PVS Canal 16 TV, Haïti Netlink

An incredible way to campaign: Mickey at SOBs with Clef, Pras & more...

2011-02-17T11:42:00.003-05:00

Campaign in Haitian Elections is no more a matter of political Speeches.
Can you sing and entertain???
Watch Sweet Mickey, sorry, Michel Martelly at SOBs with Wiclef, Pras, Richard Morse and more.

Wiclef and Sean Penn make peace and will back up Martelly

2011-02-14T20:36:00.000-05:00

Rapper Wyclef Jean and actor Sean Penn, who traded insults during Clef's Haiti presidential run, have reconciled their differences.

Last year, the two became embroiled in beef during Wyclef's shortened presidential run after Penn publicly made comments strongly opposing Jean's candidacy. The former Fugee later accused the actor of snorting cocaine during a performance with the footage of Clef going viral and only adding to the drama.

But over the weekend, the men made amends. On Saturday (February 12), they both happened to be at a show for the Haitian band T-Vice at the New York club, BB Kings.

The former rivals reportedly locked themselves in a dressing room for 30 minutes and only emerged after they had hashed out their misunderstandings. Later, Clef and Penn met on stage in support of Haitian presidential candidate Michel Martelly, who was also in attendance.

The assassin of Haitian journalist was a Jan 12, 2010 prison escapee

2011-02-11T11:15:00.000-05:00

On February 10, 2011, Jean-Louis Richard Charles, a Haitian journalist whose last job was at Radio Kiskeya in Haiti, was attacked and assassinated by three robbers as he had just withdrawn 40.000 gourdes (about US $1,000.00) from a bank. Two of them had time to flee, while the latter, Jean Wilner Duperval, was shot by a plainclothes policeman.

The killer of Jean-Louis Richard Charles, known as Jean Wilner Duperval, was an escapee from prison, confirms Frantz Lerebours, spokesman for the National Police of Haiti. The assassin had escaped from prison during the earthquake of January 12, 2010 and had a criminal record very busy, according to the Commissioner Lerebours.

Aristide could be prosecuted in the US / US opposed to his return to HaitiHe

2011-02-10T15:45:00.000-05:00

The United States does not want Jean-Bertrand Aristide returned to Haiti before the second round of the presidential election.

The spokesman for the U.S. State Department, PJ Crowley, said the return of former Lavalas president in exile since 2004, would be a "regrettable distraction for the Haitian people" as he prepares to election on March 20.

The Spokesman for the State Department said Wednesday that the United States "would not want to see any action that would sow division in the electoral process in Haiti."

Just as Aristide's passport has been delivered to his laywer, paving the way for his return, the heat is rising against him in the embezzlement case regarding Teleco (the old Haitian phone company) and the telephone company Integrated Device Technology (IDT), based in New Jersey.

(Download and see official civil action #05-22852 filed against Mr Aristide, Mr Duperval and 7 others).

The then director of international affairs of Teleco, Jean Rene Duperval, suspected of involvement in the misappropriation of funds and IDT Teleco to the Turks and Caicos Islands, is due to appear before a Court of Justice in Miami (Florida) next February 28.

Lucy Komisar, the journalist investigating this matter, indicates that a possible deal between those charged and the Justice Department may reduce their sentences and lead to Jean Bertrand Aristide. In an interview givn to a Haitian Radio station, Ms. Komisar said that those investigations are conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Communication Commission (FCC).

A former top executive of the IDT, Michael Jewett, who refused to participate in the embezzlement, was fired by IDT few weeks after signing the contract with Teleco. The investigators suggest that some of the fees collected by IDT were not transferred to the Teleco but Mount Salem, a company run by a law firm in Turks and Caicos.

Jean Rene Duperval, who will appear before the judicial authorities by the U.S. had signed the contract authorizing the transfer of funds to a shell company in Turks and Caicos.

Click here to download
Official civil action #05-22852 filed against Mr Aristide, Mr Duperval and 7 others.

Michel Martelly requests a change in the electoral council before 2nd round.

2011-02-08T21:40:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday February 8, 2001, presidential candidate of Haiti, Michel Martelly, urges that changes be made to the office of the Provisional Electoral Council ( CEP) which organized the elections on November 28, 2010, prior to the second round of elections scheduled March 20, 2011.

Mr. Martelly's request includes "changing the Chairman, the General Director and some members of the electoral apparatus in a timely manner".

The candidate also suggests measures to improve the electoral process and called for sanctions against candidates who had used firearms in the first round of elections.

Mr. Martelly is also asking for a reduction in the number of government Ministries and the replacement of three ministers including Justice, Social Affairs and Interior.

He is willing to continue the electoral process with President René Préval beyond February 7 which was the end of his presidential term if the measures he advocates are taken into account immediately.

J.C. Duvalier cheered by thousands in Leogane

2011-02-08T19:07:00.000-05:00

Ex-President Jean-Claude Duvalier visited on Tuesday February 8, 2011 the grave of his grandparents in Leogane, 33 km south of Port-au-Prince, thousands of people came to cheer him.

"Some young enthusiasts and adults rushed into a small chapel, Sainte-Rose, to come see Mr. Duvalier. There are thousands, also reported a motorcycle taxi driver.

"Mr. Duvalier pray at the grave of his grandparents buried in this city that was destroyed by the earthquake of January 2010. He is going there to lay flowers at the cemetery, " told his wife, Veronique Roy, to an AFP photographer.

Simone Duvalier (c.1913 – 1997) was the wife of Haitian President François Duvalier. She was born Simone Ovide in Leogane Haiti, the daughter of a mulatto merchant and writer, Jules Faine, and Célie Ovide.

At an early age her mother gave her up, and she spent much of her childhood in an orphanage in Petionville, an exclusive suburb in the hills above Port-au-Prince. The orphans were encouraged to acquire vocational skills and Simone Ovide was trained as a nurse’s aide.

While working as a nurse she met a young doctor named Francois Duvalier. The couple was married on December 27, 1939, and had four children: Marie Denise, Nicole, Simone, and Jean-Claude, their only son.

Aristide has his passport.

2011-02-07T15:58:00.000-05:00

The Haitian government has issued a diplomatic passport today Monday February 7, 2011 to former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, giving him the freedom to return to Haiti.

"The passport was issued Monday. All the formalities have been completed, " a Haitian
government official said to AFP under condition of anonymity.

The passport will be given to Mr. Aristide's lawyer, Mr. Ira Kurzban, who arrived in Haiti in recent days for this purpose.

Aristide in Haiti?

2011-02-07T09:11:00.002-05:00

Sunday afternoon, February 6, 2011, Haiti's international airport was tight with UN security forces. Why? Many say that rumors were running that Ex-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide finally got his passport and was returning to Haiti.

Earlier in the week, Aristide's lawyer, M. Ira Kusband, did go to Haiti with a power of attorney to obtain Aristide's passport. At first, Haiti's Ministry of Foreign insisted that Mr Aristide makes the request personally but then accepted that he could scan the request and send it to the ministry.

Certain members of the government stated that Ex-President Jean-Claude Duvalier was able to return to Haiti with no problems. Why is it so difficult for Aristide to do so?

Amidst all the wait, Mr Aristide did not return to Haiti last Sunday.

Was it because he did not get his passport?
Was it because he did not get international clearance?
Or was it because he may be prosecuted if he returns to Haiti?

According to Edmond Mulet, from his last statement to a Haitian newspapers.
Edmond Mulet, Special Representative of UN Secretary General in Haiti, was keen to recall that "under the government of Mr. Aristide, there were accusations of embezzlement that led to lawsuits in the United States of America .

There have also been lawsuits against drug traffickers close to the regime, some of whom have been convicted. People have suffered violations of their rights because of state violence under his regime.

Everything leads us to believe that there will be complaints against him if he comes back and he will have to answer to justice for acts committed while he was in charge of Haiti, "said the UN diplomat . MINUSTAH and Jean Bertrand Aristide have a complicated journey.

The first UN mission has set foot on national territory February 29, 2004, the day of departure into exile of the leader of Lavalas. "The recent elections are an opportunity for Haiti to move forward. It would not be wise hold Haiti hostage to its past. Countries evolve and Haiti has a new step that has nothing to do with the situation 30 years ago, aged 20, 15 or even 5 years, "concluded the diplomat.

The UN has offered its assistance to Haitian government to assist it in the file in preparation of prosecution procedures against Jean-Claude Duvalier returned home on January 16 last, has also reminded Mr Edmond Mulet.

Jean Claude Duvalier goes to Parquet

2011-01-19T09:08:00.000-05:00

Watch the complete video.

Jean Claude Duvalier Back in Haiti?

2011-01-17T22:42:00.000-05:00

Why is Jean-Claude Back in Haiti?
Is it planned or is it a last minute decision?
Watch closely this only and 1st interview he gave to an American Press.

"LA TRANBLAY", documentary Film by Raynald Delerme

2010-04-15T06:44:00.001-04:00

"LA TRANBLAY"

a documentary film by Raynald Delerme

on the devastating January 12, 2010 earthquake that hit Haïti.

Infos: 305-942-8348

To order: www.haiticinema.org

If one picture is worth 1000 words, how much are worth 1000 pictures?

2010-04-13T09:02:00.002-04:00

If one picture is worth 1000 words,
how much are worth 1000 pictures?

Click here

Pres Préval wins State of Emergency Amendment in Lower Chamber

2010-04-09T09:08:00.000-04:00

The Lower Chamber of the Haitian Parliament ratified Thursday afternoon the bill to amend the State of Emergency Law.

Before the vote more than a dozen opposition members including Steven Benedict Arcene Dieujuste, Fabien Ogline Ezra and another member had left the meeting to protest against the rejection of a proposal calling for the release of the report on the first emergency period.

