METE AJENOU

Mete ajenou is a type of punishment Haitian parents use when you don’t listen or you did something wrong; they make you sit on your knees.

There are different types depending on the parent. One variation is having you kneel on a tiled floor. I won’t say it doesn’t hurt, but not as much as the others.

Here come the ones that hurt the most: you might have to hold a cinder block on your head, kneel on rice, salt, concrete, or a flat grater, and with buckets of water, and even sometimes in the hot sun.

“I think it’s better than getting thrown to the wall,” said Adjanitha Horace, a Sophomore in the Medical program.

“Al Mete ajenou (Go kneel)!”  “Kisa mw fe (What did I do)?”

That’s the start before the spanking, not always, but you’re going to be kneeling for a while afterwards.“I’d rather put my knees down and not get spanked,” said Kaylie Dorsainsvil, a Freshman in the Medical program.

Sometimes, they’ll keep you in the closet or somewhere no one will see you, because most of the time, if they see you, they’ll ask why you’re kneeling and want you to get up.

“In a kneeling position, after about 10 minutes, the circulation to the bottom half of my leg would start to feel a little compromised and I’d start to feel some tingling” said MJ at cornbreadandcremasse.com.”I was tempted to sit on my butt. NO! NO! You can never do that. If I was caught sitting on my butt, it extended my time.”

“I had to kneel for five hours,” Mr. Dorvil, an administrator at Inlet Grove Community High School, explained. “It was awful because I could not get up until my dad said so.”