Sunday, December 19, 2010

Top Ten Private Initiatives in Haiti Supplement Big Players in 2010-11

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/HG_Lissade/top-ten-private-initiativ_b_797372_71331484.html

We all know the U.N., Red Cross, CARE, UNICEF, Doctors without Borders, Habitat for Humanity, Mercy Corps -- but what about smaller, private initiatives of the international community in Haiti? Individually, their efforts are tremendous. Collectively, they are of staggering importance. In the fields of agriculture, the arts, children and orphans, education, health, housing, microfinance, and reforestation, private initiatives are in the trenches helping to build the new Haiti.



Workers for Yéle Corps are employed four weeks at a time, with a long waiting list for jobs

as they come vacant. The majority of workers come from tent camps, and in most cases

the income they receive supports an extended family. Photo: Yéle Haiti / Sebastian Petion.



Recently, at the suggestion of Congressman Ben Gilman, I coordinated the leadership of select private initiative efforts in Haiti to meet, hosted by Bob Cushman of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. Sixteen global citizens participated, with another six requesting updates. The informative and inspiring meeting has led to the planning of a press conference to keep the spotlight on HOPE for Haiti -- not the continuing hell and horror of debris, disease, and destruction. Noting donor fatigue at the endless cycle of bad news, the group will focus on what positive accomplishments and possibilities exist..



Top Private Initiatives in Haiti - 2010-11



1. Hôpital Albert Schweitzer Haiti (Deschapelles)

2. International University Center Haiti (2011, Léogâne)

3. YMCA Haiti (Port-au-Prince)

4. Yéle Haiti (national)







Children help to transplant trees grown by their parents in the Yéle Vert nursery near

Gonaives. Like the other five nurseries that make up the Yéle Vert program in the Gonaives

area, this nursery is run by local farmers. Photo credit: Yéle Haiti / Sebastian Petion.



Hugh Locke, President of the Yéle Haiti, shared with me three markers of progress there:



There is good news from Haiti, but it does not make it past the overwhelming bad news that is defining how the country is perceived abroad. For some balance, I would like to share three good news stories from Yéle Haiti.



Yéle Vert combines tree planting (close to 400,000 planted so far this year) by farmers with an agricultural service to these same farmers that provides them with seed, fertilizer, tools and training to help improve crop yields. In January the program will be at full capacity and producing one million trees a year.



Yéle Corps provides jobs for 2,000 people from tent camps and poor neighborhoods to clean streets and canals, giving both dignity and income to those directly affected by the earthquake. Beginning in January, the program is expanding to include vocational training for 120 people at a time to learn carpentry, masonry and plumbing.



Nutrition for Kids employs peasant farmers to grow fresh vegetables that are delivered weekly to 21 orphanages, expanding within the next few weeks to around 40 orphanages and a total of around 2,000 children.













Hôpital Albert Schweitzer Haiti in Deschapelles was started by the Mellon family in 1947.





Some of my friends think it is absurd to think about the arts in Haiti at this time. As the leadership of the Smithsonian Institute realized the day the earthquake hit, it would be absurd not to. Haiti will recover, and needs the arts for its sense of identity, satisfaction from beauty itself, and for commerce - tourism and gallery sales. The art scenes have been in Pétionville and Jacmel, but I predict that Léogâne will now become the third legs of the arts stool.



Sandy Mitchell, executive director of the International YMCA based in New York, told me:



There are certainly countless areas in which Haiti can benefit from support from the international community. In addition to all the very basic survival needs that still confront a significant portion of the Haitian population on a daily basis, I believe a key to long-term success in rebuilding the country is to focus on various forms of education, youth leadership development and the reinforcement of a culture of community service and responsibility.



This is not something to be imposed from outside but rather to be modeled hand-in-hand with our Haitian counterparts. Desperate situations can lead people to take desperate and often destructive and lawless actions. Positive role models, on the other hand, can help counter this and to tip the balance from feelings of hopelessness to hope, from fear and frustration to confidence that there is a better future, and from anger and despair to pride that positive change is possible by seeing real examples and actively engaging in the betterment of the community.







The YMCA of Haiti opened in Port-au-Prince in 2010 and plans for Léogâne in 2011.