43 members have approved the report of the committee which recommended to the elected officials to ratify the draft law submitted by the Executive. 5 members voted against and 8 others abstained during this session that lasted more than 3 hours.
The bill was amended by the legislature does not renew the mandate of the interim commission. The mandate of this commission will not exceed a period of 18 months.
The document approved by the lower house must be submitted in the coming days to the Senate. The ruling party also holds the majority in the Senate.

Prés Préval elaborates on the electoral process

2010-04-08T00:45:00.005-04:00

Pres Préval warns of many problems coming up with the electoral process due to flaws in the constitution, according to him.

He mentions having tried to get necessary amendements passed to fix some of the problems but, later this year, he warns that we will all pay the consequences.

Prés René Préval explains, according to him, how it will go down.

Watch...

Passenger in French plane stops deportation of a Haitian

2010-04-07T09:43:00.002-04:00

A passenger aboard a French plane took the defense of a Haitian in the process of being deported to Haïti, feet and hands bound.

The incident occured at Orly Airport on March 17, 2010 around 10h30 on CORSAIR SS flight 0866, destination Pointe à Pitre via Fort de France. Frank Alexander, a French citizen, heard screams and shuffling from the back of the airliner.

He noticed police officers in plainclothes and in uniform trying to subdue around a black man handcuffed with his hands behind his back and feet tied. One officer had his left leg on the man called Charly while with his hands, he held his face while another policeman was helping his colleague to keep Chaly seated.

Charly, the Haitian national, kept yelling that he would not return to Haiti, he had lost everything, his house, his relatives and that he preferred to go to jail here because there there was only death , reports Frank Alexander. "I immediately rebelled at this situation," said the French citizen, "knowing what these people just went through and there is a truce between France and Haiti, a truce that allows any Haitian citizen to apply for asylum on French territory. "

Mr. Alexander asked the police officers "Is it normal to keep this man in this way as inhuman, humiliating and unacceptable?"

Frank Alexander sought and obtained the support of other passengers aboard the aircraft to defend the cause of Haitian citizen, subject to deportation.

Meanwhile, he was able to telephone a news team from France 2 television to inform them of the deportation pending.

Shortly after the captain, alerted by the call, stopped the aircraft at the runway end and the policemen disembarked along with Charly who has been able to avoid deportation to Haiti.

Here is the testimony of Frank Alexander:

Mr. President,

                         Following our telephone conversation of March 18, 2010, regarding my involvement with the police on board a flight to avoid CORSAIR deportation of Haitian nationals, I send you an e-mail address to tell in detail what I witnessed.

                         10:30, Orly Sud March 17, 2010, vol CORSAIR SS 0866 11:10 departure flights to Pointe a Pitre Fort de France through.

                         It was 10:35 when I am on board the plane with my girlfriend. A few minutes later, our attention was taken by loud screams and a commotion coming from the back of the plane where several policemen in plain clothes and uniformed were trying to restrain a black man .

                         I asked a flight attendant what is happening and she responded that was being deported to his home country.

                          I asked to know the nationality of this man, and to my amazement I learned that he was Haitian.

                          I immediately rebelled at this situation, knowing what these people just went through and there is a truce between France and Haiti, a truce that allows any citizen of Haiti to seek asylum on French soil.

                          So I took the decision to go to the back of the plane to make inquiries to the 2 policemen in civilian clothes, who were detaining with this Haitian man, handcuffed behind his back, feet bound as if that person was a dangerous criminal to the point that one officer had his left leg on top of the leg of the Haitian man, his hands over his his face, as if he was a dangerous criminal. The Haitian man kept yelling that he would not return to Haiti, he had lost everything, his home, his family and would rather go to jail here because there is there was only death there.

                 So I went to the back and, after questioning about the status of this man, I asked if it was normal to keep a person in that inhuman and humiliating way. Was it unacceptable? These 2 officers told me that in fact Mr Charly had a valid passport with a visa that had expired and unfortunately it was a little late to rectify the situation. They were escorted him to Guadeloupe where he could maybe try to regularize his status since he came from that French territory.

              Meanwhile a pediatric physician, practicing in the St Vincent de Paul Hospital in Paris, joined me in lobbying for the police. At first they released their grip on Charly. The Doctor tried to take his pulse, as Charlie was in a state of panic, fear, anxiety and extreme nervousness. The doctor even offered to give him a sedative, but the police have categorically refused.

             Given this situation, I asked the steward that the captain comes on the scene. He came and ordered us to go we sit down and ask Charlie to stop resisting. Hen then decided to take off.

            I told him that anyway there was no question that the plane would lift off with on board a person who was held in these conditions and therefore I refused to sit down. I asked the people who approved me to please stand. Many travelers who thought my cause justified, including a couple who gave me their contacts in case they needed to testify and promised to send me some pictures taken on board by the end of their stay in Martinique.

            Meanwhile, the captain was moving his aircraft toward the runway. Seeing no alternative, I decided to call France 2 TV, reporting service, to inform them of the situation and hoping that it would perhaps refrain the captain from his decision.

           After explaining what happened on that flight to the news director, Mr Olivier Carow, I again asked the steward to inform the captain of my decision to contact France 2. A few minutes later, he made an announcement that he is compelled to stop the plane to allow the deplaning of an "illegal person".

         It is also a vehicle for the PAF that came to the back of boeing 747 and the police descended from the plane with Charly.

          We took off at 12.35.

        I had Mr. Carow from the phone, he confirmed to me that Charlie had returned to a detention center for 3 or 4 days, but the fact that I had to intervene for TV, it was quite possible that authorities think twice about the expulsion of Charly, and that they would conduct an investigation as to whether the conditions of the truce were followed and, if so, he would do a story on it.

        In the hope that my intervention will allow all these "CHARLY" to live in dignity and to close their wounds, and if tomorrow I must again repeat what I did, with great pride I begin again ...

        I am at your disposal for further information Mr President.
May my testimony serve a just cause.

Will Pres Préval leave office in 2011? Watch the answer.

2010-04-07T00:18:00.002-04:00

Will President Preval leave office in 2011? If you ask the average Haitian to the most intellectual, the answer will probably be "no."

To put an end to all speculation, Pres Preval has his say in the matter.

Instead of us telling you, watch him instead and see what he says.

Did he convince you?
Share your thoughts with us.

Haitian trying to get to USA goes to jail

2010-04-06T11:16:00.003-04:00

The doors of America (the USA) has been wide open to accept from the January 12 earthquake that devasted Haiti and TPS has been granted to many who were in the US before the quake. But not everyone gets a free pass. Wisly Bejean, a Haitian living in Canada, was walking on an isolated farming road just south of the Canadian border when his journey into the United States abruptly ended.

Mr Bejean is charged with trying to enter the United States illegally and he is going to jail.

The GLOBE and MAIL reports that more than 120 Haitians, some of them women and children, have been caught trying to cross into Vermont from Quebec. Eight were apprehended this weekend alone.

Mark Henry, operations officer for U.S. Customs and Border Protection for the Swanton sector, which covers the main illegal entry points believes that "some were being smuggled into the U.S. through organized rings.” It seems like the surge also coincides with a decision after the earthquake by the Obama administration to grant temporary protected status to Haitians living in the country illegally.

Mr. Bejean was living in Florida and lost a bid to remain in the United States; in October, 2007, facing deportation, he entered Canada at Fort Erie, Ont., and applied for asylum. He was caught at 3:15 a.m. two weeks ago in the border village of North Troy, Vt., trying to get back to the US.

The U.S. Attorney’s office is criminally prosecuting more than 35 Haitians, including Mr. Bejean, who face up to two years in jail if found guilty of re-entering the country while facing an outstanding deportation order.

PVS Canal 16 encourages you to support the Haitian American Association of Filmmakers

The Haitian Association of Filmmakers

has more than 4 dozen crutches, many medical supplies,

medication and more that we need to take to Carrefour, Haiti,

as we want to continue our relief effort for that area.

With the help of the Dominican Association of Filmmakers, and Polycarpe, Inc.

we have been able to help over 1000 people in Carrefour.

Please give a donation. No amount is too small.

US Vice President Joe Biden in Little Haiti for Easter

2010-04-06T01:10:00.001-04:00

The message was clear.

"I want to to reassure you that we're in this for the long haul. This wasn't about just showing up to deal with the emergency that existed at the time. We realize just because the earthquake may have receded from the front pages, and I say to you that, we'll be here even when the crawler under the CNN news headline does not continue to mention Haiti, We are going to stay."
Read on to watch video of VP Joe Biden in Little Haiti.

These are the words of Vice-President Joe Biden to Haitian community leaders in South Florida as he met with them at the Little Haiti Cultural Center yesterday. He added:

"We have no reduced commitment. The President continues to remain committed to rebuilding Haiti, and rebuilding it better. We made a promise and it is a promise just not to pick up the rubble but also to try and get Haiti on its feet, and quite frankly on their feet in a way they haven't been for some time."

Watch the video of Vice-President Joe Biden as he met with Haitian Community leaders in South Florida.

Two Haitians carried Jesus' cross in Rome this year

2010-04-03T11:37:00.001-04:00

In Rome, Good Friday is marked each year by two specific events presided over by Pope:
1. The celebration of the Lord's Passion in the early evening in St. Peter's Basilica,
2. The path of the Cross Coliseum.

This is called "The Via Crucis."

This year coincides with the anniversary of the death, 5 years ago to the day, of Pope John Paul II on April 2, 2005.

Selected amongst the persons responsible to carry the Cross between the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill this year were two Haitians along with two Iraqis, a Vietnamese, a Congolese, two brothers of the Custody of the Holy Land and one patient with a stretcher-bearer , a concrete sign of the proximity of the Pope with those who suffer.

Meditations for Via Crucis have been written this year by a former collaborator of John Paul II, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, who was for many years the Pope's vicar for the Diocese of Rome.

It was Cardinal Agostino Vallini, the pope's vicar for the Diocese of Rome, who walked the traditional Way of the Cross starting at 21:15. Benedict XVI, who presided over the ceremony from the terrace of the Palatine Hill.

