Amid hardships, fragile fanal lights are sentinels of Haiti's holiday season

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Sunday, 12.19.10

Amid hardships, fragile fanal lights are sentinels of Haiti's holiday season
BY TRENTON DANIEL
[e-mail]

http://media.miamiherald.com.nyud.net:8090/smedia/2010/12/19/17/8689122.embedded.prod_affiliate.56.JPG

PATRICK FARRELL / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
A candle placed inside the fanal produces a stained-
glass effect. Edme Herold makes and sells fanals, tiny
lantern-like houses and steepled churches, during the
holiday season in Haiti.


For 10 years, Edme Herold has used the holidays and a skilled hand to fill his pockets with cash -- a few gourdes here, a few gourdes there.
His colorful handiwork: fanals, which are miniature, lantern-like homes that are part of Haiti's Christmas tradition. A candle placed inside illuminates the fragile craft and creates a stained-glass effect. The size of either a shoe box or as small as a camera, fanals are often placed in windows to light the way.

``I make them because I can earn a little more money,'' said Herold, 32, a mason the rest of year. ``It's not much, but it's something.''

The fanals -- a centuries-old Christmastime tradition some say originated in West Africa and others say was used to light worshipers' way to church -- come with a small irony this first Christmas since Haiti's devastating earthquake last January.

The little tissue-paper houses are still standing while many Haitians' homes are in rubble. Herold crafts these items to brighten up a holiday home yet lives under a tarp this year.

``They are a sign that Christmas is coming,'' Lori Manuel Steed, a Haitian artist and art promoter, said about the first sight of fanals on the streets. ``Amid the violence and anger, there is a softness.''

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