Sa Bondye sere pou ou, lavalas pa ka pote l ale.

A literal translation would be: "What God holds tight for you, floods cannot take it away."

An island country of the Caribbean, Haiti has faced widescale floods many times in her story due to excessive rainfall and deforestation in the mountains. When the flood causes the river to rush and swell, it brings rocks, branches, and other large debris with it. Often, the flood is so big that it overtakes everything on its path. We Haitians call this kind of flood "lavalas".

Haitians say that even if you or your possession are on its itinarary, it will not be taken away.

This proverb teaches us about the faithfulness of God and His providence in that what God has for you, nothing can prevent it from happening and nothing can take it away.

It is used to encourage people when they are in a desperate situation and when something fortunate occurs to someone out of nothing after a hard and difficult time to congratulate them.

No matter what you are facing, we as Haitians remember “Sa Bondye sere pou ou, lavalas pa ka pote l ale."