The cross was recovered after the 14th and last station of the ceremony commemorating the Passion of Christ.

Haïti brings the US & Cuba to the negociating table

2010-04-03T09:35:00.002-04:00

The time is not recent at all when top officials from the US sat down with top officials from Cuba to talk about anything.

Well, Haïti made it happen.

The Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez met last Wednesday in New York, a high U.S. official to discuss reconstruction efforts in Haiti.  
 
The Minister met with Cheryl Mills (on the left), Chief Cabinet Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the international donors conference for Haiti, held at UN headquarters March 31, 2010.    

The meeting, one of the highest level for several years between the two countries, focused on rebuilding the medical system and health in Haiti.

Cuba is to provide Haiti medical services worth $ 690 million to support the work of Cuban doctors working for over a decade in the country, according to Mr Rogriguez.

The last time Cuba allowed U.S. aircrafts to enter Cuban air space was immediately after the earthquake in their effort to evacuate Haiti’s homeless and bring aid to the devastated island.

Could this be a new beginning to US-Cuba relationship?

Pres Préval wants Parliament to change state of emergency law to 18 months

2010-03-30T22:47:00.001-04:00

President René Préval has introduced new bill to Parliament that will allow government to spend without going through regular procedures that are watchdogs for possible corruptions by government officials.

President Préval wants politicians change the law of September 9, 2008 on the state of emergency in order to take into account a period of 18 months.

Presently, the September 9 act authorizes the use of state of emergency only for a period of 15 days. It can be renewed but the government has to go back to the Parliament each and every time to request it and provide good reasons for it plus account for previous spendings.

The amendment is supposed to take into account the establishment of the Interim Committee and the Board for the Development of Haiti who will manage funds for reconstruction.
Meanwhile, the Head of State also requested an extension of emergency law passed after the earthquake of January 12, 2010.

Many parliamentarians are requiring the publication of reports on expenditures during the first period of emergency in 2010. $ 169 million had been mobilized from the Petrocaribe funds during the emergency period.

The chairman of the Lower House, Levaillant Louis Jeune,

said the report published in the official newspaper The Monitor is not exhaustive.

It lacks details of expenditure incurred for the acquisition of equipment including the CNE.

Deputy Steven Benoit does not approve the request of the Head of State.

He claims that the government has always refused to submit reports on emergency funds used in 2008 and 2010.

However, chances are that the bills will past due to the majority of the seats in the senate and lower house being held by the Parlamentary block called "INITE", the party of the President. Though the party would be willing to lend its support to the government, Senator Joseph Lambert would like to see more transparent management of emergency funds by President Préval.

How will the funds for the reconstruction of Haiti be used?
We will all know after the outcome of the 2-day meetings in New-York.

Why was the September 9, 2008 law put in place?
Read our previous article on corruptions in Haïti.

Click here

Tough warning to Préval and the Haitian gvt from Jean Jean Roosevelt

2010-03-17T21:57:00.005-04:00

Tough words are coming out of this new song from famous Haitian singer Jean Jean Roosevelt.

"Be careful this time, chief" he says. "We will forget all the money that were meant for schools, hospitals, roads, etc, but that went elsewhere.

This time, don't touch the money that is destined for the children of Haiti in this reconstruction effort."

Even though Pres. René Préval is fighting with all his might to get a hold on this massive foreign aid coming to Haiti after the January 12 earthquake, it is clear that the international community is very reluctant to give him any important role in the reconstruction except, of course, to sign the authorizing paperwork.

Things are so tight that the Préval government had to dip into the Petrocaribe funds to get its hands on over 165 million dollars that the children of Haiti will have to pay 30 years down the road. You didn't know?

Well for those who 'really" didn't, this is how it works.

Haiti being given member status in the Petrocaribe group, Venezuela sell fuel to Haiti at current market rate.

Haiti pays only 50% of the bill and the other 50% goes into a fund that the Haitian government can use for social projects. That 50% is not a gift but a loan to be repaid at a very low interest rate in 30 years.

Government projects may consist of roads, schools, hospitals, health centers, etc. The only catch is to use it, the government must abide by governing rule that requires those projects to be made public at its initiation and to go into an open bid format. The lowest bidder gets the contract. But...

Yes there is a but.

In case of a state of emergency, the government does not have to abide by those governing rules.

They could give a check to anyone to buy anything and do any project.

Now try to understand why the audit requested by deposed Prime Minister, Mrs Michèle Pierre-Louis, still has not been made public.

Her last words when she was being forced out of office, "I request one audit by the 'Cour Supérieur des Comptes' and one by an independent firm on the spending of the 197 million dollars that were taken from the Petrocaribe funds".

That money was supposedly spent for relief and 'reconstruction' after the HANNA disaster in Gonaives Haiti.

Now to better understand, state of emergency was declared with the help of the Haitian Parliament, and ...

You should know the rest by now.

Going back to more recent events, January 12, another 165 millions of dollars has been again taken out of that fund by the present administration.

The time limit for the preferred method of spending had run out and the President quickly asked the parliament to either renew or reinstate the state of emergency so that they could 'well' spend that money.
Please do not blame just the government. The Haitian Parliament could have asked for the audit for the first 197 million that were spent.

Anyway, "words" may mean very little to a few.

But when those words are sung,
it starts making big noise to many.
And Jean Jean Roosevelt is starting to make BIG NOISE.

"ATTENTION CHEF" is what he sings.

Watch and Listen...

Haitian Movie Nights kicked off well at Little haiti Cultural Center last Sunday

2010-03-17T01:24:00.002-04:00

Many movie fans came last Sunday not only to view the new movie by Producer/Director Raynald Delerme but also to discover this wonderful cultural center in Little Haiti that costs almost 20 million dollars.

The evening started with a stand-up comedy by Jean-Claude Joseph (Papa Pyè), one of Haiti's best comedian and actor.

Papa Pyè is the famous main character in the popular television sitcom "La Vi Nan Bouk", (Life on the Farm), back in the 80s at the National Television of Haiti.

Jean Claude Joseph is also one of the main characters in the movie "Dyab Baba". The comedy show was followed by the projection of the movie which got repeated applauses and laughters from the audience from begining to end.

The presentation of this movie is part of an agreement between the Haitian American Association of Filmmakers and the Little Haiti Cultural Center to showcase Haitian films every week-ends in the state of the art, 270 seats, movie theater at the center,
starting April 4th, when "Dyab Baba" will play again.

This time, it will be the movie only,
playing at 4PM, 6PM and 8PM.

Haitian films will play after that every Saturdays
with 2 shows at 4PM and 6PM,
and Sundays with 3 shows at 4PM, 6PM and 8PM.

Admission will be $7.00 / $5.00 in advance.

Tickets are available at the Center.

Pres. Préval fights back at accusation of corruption by his government

2010-03-16T08:38:00.001-04:00

The Head of State of Haiti René Préval dismissed with a wave of hand the findings of a report published last week by the U.S. State Department, Haiti ranked among the most corrupt countries.
"I do not pretend that there is no corruption in Haiti, but I do not accept that we say that government is corrupt, that is to say: The executive, Head of state, premiers and ministers. "Said the president returned from his trip to the United States and Dominica.
The President of the Republic of Haiti, René Préval, in an effort to gain international trust for the reconstruction of Haiti, denies accusations of corruption against his team and requires to be provided with evidence.
René Préval takes for example, expressed confidence in his government by international financial institutions, through increased direct budget support.
In its latest report, the U.S. State Department noted that corruption within the national police, judicial and political institutions continues to pose a threat to human rights in Haiti.

The US Department of State strongly urges citizens to avoid travel to Haiti

2010-03-16T00:36:00.000-04:00

Since the earthquake of January 12, four American citizens were murdered in Port-au-Prince. Most kidnappings are criminal in nature, and the kidnappers make no distinctions of nationality, race, sex or age.
Some hostages have been killed, sexually assaulted or physically abused. Despite improvements in the National Police of Haiti since 2006, the presence of a stabilization force (MINUSTAH) and the peacekeepers UN are essential to maintain an adequate level of security throughout the country. The lack of civil protection in Haiti, and the limited capacity of local law enforcement to solve the crime, aggravating the security threat to U.S. citizens.
"The Department of State strongly urges citizens to avoid travel to Haiti, emphasizing the" constant danger of violent crimes such as homicide and kidnapping.

Did President Préval make his case in Washington?

2010-03-11T23:20:00.001-05:00

On Wednesday March 10, 2010, President René Préval went to Washington where he met with Secretary of State, Mrs Hillary Clinton, and President Barack Obama. Mr Obama and Mr Préval spoke to the press after meeting at the White House to reaffirm their mutual commitment to rebuilding Haiti after January’s devastating earthquake.

After receiving many visits from heads of states of different regions in the world, Mr Préval only got the visit of the Secretary of State of the US and of former President Bill Clinton fromm the USA. Many were waiting to see Pres Obama go to Haiti. Instead, it was Pres Préval who had to go to the US.

Preval told The Miami Herald last Friday that though billions have been pledged, little has gone to the Haitian government.

Most of the aid going to Haiti are being channeled through non-government organizations for lack of trust in the Haiti government. Haiti ranks very high when it comes to corruption by government officials and one the missions of Preval's trip was to convince his counterpart to give more of the over one billion dollars donated to Haiti to his government. Did Preval make his case?

Watch the speech they both gave to the Press after they met in private.

Is nature warning Haiti about what's coming?

2010-03-02T14:46:00.002-05:00

Two years ago, the rainy season devastated many parts of Haiti. Did the government learn anything enabling them to make preparation and casualty prevention measures?

Well, the answer is not too clear looking at last year's rainy and hurricane season.

At that time, people in Haïti were leaving inside their homes. Today, they are sleeping in the streets, most, under makeshift tents.

In a few weeks, the rainy season will start in Haïti.
How ready is Haïti's government officials to prevent more devastating casualties?
Well, nature has decided to give them a test, and, unfortunately, they failed.