Sandy continued:



Young people tend to be at the forefront of major societal changes and for that reason it is especially important for the youth of Haiti to find positive outlets and opportunities, and see positive role models. They are the future leaders and that leadership is being shaped now by what they see around them. They need hope; initiatives such as innovative approaches to formal and informal education and health care, the restoration or reintroduction of cultural outlets, the use of green architecture and agriculture, the inclusion of people from all walks of life in initiatives to improve community life, and the creation of small businesses can provide that hope for a brighter future.



As an organization present in over 120 countries, the YMCA has been addressing pressing social challenges and serving local community needs for more than 160 years. The YMCA of Haiti is a wonderful example of a Haitian organization which, with the support of other YMCAs, has continued to provide services to children, youth and families, including services to displaced individuals and those physically impacted.



We welcome the opportunity that this creative initiative to build The New Haiti offers for gaining synergy through more integrated efforts of many organizations. This will enable us all to expand the impact in the local community and prepare a path that does offer promise for the future.







Haiti's "peasant" cooperatives are a source of enormous organization and strength.







Agriculture & Reforestation



1. Coffee Growers Cooperative (COOPCAB; Belle Anse)

2. Leogane Agricultural Cooperative(Léogâne)

3. Factory Residential Cooperative





Former Haitian Ambassador Marcel Duret, now involved with the Haitian Coffee Growers Cooperative (COOPCAB), commented on the progress of the New York leadership for helping build The New Haiti:



The untold story of a multitude of small and medium size NGOs which have been involved in Haiti for years is quite a revealing one. Indeed, successes abound namely in the rural areas where thousands and thousands of families have been empowered by the technical and financial supports of NGOs all over the country.



While thousand others joined the effort of the revival of Haiti after the January 12 earthquake, criticism arose about the lack of coordination among them. It is refreshing and promising that some of them have joined forces to exchange ideas and coordinate their actions and therefore avoid duplications and the waste of energy and resources.



I salute this initiative wholeheartedly and I hereby promise my full commitment to the New York leadership for helping build The New Haiti.







Ciné Institute of Jacmel is a leading cultural institution in Haiti.

Arts

1. Ciné Institute, Haiti (Jacmel)

2. International Museum of Art (2011, Léogâne)

3. International Film Institute (2011, Léogâne)

4. International Library of Haiti (2011, Léogâne)





Children

1. Achilles Kids (2011, Léogâne)

2. Orphans International Worldwide (Léogâne)







l'Ecole de la Rédemption in Léogâne carried on post-quake in 17 tents.







Education



1. Allied Health Studies Institute (Léogâne)

2. Inter-university Institute for Research and Development (INURED; P-a-P)

3. l'Ecole de la Rédemption (Léogâne)

4. Teach The World On-Line (Port-au-Prince)







NPH Saint Damien Hospital Haiti in Port-au-Prince is Haiti's leading pediatric hospital.

Health

1. NPH Saint Damien Hospital Haiti (P-a-P)

2. L'Hôpital Ste Croix de Léogâne (Léogâne)

3. Partners in Health (Zanmi Lasante Haiti)





Jurate Kazickas, one of my own personal heroes and founder of Teach The World On-Line Haiti, explained to me:



Teach the World Online knows, as does everyone analyzing the situation in Haiti, that education is the key to its future. However, the young people of this country may never receive the knowledge needed to find and create jobs in their homeland by relying on traditional classrooms with traditional teachers. Enough brick-and-mortar schools cannot be built fast enough and qualified local teachers won't be found in this generation to instruct the hundreds of thousands children who today are without schools in Haiti.



Only the efficient and cheap use of video conferencing technology between teachers based in other countries to students interacting via a computer over the Internet can deliver immediate and meaningful instruction to Haitian youngsters.



Teach The World Online delivers this kind of education combining the tools of the new technology, a multi-media interactive curriculum and a workforce of qualified and willing teachers who are able to instruct students from their homes, offices and schools in the U.S. and around the world. We need others to join us in this revolutionary approach to education in Haiti. There is no other way to go.







Rotary International is active across Haiti with an emphasis on clean water.

Housing

1. American Institute of Architects (Global Dialogues Committee)

2. GreenLight Innovations (2011, Léogâne)





World-renown architect Noushin Ehsan, chair of the AIANY Global Dialogues Committee, explained:



With our Collaborative Design for Sustainable Housing in Haiti program, we will unveil the six final designs the evening of January 12 at a benefit in the AIA offices on Waverly Place. The AIA is assisting in the creation of housing to be created for $1,000 per home. The models homes are expected to be built for $5,000 each in both Petite Goâve and Léogâne. The Committee needs to raise $30,000 to build the six chosen prototype designs. An additional $30,000 would build the second set in Léogâne.









