Thomonde

"Piti piti, zwazo fè nich." Little by little, birds build their nests.
-Haitian proverb

Carte HAITI Thomonde-1024x595 — Location in Haiti

Thomonde, part of the Hinche Arrondissement, rests in the Central Plateau of Haiti.

Overview[]

Founded as "Cabral", the land which became Thomonde, according to some information, was owned by a former Dominican general. The town of Thomonde was founded in 1930 and raised to the rank of commune ten years later, in 1940.

History[]

Before its founding, the town of Thomonde (Spanish: "Todo mundo"; English: "Everybody") was originally the seventh rural section of the municipality of Las Cahobas. It was subdivided in 1875 giving birth to the rural section of Chamouscadille. After becoming a military post of the Lascahobas district, located on the road to Hinche, it developed and attraced the attention of the Governemnt of the Republic, which established it as a district by an edict of September 29, 1882. Thomonde continued to depend on the municipality of Lascahobas until June 1919 when the district was placed under the administrative jurisdiction of Hinche. The town of Thomonde was finally granted municipal status in 1940.

In January 1889, the Minister of War, Anselme Prophete, was preparing to march from Tomonde against the Cape separatists who occupied Hinche. On January 7, the government troops seized the town of Claireur and killed Saint-Prieux Gabeau, the leader of the insurgents.

The town of Thomonde was founded in 1930 during the American occupation. Thomonde had a strategic geographical position. For more than 25 years, the new municipality depended administratively on Hinche, the county seat. It was not until 1957, when François Duvalier came to power, that Thomonde met his first administrator, Mr. Sauveur Benjamin, a surveyor by profession. The latter, a man of confidence of the regime, remained at the head of the communal administration for almost the entire term of President François Duvalier. The mayor was then appointed by the State Secretary of the Interior.

There is in this municipality a source of oil on the haibtation of the Dupré heirs called Corail Gapy, in the Boucan-Tisse region. Mr Edmond Roumain had obtained the exploitation of it in 1905.

A value of 52,165.48 gourdes was credited to Mr. Auguste Durosie in the 1909-1910 public debt budget for the acquisition of the town of Tomonde. 2 hours from the village of Tomonde, in the center of the large plateau, is found a whitish oil floating on the face of the water.

According to the report of the American experts sent by the Government of Washington in 1916, to study the petroleum resources of the Haitian subsoil, it appears that large petroleum deposits exist in the formation of the land in the vicinity of Tomonde, Belladere to Mirebalais. Signs of large oil reservoirs are reported. These formations are found 300 and 500 meters below the surface of the place called Fond-Bleu.

On June 2, 1919, the Council of State passed a law linking the district of Thomonde to the town of Hinche.

The second mayor was Mr. Clébert Charlot, from Mirebalais. Protected by the Member of Parliament for the first constituency, Mrs. Ulrick, he was dismissed by the Secretary of the Interior for political reasons; Savior Benjamin took the reins of the communal administration. The MP Mrs. Ulrick then tried to put André Bélizaire at the head of the town hall but without success. After a long illness that led to the inability of Mr. Sauveur Benjamin, in the late 1970s, Deputy Mayor Alphonse Joly took over.

Emigration

The inhabitants of Thomonde emigrate to the United States of America, and very little to the Dominican Republic. For several decades, given the political and economic instability in the country, there has been a brain drain. After long studies, 98% of our young people dream of leaving the country for the United States and reside there. The majority of Thomondois emigrate to Massachusetts more precisely to Boston, from where the creation of an association (CORECTHO) committee for the recovery of the commune of Thomonde created in the 1990s by the community Thomondoise who lives there.

Currently (in 2017), the alumni of the Marie Help of Christians School of Thomonde gather to improve the image of this school and at the same time prepare for the jubilee of their school in 2018. FAEMAT, the foundation of the former students of Mary Help of Christians are looking for all the alumni of this school for this event.

The school was created in 1968 by the Reverend Father Henry Garssou, who was at the time the parish priest of this parish.

Geography[]

Thomonde is located at 19.0171° N, 71.9624° W. According to the IHSI, this commune has a total land area of 359.91 square kilometers (138.96 square miles), of which 245.55 km2 (68%) is rural, 108.81 km2 (30%) is suburban, and 5.55 km2 (2%) is urban. Thomonde lies directly in the middle of the Central Plateau on the north shore of Lake Azuei, which provides a constant flow of water to the Artibonite River. It is bordered by the city of Hinche on the north, the town of Thomassique on the northeast, the Dominican town of Comendador on the east, Belladère on the southeast, Las Cahobas on the south and the town of Boucan-Carré on the west. Thomonde has four communal sections, which are further subdivided into 87 neighborhoods and 135 localities.

