"What will 2004 look like to them? I see for them a country with 85% literacy, rather than 85% illiteracy. Cooperatives flourish in villages and in the informal sectors of the cities. Water is flowing through the fields of the countryside-where food enough for all of Haiti's people is growing. Creole pigs are seen more and more in the countryside, the descendents of those few that the peasants hid away and saved from extermination. Seedlings are beginning to take root on the mountainsides. The seedlings have a chance at survival because the people are no longer in misery, but are already on the road to poverty with dignity. There are primary schools and health clinics in every municipality of Haiti. The schoolbooks are not just half-price-they are free, in accordance with Article 32.1 of our constitution which promises a free education to every Haitian child. The children and young people are actively engaged in the changes sweeping their country. Radyo Timoun can be heard throughout the country, and people begin to feel it is normal for children to have a voice in national issues. The bayakou and the bouretye still labor, but the weight of social exclusion has been lifted. The restaveks are eating at the table with everyone else. This is our challenge for the new century; this is the challenge of 2004. We assume it. We are living it right now."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Imported from EN Wikiquote
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean-Bertrand_Aristide
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Jean-Bertrand Aristide
34 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Jean-Bertrand Aristide →
Related Quotes
"(What do you think people can do in the United States?) JBA: I think they can continue to mobilize human resources to…"
"The people write to me with the hope that I can solve their problems. But since neither the problems nor the solution…"
"If I hadn’t asked the question in 2003, probably in 2015 François Hollande wouldn’t have admitted to the debt...That …"
"We feel deeply and profoundly that we should be there, in Haiti, with them, trying our best to prevent death...We can…"
"The people are bright, the people are intelligent, the people are courageous"
"The fact is, there was a political abduction...This unfortunately has paved the way for occupation and we launch an a…"
"Reparation!...What beautiful schools, universities and hospitals we will be able to build for our children!...How muc…"
"Days come and go...Today is Oct. 15, 1994, the day the sun of democracy has risen and will never set. Today is the da…"
"...one of the morally transcendent leaders of our time."
"We have to swear 70 times 7 times that never, never, never, will one drop of blood fall in Haiti...We all want peace.…"