Microfinance



1. Fédération des Caisses (national)

2. Fonkoze (national)(story)

3. Konsèy Nasyonal Finansman Popilè (national)

4. Zafèn (national)(story)





My old friend Katleen Félix, Diaspora representative for the Haitian microfinance institution Fonkoze and leader of the sustainable economic development effort Zafèn, shared with me:



I learned from Father Joseph, founder of Fonkoze, that the 15 years of success of the organization is based on five founding principles: "1) Women constitute the backbone of the economy of Haiti. 2) You can't just give a woman a loan and then send her on her way - you have to accompany her as she struggles her way out of poverty. 3) All Haitians deserve a chance to participate in the development of their country. 4) A political democracy cannot survive without an economic democracy. 5) Nothing in Haiti can be effective without the endorsement and support of the Haitians living in the Diaspora, for it is those Haitians who keep the economy of Haiti afloat through the remittances they send home."



For me, the Haitian Diaspora and the Haitian Hometown Associations (HHTAs) are often the forgotten link of the development equation. They also have important support and economic development projects in Haiti's rural areas. Fonkoze recognized that link since its founding and has been facilitating transfers for more than ten years at a very low price through its network of 43 branches around the country.



Over the last four years Fonkoze, with the support of IDB and IFAD, has opened an active dialogue with the leaders of the Haitian Diaspora. Zafèn is the result of this dialogue, after the video conference on financial training of trainers of April 2009, we followed up with some recommendations made after the simultaneous workshops in Boston, Miami, New York, and Port-au-Prince.



One of the recommendations was to have Fonkoze to identify productive projects and business in the regions that Diaspora could invest in. Fonkoze, the Vincentian Family, DePaul University, and the Haitian Hometown Associations Resource Group have developed Zafen to facilitate participation of the Haitian Diaspora and friends of Haiti in sustainable projects and Small and Medium Enterprises in rural Haiti.



We have already identified HHTAs doing great work in various parts of the country with grassroots organizations. Since April, we have found more than $200,000 in loans for SMEs and social projects in rural Area. Of course, our focus is not only the Diaspora link. We are looking for small and medium around social enterprises the country that are creditworthy and are potentially sustainable.



The idea is to support jobs creation and return to our communities to stimulate economic growth in rural areas. The Haitian Diaspora has been trying with their personal resources to do just that for years. With Zafèn, we are giving them a tool to strengthen their efforts for their region of origin and find financial or non-financial support of friends of Haiti through their journey.







U.S. Ambassador to Haiti Merten with Secretary of State Clinton and entourage.



I asked U.S. Ambassador to Haiti Kenneth Merten, who studied French from my father, to comment on our coalition. The Ambassador told me via e-mail:



As I have seen over the course of twenty-three years of involvement in Haiti, the Haitian people have achieved much in the face of many challenges, including coups, an embargo, and natural disasters.



And while the needs remain great, activities from NGO and other private actors, coordinated with the Haitian government and civil society, can complement the efforts of donor nations and multilateral organizations to help the Haitian people realize their dream of a more prosperous future.







Yéle Haiti provides fresh vegetables every week to approximately 1,000 children

in orphanages throughout Port-au-Prince and nearby Kenscoff. The vegetables are

grown by peasant farmers who are part of the 6,000-member farming cooperative

that is supported by a grant from Yéle. Photo credit: Yéle Haiti / Sebastian Petion.

U.S. Foundation Support

1. James Jay Dudley Luce Foundation (New York)

2. Rotary International (Chicago)

3. We Can't Have That Foundation (New York)





I am thankful to the thought leaders, global citizens, and organizations helping Haiti such as Wyclef Jean, Anne Hastings of Fonkoze, and former first lady Mirlande Manigat. Given the economy and donor fatigue, every organization needs funding. However, I personally would rather fund an organization where I can see the impact of my gift. As the year-end approaches and we struggle with charitable contributions and holiday gifts, keep in mind that big is not necessarily better. Haiti needs hope -- and so many private initiatives doing so much could do even more -- with your support. There is so much hope for Haiti. Let's fund it.



