No need for long explanations to say how 2025 was a year too much in the long chain of crises that plague Haiti. A year marked by suffering, humiliation and deep disarray, even as the horizon persists in escaping, as if the country were slipping a little further towards a bottomless night.
In the face of this harsh reality, two paths open to us: giving in to a collective depression or choosing the fight — He who feeds on the conviction that things can and must change; who refuses to let chaos define us; the one who continues, despite everything, to seek the light and believe in the patriotic momentum necessary for the reconstruction of our Haiti.
We are a nation murmured by sacrifice, warred by deprivation and juxtaposition with death. This makes us hold an immense reserve of energy fed by an unfathomable spirituality that keeps us standing in the face of suffering and death.
To maintain this state of mind, is it not the time to draw on what, even in the heart of the torment, illuminates our common journey? For under the charged sky of 2025, several Haitian stars shone with strength, offering a precious light, a glow that inspires and recalls what we are capable of.
The list speaks for itself:
March 2025- International gastronomic radiance. Haiti receives a Award of Excellence at the Food Festival 2025 in Vietnam, dedicating the quality of its gastronomy and culinary culture.
June 2025- Medical facility in Cap-Haitien. The OFATMA hospital performs a complex surgery of brachial plexus, a rare prowess in our health system.
October 2025- Junior Pan Am Games (Paraguay). Athlete Ava Soon Lee wins a gold medal in taekwondo — a historic feat for Haiti.
October 2025- Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française. The prestigious award is awarded to Yanick Lahens for Night Passengers, recalling the universal reach of our literature.
November 2025- Historical qualification. Haiti qualifies for the FIFA World Cup 2026, a first since 1974, triggering a national wave of pride.
November 2025- Global distinction for Haitian chocolate. AYITIKA chocolate is the winner of the Best Bean-to-Bar Tablet at the Salon du Chocolat in Paris, celebrating the excellence of our cocoa.
December 2025- Artistic radiation. The KE Music Awards celebrate the excellence of Haitian artists who make the international scene vibrate.
December 2025- Heritage of Humanity. UNESCO officially enrolls the Haitian compass in the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, recognizing its global influence.
You could believe a Haitian miracle.
Yet it is nothing.
The peoples who always rise,
Like the big boxers,
Never say their last word.
They know how to reverse the worst situations
And turn the struggle into a victory.
It is with this conviction –
The one that we cannot be held and that Ayiti pap peri –
May I wish you serene holidays at the end of the year
And a year 2026 with hope, dignity and real change.
Jacky Lumarque
Rector of Quisqueya University
