Haiti’s New Year’s Day soup has made headlines. But let’s not be naive about its symbolism

Sharing soup joumou on 1 January represents what Haitians bring to the world - but remembering that inequality prevails is arguably more important

• Culture in a bowl: Haiti's joumou soup awarded protected status by Unesco

Whispers. Curfews. Never-ending military parades and shows of arms. Opponents' bodies exposed for children to see as some sort of macabre art. And always, that nasal voice of Papa Doc", Francois Duvalier, chanting on all radio stations. Those were the days of my childhood under a dictator in Haiti.

But on 1 January, Independence Day, there were three things that made a difference.