Dégagé

Dégagé is a word you hear a lot in Haiti.  It means "to make due."

In Haiti you don't have 24 hour grocery stores around the corner to get eggs at any hour. Sometimes you need to make due. Dégagé.

Though mangoes grow all over Haiti, today there may not be mangoes readily available. Tomorrow milk may be hard to come by. You must make due. Dégagé.

Home Depot might not be a few miles down for you to get all your home improvement needs provided for. You must improvise. You must make due. Dégagé.

In Haiti this word is commonplace. Today our group spent about 30 or 45 minutes - between the first shift and second shift of volunteering - at tin shops in Haiti.  What is this uniquely Haitian art made from? It is made by someone adopting the attitude of dégagé. Make due. Improvise.  Using 55 gal drums to make this fantastically beautiful, intricate art. Dégagé.

- Stevo