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Golden Years Tarnished: Haitian Elders Ponder Retirement Away from Motherland
By Macollvie Jean-François, Haitian Times
April 27, 2004
On a recent weekday, Evelyne St-Fleur, owner of Ketly's Surprise Boutique and Beauty Aids, sat inside the store listening to one of those special radios that pick up sub and pirate station frequencies, while waiting for customers.
When she left Haiti in 1975, St-Fleur, 50, said she had not planned to be living in the United States 29 years later, as she neared retirement.
At that particular hour, a report about a scuffle involving students at a Port-au-Prince university was being broadcast, making reference to the newly installed government of Prime Minister Gérard Latortue. News like that is draining for St-Fleur, who dreamt of retiring to Haiti.
"I'm really discouraged by the way I hear things," said St-Fleur, 50. "I'm afraid. Now I'm thinking that I'd be better off looking for another place, maybe Florida."
For many older Haitians living here, returning to Haiti is unaffordable, both financially and for their safety. Just as Haiti is in crisis, so are many Haitians in their 50s, 60s and 70s who failed to plan ahead for the retirement years and are now suffering from lack of money, are in debt, or ill and ineligibility for certain U.S. relief programs.
Also senior centers that could cater to Haitian elders are scarce, due to the lack of organization in the community and because the city is facing a budget crisis, experts say.
"You find a lot of people in their 60s and 70s thinking of going back to work because the pension isn't enough to live on, said Yves Vilus, a senior citizen specialist whose community center, the Erasmus Neighborhood Federation in Flatbush, assists the elderly. "And they can't go back. Look what happened to our home now."
As news of Haiti's unrest reaches the States, many seniors draw plans hastily as retirement sets in. Some have moved to Haiti, but many more would have gone back and stayed if the country were stable.
Some compromise by living in both countries for months at a time, or weeks, depending on how stable the country happens to be. In some cases, couples that disagree on moving back separate from each other for a while when one chooses Haiti. Still, some say they can no longer live in Haiti because ancestral ties have loosened and the mentality of friends is too different to tolerate.
"We have a double culture," said Edith Cadet, a 63-year-old who had planned to return home after completing her studies and traveling for a while. "Some people I grew up with I see now that they are very superficial. They live for appearances."
"But I'm a spiritual person," said Cadet, a divorcée dressed in a blue denim pantsuit, a brass cross hanging from her neck and a button with a Jesus portrait pinned to her chest.
Her more American way of thinking and means led Cadet to play it by ear, a popular option among Haitian seniors who could afford it. Retired last year from her job as a Department of Health investigator and social worker, she visits Haiti once-in-a-while and stays with friends from America who retired to the provinces, where it is quieter.
Cadet, a volunteer at St. Jerome Roman Catholic church in Flatbush, said Haiti also does not offer enough activities to enjoy. She is also a choir member and events organizer at Cambria Heights' Sacred Heart Church, close to her Queens home. She goes on St. Jerome's annual trip to Europe to visit religious sites in the Middle East, which is very popular with seniors from all faiths. She also goes to the theatre.
Living in Haiti, she would miss all that. "I can't say I'll go back. I can't say I'm going tomorrow. What's great is going back and forth, back and forth."
Many people, especially Flatbush's low-income senior citizen residents, cannot afford frequent trips. According to Vilus, most of the Flatbush seniors that come to the Erasmus center for assistance are struggling with housing bills, or accumulated property taxes they could no longer afford on a fixed income from Social Security that does not exceed $12,000 a year. Many continue to work as home attendants, nannies, livery cab drivers, housekeepers and informal jobs that pay cash.
The average East Flatbush home, where many Haitians live, reports $34,040 compared to the city average of $38,293 according to the Census 2000. It also found that nearly 19 percent of Haitians 62 and older - a total of 36,928 - work.
Vilus and others say that Haitians are still reticent about accepting public assistance. Besides applying for the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption and maintaining Social Security benefits, they decline offers to apply for welfare benefits because they see it as charity and beneath them.
Many senior citizens resign to moving in with their children, but that too has its downside. Those with the means continue the search for paradise, whether in Haiti or the southern United States.
St-Fleur and husband are thinking of moving to Florida when the time comes. The Sunshine State is a substitute for many Haitians elders living in the United States. It is close to Haiti geographically, which makes quick jaunts home easy.
When George (not his real name) went to Gonaives last December, his intention was to come back in May. As usual, he planned to spend the six most difficult months of East Coast winter basking in the sizzling sun, enjoying the cooling breezes and the beautiful women. As usual, his wife, who still works and does not like the idea of living in Haiti, stayed here.
The same month he arrived, dissenters against the now-ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide began shooting all over the country's fourth largest city, making it difficult to sleep or partake in activities.
"It was really annoying," said George, 63, who first left Haiti in 1970 because François Duvalier's chiefs would order him to Gonaives' surrounding towns to round up residents to bring to the National Palace to hear the dictator's speeches. "You can't go out when there's so much disturbance."
George came back to New York on Feb. 25, while heavily armed gangs were taking over towns all over the country, killing Aristide supporters and some innocents in the crossfire. But as he sits with friends in Prospect Heights, Haiti is still on his mind.
St-Fleur, who has returned to Haiti three times, remains troubled by the news. "Many have gone and said that the country is not good," St-Fleur said. "That's why I need the security first. There should be order, for people not to be afraid of others."
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