Floods and mudslides killed at least 13 people in Haiti over the weekend, raising fears about the vulnerability of survivors of the January 12 earthquake.

Haiti's civil protection agency confirmed four people died when floodwaters triggered by torrential rains swept through Les Cayes, the country's third-largest city located on the southern coast about 100 miles (160 km) west of the quake-shattered capital Port-au-Prince.

Les Cayes was flooded by more than 60 percent. Four more people were killed in nearby Cavaillon, four in Saint Louis du Sud and one in Aquin, the Haitian civil protection agency said. Three people were missing and close to 3,500 were evacuated from their homes, it added.

The January 12 Haitian earthquake wrecked large parts of heavily populated Port-au-Prince and surrounding towns, but also damaged towns to the south and west in the Caribbean country.

How ready will Haïti when the rainy season hits in March and the hurricane season starts in May?
So far, no specific plans have been announced by the Haitian officials or the International community. It seems like there is no common plan.

The International community wanted to move the earthquake victims out of Port-au-Prince into shelters that would be built near but outside of Port-au-Prince, making removal of rubles and reconstruction much easier.

The President recently opted on moving the people back to their shattered homes, in smaller tent areas of 50 to 100. The government ordered 5000 tents from China for that measure. Is nature warning about what's coming to Haïti? Is the government listening or paying attention to nature?

Well, history of the last 5 years shows that this government has not had a good ear to nature. It has used casualties to ask for state of emergency measures in Haïti, allowing them to go into the financial reserves of the country and spend without going through proper channels and accountability.

As of today, no official reports have been given for the spending of the 197 millions dollars siphoned out of the Petrocaribe funds.

167 million dollars have been taken recently from that fund following the January 12 earthquake. The President is asking for a renewal of the state of emergency but Parliamentary officials are requesting a report on government spending since January 12 before granting the renewal of that state of emergency measure.

Will Haïti be ready by May for more damage by nature?

Only time will tell and time may not be on the people's side.

Haiti's Seaport back in operation and performing twice as before

2010-03-02T13:35:00.001-05:00

Haiti's main seaport at Port-au-Prince has managed to handle container traffic at a level higher than before the Jan. 12 earthquake, and full repairs to damage should be completed in April, a senior U.S. military officer said on Wednesday, according to Reuters.

The Caribbean country's main maritime terminal for import and export shipments was badly damaged in last month's quake, especially its south pier, initially blocking off a key entry point for urgently needed humanitarian supplies and imports.

Divers from the U.S. Navy and other countries have been working for weeks on repairs to clear debris and wreckage from blocked channels and berths, and contractors brought in floating piers to help unload containers.

"We've had several days where we've delivered 600 containers in a single day, so their capacity is ahead of where they were before the earthquake," said Major General Daniel Allyn, deputy commander of the U.S. military Joint Task Force participating in the international relief effort in Haiti.

This compared to the 200-250 containers the port was handling a month ago, following the disaster.
Repairing the main seaport was seen as a critical step to bring in sufficient volumes of humanitarian supplies and equipment needed to help the victims of the quake, which may have killed up to 300,000 people, according to the Haitian government. More than a million people were left homeless and in need of assistance.

"The really good news story is that the Haitians are running port operations at Port-au-Prince, from the ship's pilotage to the offloading of the ships," Allyn told Reuters.

He said the majority of incoming port traffic in the last week had been commercial cargo, while humanitarian aid cargo had tapered off from previous levels. Off Port-au-Prince, both warships and commercial container ships could be seen.
RECONSTRUCTION CARGOES

"I think that's a sign that we're past the immediate emergency response window and we're sort of in that phase in between, when the reconstruction cargo starts coming ashore in large numbers," the U.S. general said.

He expected repairs on the south pier, the port's primary pier before the quake, to be completed about April 10.
Allyn was speaking aboard the USS Carter Hall, a U.S. amphibious warship which played a key role in putting ashore U.S. Marines and heavy earth-moving equipment west of Port-au-Prince in the days following the Jan. 12 earthquake.

After President Barack Obama mobilized U.S. armed forces to assist the Haiti relief effort, U.S. military personnel have carried out a wide variety of roles, ranging from protecting aid distribution and patrolling dangerous slums, to providing medical services and assisting with the complex planning and logistics of the humanitarian operation.

Youri Latortue wants to know where the money went since Jan. 12, 2010

2010-03-02T10:08:00.000-05:00

Senate Political Affairs Committee Chairman Yuri Latortue called for the publication of report on government spending since January 12.

According to the chairman, those reports and an action plan for the next emergency period are prerequisites for an extension of the state of emergency.

As the the Presdient of Haiti tries to get a renewal of the state of emergency, the Senate Committee on Political Affairs informs the report on the country's situation will be submitted to the Chief Executive this week.

Senator Evaliere Beauplan (PONT) denounced the procrastination of some elected officials, close to the President, who would not agree with the recommendations of the committee.

Several minority senators, including Rudy Herriveaux and Youri Latortue, are demanding a cabinet change to address the emergency. This proposal, called for strengthening the government by Senator Herriveaux, was presented by representatives of various sectors of the civil society.

These last three weeks, the Senate Committee on Political Affairs had working sessions with representatives of various sectors, including political parties, churches and associations.

The minority senators feel that their colleagues of INITE parliementary group want to boycott sessions to finalize the report.

According Evaliere Beauplan, the convocation of the Minister of Justice on Wednesday and met with the head of state Thursday are part of this strategy.

Senator Beauplan has indicated its commitment to submit the demands of nation to the head of the executive branch of government so that proper solutions can be brought to the urgent needs of the population.

Should Opposition be in on Reconstruction in Haïti?

2010-02-28T15:28:00.001-05:00

Here's a new report by the Washington Post.
Tell us what you think at the bottom.

Opposition leaders want to help rebuild Haiti
Their objective is a unanimously supported plan

By Edward Cody, Washington Post | February 28, 2010

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Faced with a disaster of overwhelming proportions, Haiti’s fractious political opposition is trying to set aside its differences and work with President Rene Preval to reach a consensus on how to rebuild the devastated country.

The objective, several political leaders said, is to cooperate with Preval’s government in drawing up a unanimously backed reconstruction plan and an arrangement for broader political leadership during the emergency.

The plan, they said, would be presented to a donors’ conference scheduled for March 28 at the United Nations, and would be used in discussions with the international relief bureaucracy that has mushroomed here since a magnitude-7 earthquake shook Haiti on Jan. 12.

Running through the discussions is a widely shared sentiment that the destruction caused by the earthquake, and the expected arrival of hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid, should become a departure point for fixing the economic and political rot that for years has made Haiti one of the poorest, most unstable, and most corrupt countries in the hemisphere.

“For this exceptional situation, we need an exceptional government,’’ said Myrtho Bonhomme, an aspiring presidential candidate who is a former ambassador and rector of Haiti’s largely destroyed Diplomatic and Consular National Academy.

But Preval has shown no sign he is willing to include opposition groups in reconstruction planning or to agree to the special assembly - a “national conference,’’ perhaps, or a “state council’’ - that the opposition is mulling.

He has been working mainly with US and other foreign aid officials, out of sight of the Haitian public, to deal with the havoc caused by a temblor that killed an estimated 200,000 people and left a million homeless.

A spokesman for Preval, Assad Volcy, said he was unaware of the opposition discussions or of Preval’s attitude toward a broadened emergency leadership.

Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive, in a recent interview, suggested that the government knew of the proposals, but added that some opposition leaders were trying to capitalize on the misery to promote disenchantment with the government.

Himmler Rebu, an army colonel under former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier and founder of the Platform of Haitian Patriots, a right-wing alliance, said: “We have not seen the president or the people in government ever invite anyone from the country’s political groups, not even for the national day of mourning,’’ held Feb. 12.

Deploying a broader leadership for relief efforts and reconstruction planning would better mobilize the energy of the country’s 9 million people and encourage them to take more responsibility for their fate, Rebu said. He added, “The international community cannot rebuild Haiti.’’

Evelyne Cheron, an outgoing senator from one of the split-offs of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s Lavalas movement, said she hopes donor governments and the United Nations will quietly prevail on Preval to embrace the opposition’s suggestions.

Evans Paul, a longtime opposition figure, said the half-dozen groups have more or less agreed that Preval should serve out the year remaining in his five-year term, despite what they describe as a woeful response to the quake emergency.

The election to choose his successor should be held on schedule in November, Paul added, saying that it could also be the occasion to hold legislative elections that were scheduled for this month but postponed because of the earthquake.

“I think we have to put up with Preval for the rest of his mandate,’’ Paul said in an interview on the terrace of his ruined hilltop home. “He is nonperforming, he is inadequate, but to avoid instability he should finish his term.’’

In the meantime, Paul said, Preval should convoke an “etats generaux,’’ a sort of national assembly representing all the country’s political and economic forces, to plan and carry out the reconstruction effort. With legislative elections postponed, he said, the Senate and Chamber of Deputies no longer have the authority to fulfill such a role.

Although the discussions are continuing, there is little hope that they will produce an agreed plan, and even less that Preval will respond, said Jean-Robert Argant, who until last year headed the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The reconstruction effort is likely to be mapped out in air-conditioned meetings between Preval’s ministers and US, UN, and European aid specialists, he said.

Aristide, the former populist leader now exiled in South Africa, has hovered in the background of the political discussions because of his abiding popularity among Haiti’s poor. In a recent communique, he expressed a desire to return and help the country rebuild.

Spray-painted slogans reading “Down with the occupation,’’ “Down with NGOs,’’ and “Down with Preval’’ - presumably the work of diehard Aristide followers - are appearing on walls in the capital. But Haitian politicians of all stripes predicted Aristide will not be allowed to return because of his divisive record during two terms as president.

Preval, 67, who was prime minister under Aristide in the early 1990s, was elected president twice in large measure by assuming Aristide’s populist mantle. A security source said, however, that Preval had cooperated with the right-wing forces who ousted Aristide in 2004.