Thomonde is 18 km from Hinche (capital the Central Department), 92 km from Port-au-Prince (the Haitian capital), and 150 km from Cap-Haïtien.

Neighborhoods[]

TOM	Thomonde		61,880
VTO	Ville de Thomonde	Urban	11,236
CBR	1ère Section Cabral	Rural section	13,787	Ananas, Bastien, Benaco, Bento, Bois Connin, Bois Joli, Boujouque, Boulaille-Boeuf, Ca Joufran, Cayepin, Cerca, Compognon, Desruisseau, Du Parc, Epin, Georges-Tombes, Goyable, Grosse-Plaine, La Source, Maringoin, Mauge, Moucadie, Palmares, Sans-Boute, Savane-Baptiste, Savane-Longue, Savanette.
TMU	2ème Tierra-Muscady	Rural	13,813	Barranque, Basse Thomonde, Benèche, Bigaille, Biton, Canne, Cerca 2bré, Eau Carrée, Eau Yguey, El Bail, El Bay, Ladoboc, Ladora, La Hoye, Lecarré, Marchal, Monocite, Nan Biton, Salmadère, Savane-Cajou, Terre Mouscadie.
BTR	3ème Section Baille-Tourrible	Rural	7,054	Baille-Tourrible, Baraque, Baycite, Bon Camp, Boucantal, Boucanyone, Cimetière, Corail, Coupeau, Debois, Haut-Piège, Hermani, Jedipe, La Canhique, Marécage, Nan Brule, Nan Marecage, Platanal, Roche-Sapate, Saint-Fleur, Verado.
HOY	4ème Section La Hoye	Rural	15,990	Ananas, Batey, Bédine, Caïmite, Caïmittes, Candelon, Canot, Charles-Joly, Dessabie, Embouchure, Fond Pierre, La Goas, La Hoye, La Yaille, Locacao, Lo Capa, Lopahon, Marché, Palissa, Paniac, Paredon, Pilon, Rente-Soldat, Savane-Calebasses, Savane-Perdue, St Antoine, Thomonde, Ti Péligre, Ti Trou, Tombacalème, Vieux Caille

Demographics[]

Main article: Demographics of Haiti
The name of the inhabitants of this municipality is Thomondois, Thomondoise.
44% of its population is under 15 years old
51% of its population is aged 15-64
5% of its population is aged 65 and over.

Year	Population	Change
1969	15,660
1998	31,106	+99%
2003	50,644	+63%
2005	50,068	-1%
2009	56,274	+12%
2015	61,880	+10%

Economy[]

The town of Thomonde is essentially food. The local economy is based on growing fruits (mangoes, avocados, pomegranates and lemons), tobacco, peanuts, coffee, maize, millet (sorghum), banana and sugar cane. Recent soil analyzes have concluded that the town of Thomonde is rich in hydrocarbons and is home to uranium deposits. Also of note are the rivers of Thomonde which are very rich in clay.

With deforestation leading to a massive rural exodus, coffee trees and banana plantations have disappeared; much of what remains is the tobacco grown in the second communal section (Terre mouscadille), transformed in Port-au-Prince by the tobacco company Comme Il Faut, and the market gardening (vegetables) grown in the third section Baille Tourrible - the culmination of Thomonde.

Thomonde has an animated market with various products. Thursday is the main day of the public market, but open on other days of the week. Thomonde has the biggest market of the department (Nan Casse) which is in the fourth communal section (Hoye) near Las Cahobas. The main day of this big public market is Monday. Some traders from the capital, the Dominican Republic, the lowlands and the highlands meet to make economic exchanges.

In terms of economic and financial infrastructure, the municipality is very lightly equipped. The town has 57 commercial establishments, 33 of which are small shops, and 20 are depots. The town has a hotel, a credit union, a marketing cooperative, and nine borlette banks, including gatehouses. Agriculture, livestock and trade are the main economic activities of the municipality. Agricultural farming predominates, and farmers grow crops of bananas, mangoes, coffee, and tobacco. Some farmers are beekeepers.

Infrastructure[]

To strengthen the town's infrastructure, the Thomonde city council has partnered with the Border Development Commission to fund an $8 million project. The goal is to build greenhouses that will house plant varieties indigenous to the region. Deforestation has left large acreages of land barren and disrupted the ecosystem. Plant cultivation for use in reforestation efforts, plus tree seedlings that have already been put into the ground, will strengthen agriculture production in these areas.

