This is the 177th diary on the earthquake disaster in Haiti. The first diary was by Dallasdoc and previous diaries are linked below. This is the Justice, Not Charity edition of the diary.
"The Haitian people are asking not for charity, but for justice."
The Uses of Haiti last paragraph pg. 307
What, then is to be done? Speaking of events since the 1991 coup, Noam Chomsky has noted that "honest commentary would place all of this in the context of our unwavering opposition to freedom and human rights in Haiti for no less than 200 years." The first order of business, for citizens of the United States, might be a candid and careful assessment of our ruinous policies towards Haiti. Remorse is not a very fashionable sentiment. But for many, old-fashioned penitence might be the first step towards a new solidarity, a pragmatic solidarity that could supplant both our malignant policies of the past and the well -meaning but unfocused charity that does not respond to Haitian aspirations. The Haitian people are asking not for charity, but for justice.
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This is where Paul Farmer's book The Uses of Haiti ends. This is where our new diary begins. Farmer answers our question- what to do first, "The first order of business, for citizens of the United States, might be a candid and careful assessment of our ruinous policies towards Haiti." that is what this diary will attempt to do (mainly through the discussion that takes place in the comments). Many of us are new to learning about Haiti. But we really want to help. This diary is a place to learn about Haiti, about US policy towards Haiti, and to advocate for Haiti.
Join us for today's news discussion and more. Be sure to also see diaries by Bev Bell for informed ground-level information on Haiti's needs.
Join us Thursday's for book day : Current book is Damming The Flood: Haiti, Aristide, And The Politics Of Containment, by Peter Hallward: Chapter 2 |
se nan chimen jennen yo kenbe chwal malen
(If you want to catch a wild horse, find a tight corral)
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Action Alert: |
930 signatures the goal is 1000. This is to stop Haitian's from being evicted from homeless camps. The Petition to stop rape got results, see UN Human Rights Council Resolution: Accelerating efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women: ensuring due diligence in prevention.
Action Alerts:
Aid
Must Read: Kim Ives, Land Ownership at the Crux of Haiti's Stalled Reconstruction
Evictions: Stop Forced Evictions of Haiti's Earthquake Victims Institute For Justice & Democracy in Haiti has a petition, here.
The UN and Haitian Government agreed on April 22 to an immediate 3-week moratorium on forced evictions which expired, Thursday, May 13th. Within that period reports of evictions continued. Humanitarian aid, including food, water and sanitation facilities have been cut off in targeted camps (1, 2). In other locations, residents are being harassed and abused by the police. The people most affected by the earthquake, those who have lost their families, homes and livelihoods, now live in fear that they may be violently forced to leave their present settlements without viable options established for relocation (2).
Additional Action Alerts:
TransAfrica Forum
Stand up and be counted (Partners in Health)
HAITI ACTION COMMITTEE ACTION ALERT
Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti
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Clinton has no business co-chairing Haiti's Recovery Commission: Who is on the Haiti Recovery Commission? |
tout moun se moun —
(every human being is a human being)
Damming The Flood, (pg. xxxiv): Mantra from Aristide's 1990 campaign:
"Alone we are week, together we are strong; all together we are Lavalas, the flood [yon se`l nou feb, ansanm nou fo, ansanm nou se Lavalas]."
Aristide
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Must Read: Kim Ives, Land Ownership at the Crux of Haiti's Stalled Reconstruction. Kim Ives talks about it with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now!, here.
Watch whole interview here.
In this way, the Jan. 12 earthquake reveals that the principal fault-line in Haiti is not geological but one of class. A small handful of rich families own large tracts of land in suburban Port-au-Prince which would be ideal for resettling the displaced thousands. The lands are located near the city, often with water and some trees, and are largely undeveloped.
However, these same families control the Haitian government and, more importantly, have great influence in the newly formed 26-member Interim Commission to Reconstruct Haiti (CIRH), co-chaired by former President Bill Clinton and Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive. Thirteen of the CIRH directors represent multilateral banks like the IMF, World Bank, and Inter-American Development Bank and donor nations like the U.S., France and Canada. The other thirteen members represent Haiti's elite.
The most prominent elite representative on the CIRH is Reginald Boulos, who heads one of the Haitian bourgeoisie's most powerful families and backed both the 1991-94 and 2004-06 coups d'état against former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. (Despite regular and massive demonstrations asking for the Haitian government to facilitate his return, Aristide remains in exile in South Africa, without a passport or laisser-passer to return home.)
