Kudos To...Wyclef!

Seems like pop superstar Wyclef Jean knows how to do more than put on a killer show. During his short visit to the island last weekend—in town to perform at the 14^th annual Bermuda Music Festival—the musician spoke to 500 young people at an African Methodist Episcopal Church meeting at the elegant Fairmont Southampton on Saturday. According to the Royal Gazette, the musician spoke about his humble roots growing up in poverty-striken Haiti, how he was born in a thatched-roof hut and grew up hunting for food with a slingshot. And although his family moved to Brooklyn, New York when he was nine-years-old, it wasn’t before he learned an important life lesson—that one should always pursue their goals no matter how far flung they may seem, a sentiment he conveyed eloquently to the young Bermudians in the audience. So to you Wyclef, I say three cheers! Not only do you let strange fans approach you for photo ops while lifting weights in hotel gyms (ahem) but you’re a pillar of the world community and for that you get an official Bermuda Shorts round of applause. (Pause for hip, hip, hoorays followed by boisterous clapping). For more on how Wyclef is helping the public—and more specifically in his home nation of Haiti—check out Yéle Haiti, a non-profit organization he founded in 2005 to assist his native land.