Carrefour - Haiti Observer Blog

President Michel Martelly, as part of his ambitious agenda to engage all sectors of the Haitian population, inaugurated the People Canteen Tet Kale in Créole in Carrefour on July 27, 2012. Minister of Social Affairs and Labor, Ronsard St-Cyr joined Martelly. Together they were there to initiate a dialogue of goodwill with the community and demonstrate their commitment to improve the quality of life for the underserved population.

At the People Canteen, located on 4th Avenue Bolosse, President Martelly and Minister St-Cyr stood behind the line and served nutritious meals to school-age children. Then they joined the children at tables and chatted with them about what they wanted to be when they grew up. Later Martelly and St-Cyr handed out soccer balls to screaming and excited children, who asked Martelly if he would play with them. Martelly replied he would do something even better, he would show them a few soccer-ball tricks.

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The official launch of the "Kafeteria Tet Kale" or "People Canteen" on 4th Avenue Bolosse in Carrefour, a largely populated commune in the capital Port-au-Prince, was led by Haitian President Michel Martelly last July 27. Together with Ronsard St-Cyr, the country's Minister of Social Affairs and Labour, the project is aimed at building better relations with the population and at the same time improving their living conditions. During the launching, President Martelly distributed food and soccer balls to numerous children.

The Martelly administration's Kafeteria Tet Kale is quite popular in Haiti, serving more than 500 customers a day. It is a cafeteria in the form of a truck, and was first introduced in the Carnaval des Fleurs, or the Carnival of flowers, the first carnival in Port-au-Prince since the 2010 earthquake. It immediately attracted carnival goers with its eye-candy color scheme of pink and white. The Haitian Creole term "tet kale" means heart and soul or from head to toe, which is perfect for the President's new movement on serving the country and its people with care and definiteness.

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