Gang Leaders, Legends, Voodoo, and Cite Soleil (6.3.08)

Every night, Pastor Brian, Ettiene, and I meet together at 7pm to have quiet time. It's a really wonderful thing: we sing hymns, read 1 John, meditate on the word, discuss, and pray.

After our quiet time last night, somehow the the conversation turned to the gangs of Cite Soleil (City of the Sun). According to Ettiene, and all the other Haitian people, the following stories are true.

The Legend of Wilme
Wilme was a modern day Robin Hood of City Soleil (Cite Soleil, for those of you who don't know, is a remote district in Port-au-Prince and is considered the poorest area in all of Haiti). He succeeded in stealing from the rich and distributing to the poor. Cite Soleil is divided in approximately 34 regions and, during the reign of Aristide and his cronies, each region had its own gang leader. The movie "Ghosts of Cite Soleil" documents the lives of two of these gang leaders. Wilme was chief among these 34 leaders: head honcho of Cite Soleil.

Physically, Wilme was hard to miss. He kept his head shaved except for 4 long braided strands that fell on opposite sides of his head. He never wore clothing except for boxer shorts. He didn't wear shoes. Finally, he kept 4 red handkerchiefs tied to his body: 1 above each elbow, and 1 above each knee.

The UN army, knowing that he was the mastermind behind all of Cite Soleil's mischiefs, decided to bring Wilme down. One day, they cornered him in Cite Soleil with 3 or 4 tanks and a swarm of soldiers. They all took aim at him and fired.

Wilme, unphased by the barage of bullets coming at him, began to dance in front of the soldiers. Through his dancing, he dodged most of the bullets. If a bullet did pierce him, he brushed the area off with his hands and that was all. And in the midst of his dancing, he return fired with his own machine gun.

The UN army could not bring him down. At one point, they managed to capture him and place him in the UN vehicle, but when they got to headquarters and checked the back, he was gone. Finally, Wilme's own brother gave the secret to killing Wilme. In return for $5000, he told the UN Wilme's secret: There are 3 pins embedded into the sole of Wilme's feet. Remove these pins and he will die. See, WIlme's father had been a Voodoo priest. And supposedly, these pins made him immortal.

Soon after, they captured him. As soon as the pins were removed, he died.

The Legend of the Two Gang Leaders
Two rival gang leaders decided to determine publicly who was the stronger one. So they gathered all the people as witnesses. Then, they put 5 meters between them, took out their guns, and began to shoot at each other. They shot at each other for at least 5 mins, unloading clip after clip. Finally, unscathed from the gunshots, the two gang leaders approached each other, shook hands acknowledging each others' power, and walked away friends.