Should the Opposition in Haiti be in on the Reconstruction?

We want to have your thoughts.

More deaths in Haiti 6 + weeks after earthquake. Why?

2010-02-28T09:04:00.001-05:00

At least 11 people have been killed after heavy rain caused flooding in southwestern areas of quake-hit Haiti, according to officials.

Officials said on Saturday that heavy rains filled Haiti's third most populous city Les Cayes with more than one and a half meters of water.

The civil protection department said a prison flooded and more than 400 prisoners were evacuated.

In parts of the capital city of Port-au-Prince, hundreds of thousands of people are living outdoors after their homes were destroyed in January's earthquake.

UN peacekeepers are helping Haitian police for emergency supplies. Les Cayes was unharmed during the quake that devastated the Caribbean nation.

Last month, the magnitude-7 earthquake in Port-au-Prince killed more than 200,000 people, leveled nearly every government ministry, and made 1.5 million people homeless. (Report by Press TV )

From PVS Canal 16 Newsroom.

President René Préval has now a different view of the solution to the problem of big tent cities: move the people back to their neighborhood.
According to Mr Préval, instead of having big tent cities of 1000 to 4000 people, it would be wiser to have smaller camps of 50 to 100 people near their homes. How does that help in removing the rubles from the quake and rebuilding the country with those camps in every neighborhood?

The International community wants to set up big shelters outside Port-au-Prince.

The President... Small camps inside Port-au-Prince.

Who gets the last word? Who has the experience, the manpower and the money to carry out an effective reconstruction effort? Immediately after the quake, the President and the government were powerless and had let all the decision making to the International community. LOTS of money have been donated to Haiti. Having noticed that the financial donations are not going through them due to lack of credibility and accountability, the President of Haiti and the government have now decided to take charge of things. Many International and national relief missions must now pay taxes for medical supplies and other goods donated to enter Haiti or hand them over to the National Civil Protection force. The government who first opted for tarps has ordered 5000 tents for 5 million dollars from China and now wants people to camp near their neighborhood.

Where did they get that money?
Unable to dip into the hundreds of millions of dollars donated by the International community, the government has asked the parliament to renew the state of emergency, allowing them to withdraw 165 million dollars from the Petrocaribe funds and spend it without going through regular process of accountabilty.

The country is still waiting for reports on the spending of 197 million dollars from that fund said to have been spent after the Gonaives flood and that caused, according to many, the downfall of Prime Minister of Haiti Mrs Michelle Pierre Louis.

Are cases like that common in Haïti?
Could it be why the International Community is very reluctant in handing out the collected donations to the Haitian government?

Maybe this might help answer those 2 questions:
From February 1988 to February 2010 (22 years), Haïti has known 16 Prime Ministers with 2 times vacant positions and 14 Presidents. Here are the lists...

Prime Ministers of Haiti (1988-Present)

Martial Célestin (9 February 1988 - 20 June 1988)
Post abolished (20 June 1988 - 13 February 1991)
René Garcia Préval (13 February 1991 - 11 October 1991)
Jean-Jacques Honorat (interim) (11 October 1991 - 19 June 1992)
Marc Louis Bazin (19 June 1992 - 30 August 1993)
Robert Malval (30 August 1993 - 8 November 1994)
Smarck Michel (8 November 1994 - 7 November 1995)
Claudette Werleigh (7 November 1995 - 27 February 1996)
Rosny Smarth (27 February 1996 - 20 October 1997)
Vacant (21 October 1997 - 26 March 1999)
Jacques-Édouard Alexis (1st time) (26 March 1999 - 2 March 2001)
Jean Marie Chérestal (2 March 2001 - 15 March 2002)
Yvon Neptune (15 March 2002 - 12 March 2004)
Gérard Latortue (12 March 2004 - 9 June 2006)
Henri Bazin (acting for Latortue) (23 May 2006 - 9 June 2006)
Jacques-Édouard Alexis (2nd time) (9 June 2006 - 5 September 2008)
Michèle Pierre-Louis (5 September 2008 - 11 November 2009)
Jean-Max Bellerive (11 November 2009 - Present

Presidents of Haiti (1988-Present)

Lesli Manigat	1988	overthrown
Henri Namphy	1988 - 1989	overthrown
Prosper Avril	1989 - 1990	overthrown
Etha Pascal-Trouillot*	1990 - 1991	full term
Jean-Bertrand Aristide	1991	overthrown
Joseph Nerette*	1991 - 1992
Marc Bazin (acting prime minister)	1992 - 1993
Jean-Bertrand Aristide	1993 - 1994
Émile Jonassaint*	1994
Jean-Bertrand Aristide	1994 - 1996	finished remainder of term
Rene Preval	1996 - 2000	full term
Jean-Bertrand Aristide	2000 - 2004	overthrown
Boniface Alexandre*	2004 - 2006
René Garcia Préval	2006 -
[*Provisional Leader]

Is your house strong enough to go back to?

2010-02-26T19:53:00.000-05:00

Ministry of Public Works, UN and United States Collaborate to Help Displaced Safely Return to Their Homes

On February 24-25, 10 senior Haitian engineers and over 25 international engineers graduated from a four-day joint coordinated training program on how to conduct structural assessments. These engineers will train 200 additional engineers to become structural specialists by the end of next week. Under the authority of the Ministry of Public Works, the structural specialists will inspect 100,000 homes over the next three months.

The engineers will begin with the neighborhoods of displaced families who are currently in the largest, most crowded camps. These assessments are an important first step to help families return safely to their homes.

671 homes have already been assessed in Turgeau in the last four days.

The Ministry of Public Works also has developed standard criteria and training based on approved structural engineering practices.

Food for Spirit? War on Voodoo is back in Haïti.

2010-02-26T12:13:00.001-05:00

The Associated Press reports that angry crowds in a seaside slum in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, attacked a group of Voodoo practitioners Tuesday February 23rd 2010, pelting them with rocks and halting a ceremony meant to honor victims of last month's deadly earthquake.
Voodooists gathered in Cite Soleil where thousands of quake survivors live in tents and depend on food aid. Praying and singing, the group was trying to conjure spirits to guide lost souls when a crowd of evangelicals started shouting. Some threw rocks while others urinated on Voodoo symbols.

When police left, the crowd destroyed the altars and Voodoo offerings of food and rum.

Dario Lopez-Mills/The Associated PressVoodoo followers watch as a crowd screams at them as they try to hold a ceremony in the Cité Soleil neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

"We were here preparing for prayer when these others came and took over," said Sante Joseph, an evangelical worshipper in Cite Soleil, near the capital's port, who joined the angry crowd in a concrete outdoor civic center.

Tensions have been running high since the Jan. 12 earthquake killed an estimated 200,000 people and left more than 1 million homeless. More than 150 machete-wielding men attacked a World Food Program convoy Monday on the road between Haiti's second-largest city of Cap-Haitien and Port-au-Prince. There were no injuries but Chilean peacekeepers could not prevent the men from stealing the food, U.N. spokesman Michel Bonnardeaux said.

Religious tension has also increased: Baptists, Catholics, Jehovah's Witnesses, Scientologists, Mormons and other missionaries have flocked to Haiti in droves since the earthquake to feed the homeless, treat the injured and jockey for souls. Some Voodoo practitioners have said they've converted to Christianity for fear they will lose out on aid or a belief that the earthquake was a warning from God.

"Much of this has to do with the aid coming in," said Max Beauvoir, a Voodoo priest and head of a Voodoo association. "Many missionaries oppose Voodoo. I hope this does not start a war of religions because many of our practitioners are being harassed now unlike any other time that I remember."

Voodoo, or Vodou as preferred by Haitians, evolved in the 17th century when the French brought slaves to Haiti from West Africa. Slaves forced to practice Catholicism remained loyal to their African spirits in secret by adopting Catholic saints to coincide with African spirits, and today many Haitians consider themselves followers of both religions. Voodoo's followers believe in reincarnation, one God and a pantheon of spirits. Voodoo leaders say that although they do not believe in evil spirits, some followers pray for the spirits to do evil.

"There's absolutely a heightened spiritual conflict between Christianity and Voodoo since the quake," said Pastor Frank Amedia of the Miami-based Touch Heaven Ministries who has been distributing food in Haiti and proselytizing.
"We would give food to the needy in the short term, but if they refused to give up Voodoo, I'm not sure we would continue to support them in the long term because we wouldn't want to perpetuate that practice. We equate it with witchcraft, which is contrary to the Gospel."
A magnitude-4.7 quake, meanwhile, rattled the capital at 1:26 a.m. Tuesday, followed by a smaller aftershock whose magnitude was still unknown, said Eric Calais, a geophysicist from Purdue University who is studying seismic activity in Haiti.
A magnitude-4.7 aftershock struck Monday, followed by two other small tremors. Both Tuesday's quake and Monday's aftershock struck near the epicenter of the Jan. 12 quake. The U.S. Geological

Survey in Colorado usually detects Haitian quakes of magnitude 4 and above, but smaller tremors often are not detected due to a lack of seismometers in Haiti.
Some walls that had toppled in last month's quake spilled onto the street Tuesday and damaged telephone polls split in half. There were no reports of injuries.

"It feels like the earth is shaking all the time since last month," said Ermithe Josephe, 48, who is still sleeping outside in a tent next to her crumpled house. "We can't sleep with all of these aftershocks and we're too afraid to go to work sometimes."

Last month's earthquake occurred along the east-west Enriquillo Fault, where two pieces of the Earth's crust slide by each other in opposite directions. The USGS said Tuesday there is between a 5 percent and 15 percent probability that another magnitude-7 quake would occur on the Enriquillo in the next 50 years.

This story was reported by the Associated Press.

Do you think Food should be used for religious conversion?

Tell us what you think.

If you are thinking of taking or shipping donations to Haiti, get ready for the worst...

