First Night Performance in Boston 2009 - 5th grade student

Berline and three other PHA students performed at Boston's First Night Children's Festival with Andrea Lovett Storytelling Ensemble. Check in at 6th and 7th grade blogs for more videos.



HAITIAN FOLKTALES
“The Magic Orange Tree”

Storytelling is an important part of Haitian life. The elders in a family or in a community often tell stories that have been passed from one generation to the next. It is very common for Haitian children to learn life lessons and moral instruction through storytelling. As night falls in Haitian homes, one will frequently hear a loud “Crick?” and soon a loud “Crack!” “Crick?” is shouted by an elder ready to tell a story. This is a storyteller’s method of finding out if anyone is interested
in hearing a story. Those interested in hearing a story respond eagerly and loudly with “Crack!” This tells the storyteller to begin his or her story.

In the Haitian culture, it is common for new parents to save and dry the newborn
infant’s umbilical cord. After the cord has been dried, they put a pit from a fruit tree with it and bury the two in the earth. The tree that grows from this belongs to
the child who was the owner of the umbilical cord. After a period of five or six years, this tree will begin to bear fruit. This fruit is considered the property of the child and he or she may barter with the fruit, sell the fruit, or do whatever he or she desires with the fruit. Often this is a child’s introduction to economics and finance. Young Haitian children are commonly economically active.