See also by Jim Luce:



Join Us in Integrated Approach to Build The New Haiti



Jim Luce on Haiti



Jim Luce on International Development







Follow Jim Luce on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jimluce



Haiti Earthquake



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HG Lissade 10 minutes ago (10:46 PM) 0 Fans Follow



It’s heart warming that all of these NGO’s want to help the Haitian people. At this point in time they need all of the help they can get. But what is the exit plan for the NGO’s? Haiti has the most active number of NGO’s of any country in the world. NGO’s are a big business and the current state of Haiti helps sustain their structure. The vision should be a country where the Haitian people can take care of themselves­, free of NGO’s. At least that’s our vision at Haiti Engineerin­g. Otherwise the NGO’s will be in Haiti a hundred years from now and the people of Haiti will be no better off.



~HGL~



www.HaitiE­ngineering­.org

Favorite (0) Flag as Abusive HG_Lissade: It�s heart warming that all of these NGO�s want to

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Randy MontReynaud 08:58 PM on 12/16/2010 25 Fans Become a fan Unfan



Great words! and deeds! and, we're very very tiny. a dwop in the bokit, but please don't forget www.ifpigs­couldflyha­iti.org --- Pigs Not Only Fly, THEY DELIVER!

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Haiti Cholera Outbreak 'Came from UN Camp'

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/12/07-11

Published on Tuesday, December 7, 2010 by Agence France-Presse


Haiti Cholera Outbreak 'Came from UN Camp'

PARIS - The cholera outbreak ravaging Haiti began at a camp for UN peacekeepers from Nepal, according to an expert report submitted to the French foreign ministry, a source close to the matter told AFP on Tuesday.



Haiti cholera outbreak 'came from UN camp'. (AFP)Respected French epidemiologist Professor Renaud Piarroux conducted a study in Haiti last month and concluded the epidemic began with an imported strain of the disease that could be traced back to the Nepalese base, the official said.



"The source of the infection came from the Nepalese camp," the source told AFP, speaking on condition on anonymity as he was not authorised to discuss a report that has not yet been made public.



"The starting point has been very precisely localised," he said, pointing to the UN base at Mirebalais on the Artibonite river in central Haiti.



"There is no other possible explanation given that there was no cholera in the country, and taking into account the intensity and the speed of the spread and the concentration of bacteria in the Artibonite delta," he said.



"The most logical explanation is the massive introduction of faecal matter into the Artibonite river on a single occasion," the source added.



The United Nations, which has faced violent protests in Haiti over its alleged role in an outbreak that has already killed 2,000 people and made 90,000 sick, insists there is no evidence that its troops were to blame.



Foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero did not reveal the conclusion of the report, but confirmed the foreign ministry had received a copy and said it had been passed on to the United Nations for investigation.



"From the outbreak of the epidemic, France sent to Haiti at the request of the Haitian health ministry one of its best cholera specialists, Professor Piarroux, a head of department in Marseille's public hospitals," he said.



Cholera has added to the woes of the impoverished Caribbean nation, which was devastated by a massive earthquake in January that killed a quarter of a million people and left 1.3 million living in ramshackle refugee camps.



Piarroux discussed his report in an interview with AFP last month. He did not directly blame the Nepalese, but said the cholera was from abroad.



"It started in the centre of the country, not by the sea, nor in the refugee camps. The epidemic can't be of local origin. That's to say, it was imported," he said, shortly after his return from Haiti.



Haitian officials say the first cases of cholera, a waterborne illness, broke out on the banks of the Artibonite river, downstream of the UN base.



Last month, Edmond Mulet, head of the United Nations mission in Haiti, said no UN soldier, police officer nor civilian official had tested positive for cholera, and he defended the Nepalese, who have been the target of protests.



All samples taken from the latrines, kitchens and water supply at the suspect Nepalese camp have proved negative, Mulet said.



"There is no scientific evidence that the camp at Mirebalais is the source of this epidemic," he said, complaining of "a lot of disinformation, a lot of rumours around this situation."



But Piarroux -- who works at the University of the Mediterranean in Marseille -- told AFP that the outbreak was not linked to the earthquake devastation, and could not have come from a Haitian environmental source.



"The epidemic exploded in an extremely violent way on October 19, with several thousand cases and several hundreds deaths after many people drank the water of the Artibonite delta," he said.



The professor said the world had not seen cholera spread so quickly since an outbreak in Goma, in eastern Congo, in 1994. "We've had more than 70,000 cases, and we could easily see them hit 200,000," he warned.