The Commission says this web site is for transparency. I doubt it. What do you all think? Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, Clinton & Bellerive co-chairs, 26 members 13 foreigners and 13 of Haiti's elite business people. One of which Reginald Boulos was a backer of both coups. When I click transparency I get this:
Transparency
We will be held accountable for the fulfillment of the commitments by the improvement they bring to the lives of Haitians. We are committed to monitoring assistance and documenting how our support helps achieve Haiti’s goals.
More information coming soon.
I looked for the names of the people on the commission. After reading Kim Ives must read article and finding out that Reginald Boulos (backer of both coups) was on the commission, I wanted to find out who else was on it. I am sure I must just be missing it. The information is probably readily available. If anyone know where to find it please share.
Damming The Flood pg. 56
It is undeniable true that the 1994 Paris Plan forced Aristide to make some very painful decisions. In exchange for some $770 million in promised aid and loans, the list of concessions appears calamitous: tariffs were to be "drastically" reduced, wages frozen, around half the civil service to be laid off, and all nine of Haiti's remaining public utilities (telephone, electricity, port, airport, cement, flour, a cooking oil plant and two state banks) were to be sold off.
Clinton has no business running the commission. His policies helped push Haiti from poor but able to feed itself to poor and starving. See How NGOs are Profiting Off a Grave Situation: Haiti and the Aid Racket or COHA Research Associate Leah Chavla,Bill Clinton’s Heavy Hand on Haiti’s Vulnerable Agricultural Economy: The American Rice Scandal. Clinton apologized for destroying Haiti's farm economy but he continues to promote the same neoliberal failed policies. Well they failed majority of Haitians but the policies did ensure that Haiti's unjust and inhumane wealth distribution remain in tact. His policies served US corporations, investors and Haiti's elite quite well.
http://www.youtube.com/...
Damming The Flood (Pg. 48)
To induce Aristide to accept these things and to placate the army that had overthrown him the Bush and Clinton administrations had an equally simple strategy - they colluded in the killing of his supporters. All through the interminable negotiations between Aristide and Cedras, explains Allan Nairn, "the US had a very clear, systematic policy of supporting the forces of terror in Haiti while at the same time, back in Washington, twisting Aristide's arm. He had a gun to his head, figuratively, just as his supporters had guns to their heads literally. It was outright political extortion."
Jeremy Scahill on Democracy Now! responds to Clinton being appointed as UN envoy to Haiti. Must See!
http://www.youtube.com/...
NYT Editorial, Haiti at Six Months
A new reconstruction agency, the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, which is supposed to oversee that rebuilding, is hardly off the ground.
AOL News, Clintons Will Have a Big Say in Haiti's Future:
It is an unusual confluence of power for the Clintons and for the United States. The former president also directs the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund and the Clinton Foundation.
snip
The board members of the commission met for the first time last month, but revealed few details from the closed-door meeting. Bill Clinton has said he eventually wants the meetings to be open to the media and for meeting minutes to be posted on the Internet, but as of publication time for this article, the IHRC was not able to provide minutes from its June 17 session.
Let them know how they are doing but read this first please.
Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC)
Contact Us
We want to hear from you.
If you have general questions or comments, please email us at: info@cirh.ht
For press inquiries please contact: press@cirh.ht
Phone number: (509) 25 19 31 31
Sorry to all that my recent diary that was based on a hoax mislead. I should have checked before I posted. I was just so excited. I will be more careful.
For more about the Hoax and about the issue of restitution:
IJDH, Haiti’s Independence Debt and the Issue of Restitution
France will pay Independence Debt Back to Haiti?
Restitution of Haiti’s Independence Debt from France
France Isn't Paying Back What it Owes Haiti After All: The Question is, Why Not?:
But this analogy hardly is appropriate because the USA's relationship to Britain was never one of slave colony to colonial master as Haiti's was to France. France was explicit in the early nineteenth century that it wanted “compensation” for the loss of its property: Haitian slaves. This makes Haiti's “debt” to France perhaps the most odious in history. It is also surely one of the most debilitating: it ensured that Haiti would be impoverished for decades to come; its legacy today is evident (although other nations, included the U.S., played their part through military occupations, raiding the Haitian Treasury, and through damaging economic policies pushed by the International Monetary Fund).
