The Last Prayer of A Mother: Biographies, Anecdotes, and Poems The Transforming Power of Faith Prayer

By Rene Renal Belizaire

Rene Renal Belizaire--poet, painter, writer, engineer--will forever engrave in your mind a realistic, genuine aspect of Haitian life. He has captured the essence of spirituality, the power it plays in our lives, and its evolution in his family. His artistic soul has reached out to bring any reader to the heart of his family while focusing on his mother, Carmen, who was a matriarch of this family of eight. She was orphaned early in life. Her mom, on her deathbed, assured those around her that God would take care of Carmen. The power of prayer was on Carmen's life as you will be riveted to capture all she accomplished and how. Without any formal education, she raised eight well-educated citizen professionals from Petion-Ville, a small town in Haiti. The story is told with candor and a pure simplicity, making it an easy reading as it teaches much about the Haitian culture and the daily struggle for survival.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 9, 2022
• ISBN: 9781638742111

Book preview

cover.jpg

The Last Prayer of a Mother

Biographies, Anecdotes, and Poems

The Transforming Power of Faith Prayer

Rene Renal Belizaire

ISBN 978-1-63874-210-4 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63874-211-1 (digital)

Copyright © 2022 by Rene Renal Belizaire

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgements

The Beginning Years

The State of the Economy

At the Break of Dawn

A Star’s Humble Beginning

Genealogy of Carmen Belizaire

Expanding to New Horizons

A Glorious Departure

Book of Poems

References

To my God (Yahwe/Eloim/Adonai) for blessing my mother in such a wonderful way and for extending his blessing to her children. This book is a testimony on how God answers prayers.

Its emergence followed a strange conversation I heard among some of my nieces and nephews about my mother. They were telling how their grandma had left them a counseling legacy. I was then compelled to follow up with this biography to provide them with more knowledge about their grandma to enhance their lives.

To my father, Jean, my exemplary hero of a strong character of leadership with a tender heart.

To my mother, Carmen, that solid pillar of faith in God, always ready to sacrifice herself for the well-being of her children.

To all the strong women in my family, whether absent or present, that have blessed me and caused me to be a stronger man.

May the blessings of the Lord on my mother extend through the grace of God to all her children and grandchildren, to our relatives, and to those she called family.

Foreword

Rene Renal Belizaire—poet, painter, writer, engineer—will forever engrave in your mind a realistic, genuine aspect of Haitian life. He has captured the essence of spirituality, the power it plays in our lives, and its evolution in his family. His artistic soul has reached out to bring any reader to the heart of his family while focusing on his mother, Carmen, who was a matriarch of this family of eight. She was orphaned early in life. Her mom, on her deathbed, assured those around her that God would take care of Carmen. The power of prayer was on Carmen’s life as you will be riveted to capture all she accomplished and how. Without any formal education, she raised eight well-educated citizen professionals from Pétion-Ville, a small town in Haiti. The story is told with candor and a pure simplicity, making it an easy reading as it teaches much about the Haitian culture and the daily struggle for survival.

Freda B. Laurent, RN, MSN, MPA

Acknowledgements

I also acknowledge the help of my siblings in the editing of this book.

Chapter 1

The Beginning Years

The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

—James 5:16 (NKJV)

One of the very first vivid memories of my earthly journey on this earth was rolling in front of me like a movie scene. The year was 1952. Our front house was eastward bound. The rays of the early morning sun, filtered through the leaves, struck me right up in the face and woke me up just to wipe out my watery eyes with my back hand.

Sitting half asleep at the top of those three-step stairs in a daydreaming session, I was enjoying the fresh breeze of the day.

Renal, come get your coffee, my mom called.

I went to get my cup of coffee and came right back to sit at my favorite place on the front porch, sipping my super sweet watered-down coffee allotted to us, children, with one peanut butter biscuit sandwich. The first heavy pour of the coffee was for grown-ups only.

Now I was really awakened. I started gazing and following with my eyes every passerby. That was probably one of the first moments recorded clearly in my memory as a human being. I took a fine pleasure at contemplating the scenery. People were coming and going. The day was Saturday: big open market day.

The merchant farmers came to town last night and slept on our big front porch for safety and for weather clemency. They have been long gone. They left around two to three o’clock in the morning, heading out either to go sell their goods at the open market square or to catch a taxi to Port-au-Prince to deliver their merchandises. No one would ever know that the merchants slept there unless they had been seen. The place they slept on was swept clean.

A Piece of History of What I Had Heard and Witnessed Then

The year was 1952, the second year of the government of President Paul Eugène Magloire in the Republic of Haiti, located in the Caribbean Island. The town was Pétion-Ville, situated at an altitude of four hundred meters and a commune and suburb of Port-au-Prince in the hills east and separate from the city itself on the northern hills of the Massif de la Selle, with an average temperature between 73.58 and 79.7 degrees Fahrenheit between January and July, the city was enjoyable.