2010-02-25T11:55:00.007-05:00

If you are taking or shipping donations to Haiti, get ready for the worst. Just like my brother and I, who head 2 small Non-Profit Organization in the US,
(Haitian American Association of Filmmakers and Polycarpe, inc.),
many of you are trying to find ways to take or ship to Haiti donations that you received to help the less fortunates. We have tents, crutches, medications, clothes, food, and we daily make calls to different organization to see if we can move those donations to where it is destined. Mine is specifically for Carrefour Haiti.

I just found out about the worst news that I could get. And it's bad news for all of us who are trying to
help not massively like the Red Cross, but on a micro level in neighborhoods who get lost in the big system. Well, here is the bad news.

The government of Haïti wants to either get those donations handed over to them or pay heavy taxes on them.
Many say that "this is Haïti" and think that it was coming.
The Haitian government, which could not achieve the basic level of disaster preparation, is furious for not getting in on the money that the International community has donated. It is mostly going through ONGs.
It is a fact that, from the earlier declarations of the government after the quake, they are totally unable to deal with such a catastrophe. Remember, the government had no back up plans in case the palace was hit by an act of nature or an act of war, nor did it have a back-up communications system in case the cell phone companies became inoperable.

But NOW, they have their own plans for recovery and reconstruction. And they have decided to take charge of things. Is this for the better of the country or for themselves? With 11 months left in office, why is Haiti's government making it so difficult for the victims of the earthquake? Many say that "this is Haiti". (Article by Raynald Delerme / Feb 25, 2010))

Read this report by CNN.
Port-au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) -- You hear it all the time in Port-au-Prince: "That's Haiti," people tell you when things move slowly, when the electricity goes off or traffic mysteriously comes to a halt. Some say it was like that even before a devastating earthquake reduced most homes to a few hours of power from a generator and made some streets impossible to pass.Today we followed a group of American relief workers to the airport to pick up several tons of donations. They were expecting tents, food, heavy equipment to help them rebuild and repair. Relief supplies had been flowing freely from the airport since the earthquake. Rescue workers had been able to avoid customs delays and taxes imposed on foreign imports.

But when we arrived at the airport, the whole system had been upended. A doctor from Milwaukee was screaming through a fence at customs officials. She had come for six days with plans to treat 300 patients a day. She had been in Haiti three days and her medicine was still being held. "We were bringing in medical equipment as well as medicines and we have nothing. We don't have anything to see the patients we're supposed to see," she said.

Customs would not budge. They showed us an order from the Ministry of Economy and Finance outlining a new procedure for getting supplies into the country. Organizations now have to sign over the goods to the Haitian Department of Civil Protection which will review their request to get a tax exemption before releasing the goods. We called the ministry and they told us the government is trying to prevent businesses from getting goods in tax free under the guise of being relief organizations. They are after crooks and people sneaking in contraband.

But Terry Nelson from Light Ministries said he was told the only way to get his tents is to pay the tax. "We're giving stuff away. We've been here for 28 years and we have to pay to help their people," he said. He did not know the cost. "I'm trying to find out," he said. We left him there waiting on 250 tents on a week it had started to rain.

Bill Manassero of Maison de Lumiere came to pick up 6 tons of donated goods and was told it could cost him as much as $10,000 unless he was willing to sign it over to the government and await approval. "We had a bunch of things shipped to us to help repair houses, tents to give away to people who need homes and right now we can't get our things out of customs because they're telling us we have to take all the things that are ours and declare it over to the government and give it to them as a gift and they will give it back to us at some point -- we don't know when," he said.

No one trusted they would get their goods back. And no one has time to wait. The Maison volunteers leave at the end of the week. So if Manassero waits, he may not get his cement mixer in time for his volunteers to rebuild his wall. He's in the same boat as the doctor who may not be able to treat her patients. The government says they have changed the rules because the "emergency situation" is now over. But it's not over to them.

I asked customs to explain why this new process is stalling relief work. "I just want to understand why people when they come to get their things have to pay so much money. Why a tax? It seems if you're donating things like tents or food they should just be donated. There's not one person in this building who can answer the question why tents can't be donated," I repeatedly asked the customs director. No answer. That's Haiti.

By Soledad O'Brien and Rose Arce, CNN

February 24, 2010 11:03 p.m. EST

Tell us what you think.

Dominican Republic promises acceptance and financial aid to Haitian students

2010-02-24T01:12:00.001-05:00

Haitian university students will be allowed to use facilities in the Dominican Republic and all Haitian students receiving higher education in the republic will be offered financial support, a visiting Dominican minister said on Friday.

"Since the catastrophe in Haiti, we have been seeking measures to help rebuild the Haitian higher education system," said Ligia Amada Melo, minister for higher education, science and technology of the Dominican Republic.

All education activities in Haiti were halted by the Jan. 12 quake, which killed more than 200,000 people and left more than a million others homeless."Dominican Republic universities are ready and willing to support Haiti for its recovery ... to give it the financial, educational and psychological help needed, as well as waiving fees," she said.

Amada said her country is also willing to help build ties between Haitian universities and higher education institutions across Spanish speaking countries in South America.

"The Dominican government and President Leonel Fernandez have promised to help the Haitian higher education system by all possible means," she added.

Tell us what you think.

Haitian Government shutting down private schools...

2010-02-23T14:41:00.001-05:00

The Ministry of Education has prohibited the reopening of schools that have not been damaged or cracked during the earthquake of January 12. Directors and owners of fifteen private schools protested against that decision. Margaret and Patricia Cleri Rocourt, director of schools respectively Boucledart-Houses of children and Easterly have decried the behavior of that Department inspectors who closed the gates of some schools that were operating last week. An inspector duly appointed by the Ministry of Education said: "Have you not ashamed to work, reopen your school when so many other students can not go to the school?"

However, these school officials are seeking departmental approval to begin to operate and accompany the children in these difficult times.
They also ask the Haitian State to take the necessary steps to clear the sites of destroyed schools in order to reuse their sites to install tents that will facilitate a gradual reopening of schools in the departments affected.
Those educators had sent an open letter to Minister of Education in which they expressed their concerns over a statement issued by the Department prohibiting the resumption of school activities without express permission.

Traumatised, many Haitian mothers stop breastfeeding.

2010-02-23T12:26:00.003-05:00

The United Nations Fund for Children (UNICEF) provides in Haiti "baby tent" to provide mothers and their babies a safe and quiet place for breastfeeding.
Many beliefs have spread after the earthquake of January 12. According to these myths, the stress would cease production of milk or, poor maternal nutrition lead to a decrease in milk quality unsafe for the child. Traumatized by the earthquake or frightened by these urban legends, many mothers have stopped breastfeeding within.
Mothers therefore use more powdered milk to feed their children. Access to safe water is limited, the mixing of milk from unsafe water causes diarrhea dangerous for children and can cause premature death of infants.
Faced with this danger, UNICEF has installed 12 "baby tent" in Port-au-Prince to encourage mothers to breastfeed and train them on basic knowledge of health and hygiene. For children who have lost their mothers in the earthquake, solutions of milk powder ready for distribution to parents survivors. The mixing is done with water, there is greater risk of diarrhea.
UNICEF estimates that exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of life could prevent the deaths of at least 1.3 million children under five each year worldwide. Exclusive breastfeeding is the best source of nutrition for a newborn up to six months. It reduces the incidence and severity of infectious diseases and morbidity and mortality.

Could the Marshall Plan be next for Haiti?

2010-02-23T09:11:00.001-05:00

Catherine Ashton, High Representative of EU for Foreign Affairs announced today that the EU wants to launch a "Marshall Plan" for Haiti.
The Marshall Plan, officially called the European Recovery Program ", was a U.S. plan to help rebuild Europe after the Second World War.
"We must implement a sort of Marshall Plan for Haiti" declared Catherine Ashton during a press conference in Brussels after a meeting of foreign ministers of the EU. She also stressed that European support. The amount of EU funding to date amounts to 609 million euros (829 million) (EU budget and national budget), including 309 million euros (421 million) of aid Humanitarian (120 million from the EU budget, 189 million of EU states). 300 million euros (408 million dollars) for reconstruction and rehabilitation.
Ms. Ashton should go to Port-au-Prince next week.

What is exactly the Marshall Plan?

The Marshall Plan (from its enactment, officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was the primary program, 1948–52, of the United States for rebuilding and creating a stronger economic foundation for the countries of Western Europe, and repelling the threat of internal communism after World War II.

The initiative was named for Secretary of State George Marshall and was largely the creation of State Department officials, especially William L. Clayton and George F. Kennan. George Marshall spoke of the administration's desire to help European recovery in his address at Harvard University in June 1947.

The reconstruction plan, developed at a meeting of the participating European states, was established on June 5, 1947. It offered the same aid to the USSR and its allies, but they did not accept it. The plan was in operation for four years beginning in April 1948. During that period some US$12 billion in economic and technical assistance were given to help the recovery of the European countries that had joined in the Organization for European Economic Co-operation. This $12 billion was in the context of a U.S. GDP of $258 billion in 1948, and was on top of $12 billion in American aid to Europe between the end of the war and the start of the Plan.

The ERP addressed each of the obstacles to postwar recovery. The plan looked to the future, and did not focus on the destruction caused by the war. Much more important were efforts to modernize European industrial and business practices using high-efficiency American models, reduce artificial trade barriers, and instill a sense of hope and self-reliance.
By 1952 as the funding ended, the economy of every participant state had surpassed pre-war levels; for all Marshall plan recipients, output in 1951 was 35% higher than in 1938. Over the next two decades, Western Europe enjoyed unprecedented growth and prosperity.

After the Marines, the Canadians are leaving Haiti...

2010-02-23T07:41:00.002-05:00

Canada began the withdrawal of troops sent to Haiti to provide humanitarian emergency. The HMCS Halifax was off the coast of Jacmel left Haitian waters to return to Canada.

Canada had deployed just after the quake about 2,000 soldiers.

Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defense of Canada, stated that the usual the
mandate of the majority of soldiers sent on site stretches between 30 and 60 days.

Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs in Canada,
specified that "The Canadian Forces" continue to assist in the stabilization mission. A transition plan "coordinated with the Haitian authorities, UN and other countries involved, has been established, "said Cannon.

The government of Canada is contributing $80 million for humanitarian relief efforts in Haiti, International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda announced Tuesday.
Oda said $60 million will go to help United Nations organizations deliver essential services to around three million people over the next six months. Of that amount, $39 million will go to food security needs through the UN World Food Programme.

She said the organization estimates it will need to provide over 100 million meals in the next 30 days.

She said Tuesday's funding announcements add to the government's initial $5-million donation, which was used for supplies and essential services.
Foreign Affairs raised the number of Canadians known to have been killed in the Haiti quake by one to 13.
The government also reported that 665 Canadians are still unaccounted for, down from 699 on Monday. The number located and accounted for has risen to 1,641 from Monday's 1,433.
So far, 1,206 Canadians have been evacuated from Haiti back to Canada.

The Rain came, so did a new Earthquake...

2010-02-22T17:22:00.000-05:00

What everybody and specially most Haitians dreaded happened. The rain came, the tents weren't there for everyone, many ran back to their unsecured homes, and a strong quake of magnitude 4.7 on the Richter scale fell on Haiti on Monday at 4H35AM.

Residents of metropolitan Port-au-Prince indicated that the intensity was comparable to the earthquake of January 12.
For 2 to 3 seconds, many houses were severely shaken, causing panic in parts of downtown. Many citizens who were in their homes rushed into the streets with their sleeping children.

In an early evening downpour had forced many people, private tent, take refuge in their houses cracked.

Patrick Delerme, a psychologist leaving in Orlando Florida and CFA of a Non-Profit Organisation, Polycarpe, inc., says that this is just going to add to the stress of the many Haitians who are already suffering from bad PTSD. Patrick Delerme recently went to Haiti on a volunteer mission to bring medical and mostly psychological relief to Carrefour had a chance to diagnose many people in the area.

Could you volunteer to help Haiti this summer?

2010-02-20T14:08:00.003-05:00

This summer I plan to set time aside and volunteer my efforts in Haiti. I would love for you to accompany me. All of you who know me well know that I am "ubber Haitian". You also know that I enjoy helping people. Above all, I live for helping young people. I was introduced to the chance to work as a volunteer in Haiti this summer. What a wonderful way for us to service others.
I would love for you take this journey with me. If you follow the attached link you'll learn more. This is a school which was founded by my uncle, Gerard Delerme, in 1963. My father, Antoine Delerme worked at this school as a Math and Science professor. Its a well known school amongst the educated in Haiti's Port au Prince area. You do not need to be Haitian in order to help out.

As a volunteer you would give of yourself in whichever capacity. From giving out food, to recreational play with the children, to feeding babies, to talking with young men and women, teenagers. You don't need a degree or a title to help. Our people (whether you are Haitian or non-Haitian) need human contact with others in order to know that they are not alone. The cost of the trip is the cost of the airline ticket.

As a volunteer you would sleep in your own tent on the compounds of the well fenced in property. We would sleep on the grounds of either Frer Polycarpe or on my cousins property which is located near the 3 acre big school. Both the Dominican and the Haitian Association of Film Makers are on the grounds helping. These men and women come from all over the Caribbean to volunteer. Would you join me in lending a helping hand?

With Haiti being the inventor of liberty for all black nations your helping hand today will secure the legacy of her founding Fathers intended for her existing children. Together, we can rebuild our parents country one brick at a time. Please repost this information to all and anyone you think would be interested. This is a great opportunity for all including seniors in high school and college students. http://www.facebook.com/l/04a52;thehaaf.org

Human excrement to creating real helth threat in Haiti

2010-02-20T13:23:00.001-05:00

Poor Sanitation in Haiti’s Tent Camps Adds to Risk of Disease

By SIMON ROMERO (New York Times)

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — As hundreds of thousands of people displaced by last month’s earthquake put down stakes in the squalid tent camps of this wrecked city, the authorities are struggling to address the worsening problem of human waste. Public health officials warn that waste accumulation is creating conditions for major disease outbreaks, including cholera, which could further stress the ravaged health system.
Some American and Haitian public health specialists here consider the diseases stemming from the buildup of human waste in the camps as possibly the most pressing health threat in the city. Doctors are already seeing a spike in illnesses like typhoid and shigellosis, which arise from contaminated food or water.

“We’re witnessing the setup for the spread of severe diarrheal illnesses in a place where the health system has collapsed and without a functioning sewage system to begin with,” said Ian Greenwald, chief medical officer for a Duke University team of doctors working here this month.
The problem has become impossible to overlook in many districts of Port-au-Prince, with the stench of decomposing bodies replaced by that of excrement. Children in some camps that are still lacking latrines and portable toilets play in open areas scattered with the waste. The light rains here this week caused some donated latrines in the camps to overflow, illustrating how the problem would grow more acute as the rainy season intensified in the months ahead.

Aid groups are trying to address the problem by distributing more than 10,000 latrines and portable toilets, and employing dozens of new desludging trucks to empty the toilets. But these solutions seem to be a stopgap measure, at best.
“It’s a drop in the ocean of what’s needed,” said Jessica Barry, a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, which is distributing latrines with special sludge pumps. “You can have 100,000 latrines, but you need a way to remove the excrement.”

The human waste problem was daunting even before the earthquake. Lacking a municipal sewage system, many families here employ a socially scorned class of nocturnal latrine cleaners known in Creole as the “bayakou.” They descend into latrines to clean excrement with their hands, before transporting it in carts to improvised disposal sites.

“The real culprit right now is the flies, which become vectors by taking fecal waste from one place to another,” said Dr. Redfield, who got sick himself with salmonella typhi while working in Haiti this month. “This means you can control what you eat and still get something,” he said. “The arrival of the rains could make malaria and dengue more problematic as well.”
Some families seeking shelter have nowhere else to turn. “This is my life now, my family’s life,” said Sindia Michel, 33, who moved to the Troutier trash dump after her shack collapsed in the earthquake. She scavenged for firewood with one of her five children near the pits of excrement.
“I do what it takes to endure,” she said.

Homeless in Haïti opting for their unsafe houses to the rain.

2010-02-20T12:10:00.000-05:00

Thousands of Haitians gathered in the 600 makeshift camps in the metropolitan area have experienced a deterioration of their living conditions. Deprived of tents, these citizens cant protect themselves against the rain that continued to hit the capital and its environs.
Disaster victims camped at Silvio Cator stadium get soaked at every rain shower because their rudimentary tents can not protect them. Some people manage to find a place in the few sheets available while the majority remains standing in the rain.
The lawn is transformed into a pool which complicates the task. "The children are in the same situation," says a mother who tries to repair his small makeshift tent.
The majority of victims in downtown Port-au-Prince have been up all night during the rain with their feet in water. Unable to live in such extreme conditions many people are returning to their damaged and unsecrued houses.
While heavy rains are registered new aftershocks continue to rock the buildings. Usually regarded as a blessing, the rain is now seen as an additional punishment by the victims already faced with the aftershocks.

Homeless fight for shelter near wrecks of Haitian Palace

2010-02-20T10:15:00.002-05:00

PORT-AU-PRINCE (From Reuters)
Haitian earthquake victims traded blows and wrestled on Friday over plastic shelter materials being urgently distributed by authorities to improve flimsy survivors' camps before the onset of rains.
More than five weeks after the magnitude 7 earthquake that reduced parts of the capital, Port-au-Prince, to rubble, Haiti's government and its foreign aid partners say providing shelter for the more than 1 million left homeless by the quake has become the top priority.
Some downpours this month heralding the start of the rainy season in mid-March have added urgency to the need to improve shelter conditions for hundreds of thousands of quake victims camped out across the capital. The January 12 earthquake killed more than 212,000 people.
At the Culture Ministry, a government handout of packaged synthetic shelter material triggered fights between residents of a nearby sprawling survivors' encampment that carpets a square in front of the damaged presidential palace.

The yelling survivors scuffled, wrestled and exchanged blows over the packages, scattering only when armed police moved in to break up the fights. One man was pushed over in the melee, broke his leg and was carried off by bystanders.
In another fracas outside the Plaza Hotel near the same square, men threatened each other with chunks of masonry from the quake ruins as they noisily disputed the ownership of a compressed package of plastic tarpaulin.

Haiti's government, which has appealed for tents and tarpaulins from donors, is discussing with aid partners how to tackle the huge task of trying to clear an estimated 63 million tons of quake rubble from the ruined city.
USAID says it is rushing in thousands of rolls of plastic sheeting to give more effective shelter to the survivors before the coming rains turn their makeshift camps into muddy quagmires, raising the risk of disease.

Acting U.N. mission chief Edmond Mulet has said that not even the U.S. and Canadian militaries or the U.N. Brazilian army contingent helping the relief effort in Haiti have sufficient heavy equipment there to shift all the rubble. He has suggested specialized private companies be brought in.
Haitian businessman Charles Clermont, who is part of an urban recovery commission tackling the shelter, housing and rubble removal problem, said foreign relief experts had told him the Haiti earthquake was one of the most complex disaster situations ever seen in modern times.
He said the government could not afford to wait months for a solution, but needed action in the coming weeks.
Working with international aid partners, the U.S. military and United Nations plan to bring in tents, plastic sheeting and portable toilets as part of a multi-pronged strategy to provide better shelter to survivors and "decompress" affected zones of the city by starting to clear some of the rubble.
Experts says some victims may be relocated to improved camps, while others will be given materials to build temporary shelters or even repair their quake-damaged homes.
"Even if their house is damaged, you can help them make a temporary shelter in their own homes," Clermont said.

Haiti Prime Minister fears his government may collapse.