Ravet pa janm gen rezon devan poul
Roaches are never right when facing chickens
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Thursday is Haiti diary book day: Book List : |
This is our book list so far:
In the Parish of the Poor by Jean-Bertrand Aristide,
Mountains Beyond Mountains, Damming The Flood (2010 updated edition will be out soon. You can pre-order it now. h/ty NY brit expat published date is 9/6/10), The Uses of Haiti, Travesty in Haiti, Partner To The Poor A Paul Farmer Reader, Walking on Fire, Brother, I'm dying,
Bitter Sugar: Slaves Today in the Caribbean by Maurice Lemoione [1985],
The Black Jacobins, C.L.R. James (h/t Deoliver47),
Edwidge Danticat's TheFarming of Bones,
The Chosen Place, The Timeless People,
Krik? Krak!PIH has a book list,
Breath, Eyes, Memory,
The Rainy Season - Haiti after Duvalier by A. Wilentz,
PIH has a new website. They have recommended reading, book list, links to websites with action alerts. Articles.
Videos
The Agronomist,
Aristide and the Endless Revolution,
Life and Debt ,
Poto Mitan,
Any suggestions? We are looking for books, articles, websites where we can get accurate information about Haiti. Please share any information.
"The Haitian people are asking not for charity, but for justice."
The Uses of Haiti last paragraph pg. 307
What, then is to be done? Speaking of events since the 1991 coup, Noam Chomsky has noted that "honest commentary would place all of this in the context of our unwavering opposition to freedom and human rights in Haiti for no less than 200 years." The first order of business, for citizens of the United States, might be a candid and careful assessment of our ruinous policies towards Haiti. Remorse is not a very fashionable sentiment. But for many, old-fashioned penitence might be the first step towards a new solidarity, a pragmatic solidarity that could supplant both our malignant policies of the past and the well -meaning but unfocused charity that does not respond to Haitian aspirations. The Haitian people are asking not for charity, but for justice.
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"Dye mon, gen mon."
Translation: Beyond the mountain is another mountain.
(A proverb of both patience and the recognition of how difficult life in Haiti is.)
ijdh:
Anyone interested in democracy and rights has reason to be interested in Haiti. Over two centuries ago, Haitians challenged the notions of human rights taking root in Europe and the nascent United States, insisting that all people are human and that slavery could have no place in any republic worthy of the name. This was the beginning of the modern human rights movement.
— Paul Farmer, Co-Founder, Partners in Health
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Aid/Change? |
Mark Schuller, Rained Out? Opportunities in Haiti Washing Away
Huffington Post, Haiti Relief Is Not Charity: A Rights-Based Approach to Aid
AlterNet, Haiti and The Broken Promises
IJDH, Challenges Facing Haiti’s Justice Sector: Prepared for Congressional Briefing
Kim Ives, Land Ownership at the Crux of Haiti's Stalled Reconstruction. Kim Ives talks about it with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now!, here.
They say this web site is for transparency. I doubt it. What do you all think? Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, Clinton & Bellerive co-chairs, 26 members 13 foreigners and 13 of Haiti's elite business people. One of which Reginald Boulos was a backer of both coups.
MUST READ Mark Schuller, Huffington Post, Sowing Seeds of Hope or Seeds of Dependence?
Tectonic Shifts? The upcoming donors' conference for Haiti
Summary of HOPE legislation: This is the same trade policy that we usually have to force Haiti to accept. But now we art told to celebrate it as an accomplishment? When did sweatshops become reason to celebrate?
CounterPunch, How NGOs are Profiting Off a Grave Situation: Haiti and the Aid Racket
More Articles, here.
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tout moun se moun —
(every human being is a human being)
Damming The Flood, (pg. xxxiv): Mantra from Aristide's 1990 campaign:
"Alone we are week, together we are strong; all together we are Lavalas, the flood [yon se`l nou feb, ansanm nou fo, ansanm nou se Lavalas]."
Aristide
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The now requisite warnings: |
Please do your research before donating. The Charity Navigator tool is a useful resource for this purpose. For those not familiar, Charity Navigator evaluates and rates charities according to their financial responsibility and sustainability. Their homepage now lists comprehensive information the major organizations on the ground in Haiti now. (h/t DeepHarm and deb s) An additional resource for researching charities is the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance site.