Cholera is caused by bacteria spread in contaminated water or food, often through faeces. If untreated, it can kill within a day through dehydration, with the old and the young the most vulnerable.



© 2010 Agence France-Presse E-mail Print Share Close Twitter StumbleUpon Facebook Delicious Digg Newsvine Google Yahoo TechnoratiDiscuss

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vaialdiavolo December 7th, 2010 5:53 pm

How is it that faeces made it into the Artibonite River? Why is it that, apparently, no one bothered to consider the Haitian people who need water would be drinking from this river?

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Progressive101 December 7th, 2010 9:03 pm

And Fox as well as other networks made the Haitians out to be crazy for believing the cholera came from UN peacekeepers. M$M was more focused on the rioting than the cholera.

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echoes December 7th, 2010 9:37 pm

why was the us congress waiting till after the elections to distribute the aid money? They could have made water treatment plant in 11 months with the bilion aid pomised and housing too.

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clearbluesky December 8th, 2010 3:40 am

And why did they think no one would notice or even care? This might be a clue, it happens all the time and no one bothers to ask questions. There is a vaccine for cholera and treatment that is relatively inexpensive if administered early. This is a tragedy.

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Lucitanian December 8th, 2010 8:04 am

Haiti – The international community which is a sophisticated name for a bunch of major “western” governments with central banks all controlled by the same elite are using Haiti as their lab rat for experiments in extreme disaster capitalism. They need to make sure that they can stay in charge, and get even richer and more powerful, when they bring the rest of the world’s population down to the same level as Haiti today.



Assets will be repossessed and then they can start lending again to revalue the same stolen assets and so once again doubling or tripling their wealth by slight of hand and usury.



Their lab rat status is the price the Haitians must pay for having revolting against slavery those many years ago, something that we have not the courage to do. But in a way they might see it in a more positive light if they just realise that they have been given a jump start on us by having an early chance to learn to survive on virtually nothing and with everything and all the powers stacked against them.



Be prepared and mark my word. Where Haiti is today, the bankers and your government is sending you tomorrow.



If you think it is not a conspiracy,just have a listen to:

Sen Bernie Sanders Amazing Speech!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5OtB298fHY&feature=player_embedded#!

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jclientelle December 8th, 2010 1:45 pm

Clearly UN peacekeepers in this case are gunslingers who are not trained to understand nor to respect the plight and conditions of the people against whom they are enforcing the peace. Obviously they had little orientation and training in public health during a natural disaster. They imposed a man-made disaster on top of the destruction caused by the earthquake. There is little pretense that they are there to help with the real killers such as homelessness and lack of food and clean water, or the real robbers such as garment industry and agribusiness.



I will say again - the best chance for countries such as Haiti is for the big "Western" institutions, and our IMFs and our World Bank and our corporations and military to stay far away. We overthrow the better leaders and then suppress the people. We rob their land, disrupt their farming and set up dependence on unreliable charity. Given half a chance Haitians will solve their own problems.



If you want to help Haiti, try giving to non-interfering groups like Doctors Without Borders.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

The future of the world in Haiti

The future of the world in Haiti


Tuesday, January 26, 2010

By Melanie Newton

http://www.news.utoronto.ca/commentary/the-future-of-the-world-in-haiti.html

Many who have followed Haiti's recent political history have a strong sense that the aftershocks of the Haitian earthquake will not be felt in Haiti alone. What happens now in Haiti is a question of world historical signifi cance.



This is not the fi rst time that events in Haiti have served as harbingers for the world's collective future. An anti-slavery and anti-colonial revolution of 1791-1804 created the independent state of Haiti as only the second independent country in the Americas. In giving birth to Haiti, the revolution transformed the sociopolitical landscape of the 19th-century Atlantic world, unleashing forces that would ultimately lead to the collapse of Atlantic slavery. In a repeat of history, the 2010 earthquake has the potential to transform politics in our own times, either for better, or -- if we fail to take the time to reflect deeply on the full meaning of what has happened -- for worse. Together with Haitians, we must all confront the daunting but inevitable question: how do we imagine the future in the face of a catastrophe of this scale?



On Jan. 25 representatives from several national governments, aid agencies and international donors will meet in Montreal to discuss the issue of the reconstruction of Haiti. It is crucial that such bodies, including the government of Canada, acknowledge some of their responsibility for contributing to the recent human catastrophe. The international community needs to base its contribution to reconstruction efforts on respect for Haiti's government and people, rather than the criminalization and unforgivable ignorance that has undergirded foreign engagements with Haiti since the revolution.



