The Baka Made from Jealousy

• Chapter 5 tells the story of Philomise, Mama Lola’s mother, and of how Philomise lost her own mother twice on account of jealousy.

Port-de-Paix

• Madame Fouchard became godmother to Sina’s daughter Philo.

Port-de-Paix

• Madame Fouchard became godmother to Sina’s daughter Philo.

• When Philo was 5-years-old, the Fouchards were scared by a Baka, an evil spirit that appeared to Madame one night.

Port-de-Paix

• Madame Fouchard became godmother to Sina’s daughter Philo.

• When Philo was 5-years-old, the Fouchards were scared by a Baka, an evil spirit that appeared to Madame one night.

• When the Fouchards decided to move, Madame asked Sina to take Philo with her. Sina thought this would more give Philo more opportunities in life.

• Philo became a servant at the Fouchards’ household, and was treated like a slave.

• Philo became a servant at the Fouchards’ household, and was treated like a slave.

• When Philo was seventeen, she went to the store and never came back. She escaped to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic with some friends.

• Philo became a servant at the Fouchards’ household, and was treated like a slave.

• When Philo was seventeen, she went to the store and never came back. She escaped to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic with some friends.

• Philo began to work at the marketplace.

• Philo began to work at the marketplace.

• As she grew up, she began trading with her sexuality as well.

• Luc Charles fell in love with Philo. He won her heart, and they had a child together, Frank.

• Luc Charles fell in love with Philo. He won her heart, and they had a child together, Frank.

• Luc was very jealous of Philo, and very threatened by her independence as a market woman.

• Philo went back to Haiti and found her mother in Gros Morne, where she stayed for a month.

• Philo went back to Haiti and found her mother in Gros Morne, where she stayed for a month.

• Years later, her mother was poisoned by Alphonse Macena’s twin daughters.

• While in Haiti, Philo had a dream in which a spirit told her that her friend’s son would die if he stayed at the hospital. The boy was saved.

• Philo knew that serving the spirits could bring financial security, but she was afraid of the loneliness, commitment and life change that this decision would bring.

Serving the Spirits

• A lifelong commitment and a heavy responsibility.

Serving the Spirits

• A lifelong commitment and a heavy responsibility.

• Yet, it can be seen as an economic strategy. Philo and Alourdes’s decisions to work as healers came in times of financial crises. Both eventually found more regular income doing spirit work than they were able to get in the job market.

• Decision to become a healer can also be seen as an alternative to inadequate love relationships.

• Vodou spirits are ideal lovers: protective, constant, powerful, and benevolent.

Kouzinn

• Female counterpart of Azaka

• Different from the other Vodou spirits.

• Does she not have a Catholic counterpart.

• Always paired with her man, and in the ritual context, always dependant on him.

Kouzinn

• Deals with some of the most important issues in a woman’s life.

• Is a market woman, a machann, with a keen business sense.

In the countryside

• It is women’s savings that can help them out in times of distress and difficulty.

In the cities

• Women are often independent from men.

• Many families are headed by women, and women have more jobs available to them than men.

• Men think it is not dignified to exploit several small and erratic sources of income.

• Women’s financial independence threatens men.

• Women find that this situation is a burdensome responsibility rather than a liberation.

• Mama Lola’s family line is filled with strong women who worked on small-scale commerce in order to survive, from Sina, to Philo, to Mama Lola.

Selling Sex

• Was the fate of both Philo and Mama Lola, until they turned to the marketplace of the spirits.

• Mama Lola is in a better economic position than that of all other members of her family back in Haiti.

• In the emotional economy of extended families in Haiti, it is expected that those who fare better, particularly those living abroad, will help their family in need.

• Those abroad struggle to keep the dream alive.

• In going back with material and spiritual things to give, however, Alourdes makes a great effort in maintaining her relationships with family within the realm of reciprocity.

Ritual Feeding of the Poor

• An expensive ritual obligation Mama Lola needed to undertake on behalf of the family.

Ritual Feeding of the Poor

• Involves feeding the poor at the cemetery, and inviting them to a large feast where they are fed all kinds of local delicacies.

Ritual Feeding of the Poor

• The main part of the ritual for those offering it happens at the end of the dinner, when the poor wipe their hands on the hands, face, arms, and clothes of the ceremonial leader, in this case, Mama Lola. This is the blessing the poor bestow upon Alourdes and her family .

• Discuss with your neighbour your impressions on the ritual feeding of the poor.