A note about ratings listed here: We have looked up all of the charities listed here and we've put ratings next to the ones that have actually been rated. It looks like this: (****/A). The number of stars (1-4) indicates the rating from Charity Navigator and is also a clickable link to a detailed review of that particular charity. The letter grade is from AIP and is explained here.
The lack of a rating does not mean that something is wrong with it. A lot of good (and bad) organizations have yet to be rated. For more tips, see: Evaluating Charities Not Currently Rated by Charity Navigator.
NGOs: |
The Aristide Foundation for Democracy (AFD) was created in 1996 by former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide (the first democratically elected president of Haiti) with a simple principle in mind: "The promise of democracy can only be fulfilled if all sectors of Haitian society are able to actively participate in the democratic life of the nation." |
Can-Do.org is intensely dedicated to working on the local level to provide lasting solutions to some of the world’s most critical issues, from environmental degradation to natural disasters, humanitarian crises to educational inequity. Their donation page is here.
Fonkoze (***) , a micro-lending organization in Haiti. From their Web site:
Fonkoze is Haiti’s Alternative Bank for the Organized Poor. We are the largest micro-finance institution offering a full range of financial services to the rural-based poor in Haiti. Fonkoze is committed to the economic and social improvement of the people and communities of Haiti and to the reduction of poverty in the country.
According to their Web site, their offices have taken quite a hit. This is another one in the category of long-term rebuilding. (h/t parryander and dizzydean)
Haiti Emergency Relief Foundation:
Haiti’s grassroots movement – including labor unions, women’s groups, educators and human rights activists, support committees for political prisoners, and agricultural cooperatives – are funneling needed aid to those most hit by the earthquake. They are doing what they can – with the most limited of funds – to make a difference. Please take this chance to lend them your support. All donations to the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund will be forwarded to our partners on the ground to help them rebuild what has been destroyed.
Healing Hands for Haiti (a physical rehab and prosthetics organization based in Port au Prince), Lamp for Haiti, and a group that umbrellas several projects called Healing Haiti. parryander has personal experience with these groups, so I suggest checking out their comments.
Another organization, The Honor and Respect Foundation, was described in a story on Narconews called Getting Help to Haiti. The foundation was created by journalist Reed Lindsay, who is now Telsur's D.C. Bureau Chief, for children who couldn't get into other schools. Their website says that it "seeks to establish funds in support of several specific programs carried out by grassroots groups in the poorest neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince." I have a phone number for a contact there and will get direct information tonight.
Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti:
"We fight for the human rights of Haiti’s poor, in court, on the streets and wherever decisions about Haitians’ rights are made. We represent the unjustly imprisoned and victims of political persecution, coordinate grassroots advocacy in Haiti and the US, train human rights advocates in Haiti and disseminate human rights information worldwide". |
"IJDH is simply the most reliable source for information and analysis on human rights in Haiti." — Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)
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L'Athletique D'Haiti:
“While many children and parents see the club as a way to make it to the Haitian National team and also as a route ?to college scholarships or professional teams outside of Haiti, there’s more to the program than sports. By encouraging youngsters from wealthier families to compete with those from the slums, Robert Duval is also chipping away at the barriers of long divided Haitian society. And as Duval points out, ‘Some of these kids have a lot of talent, not only for soccer. Maybe it’s school or music or writing poetry. But sports will lift them to the next level of life.’” ?- Finbar O’Reilly, National Post, Canada
L'Athletique D'Haiti parryander describes Bobby Duval
Besides being an immensely generous and charming man, he can be delightfully blunt and wonderfully funny. He has no time for crap. He has been through the wars - those of his personal experience being a prisoner of Baby Doc, and also those of the violence in Cite Soleil - the gang wars.
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The Lambi Fund (****) is a secular non-profit nonprofit whose mission is "to assist the popular, democratic movement in Haiti. Its goal is to help strengthen civil society as a necessary foundation of democracy and development. The fund channels financial and other resources to community-based organizations that promote the social and economic empowerment of the Haitian people." They support "projects that embrace the following principles: non-violent, non-partisan, community-based, promoting the advancement of women, using education and training for empowerment, and promoting the overall democratic movement."
Partners in Health (****/A+) has now started a BLOG about its efforts called Stand with Haiti. It has very useful information. Partners in Health is also putting out a call for health volunteers, in case you are a medical professional who can help out that way.
