It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men -- Frederick Douglass

Apr
18

LANBI KONNEN

 Uncategorized

"This song, LANBI KONNEN, written and composed by Haitian author Marie-Carmel Berrouet Perodin, dedicated to Jean-Robert Cadet, is being played on Hatian radio and TV stations. We want to influence the new generation so that Haiti will love all of its children."

Download Lyrics

Lanbi Kònen Pou Tout Timoun

Chanson par Marie-Carmel Berrouët Pérodin
Dédiée à  Jean Robert Cadet

R E F R A I N
Lanbi kònen reveye
Lè ya rive
Pou’n louvri je’n ak kèn
Pou’n wè tout timoun menm jan
Li lè pout tout timoun
Rete timoun!
Bondye kreye tout timounn
Egal ego
Men gen anpil timoun
Yap toupizi!
Eske ti moun kon’n chwazi
Ki kote pou li fèt
Eske timoun deside
Jan pou li vi-i-i-iv

La mizè fè paran li
Dezespere
yoi fè’w konfyans yo ba-ou
Tipitit la !
Anguiz yon lavi miyò
Ou maltrete’l tout jan
Ou fè’l travay kou bourik
Wa peye sa-a-a

Tikam kenbe men Jojo
Yo gen men’m laj
Lap Mennen Jojo lekòl
Li pye atè
Lè Jojo di’l babay
Ti kè Tikam kase
Li ta renmen al lekòl
Men se pa dwa-a-a-l

Gade lapen’n Lapousa
Kape kòde
Anba  Albèto  k’sou do’l
Ak sak liv li
Wout la chaje labou
Soulye Toto pap sal
Lapousa byen pote non’l
Li la pou sa-a-a

Se gran mou ki sipoze
Ede timoun
Wòl yo vire tèt anba
Ala traka !
Fyèl Lapousa fin’ pete
Tikam anvi sove
Kot lavni timoun sa yo
Se pa serye-e-e

Si’w pèsiste ignore
Dwa timoun yo
Si’w pa jan’m wè Tikam
Ak Lapousa!
Lè je yo va louvri
Lè ya di se twòp atò
Albèto Jojo avè’w
Pak ka dòmi-i-i-i
REFRAIN
Le lambi  sonne le réveil
L’heure est venue
Pour ouvrir nos yeux nos cœurs
Voir tous les enfants pareils
Il est temps qu’ les enfants
Restent des enfants !

Dieu créa tous les enfants
Sans différence
Cependant beaucoup d’entre eux
Sont maltraités!
Les enfants savent-ils choisir
Le lieu de leur naissance
Est-ce qu’ils décident eux-mêmes
Leur genre de vie

La pauvreté rend ces gens
Désespérés
Confiants ils vous ont donné
Leur cher enfant
Au lieu d’une meilleure vie
Il est sans cesse abusé
Il travaille comme un forçat
Vous l’ regrett’rez !

Ti Kam tient la main d’ Jojo
Elles ont l’ même âge
Elle la conduit à l’école
Elle est pieds nus !
Quand Jojo lui dit bye by
Ti Kam souffre dans son cœur
Aller à l’école  pour elle
N’est pas un droit

Voyez  le triste Lapousa
Si essoufflé
 Alberto et tous ses livres
Sont sur son dos !
La route est remplie de boue
Ses souliers n’ sont pas souillés
Le nom d’ Lapousa veut dire
Etre là pour c’la

 Les adultes sont chargés
D’aider les enfants
Les rôles  sont donc inversés
Quelle ironie !
Lapousa n’en peut plus
Ti Kam rêve de se sauver
Qu’en est-il de leur avenir
C’est pas sérieux

Vous ignorez c’ qu’on appelle
Droits des enfants
Vous ne voyez jamais Ti Kam
Et Lapousa
Mais quand leurs yeux s’ouvriront
Ils vous diront c’est assez
Alberto , Jojo et vous
Perdrez l’ sommeil

REFRAIN--CHORUS
The lambi sounded Wake up
The time has come
To open eyes and hearts
To see all children equal
It’s time for all children
Be  just children!

God created all children
With no difference
Still a lot of children
Are mistreated
Do children ever choose
The place they should be born
Do they ever decide
Their way of life

Poverty led his parents
To hopelessness
They trusted you,  gave you
Their little one
Instead of a better life
You treated him so bad
Made him work like a beast
You’ll pay the price

Ti Kam’s holding Jojo’s hand
Same age they are
She’s taking Jojo to school
She is barefoot!
When Jojo waves Goodbye
Ti Kam has a broken heart
She’d like to go to school too
She has no right
Look at the sad Lapousa
He is in pain
With Alberto on his back
His schoolbag  too
The road is very muddy
Toto’s shoes won’t be dirty
Lapousa got the right name
This is his fate!

Adults are supposed to help children
The roles  are upside down
What  a pity!
Lapousa can’t take it no more
Ti Kam soon will escape
What will be their future
Let’s be serious!  

If you persist  ignoring
The children rights
If you never see Ti Kam
And Lapousa
When they open their eyes
When they say that’s enough
Alberto, Jojo and you
May sleep no more

Post a comment

If you were a restavek child, you would most likely be:
One of an estimated 300,000 Haitian children enslaved in child labor.
If you were a restavek child, you would most likely be:
From an isolated, rural area of Haiti where there are no schools, no electricity, no running water and few possibilities for the future.
If you were a restavek child, you would most likely be:
Living in the city with a family who is not your own -- not as a foster child, but as their servant.
If you were a restavek child, you would most likely be:
Between the ages of 5 and 15, and missing out on your childhood.
If you were a restavek child, you would most likely be:
Three times more likely to be a girl than a boy.
If you were a restavek child, you would most likely be:
Up at dawn, before any member of the family you serve, to begin preparing for their day, and in bed well after most other children are asleep.
If you were a restavek child, you would most likely be:
Responsible for preparing the household meals, fetching water from the local well, cleaning inside and outside the house, doing laundry and emptying bedpans.
If you were a restavek child, you would most likely be:
Getting no pay for any of these activities.
If you were a restavek child, you would most likely be:
Unable to see your family or remember where they live.
If you were a restavek child, you would most likely be:
Unable to attend school consistently, if at all -- depending on your owner's financial situation and schedule.
If you were a restavek child, you would most likely be:
Hungry, as you would probably not get enough to eat or food with enough nutritional value for someone who works hard all day.
If you were a restavek child, you would most likely be:
Subjected to physical, emotional or sexual abuse.
If you were a restavek child, you would most likely:
Never have all of your rights as a child respected.
Copyright Jean-Robert Cadet Restavek Organization. All rights reserved. | Site by: Sound Press Design