Haitians eat “pumpkin soup” on New Year’s Day! It is so “traditional” that many get depressed if they don’t have the money to buy the ingredients. Our Haitian children “love” pumpkin soup!

This is Haiti’s holiday to celebrate its independence and liberation from France and its French colonial rule over Haiti. This celebration began on January 1st, 1804. The “pumpkin soup” had been only for the French slave owners, but the soup was “reclaimed” as a symbol of the freed slaves.

Sherry and I love pumpkin soup! When we first moved to Haiti “many years ago,” “Nini,” who works for us, served us our first taste of pumpkin soup! It is still as delicious to us as it was the first time we tasted it about “34 years ago!”

Our Haitian kids “can eat a lot of it!” Ha! We love Haiti, its culture, its people, and its children.

Bobby and Sherry