our kids think they’re up to the challenge.
We are revising the AllAroundThisWorld.com site — the information you’re seeking may still be here, but a lot of links are broken and details may be out of date. We are currently using a new (better!) site — ExploreEverywhere.com — to tell you all about our class offerings, our “pen pal” program and how to become one of our teachers, and will eventually be moving all the goodies from here over to there. So, GO TO THE NEW SITE!
