Monique and Eric at their home in Florida. Courtesy of Florence Barrau-Adams.

Monique and Eric Barrau immigrated to the United States from Haiti in the late 1960s during the dictatorship of François ‘Papa Doc’ Duvalier. Now, more than fifty years later, they live in Florida, where they’ve quarantined together since mid-March. In our first Call Your Elders conversation, their daughter, New Jersey-based radio producer Florence Barrau-Adams checks in with them.

Call Your Elders features conversations with immigrant elders — grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles — to hear how they are coping during the coronavirus pandemic, and what they have learned over the years that can help the rest of us survive today’s challenges.

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A Better Life? is a podcast series that explores how COVID-19 has reshaped immigrants’ lives and their relationship to the United States. Each episode tells a different immigrant story and examines how the crisis has challenged or changed that person’s ideas of what it means to be American.

Monique, 17, in Haiti. Courtesy of Florence Barrau-Adams.
Monique and Eric in the United States in the 1970s. Courtesy of Florence Barrau-Adams.
Eric, 25, and Monique, 21, in Haiti. Courtesy of Florence Barrau-Adams.
20-year-old Eric Barrau in Haiti. Courtesy of Florence Barrau-Adams.
Monique and Eric Barrau at their home in Florida. Photo by Danielle Pena.
The Barrau family. Courtesy of Florence Barrau-Adams.

Credits

Hosted by Zahir Janmohamed.

Produced by Florence Barrau-Adams.

Interview recorded by Eric and Monique’s granddaughter, Kristen Palestis.

Exercise music performed by Eric and Monique’s grandson, Stephen Pena.

The song Chita Lakay by musician Robert Martino. Scroll down for an English translation.

Production assistance by Anna Dilena.

Edited by John Rudolph.

Mixed by Jocelyn Gonzales.

Social media by Olivia Cunningham.

Theme song by Fareed Sajan.

“A Better Life” show logo by Daniel Robles.

Fi2W is supported by The Ford Foundation, the David and Katherine Moore Family Foundation, the Ralph E. Odgen Foundation, the J.M. Kaplan Fund, the Listening Post Collective, an anonymous donor and readers like you.

Florence Barrau-Adams boasts over 20 years of experience working in audio/video media, having served as producer, director, writer, host, editor, and production engineer on various productions. She has also produced, directed, and edited audiobooks, and has sound designed for film and theater productions. Currently, Florence produces two podcasts: Justice in America, a 2020 Webby Nominee that discusses topics in the American criminal justice system and explains what they are and how they work, and Citations Needed, a podcast about the intersection of media, PR, and power. Florence is an Adjunct Professor at New York University, Undergrad Film & TV.