From Boston to Baton Rouge, Haitian Americans are still raising money to build homes and buy medicines in the weeks after Hurricane Matthew brought a new round of devastation to the island nation. Locally, Haitians have gathered at churches, community centers and at an establishment that has been a center of activity in Boston’s Haitian community for four decades: Le Foyer Bakery.
Bonafast Soivilien arrived in Massachusetts from Haiti 10 years ago. He lives in Brockton. Walking out of Le Foyer in Mattapan Square with an armful of baked goods, he said coming here is like being at home.
“I come here because we have Haitian bread, and I’ve come to buy some Haitian bread. That’s why I’m here," he said.
On this day, in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew’s angry sweep across Southwestern Haiti, bleak iron-gray clouds hover over Boston and Soivilien said the conversation at Le Foyer—so often focused on sports, God and politics—is today focused on the plight of his countrymen and women back home.
“You feel like 'Okay I’m not in Haiti', but with those people around me I feel like I'm still in Haiti," Soivilien said. "My brother in Haiti, I could not find the communication to talk to him. His house is destroyed. And you can find your friends here and we can talk about it to see how they’re feeling.”
Le Foyer has been in operation since 1976. Immigrants Edna and Andre Etienne opened the doors and they in turn said their daughter, Sarnia Etienne Dupie, hired more immigrants who came in waves to Boston. For nearly 40 years, Edna began her day at 3:00 am. The doors were unlocked a few hours later and Haitians rushed in for pates (Haitian patties), hot coffee or a cold cup of AK-100, a Haitian corn meal shake. Edna is now retired. Andre Etienne passed away in 1994—22 years shy of Le Foyer’s 40th anniversary.
Sarnia Etienne Dupie is one of three daughters who run this landmark bakery today.
“Our company is a Haitian bakery," she said. "We will always be a Haitian bakery. But we’ve had the privilege of being able to expand to other members of the community. And it is so great to be able to be more of an international hub almost.”
Francis DeJuese has been coming here for 22 years:
“Those pates are delicious," he said. "Beef pates, you talking about chicken pates, fish pates. Excellent Haitian food. You can’t say no to those pates."
Patrons say what is particularly special about Le Foyer is that it continues to serve as a gathering place, especially on Sundays, for Haitians to discuss life’s ups and down both here and in Haiti. They have seen quite a few of those over the course of this bakery’s history.
Sarnia Etienne Dupie said the 40-year history of Le Foyer parallels the history of Haiti itself and the arrival of tens of thousand of immigrants to Massachusetts. That history includes the U.S. overthrow of a democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the 2010 earthquake that took as many as 316, 000 lives, and now the devastation caused by Hurricane Matthew this year.
“I remember there were vicious debates,” said Dupie.
As my order of chicken patties and apple turnovers were being rung up, a reporter on CNN blaring on a TV above the counter cited the most recent death toll from Hurricane Matthew.
"Sometimes it’s just too much," said Michelle Etienne Campbell, another daughter of Edna and Andre Etienne.
“Absolutely devastating. It’s devastating because we have people, even that work for us, that have lost multiple members of their family in one swoop. So it is absolutely devastating for our community, for our country.”
And this bakery is among several institutions in the community helping to raise funds for their beleaguered and beloved nation, which Etienne Campbell laments many others seem to have forgotten.
This summer Le Foyer celebrated its 40th anniversary with Mayor Marty Walsh and Governor Charlie Baker stopping by. Haitian music spun by DJ Jean Rubens of Bel Muzik FM blasted from a pair of mammoth speakers. Rubens said it was not just the celebration of a venerable bakery, but a salute to an institution he describes as a symbol of Haitian continuity.
“Because we have a tendency to just give up and this means continuity to us as a community," he said. "Haiti is going through so much, but at the end of the day we have to remain positive.”
