Haiti is an oral culture. There is a long tradition of proverbs, jokes, riddles and stories which people have been telling around the evening fire for centuries. We are instituting these two pages for each edition to help you get a sense of this important part of Haitian culture. Consequently, wisdom is oral. There are no detailed philosophical systems in Haiti.
People hand down their knowledge and express it in proverbs.
In the rural areas hardly 5 or 6 sentences can pass in any serious conversation without someone throwing in a proverb as defense of some idea. There are hundreds of proverbs. Little by little the bird builds its nest. And that's how we'll proceed. Little by little we'll share many of the popular Haitian proverbs with you.