[1] Five years later, at the age of 14, when due to his polio Auguste had no control over the left part of his body, he was "carried on his back"[3]: 47 to a Vodou ceremony in La Plaine du Cul de Sac, where his family owned a plantation.
At the ceremony, someone possessed by the lwa (Haitian deity) Erzuli Freda performed a healing ritual, which purportedly gave the young artist, nearly paralyzed from his illness, increased mobility with the aid of a cane.
Upon returning home later that day, Kandjo composed his greatest song in Kreyòl: "Erzulie nennen O," a tribute to the lwa who had given him increased ability to walk.
[1] In 1997, Averill wrote that this song, Erzulie, "became one of his [de Pradines'] most beloved compositions and a part of the Haitian folkloric repertory up to the present day.
[4] In Port-au-Prince as well as throughout Haitian provinces, Kandjo "was in great demand as a singer before, during, and after the [1915-1934 US] occupation in clubs, at private parties, in theaters, and eventually at outdoor rallies".
[3]: 48 Initially he believed that outside intervention was needed to address internecine Haitian strife, and Kandjo's songs of the early occupation period were "reflective and philosophical.
In his home city of Port-au-Prince and throughout the provinces, he was in great demand as a singer before, during, and after the occupation in clubs, at private parties, in theaters, and eventually at outdoor rallies.