Ayiti Kalifye: A Nation Reminding Itself of Who it Has Always Been
- Berwick Augustin
- Jun 5
- 4 min read
There are moments in time so perfectly orchestrated that the only explanation is divine. November 18, 2025 was one of those moments. On that Tuesday night — in a stadium in Willemstad, Curaçao, far from Ayiti's soil — Les Grenadiers defeated Nicaragua 2–0 and punched their ticket to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Ayiti was going back.
Fifty-two years. Half a century of waiting, hoping, watching other nations celebrate on the world's biggest stage. And then — in the most Ayisyen way possible — they didn't just qualify. They qualified on November 18th. The very date their ancestors crushed the French empire at the Battle of Vertières in 1803. The very date that gave birth to the first free Black republic on earth.
If that doesn't give you chills, read it again.
It moved me enough to pen a poem to educate and celebrate my people. My latest spoken word release "Ayiti Kalifye," didn't start as literature. It started as a prayer. As a shout. As the kind of thing you write when your chest is so full of history and emotion that prose isn't enough. It is a spoken word piece that braids together two centuries of Ayiti's resilience — from the battlefield to the pitch — and dares to say what Ayisyen have always believed: nou pap janm peri. We will never perish.
Before anything else — before the history lessons, before the football analysis, before the cultural commentary — we have to stop and give thanks. Because this wasn't just sports. This was God writing history with steady hands.
The poem opens with it: "Gade kijan Bondye ekri istwa w… ak men ki pa janm tranble." Look at how God writes your story… with hands that never tremble. It closes with it — with Nehemiah before broken walls, refusing fear, stacking bricks shoulder to shoulder. With a nation running not away from pain… but toward promise.
God opened a door. He gave a nation a reason to stop and feel joy, pride, and imagined possibilities. In the poem, I mentioned "faith has never needed perfect conditions. hope has never waited for permission." That is not a line about soccer. That is a theology. Ayiti does not wait for stability before hoping. Ayiti has always had faith that outpaced its circumstances — So before we celebrate the goals, before we analyze the bracket, before we debate the group stage draws for 2026 — let us simply say: Mèsi Bondye-Thank You, God. You did not forget us. You never do.
The poem says it plainly: "This World Cup is bigger than a soccer game." It is proof that resilience is not a concept — it is a practice. A daily, generational, inherited practice. It is proof that Ayiti's identity cannot be destroyed by poverty or politics or violence or time. It is about a generation rediscovering hope. It is about reminding Ayiti's children that greatness belongs to them too. It is about a diaspora scattered across the globe remembering that we share one story. It is about believing that broken conditions do not determine future outcomes. Most importantly, it is about understanding that God is not finished with Ayiti. It is proof that the God who was present at Vertières in 1803 is still present. Still writing. Still steady.
When Ayiti takes the field in 2026 — under the lights, in front of the world, with the diaspora in the stands — they will carry more than a ball. They will carry the ancestors who said, “kase chenn yo! — break those chains!” They will carry every Ayisyen who made it and every one who didn't. They will carry every prayer prayed in Kreyòl, English, and the language of tears.
And when the whistle blows — whether they win or lose — the scoreboard will read what heaven has always known:
Ayiti pap janm peri- Ayiti will never perish.
Ayiti pap janm fini- Ayiti will never end.
Ayiti pap janm mouri- Ayiti will never die.
Lord, thank you for remembering a people the world keeps trying to forget. Thank you for the date — Your sovereignty and fingerprints are all over it. Thank you for every player who carried this nation on their backs through impossible circumstances. Lord, continue to protect Ayiti and open doors no man can close. May this World Cup be just the beginning of a restoration that glorifies you alone.
How to Work With Me
Provide tailored coaching and professional development for educators and administrators.
A keynote speaker for any educational program, assembly, or Haitian cultural event.
Learn all of my expert writing skills and tools in self-paced essay writing master classes.
Learn the foundation of Haitian-Creole in my interactive self-paced beginner's course.
Receive personalized assistance with mastering Haitian-Creole with 1:1 private coaching lesson.
Do you want to publish a book? My team can help you from conception to publication.
Berwick Augustin is the founder of Evoke180, a leading publishing company that also specializes in Haitian-Creole translations. He is an educational consultant and keynote speaker who embodies two decades of experience as a writer, teacher, and assistant principal. Berwick Augustin is the most innovative bilingual educational consultant capable of producing transformative results that effectively impact urban schools. His renowned book, The Education Formula: Maximizing the Village, offers a holistic, proven tool for schools and communities seeking to bridge the gap and build strong, thriving educational villages. Berwick is the creator of Self-Paced Haitian-Creole Courses online, author of Days, Months, and Seasons in Haitian-Creole, The Haitian-Creole Alphabet, and 1803 The Haitian Flag.
Comments