Over the years, western destabilization of Haiti has been fostered by a deep culture of racist paternalism. This is evidence of the failure of countries such as the United States, France and, yes, Canada, to come to terms fully with the legacies of their own support for the slavery that the Haitian Revolution so boldly rejected. Engagement with Haiti must be based on a recognition that Haitians do, in fact, know better than we do what is best for the country.



One of the most destabilizing aspects of Haiti's political history has been the use of aid and loans by powerful external donors in order to call the political shots, control Haiti's economy and facilitate the exploitation of its people. In the midst of this crisis, rather than repeatedly treating the Haitian government like a child who cannot be trusted with money, Canada should spearhead a new kind of engagement with Haiti's government based on respect, transparency and a genuine, non-partisan effort to build up the Haitian government's ability to provide services to its people. Foreign governments have repeatedly used the excuse that the Haitian government is too corrupt to be trusted with these funds. At the same time, these self-interested international actors have failed to reflect on their own role in manipulating such a climate of corruption.



The kleptocratic tendencies of Haiti's government were not a serious enough concern to stop billions of dollars being funnelled to Haiti's horrifically violent Duvalier dictatorship from 1957 to the 1980s so long as the Duvaliers remained a bulwark against the possibility of so called "communist" infi ltration of Haiti. Only when it became clear in the 1980s that the dictator had become a force destabilizing the country and damaging foreign interests there did the aid tap begin to dry up.



The first United States occupation of Haiti from 1915 to 1934 laid part of the groundwork for the current disaster. In an effort to facilitate imperial political and foreign economic exploitation of rural areas, the Americans largely rebuilt the infrastructure of Haiti using the forced labour of Haitians. Ever since then the countryside has hemorrhaged people by the millions, creating most of the massive urban slums that dominate Port-au-Prince.



The political and economic infrastructure left behind by the Americans after 1934 was the primary means through which the r?ɬ�gime of Fran?ɬ�ois Duvalier, which came to power in 1957, was able to establish a degree of violent authoritarian control over Haiti previously impossible for any Haitian government. Under Duvalier the national infrastructure deteriorated and an environmental catastrophe caused by astounding impoverishment accelerated. This centralization of anti-democratic power is a fundamental reason why it has been so hard to transform the political landscape of Haiti and why it has been so diffi cult since the earthquake to bring aid to many devastated areas.



While the reconstruction of Port-au-Prince is crucial, foreign governments must prioritize working in a non-partisan fashion with Haiti's vast network of democratic and popular organizations to revitalize the rural agricultural economy and empower democratic structures and economic life across Haiti. This is a demand long articulated by environmentalists, intellectuals and pro-democracy activists in Haiti, and long ignored both by the Haitian government in Port-au-Prince and by the international community.



Such a reconstruction effort rooted in Haiti's own pro-democracy movements must also be accompanied by the recognition that there are no military solutions to Haiti's crisis. In common with other countries across the Americas that were born out of anti-colonial revolution, Haiti has struggled throughout its history with the challenge of removing the military from civilian government. Repeated foreign interventions have only served to destabilize Haiti and undermine the process of democratic reform. Neither the UN nor individual western countries has ever truly given civilian government in Haiti the support that it requires. The current U.S. and Canadian policy of militarizing Haiti, rather than focusing on public lines of communication with and support for the democratically elected civilian government of Ren?ɬ� Pr?ɬ�val, is a disturbing return to bad habits.



Last, and most important, reconstruction efforts must aim at eliminating Haiti's terrible reality of la mis?ɬ�re, the Haitian Kr?ɬ�yol word for the abject poverty that dominates the lives of most Haitians. As long as Haiti remains one of the world's most socio-economically unequal countries, reconstruction efforts in Haiti are likely to re-create the structures exacerbating the current catastrophe. This is not the time to use Haiti as a testing ground for neo-liberal economic policies or to tie the hands of the Haitian government with debt as it tries to rebuild. This would be a recipe for social, political and economic disaster.



For all of these reasons, the future of Haiti is an issue of basic human justice, not just humanitarian concern. Together with Haitians, we all have a chance to imagine a different and more democratic future. Nothing that Haitians demand of their government or the world is particularly utopian -- these are the basic elements of meaningful democratic government and active citizenship.



Melanie Newton is an associate professor of history.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Wednesday, December 1, 2010