© Rosie McFarland

A new storytelling project is bringing the focus back to Haiti.

Seeds in a Dark Fruit Sky is a collection of non-fiction stories from Haiti, written both in English and in Creole. While each story has a different storyteller, they were all collected by Rosie McFarland over a period of 6 weeks in Jeremie, Haiti, and translated with the help of the Haiti Bible Mission.

The project is being funded via Kickstarter.

Below, you can read Daniel Grandin’s account of his daily life in Haiti, followed by his story, included in the book.

‘I am 22, and I was born in Jeremie, Haiti in 1993. My father was a musician and my mother a small business owner. I have an older brother and a younger sister.

Growing up, I knew what it was to be in need, and I knew what it was to have a lot. I went to elementary school all the way up to high school and graduated in 2013. I was also part of a dance school and became one of the dance directors. I continued my education with an organization that taught culinary arts and received a certificate.

I was raised Catholic and then got invited to join a Protestant discipleship school that changed my life. I’m currently attending theology school and have also started serving as Assistant Pastor at a church in a rough neighbourhood of our town.

A regular day starts by driving another teacher to school in Te Wouj, which is in the countryside, where I teach English all morning. After school is over, I come back to the Mission in Jeremie and help out where I can, depending on the different groups that come to visit. Later in the afternoon I go to theology school and when that’s over I go home to be with my family.

Starting in 2012, I taught myself English using a Creole-English Dictionary and began to translate little by little for a children’s ministry. Now I am good enough to teach English to students at a school in the countryside.

I work for the Haiti Bible Mission and met Rosie while she was in Haiti for an internship. She asked me to translate stories for her from Creole to English for a project she was working on and then asked me to share my stories as well.

I hope other people will get to learn more about Haiti through the Seeds in a Dark Fruit Sky project and benefit from the experiences each person has had in these stories. I like the idea because the stories are a good way to help others understand about life here in Haiti. You know, the good and bad of life in general.

My particular story is a memory that really sticks out to me and a defining moment in my childhood, because it was the last time I ever saw my father and many years have passed since then.

I get inspired by being able to translate for groups who come to Haiti, by teaching both Creole and English to overcome barriers in communication, and participating in various ministries. I’m also inspired by the opportunity to share the testimony of what God has done in my life.’

For more information, you can access the Seeds in A Dark Fruit Sky website and Facebook page. To help finance the project, donate here.

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