Transportation

Although located in a rural area of Haiti, Thomonde is only 90km away from the Toussaint Louverture International Airport. In town, most residents depend on donkeys and horses for transportation.

Education

The Ministry of Education of Youth and Sports is not represented in the town of Thomonde. The town's inventory of 104 schools includes 96 primary schools and eight secondary schools. These are catergoried into 89 private schools, 11 public schools, and four community schools. In addition, there are 17 literacy centers, two technical professional institutions, and a sewing center.

The Mary Help of Christians primary school run by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny founded in 1968 by Reverend Father Henry Garssou, the Jean Baptiste Décoste College headed by the Parish Priest, Saint Mathias College, and El Shaddai High School and College. All these institutions are ecumenical.

Health

The Ministry of Public Health does not have representation in the commune. There is a public health center, The Thomonde Health Center, whose operating framework is defined according to a partnership established between the MSPP and Zanmi Lasante. In addition, there is a clinic, two other health centers, and a hospital. The staff of health establishments is made up of 210 members, among which 128 are certified matrons and 18 are doctors.

In the area of healthcare, a non-government organization, the University of Miami, is helping make improvements treating infectious diseases, and has launched the Thomonde Community Health Program. This program recruits, gives instruction, and avails local healthcare workers of the knowledge and implementation methods to fight infectious diseases.

Utilities

For water availability, the town of Thomonde has two rivers and two sources that are used for consumption and mainly for domestic services. In addition to these water points, dozens of taps and pumps also supply households with water. Electricity of Haiti is the institution that ensures the distribution of electricity in the city of Thomonde which is the only electrified area. Thanks to an electric motor, this current is provided for 25 hours a week.

Security

At the level of the Administrative and Judicial Infrastructures, the commune has a police station, a court of peace and a registry office.

Administration[]

As of January 2022

Mathéus Bernadeau Principal Mayor	Jn George Archange Deputy Mayor	Elda Dorsin Deputy Mayor
_{Party: SHEILD}

Culture[]

Religion

Thomonde421 — Eglise Saint Joseph de Thomonde

There are at least 91 churches in the town of Thomonde. The most numerous are those of the Pentecostal (44) and Baptist (31) denominations.

Organizations

Two popular organizations, a peasants group, and two non-commercial co-operatives form the political institutions and other organizations of the commune.

Commuinication

At the time of the inventory the commune had no telephone. On the other hand, it has a postal service that operates in a very special way. Today, with mobile telephony, Thomonde enters the new generation (advanced technology). ADSL (ASYMETRICS Digital, Subscriber Line) broadband internet is accessible, the municipality is not removed from the rest of the world's "live technology".

The municipality had two local radio stations not functional for several years. One of them was "Radio Péralte" which was broadcasting on the FM (Frequency Modulation) band on 106.5. This station broadcasts educational programs. It is directed by Mr. Georges Benjamin.

Since March 2017, the alumni of the School of Mary Help of Christians at Thomonde have been providing the town of Thomonde with a new modern communications and broadcasting service known as "Thomonde's Faemat AIR WFHX".

FaematAIR WFHX of Thomonde is a general Haitian National radio. It uses a complex emission system by combining several modern and variable technologies (digital, terrestrial, radio, etc.). Thus, it is able to cover a very broad spectrum and reach a Haitian audience locally, nationally and globally - including listeners living outside Haiti.

In March 2017, FaematAIR announces its presence on the global TuneIn network and on the Haitian AudioNow HAITI RADIO network, as well as Call-To-Listen telephone listening services for Thomondians living in the Dominican Republic (849-943-5679). United States 641-552-8075 and in Canada 867-675-1572

Leisure

At the level of Leisure, the town has two libraries, a theater room, a cinema room, six spaces for playing football and basketball, 27 gaguères, a night club, and a public square. There is also a monument and 21 peristyles. During the holidays there are many activities: musical entertainment in the public square, interzone championships, etc. Saint-Joseph is the Patron Saint of the Catholic Church of the Commune. A big celebration is celebrated every year on March 19th on this occasion.

Thomonde is a valley, it is located between two mountains. The greenery of this commune, if exploited, could attract a lot of tourists, the cave of Boucantis in the 3rd communal section is also of avail. The construction of the hotel CILINA in Tamarin and the road that leads to Baille tourible are assets to attract tourists, both local and international. With the construction of the national road number 3 this municipality becomes a tourist stop in the Central department.

Heritage

The town's patronal feast, Saint Joseph, is celebrated every March 19.