PIH 6 month report! And website with slide show, Six months have now passed since a devastating earthquake ripped through Haiti.
Every day since January 12, 2010, Partners In Health (PIH) and our sister organization Zanmi Lasante (ZL) have been working to help Haiti's people build their lives and their country back better.
Although not yet fully funded, the Stand With Haiti Fund we established in March has provided PIH and ZL with the resources and the strategic vision to begin the process of building back better in Haiti through a combination of: strengthened clinical services at our existing health centers and hospitals as well as in new facilities; expanded social and economic support programs for the most vulnerable patients and community members where we work; and investments in long-term, strategic revitalization of the public health and medical education systems.
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The Jean Cadet Restavek Foundation. Restaveks are child slaves. This is an organization for children run by a Haitian man who is a former child slave.
Reiser Relief, a group that parryander works with
Matching Funds
Matching funds currently available at this link for Reiser Relief, a group that parryander works with:
Reiser Relief is a charity started by my friend Father Reiser - it funds our water truck, pays teachers salaries, feeds kids, and it supports orphanages and homes for the elderly and women.
A total of $20K in matching funds have been provided for Reiser Relief from Razoo.
As of May 13, over $4K remain (this number does not appear to be updated daily, but we will keep it as current as possible).
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ShelterBox: TexMex is busy moving, but carolina stargazer is still watching the store. The next ShelterBox diary is planned for Tuesday morning, but activity in
diary will be monitored until then.
SOIL is based in Haiti (founded by two American females) and although their regular mission is :Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods (SOIL) is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting soil resources, empowering communities and transforming wastes into resources in Haiti, they are in the streets in PAP providing normal disaster relief services and translation (they speak Kreyol). They have said that all donations in the next 30 days (at least) will go directly to their relief work rather than their usual mission. They have been in Haiti for several years and are very familiar with it.
Social Networking Efforts: |
Media Make Change has this to say:
Too often, we hear stories that are told about the survivors, where a narrator with a minimal connection to the tragedy attempts to explain lives that s/he doesn’t truly understand. But Haitian citizens have the right to tell their own stories; they have the right to engage in public discussion about how to remedy the crisis in Haiti.
Check out their 5 Easy Ways to Help page. In particular, they would like to have your old digital camera to put in the hands of a Haitian citizen.
Past diaries in this series: |
Deadly Force, Deadly Fears: How Many More Oscar Grants? this is not a diary about Haiti. But it does shine a light on racist policies affect on communities.
Be sure to also see diaries by Bev Bell for informed ground-level information on Haiti's needs.
Mokurai has contributed The Real Story in Haiti and Haiti: Dimensions of Disaster.
FishOutofWater takes a moment to explore the benefits of Partners in Health's commitment to solar powered health centers.
Meteor Blades points the way to a better and more sustainable future for Haitians in Haiti Could Use a New Deal.
As the MSM (in the United States) turns attention away from Haiti, Deoliver47 reminds us that things are not suddenly all better: Raining Disease and More Deaths.
For some good pre-earthquake background on Haiti, see Daisy Cutter's Book Review: "Damming the Flood" by Peter Hallward, pt 1. This diary was published in July 2008 and presents a history of Haiti up to 1999 using Hallward's book as a reference. Excellent.
Two recent diaries by Deep harm remind us that the rains are coming and tents are needed.
ShelterBox: TexMex is busy moving, but carolina stargazer is still watching the store. The next ShelterBox diary is planned for Tuesday morning, but activity in Tuesday's diary will be monitored until then. Matching funds are available.
News Update: |
TOP STORIES
Mark Schuller, Rained Out? Opportunities in Haiti Washing Away:
Another opportunity squandered is decentralization and rural development. 600,000 people like Frisline and Marie-Jeanne, two women in the film Poto Mitan, left the city to go to the provinces. Haiti's crumbling rural infrastructure could have been rebuilt by employing tens of thousands. With no jobs, no aid, no prospects of rural development, nothing to keep people in the provinces, the bulk of this reverse migration was undone, and Port-au-Prince is once again a magnet for those seeking jobs. This time, it's food-for-work, even more temporary than offshore apparel factory jobs. If and when the reconstruction aid ever arrives, much of it should go towards a real national development plan, building factories to transform and keep the value of Haitian agricultural produce in the country. For example, yesterday I bought three mangoes for 10 goud (25 cents). At a Whole Foods in New York last month, these same mangoes sold for $2.50 apiece. This "value added" and job creation should stay in Haiti, in the peasant, rural sector. But the current development blueprint, the Collier Report - highlighted on the UN Special Envoy page - prioritizes export.
