Findlay to celebrate Haitian culture

FINDLAY — Alo! Koman ou ye? That's how you say "Hello! How are you?" in the Haitian Creole language. The community will hear this phrase and many more greetings in the language at the Haitian-Caribbean Summer Festival on Saturday, July 27 at the Black Heritage Library and Multicultural Center. The event will showcase authentic Haitian and Caribbean food, music and games from 2-8 p.m., said event coordinator Jennifer Davis. "The food, the music, it's foreign to most people here (in Findlay)," Davis said. "Bringing culture to Findlay and making it more diverse (is) a positive thing. It's encouraging." Hachemy Gabriel, founder of Empowering Integration Solutions and a Haitian immigrant, was contacted by Davis to help organize the event. He teaches English to other Haitian immigrants several days a week and has lived in the United States since 2017. "I understood English before I came here. I knew a little bit about American culture," Gabriel said. "I know the culture, but for them, they have only Haitian culture." The two cultures are very different, but diversity should be celebrated, Davis said. "I want to try and knock down those stereotypes and stigmas that people have heard," she said. "I think it's so important to be a welcoming community." Gabriel, through his weekly classes, sees how important integrating into the community is for the Haitians that live here. "We have a woman, she's in her 50s and she's coming here to learn English. She walks 24 hours to come here to learn," he said. And it's not just her, he added. Another student comes to class right after working a 12-hour shift. "You can see how hungry they are to learn," Gabriel said. Stepping out of your comfort zone may be all it takes to learn about a new culture — and maybe make a new friend, too. "It's getting people out of their little shells and saying, 'hey, there's a whole wide world out there,'" Davis said. "We're not only going to express our gratitude for the Haitian population that's here, but we're going to educate the rest of the community." Visit http://www.blackheritagecenter.org/ to learn about more upcoming events at the Black Heritage Library.