What if you woke up and found yourself in Fort Dimanche, a prison that can be likened to Attica and San Quentin—only thing is, Fort Dimanche prisoners never got their day in court, and some were at times put in there just for exercising their freedom of speech.

What if you stood in your small, claustrophobia-provoking cell and a lady mouse’s visit was a welcomed diversion? What if you had to scrape your own excrement with your hands? What if taking a shower was a luxury? This is what happened to Patrick Lemoine, the author of Fort Dimanche, Dungeon of Death. Lemoine was arrested in 1971, and thrown into the dungeon of death that many entered, but few left.

Some were there for being Communists, others for challenging the current government in power. Lemoine recalls how he and his fellow prisoners once had to share a cell with a group of Haiti-fleeing individuals, who were apprehended and imprisoned for trying to leave Haiti. Divisions among prisoners, tremendous cruelty, death-leading torture, shattered family lives—as some still alive in Fort Dimanche were sometimes reported dead, leading the loved ones they left behind to go on with their lives—were the norm for those whose lives were stalled by Fort Dimanche.

Despite all that he suffered, Lemoine maintained his sanity. Maybe because the fact that he made it out of the Fort Dimanche prison when so many others didn’t made him keep his head up over the years. Today Lemoine leads a successful life (he was released and sent to exile in 1977 after 6 years of imprisonment) as an aircraft engineer, but surely the horrific time he spend in Fort Dimanche is something he can’t exactly blot from his memory.

Haiti-based singer Tjo Zenny, leader of the group Kreyol La suffered a car accident yesterday morning in an area in Haiti called Cavaillon. He was trying to spare three people on a motorcycle and lost control of his SUV. For a hot minute, there was speculation all over social media about his supposed death. The singer took to his Instagram today to tell his fans that he was alright. In a gracious not, he wrote:

I’m going to keep doing good, ’til I can’t anymore. There was just one tree on that road! Just one! It’s the one that kept me from the Grim Reaper. I love people, so it’s only natural that nature should love me. Thank you Lord for sparing my life. Oh, well. Guess it was not my time yet. Special thanks to the folks in Cavaillon who had my back, and gave me their support. Special thanks going out to all the drivers who stopped on the road to help me. Thanks to the truck trailer driver who helped me tow the car. Thanks to everyone in the area who went out of their way to fetch water for me. Thanks to all the women in the area who took their time to take care of me. Thank you, officers. Thank you to the local chief and clerk at Cavaillon. Thank you Pierre and Ginou who stayed with me, who stood there with me. Thank you to the guys on the scooters, who went to get the towing guys. Thank you all. One day, I promise I’ll pay back the entire population of Cavaillon for all they’ve done for me. I’m the type who never forgets the good done to me me. And I will keep my word. Thanks again.

Above: The site of the accident.

Earlier this year, Kreyol La and its leading man released a music video for the song “Turn Me On”. Reportedly working on his next musical opus, the singer and his bandmates are set to come to the USA for the Haitian Labor Day Festival in New York.

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