☀️ Easter in Haiti

Just like other Christians around the globe, we are looking forward to Easter weekend! Our Hands & Feet Project family has intentional Easter traditions, so we would like to take this month to walk you through what Easter looks like at our Children’s Villages.
On Good Friday, we begin our traditions by talking with the children about the Easter story over a cup of morning hot chocolate followed by a lunch of fish, yams, and plantains which is a common meal in Haiti during lent. At 3 p.m. there are church services in the community remembering the hour of Christ’s death.
We use “Resurrection Eggs” to celebrate and remember the story of Christ’s death and resurrection. Inside each egg, there is a small trinket that represents part of the story. Here is what each egg represents:
  • Egg 1. Small leaf to represent a palm branch at Jesus’ triumphal entry.

  • Egg 2. Three coins to represent the 30 pieces of silver that Judas Iscariot received when he betrayed Jesus.

  • Egg 3. A goblet to represent a cup at the last supper.

  • Egg 4. A piece of paper written to represent Jesus’ prayer in The Garden.

  • Egg 5. A piece of leather to represent the soldiers whipping Jesus.

  • Egg 6. A tiny crown to represent the crown of thorns.

  • Egg 7. Two nails to represent the nails and the cross.

  • Egg 8. Dice to represent the soldiers casting lots for Jesus’ clothes.

  • Egg 9. A spear to represent the spear piercing Jesus’ side.

  • Egg 10. A white cloth to represent Jesus wrapped in clean linen.

  • Egg 11. A rock to represent the stone rolled in front of the tomb.

  • Egg 12. An empty egg to represent the tomb was empty.

Following the story we typically color eggs, which they love to eat. On occasion, if we can find plastic Easter eggs at the market, we’ll have a good old fashioned Easter egg hunt.

Across the country, Rara bands play in the street to celebrate and many children fly beautiful kites they often create themselves as an Easter tradition. Most families attend a church service, some even a sunrise or evening service in addition to night services over Lent. Often during Lent, red meat is not eaten in honor of the blood Jesus shed when He died.

As Christians working in Haiti, we are often asked about the influence of other religions, especially during times of the year like Easter. While we focus our spiritual experiences and practices on Biblical principles, we also recognize that there are other religions practiced in Haiti. We often navigate through the influence of both Catholicism and Vodou on Haitian culture.

Catholicism was the official religion of Haiti from 1697 until 1985 when Francois and Jean-Claude Duvalier broke the reign of Catholicism over Haiti as the only established religion. However, Haiti is still predominantly Catholic, and there is a lot of activity in the Catholic community during the lead up to Easter.

Though other religious practices are still heavily present and influential, we are grateful to celebrate and share the truth of Christ with our Hands & Feet Project family every day and especially during this Easter season! This is such a special time for families to honor the blood Jesus shed when he died on the cross for our sins and the glory of his death-defeating resurrection.

At Hands & Feet Project we love honoring and celebrating Haitian culture and traditions! We hope this has given you a little insight into our holiday celebrations as you and your family get ready for Easter.