Ouanaminthe - Haiti Observer Blog

Who would have thought that Haitians could decide to start a pilgrimage or parade by taking a piece of wood from one end of Haiti to the other end, on food and no compensation?

Harry Nicolas, nicknamed Mèt Fèy Vèt did. Harry Nicholas the person who came up with the idea of Kita Nago is a true Haitian believer. He is the one who came up with the idea of organizing a movement were Haitians would carry for not less than 700 kilometers from Les Irois to Ouanaminthe. They will be walking across Haiti, from the western tip southern peninsula, all the way to the northeast corner of Haiti.

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Kita Nago, a weighty piece of oiled cedarwood timber with a cedar flagstaff drilled into its center, flies the Haitian national flag. The symbolic art piece represents the hopes of Haitians for a unified Haiti in its reconstruction efforts after 2010's earthquake. Haitian Harry Nicholas began the annual event, in which Kita Nago, hoisted on the shoulders of young men, makes the journey from its resting place in Port-au-Prince to Ouanaminthe in the far north. It is then shown for all to see.

When the journey of Kita Nago begins, it lies before Nèg Mawon in Port-au-Prince. Lifted and born along on a 700-kilometer marathon walk, it begins in southwest Les Irois and ends in northeast Ouanaminthe. The official start of the event kicks off in Port-au-Prince with a ceremony in which President Martelly, First Lady Sophia, and Prime Minister Lamothe participate. Afterwards, the huge polished timber lies at rest before Nèg Mawon, for residents and pilgrims from elsewhere in Haiti to pay homage.

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