Haitian ambassador at large:If you traveled to all the 30 communities around Paraíso and asked who is the Haitian immigrant who has the most impact in the daily lives of the people, the person whom over 90 percent of the responders would mention is Tinanpué. He arrived like so many immigrants -- with nothing. The big motive for his flight from Haiti was the revolt against the first freely elected President, with its vicious aftermath of human rights violations.
Human Rights Champion:
Tinanpué is the personal force behind the organization called CODA. It is composed of Dominico-Haitians and immigrants who work to resolve conflicts between land owners and workers; the military and the immigrants; fathers of families and mothers.
This morning:
Today, Tinanpué is among the first people to arrive at the PAP Hospital, together with a group of other Haitians. Right along beside local Dominicans, they will be working all morning to clean the facility. It is this kind of leadership and participation with the local residents which earns Tinanpué the respect of this municipality.
Small victories:
There was a time in the recent past when Haitian immigrants were robbed, ridiculed and even violated by local land owners, residents and the military. It was an awful time of insecurity and humiliation. But Tinanpué organized his people to develop a creative resistance to the oppression. The Church became involved with CODA and international supporters from groups like Doctors without Boarders and Engineers without Boarders helped to pressure the high military officials to punish the offenders. CODA worked with the local land owners to improve relations and correct abuses of the Haitian workers. As a result, the relationship between land owners and Haitian workers is immeasurably better than it was ten years ago, when Tinanpué was just starting out on his blessing path. May the Lord raise up other leaders like him!