Founded in 1831 by then President Jean-Pierre Boyer, it was named after Alexandre Sabès Pétion (1770–1818), the Haitian general and president later recognized as one of the country’s four founding fathers. Many diplomats, foreign businessmen, and wealthy citizens do business and reside in Pétion-Ville. (Wikipedia Asian Month)

In the illegitimacy or a puppet regime, the citizen in his social isolation disappears before the all-powerful state with his glitters of democratic attributes. The human rights can rock his hopes but, due to the first conflict that arises with the public power, fear and pain set in to pull him out of his dreams. (Diffusion Haitienne 1804–1954)

After the mutation of 1804 that brought dreams to fruition, the new masters had not come to unite themselves to their conquest and create a true alliance to the ground. Freedom, once a vision, when fulfilled, had become a challenge, kind of abstraction. They fought to get rid of the masters who were inflicting pains at working the lands, and they came to hate both the master and the land at first.

When liberty had been reached, the new masters were to put force at a second plan and go about researching competence to sustain, improve, and enrich the ground, the sole reason of the existence of that liberty necessary to all civilization.

However, the state is the military organization, and the civil bureaucracy is just additional help. Then when exceptional circumstances bring a civil citizen to the first judiciary of the state, he will be framed by the military, which he must be devoted to serve by fear or by prudence. (D. H. 1804–1954)

In 1941, Élie Lescot was elected president. In 1946, he resigned the presidency and was replaced by a military executive committee composed of three members, and Paul Eugène Magloire was one of them.

Then in 1946, Dumarsais Estimé was elected president and resigned in 1950. He was replaced by a military junta of three members, and again Paul Eugène Magloire was one of them.

This little country’s economy was still stable, considering that Haiti went successively through World War I, coupled with nineteen years of American occupation, then through World War II and three successive overthrown governments in less than forty years.

President Dumarsais Estimé celebrated the bicentennial anniversary of the foundation of Port-au-Prince in 1949 by opening a bicentennial exposition center along the seacoast near the wharf. He modernized the big stores with screen windows and neon lamps.

That touristic attraction opened the country to a regular flow of foreign visitors. Being adept at overthrowing governments and ambitiously greedy, the military overthrew President Estimé as they did for the former president and took over by electing one of his own, Colonel Paul Eugène Magloire, to the presidency in 1950.

Since he took power, the people never stopped appreciating his concern as head of state toward the humbles, the interests he brought to all vital problems of our communities, a broad look that encompass the needs of the entire population in all its social classes as well as its geographical extension. (D. H. 1804–1954)

The actual government of President Paul Eugène Magloire had inherited the good economy of his predecessor. People were quite happy about the economy. The disastrous effects of the postwar season were not felt yet.

That was the good old time. Money had an easy flow. One could feel much happiness just flowing in the air and could hear their stories as well. Our five-and-dime store was vibrant with energy, and people were coming and going, buying all kinds of goods.

Sundays were exceptional in the life of the residents of the city of Pétion-Ville. In-house parties were quite popular then. Jazz groups were almost inexistent. Many private houses had their phono playing at full blast around town.

The Sunday atmosphere party in town became so prevalent that many male teenagers would walk from one party to another with no invite. In this small town, everyone knew each other pretty much: same school, same church, same community. Sometimes some new faces that no one knew or invited would just walk in and join the party, looking for girls or something to steal. They had so many choices.

There was a party once in our backyard at the rental apartments my parents owned. Three teenagers crossed over between our house and our store and entered the party where music was playing, and people were dancing.

I heard one of the responsible adult organizers of the party asked another adult, Who are those kids? Do you know who invited them?

The reply was, I don’t know. They came by themselves with no one that we would know of. Watch them.

The next Sunday, I heard another teenager asking a friend, Where is the party at today?

Pétion-Ville used to be called Morn Lakoup and was the elite town, the town of the rich people. They opened their business at Port-au-Prince, the capital, but kept their residential home at Pétion-Ville.

For entertainment, one could go to Stenio Vincent’s Park, also called St. Peter’s Place, designed by the architect Jeanton, to enjoy eating ice cream and cookies and have fun, especially on Sunday. Nice music was being played in the evening over some loudspeakers. Music could be heard playing across the city from as far down as the open market square.

One day my brother Claudy and I were going up Rue Gregoire toward St. Peter’s Church; and I was singing along a brand-new song being played over the loudspeaker at the public place across the church. As an up-to-date teenager, he knew all the new songs being played on the radio and was amazed that I knew the words of that song and asked me, Hey! How come you know the words of this song? This is a brand-new song.

I heard it this morning at home, I replied.

Our radio player located in the dining room, on top of our six-foot tall mahogany furniture, blasted music most of the day—normal trend in our house.

Sometimes in the evening, especially on Sunday, a musical band would come and play some concerts at St. Peter’s place across St. Peter’s church to entertain the public. Favoring the shadows cast by the numerous trees bordering the alleys, lovers would be walking hand in hand or sitting down on some nice benches, dreaming and fantasizing about tomorrows. Some couples would sit down low on the cement borders of the pathways to the subtleties of the tall bushes’ shadow, enjoying the moment. Some people would go to Cabanon Theater to watch a movie or just enjoy walking around the city with friends.

Also, there was a famous cabaret and thatch-roofed club named Cabane Choucoune with a touristic clientele, and those rich white people who could afford it could go there and have a drink and dance. Cabane Choucoune was built in 1940 by Max Ewald.

Anthony Georges-Pierre said of that time, Haiti was an unequaled society, composed of a feeble minority of mulattoes living closely with some Libano-Syrians, who were getting richer by the day, and a large majority of Blacks who were diving in the most abject ignominy (French Translation).

It was said that President Paul Eugène Magloire was the first Black person who ever set foot inside this