wilfredo. wilfredo, how are you? reece. good to meet you. the pastor. hi, great to meet you! the country, much of the african—american population remained. hi! norma. reece. good to meet you. this church has quite the cultural mix. yes, that's right. my family, they came from philadelphia — exactly — straight from philadelphia to samana 1824. around 300 people made that first journey by sea from the north—eastern states, enticed by the offer of free land and a chance of a new life. haiti's mission was to consolidate their power by boosting its population. the haitian president talked with the united states president — "oh, i need some people, "like carpenter and bakery. "they build boat, fishing, agriculture." and my family, they felt happy when they tried to make deal with them. they say, "no, no, no — let me try, let me try. "let me go." because they don't felt so free. so, clearly, there wasn't enough opportunity in america for them to feel like they were really going to progress, so when they heard about this in philadelphia and the first few hundred came over, not knowin