in honour of you…Tita
By Administrator on meaningful monday's
“It is not our purpose to become each other; it is to recognize each other, to learn to see the other and honor him (her) for what he (she) is.” Hermann Hesse (parentheses mine)
(photo credit: LaTienda)
Tita is an artist. She makes anklets dripping with glass beads and hand crafted copper accents.
Tita is 22, or perhaps 25. The interesting thing about the Haitians of this village is that the majority of them don’t have a quantitative grasp on time, but rather a qualitative one. This person is old, this one young. That time was bad this time good. I once heard a story of a Haitian lady, when asked how long she had been pregnant answered,” about 8 years”. This was not an error in translation but rather the response from a woman with a mind that processes time measurement different then the west.
So as best as Tita can guess she was raped when she was about 16. She found out she was pregnant and immediately became a prostitute.
This puts a bleak picture in my mind but Tita narrates with stoicism. She became a prostitute to save up some money to buy a home. She did save up her earnings and did purchase a home in order to raise her son.
Tita mentioned recently that it wasn’t until she was promised a Job in the art co-op (called La Tienda de Raquel by the villagers) that she was able to stop living as a prostitute.
It was a beautiful transformation that happened in Tita over the last year and a half. She went from being very cool and uninviting to warm and full of life.
When you teach someone how to create with their hands, it brings them to life with a sense of purpose and self worth. Tita has a skill. Not only does she now create and learn and grow, she makes things that others want to buy. Not just anyone either. THE RICH. All those rich Gringos with clean hair and access to an excess of goods. The rich who eat three meals a day and have bathrooms in every house and a bed for every person; They actually WANT what SHE makes. This is big.
Now Tita and her young son Frankie (or Tee-pa-pa) can eat every day as opposed to every other day. But more importantly, she has a job with dignity. You won’t find her walking the streets at night.
You will however find her in the Co-op the moment the doors are unlocked until the sun goes down. She loves to be there.
http://www.latienda.moonfruit.com/ (the women)
Dear Tita,
Your story forever changed my life. When I first heard your story and then saw the home you created for yourself and your son (and a bed made of sticks), I knew I must live my life in such a way that I would never take for granted the struggle and reality of how most people on planet earth live. I committed to helping LaTienda in any way possible knowing there were women like you in need of food, shelter, and dignified ways to make money.
Today, upon learning of your passing, I will celebrate your life. I will honour you. What you gave to this great earth, to your son, to the women of the Tienda, to our dear friend Rachel, and to me - so far way and yet somehow connected, will forever be remembered.
If, if I can muster any of your strength, any of your courage, any of your kind of determination I will be better for it.
I had hoped to one day look you in the eyes and somehow share with you through human connection just how much your life has affected mine. Now, I must wait until our freed spirits meet, but oh how I long for you to know that your precious life will NEVER be forgotten.
You will be missed!
‘Till we meet,
Katherine
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