In addition to the rain, people like Leslie and thousands of others are fighting for the right guaranteed by the United Nations and Haitian constitution to sleep on concrete blocks, in wet, muddy, ripping tents. Frisline, who is living in her second camp since moving back to Port-au-Prince, lamented, "You never know what's happening. One day they could ask you to leave. We never know anything. Nothing is secure." As if to illustrate her lack of security, someone stole her bag with most of her remaining belongings on Monday. Some owners have even taken to send armed gangs to terrorize people so they will go away. Less extreme tactics such as freezing people out of services so they will leave on their own are far more common. Three of eight camps that my research assistants visited so far this week are facing forced removal. International Action Ties has also released a report detailing a disturbing pattern of private land owners forcing people off the camps.
Washington Post Editorial, U.S.-sponsored conference pledged billions to rebuild Haiti, but little paid out:
Devel op ment officials said it was difficult to plan projects without knowing when funding would arrive.
“I don’t sense a reluctance” by donor nations, said one official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to be frank. “It’s really a lack of urgency, which to me is a little bit shocking.… The situation in Haiti is quite dire.”
AlterNet, Haiti and The Broken Promises
Of the $9 billion promised, Haiti has received only 2% have paid in full, mainly from Brazil, Norway, and Australia. These funds were directed by the World Bank. Other countries made contributions independent of World Bank direction, which have proven extremely crucial to supporting the neglected people of Haiti. For example, Venezuela has pledged to cancel Haiti’s $395 million debt with Petrocaribe, the Venezuelan national oil company. Last month the government of Venezuela announced at a conference on Haiti in the Dominican Republic that $198 million from the debt is available for direct investment in Haiti’s health and education projects.
Similarly, Cuba continues to assist in filling the gap of Haiti’s primary health care needs for 2.8 million of Haiti’s 9.3 million people– both Cuba and Venezuela had opposed the supervision of the World Bank to direct donor effort for Haiti. Senegal offered an even more generous gift via its president Abdoulaye Wade who proposed “voluntary repatriation to any Haitian that wants to return to their origin.” The offer specifies that “Senegal is ready to offer them parcels of land – even an entire region.”
Huffington Post, Haiti Relief Is Not Charity: A Rights-Based Approach to Aid:
We hiked to a mountaintop slum in Grand Ravine run by infamous child gangsters, a place where neither police nor UN peacekeepers dare tread. Teenagers and young men took it upon themselves to scavenge enough plywood to construct a five-room schoolhouse. There, nine unpaid and undeterred teachers tutored 500+ students in two shifts without such basic supplies as books, paper and pencils. An old shelf substituted as a makeshift chalkboard. The youth pleaded that funds be made available for school supplies, as well as a health clinic and a park for recreation.
Kim Ives, Land Ownership at the Crux of Haiti's Stalled Reconstruction:
IJDH, Challenges Facing Haiti’s Justice Sector: Prepared for Congressional Briefing
Aid
Mark Schuller, Rained Out? Opportunities in Haiti Washing Away
Huffington Post, Haiti Relief Is Not Charity: A Rights-Based Approach to Aid
Washington Post Editorial, U.S.-sponsored conference pledged billions to rebuild Haiti, but little paid out
Even BBC was fooled by the hoax. I fell a little better about being fooled, now.
It is a good article, Caribbean Net News, Commentary: Two percent to Haiti not enough:
Even the BBC was taken in, carrying the story on one of its official news websites before hastily withdrawing it.
AlterNet, Haiti and The Broken Promises
BBC, Crossing Continents, Haiti
FlashPoints (starts at about 25 minutes)
BBC, Storm rips through Haiti tent city for homeless
Sorry to all that my diary mislead. I should have checked before I posted. I was just so excited. I will be more careful.
For more about the Hoax and about the issue of restitution:
IJDH, Haiti’s Independence Debt and the Issue of Restitution
France will pay Independence Debt Back to Haiti?
