Cannibal Blancs

To some Haitians, blancs (whites) are the friendly rich people that you can get stuff from.  To others, we are the terrifying cannibals who are out to eat them and their children.  Many families (especially in the mountains) who rarely see blancs have told stories about us eating little nwa (black) kids for lunch.  One of the original missionaries to LaGonave was actually arrested for building a water cistern because the locals thought that was where he was going to hide the kids before he ate them.  

As funny and/or crazy as this all sounds, there is a poor little girl in the North who went home one day a couple weeks ago completely convinced that she was almost put on a platter. 

While visiting the North, we visited the school that is on the missionary compound in the mountains.  We went from classroom to classroom, saying hi to the kids and taking pictures.  As soon as we entered the preschool room, a little girl in the back corner started bawling.  So of course, what is the natural thing to do? Go over and see what's wrong, try to help her, comfort her, etc.  So I headed on over.  She started crying harder.  The closer I got, the louder she got.  She even started pushing her chair away from me with her feet.  The teacher came over and pointed to her arm, then took my arm and pointed to it, indicating that the girl was afraid of me because I'm white.  Then it occurred to me.  This girl thought I was going to scoop her up and boil her in a pot with my rice and beans.  The girl clung to the legs of the teacher.  I backed away and left the classroom.  

I can hear the stories that the little girl went home and told her friends and family what happened to her in school that day.  "The stories! The stories are true!  That blanc came right over to me and was going to take me home for lunch but the teacher saved me!  I almost DIED today by that crazy girl blanc! Stay away from them, the stories are true!" 

Ahh, boy oh boy.