Posted on Aug 19, 2023
At the Ethnic Enrichment Festival, Maselina Conlon wants to give Kansas City a taste of Haiti
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The Ethnic Enrichment Festival has been bringing people together to celebrate their different cultures for 44 years now. Maselina Conlon loves the festival for the opportunity to teach people about Haitian culture.
The wooden stand where Maselina Conlon and her family are preparing for Kansas City’s Ethnic Enrichment Festival is bustling on Friday afternoon. People are hanging clothing from Conlon’s business, My Island Roots, which sells apparel that Conlon makes and some that she buys in Haiti. Others are preparing creole dishes to sell to the thousands of visitors who will stop by over the next three days.
Conlon has been participating in the festival since 1997, when she and her family moved to Kansas City from Haiti. After meeting a woman at church who ran the country’s stand, Conlon was inspired to volunteer. She’s been coming back ever since.
“I love it so much because you get involved with a lot of other people and then you get to know about other countries to see how much they love their country as much as you love yours,” Conlon says.
The wooden stand where Maselina Conlon and her family are preparing for Kansas City’s Ethnic Enrichment Festival is bustling on Friday afternoon. People are hanging clothing from Conlon’s business, My Island Roots, which sells apparel that Conlon makes and some that she buys in Haiti. Others are preparing creole dishes to sell to the thousands of visitors who will stop by over the next three days.
Conlon has been participating in the festival since 1997, when she and her family moved to Kansas City from Haiti. After meeting a woman at church who ran the country’s stand, Conlon was inspired to volunteer. She’s been coming back ever since.
“I love it so much because you get involved with a lot of other people and then you get to know about other countries to see how much they love their country as much as you love yours,” Conlon says.
At the Ethnic Enrichment Festival, Maselina Conlon wants to give Kansas City a taste of Haiti
Posted from kcur.org
Haiti
Kansas City
Culture
Posted 10 mo ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."When Haitian immigrants and refugees settle in Kansas City, Conlon’s church helps them find jobs, English language classes and housing. While the Haitian community in Kansas City was small when Conlon first moved here as an 18-year-old, she’s excited to see it grow and thrive.
Throughout the festival weekend, Conlon is hoping to connect with more people from the Haitian community while experiencing all the other cultures the festival has to offer.
“I think the benefit of the festival is that we are in the Midwest and people get to experience other countries and at least taste their food,” Conlon says. “I appreciate how organized this is and it makes it easy for us to just be ourselves. I feel like I'm at home.”
Conlon goes to great lengths to participate each year. Due to her husband’s job, the family moves around a lot. But that doesn’t stop Conlon from staying involved with her Kansas City-based church — or coming to the festival. Last year, she drove to Kansas City from Orlando, Florida, just to run Haiti’s stand. This year, she was grateful to only drive from Nebraska.
“Anything to even tell people about Haiti — I'll drive to the moon,” Conlon said. “That's how much I love my country.”
..."When Haitian immigrants and refugees settle in Kansas City, Conlon’s church helps them find jobs, English language classes and housing. While the Haitian community in Kansas City was small when Conlon first moved here as an 18-year-old, she’s excited to see it grow and thrive.
Throughout the festival weekend, Conlon is hoping to connect with more people from the Haitian community while experiencing all the other cultures the festival has to offer.
“I think the benefit of the festival is that we are in the Midwest and people get to experience other countries and at least taste their food,” Conlon says. “I appreciate how organized this is and it makes it easy for us to just be ourselves. I feel like I'm at home.”
Conlon goes to great lengths to participate each year. Due to her husband’s job, the family moves around a lot. But that doesn’t stop Conlon from staying involved with her Kansas City-based church — or coming to the festival. Last year, she drove to Kansas City from Orlando, Florida, just to run Haiti’s stand. This year, she was grateful to only drive from Nebraska.
“Anything to even tell people about Haiti — I'll drive to the moon,” Conlon said. “That's how much I love my country.”
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