Restitution of Haiti’s Independence Debt from France
France Isn't Paying Back What it Owes Haiti After All: The Question is, Why Not?:
... France was explicit in the early nineteenth century that it wanted “compensation” for the loss of its property: Haitian slaves. This makes Haiti's “debt” to France perhaps the most odious in history. It is also surely one of the most debilitating: it ensured that Haiti would be impoverished for decades to come; its legacy today is evident (although other nations, included the U.S., played their part through military occupations, raiding the Haitian Treasury, and through damaging economic policies pushed by the International Monetary Fund).
Al Jazeera, West still 'undermining Haiti'
Amy Goodman, Haiti, Six Months After the Earthquake, Democracy Now! in Haiti
MUST READ Mark Schuller, Huffington Post, Sowing Seeds of Hope or Seeds of Dependence?
They say this web site is for transparency. I doubt it. What do you all think? Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, Clinton & Bellerive co-chairs, 26 members 13 foreigners and 13 of Haiti's elite business people. One of which Reginald Boulos was a backer of both coups.
IJDH, The Victim-Centered Approach
More articles six months after the quake...
Women/Children
Democracy Now!, Rape in the Camps: Lacking Security, Women Organize to Protect Themselves
Immigration/Migration
Boston Globe Editorial, Haiti: Expedite visas for family members
La Times, Helping Haitians help themselves
The administration should make good on its promise to expedite the immigration to the U.S. of about 55,000 Haitians who have been approved for visas.
IJDH Commends USCIS Decision to Extend Deadline for Haitians to Apply for Temporary Protected Status
We also applaud the Director and his team for their responsiveness in the last six months to TPS implementation issues, and for welcoming during yesterday’s meeting the suggestion to create a "working group" to facilitate USCIS-legal provider cooperation in finding solutions to such and similar issues.
The Director also unexpectedly announced in Miami that the agency is considering expediting family reunifications by paroling 55,000 beneficiaries of already-approved immigrant visa petitions, as IJDH has been urging. In 2007, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) created a Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program to ensure orderly migration and save lives at sea. Creating a similar Haitian program - or otherwise paroling the 55,000 - would give parity and assist recovery efforts by creating an additional flow of remittances to an estimated 550,000 or more persons in devastated Haiti.
Filing deadline for TPS is 7/20
Kim Ives, Advocates Warn That TPS Deadline Is Fast Approaching
COHA, Disparities in U.S. Immigration Policy toward Haiti and Cuba: A Legacy to be Continued?
Edwidge Danticat on US Detentions. Must See 60 minutes interview
Election
IJDH's report is helpful. I am speculating that if the US and International Community fund an election for Haiti where Preval's unconstitutional CEP's decision to exclude the most popular party in Haiti the Lavalas is upheld, then the US and International Community are the ones calling the shots and either making or helping Preval uphold the exclusion of the Lavalas party. If the US and International Community refuse to fund the corrupt election Preval is planning and refuse to recognize the results, then it is Preval making the decision to uphold the exclusion of the Lavalas and other political parties.
This answers many questions about the election. Must Read: IJDH Releases Report Calling for “fair, inclusive and constitutional elections” in Haiti
IJDH is shaping the dialog around elections in Haiti with a new comprehensive report that analyzes constitutional provisions in depth and breaks the myths around election mechanics. The report discusses the importance of “fair, inclusive and constitutional elections” in Haiti, and analyzes the main obstacles to achieving this goal.
IJDH, Thousands in Haiti march on Aristide's birthday
CARICOM SUMMIT: Transparent elections needed for Haiti
Other news and information: |
Thursday is Haiti diary book day. Here is the Book List
:We are cutting back the diary to 3 days a week but diaries will have new information in them. If you are interested in posting a dairy please leave comment.
UPCOMING DIARIES
Monday: ***open***
Thursday: Book day - allie123
Saturday: ***open***
If you would like to volunteer to contribute a diary to continue this series, please volunteer in the comments below. Norbrook has created a Google documents file with the source code for the first version of the diary with the NGO list. allie123 created a Google doc for the new series Justice, Not Charity. However, because we are cutting back to 2 or 3 diaries a week we will be adding a focus and new information to each diary now.
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The icons and March 13 formatting revision of this diary series are courtesy of the html artist known on Daily Kos as Pluto. The "Help Haiti" image at the top of the diary that has become the "logo" of this series is courtesy of AuntKat. Big thank you to swampus for maintaining the google doc for months.