Sorry

My name is Jether Delva. I’m from Haiti,and I have a family. Now I’m living in America with my mom, my step-father, and my sisters. When I was in Haiti, I lived in the city Port-au-Prince; it  looks like Pahokee, but it is bigger. The city smell like weed, and the city feels like a person who is very happy. In Haiti, in my room you would find a television,a bed, and a loveseat. There are a few people in my family: Liviane Belizaire, my mother; Celome Delva, my dad; Brice Monfiston, my stepfather; Sergine Delva, my sister; Narooby Monfiston, my sister; Molyn Monfiston, my sister; Miryam Valcin, my sister; Maude Belizaire, my aunty; Claire Jean Baptiste Noesil, my aunty; Julienne Valcin, my cousin; Alexis Delva, my brother; Evens Delva, my brother; Jolicke Delva, my brother; Esdras George, my cousin; Jeremy George, my cousin; and Kesnel Delva, my brother; When I was in Haiti, my family used to pray every morning; it was a routine. We used to go swim in the pool in the afternoon. There are a lot important words that members in my family like to hear: respectful, engaged, genuine, smart.  These are a few. There are two beliefs that represent where I came from: the first one is voodoo; another is a food which is Griyo. My family likes eating rice and beans together; this food is yummy. I like it and lalo; legumes are two others food that they like. The cook uses vegetables to made these foods.

In my past, when I was 7 years old, my dad used to whoop me when he got drunk; and when I knew he was drunk, I’d hide myself or run to a garden. When I was 8 years old, I remember that I hit my sister.  That was the first time I did that, and my father gave her a belt to whoop me, and I ran and hid myself. I never fought with my sister. In Port-au-Prince the weather is always sunny and very hot. In Port-au-Prince people used to shoot for a joke. They don’t do that any more.  Many people like to help other people that cannot help themselves. When I was in Port-au-Prince my favorite thing to do was to go play soccer every Saturday.

I remembered when I was born my mom left me with my dad and my sister, Sergine Delva. I did not grow up with my mom; she left the family to help the family. When she left, she went to St Martin and stayed there until she had the opportunity to move to the United States. Now I am very happy that I am in the country that has the greatest power in the world. The United States is a good place to help me build a great life. When I first came to this country, I felt like I was smelling new scent. I was seeing new things — great developments. Honestly, I like it here. I have lots of goals to achieve. Since I speak the language, I will be able to achieve them. I‘ve been in the USA for four years, and I have had a lot of experiences. The first experience I focused on was seeing Haitian parents working very hard in the country to make their children attend school and have a better future. The schools in the USA are not that exclusive, other than colleges. Working in America is not something easy. In this country you will see the majority of the people are in action. When I say in action I mean people doing what they have to do to make money to take care themselves. In the USA if someone is not working he or she won’t be able to live, because you will have bills to pay. You can’t stay home and chill. There are a lot of people who go to work mostly for swag; they work to have money to buy swag. They spend their entire life buying swag. The USA is not really strict when it comes to school. Some students don’t care about school, and they don’t care about their education. In my country parents know how to help by communication and whooping. In the USA you have to wake up early to go to school and to go to work. The food is different. My last is: I am here to play in this country; I came to earn and to gain the advantages that are given. I am going to focus in school, and all doors will open for me. Thank you for reading my story.