2010-02-20T09:36:00.001-05:00

Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said Thursday February 18, 2010 that his government could collapse because political opponents are capitalizing on its inability to address the staggering fallout of the Jan. 12 earthquake.
Bellerive, who has been more visible than President Rene Preval since the deadly quake, told The Associated Press in a 40-minute interview that he has two immediate fears — how the 1.2 million people living in the streets will deal with the impending rainy season and the danger of political divisiveness.
"You have the feeling that everyone is trying to do his little part and accuse the other one of not doing his part," Bellerive said, including Haitian politicians, international groups and the business community. "Everyone is trying to create conflict when we have the same enemy right now: It's misery, it's disaster."

Bellerive had been prime minister for two months when the earthquake struck, have replaced a predecessor ousted mainly by senators from Preval's party. He is the sixth person to hold the post since 2004 in this politically unstable nation.

Preval took power under a U.N.-sanctioned election after two years of a U.S.-backed interim government that filled the void after the 2004 ouster of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Bellerive, an economist whose prior responsibilities included coordinating international aid for this deeply poor nation, said he understood criticism that Haiti's leaders did not do enough to help in the days after the magnitude-7 earthquake killed 200,000 people and leveled nearly every government ministry along with 38 percent of the capital.
"Because we didn't have any administration we could not give the services the population is entitled to. So they say there isn't any government," he said.
Since the quake, Bellerive said, he has spent sleepless nights worrying about impending rains — and their threat to cause landslides and floods that are constant killers in this Caribbean nation.
He said he has struggled to find solutions for those displaced by the quake. Most are still in the streets, trying to cope with poor sanitation and not enough food.
Then there is the potential for a constitutional storm.
A legislative election scheduled for this month has been canceled, threatening parliament's legitimacy. A presidential election planned for later in the year is also in question, with Preval's term expiring in 12 months.
In a country where peaceful transitions to power are rare, that could give opportunities to political rivals, Bellerive said.
"I am not asking for a truce, but I believe we have a serious problem that we have to face right now as a nation," Bellerive said. "The government is not able to resolve this situation alone."

Haitian government may take over private land to relocate homeless

2010-02-20T07:23:00.001-05:00

Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said that the Haitian government will take ownership of private land to relocate affected temporarily homeless.
In an interview with the Associated Press (AP) Jean-Max Bellerive said that the government does not have enough land and must take ownership of private ones. Haitian law allows, as long as owners receive adequate compensation.
Who is Jean Max Bellerive?

Prime Minister of Haiti

Married and a father of two girls, Bellerive was born in Port-au-Prince in 1958. As the son of a prominent doctor, he left Haiti at a very young age to study in Switzerland, France, and Belgium. With a degree in Political Science and International Relations, Bellerive returned to Haiti in 1986, just before the overthrow of Jean-Claude Duvalier.

Current Haitian President René Préval, in following the orders of a senate resolution, nominated Bellerive on October 30, 2009, to replace former Prime Minister Michèle Pierre-Louis. A day before the nomination, on October 29, 2009, 18 senators of a 29-member senate voted to dismiss Pierre-Louis on charges that she was poorly performing in leading Haiti's economic recovery efforts.

Canada to reconstruct Léogane / Venezuela Jacmel

2010-02-19T21:31:00.003-05:00

The head of the UN Mission for Stabilization in Haiti (MINUSTAH),
M. Edmond Mulet, recommends massive humanitarian aid and extending over a long period for Haiti. He explained that the efforts of humanitarian and development must be achieved simultaneously.
During an informal meeting of European ministers of development assistance in Spain, Mr. Mulet has stressed the need for distribution of tasks thematically and geographically to avoid duplication and confusion. It recommends that the friends of Haiti are directly involved in the reconstruction of cities destroyed by the earthquake of January 12.

Mulet reveals that Canada is prepared to support the reconstruction of Léogane while Venezuela is interested in Jacmel. Ensuring that this strategy will be beneficial, Mr. Mulet said that it allowed the reconstruction of Guatemala 2 years after the passage of a strong earthquake.

In addition, Mr. Mulet hope that international organizations are investing their efforts in one area. He believes that the OAS should focus on building a database on the identification of Haitian citizens and the European Union on the register.

Who is Edmond Mulet?

Edmond Mulet (born 13 March 1951) is a Guatemalan diplomat. He is currently United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, and current acting head of MINUSTAH, in which position he succeeded Hédi Annabi of Tunisia who died in the 2010 Haitian earthquake.

Mulet had previously served as the Secretary General's Special Representative to Haiti. Prior to this, he was Guatemala's ambassador to the European Union, the Kingdom of Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg where he represented his country in the preparatory negotiations for free trade agreements between Latin America and the Caribbean and the European Union.

Mulet received his primary education in Guatemala City, Montreal, New York City and Bern. He studied law and social studies at Guatemala City’s Universidad Mariano Galvez. He is a lawyer and notary public. He is married and has two sons. He is fluent in Spanish, English and French.

Donations to Haiti??? The ifs and the buts.

2010-02-18T00:13:00.000-05:00

No one can remain untouched by the devastation of Haiti from the January 12, 2010 earthquake.
Donations are pouring from everywhere.
People are taking in donations from their churches, their work, their kids schools, their schools, anywhere they can find something to help earthquake victims in Haiti.
One BIG problem arises: getting to donations to the ones who need it.

Well, we at The Haitian American Association of Filmmakers (www.thehaaf.org) and Polycarpe, Inc. (www.polycarpe.org), have a few reccomendations for you who have piles of donations sitting in your garage or in a trailer.

If you wish to donate to the Red Cross, Yele or other big world organization, it's best to donate money.

They can do more with that than your goods.
They have a way of getting thins for cheaper than you and I.

If you have goods or you have organized a drive for goods, you must pay for taking them to Haiti.
Now, dont get scared and let all those donations go to waste.
There are a few things you can do.

Ask for cash donations so you could ship those goods to Haiti.
Find a specific place to send your donations to. The big organization cater to the relief on the macro level.. Unfortunately, many neighborhood are lost in the system and left behind.
Send your donations directly do your neighborhood.
Everybody is sleeping in the street in the affected areas in Haiti.
Not all will agree to go stay in line under that hot sun for hours to get some relief help. They are also hurting.
So organizing a relief effort directly to your neighborhood is a very good. We tested that and found that very positive.

Go to www.thehaaf.blogspot.com to watch our videos and how we achieved that.
Right now, it's best to send your donations via Santo Domingo to reach Haiti.
it is safe, quicker and with less hassle.

Dont forget, there is a cost associated with that. Designate somenone to go to Haiti via Santo Domingo and deliver those donations or contact us for assistance.
We can help you find a route.
e-mail us at info@thehaaf.org

Do not buy water and certain canned goods here in the US to ship to Haiti.
You can buy them in Santo Domingo for about the same price and even buy more with the shipping money from Miami to the Dominican Republic.
The Dominicans have been very helpful and warm to the haitian disaster and are very open to help.
Dont let that good work go to waste.
Get your donations to Haiti and get them preferably to your neighborhood.
Lots of rice has been distributed.
Great work by the international community.
But nothing has been done yet to lower the cost of basic necessities of food for those who can not go in the lines of free distribution, the middle-class of Haiti.
As a matter of fact, cost of living has risen more than 30%.

The Haitian American Association of Filmmakers and Polycarpe, Inc., are non-profit corporations in the US. We can help you get those donations to Haiti by sharing our experience and our contacts with you.

One last piece of advice.
If you are still making donation drives, request medications for female yeast infections, children diahrea, bacterial soap, adult diahrea, crutches for amputees, over the counter cold medication, heavy duty tents.
The needs have changed in haiti a month after the earthquake.

"Oath of the ancestors" oil painting found in the rubbles of Haiti's Nt'l Palace.

2010-02-16T14:59:00.001-05:00

The Minister of Culture and Communication French, Frederic Mitterrand announced Friday, February 12th in a statement that the Center for Research and Restoration of Museums of France will undertake in Port-au-Prince the restoration of the painting
"Oath of the ancestors". The painting had been found in the rubble of the National Palace. The painting has undergone major tears but restoration is still possible.
French firefighters had saved many works of art and paintings of the presidential palace that has partially collapsed in the earthquake of January 12, including "Oath of the Ancestors," an oil painting four meters by three dating from 1822 and directed by the painter Guadeloupe Guillaume Guillon-Lethière representing the historic meeting between the black general Jean-Jacques Dessalines, a lieutenant of Toussaint Louverture, and the Chief of the mulattos of Saint-Dominique, Alexandre Pétion. This meeting marked the beginning of the process that led to Haiti's independence in 1804.
The Center for Research and Restoration of Museums of France, is familiar with this art piece for having previously restored it at the Louvre in 1998.

Who is Frederick Mitterand? Sex scandal involving M. Frederic Mitterand?

Born in Paris, he is the nephew of François Mitterrand, who was the President of France from 1981 to 1995, and the son of engineer Robert Mitterrand^[1] (1915-2002) and Edith Cahier, the niece of Eugène Deloncle, the co-founder of "La Cagoule".
He went to the Lycée Janson de Sailly in Paris and studied history and geography at the Paris West University Nanterre La Défense, and political science at Sciences Po. He taught economics, history and geography at EABJM from 1968 to 1971. In 1978, he was a film critic at J'informe. From 1971 to 1986, he run several art film cinemas in Paris (Olympic Palace, Entrepôt and Olympic-Entrepôt). He also had roles in a number of films, and was in the 1980s active as a producer and director in TV productions.
In June 2008, Mitterrand was appointed as the director of the French Academy in Rome by President Nicolas Sarkozy.
A year later, on 23 June 2009, Mitterrand was appointed to the French government as the Minister of Culture and Communications.

Sex scandal involving M. Frederic Mitterand.

Frédéric Mitterrand admitted to paying for sex with 'young boys’ in Thailand.
Frédéric Mitterrand, France’s culture minister, was under pressure to resign after it emerged
that he had admitted to paying “young boys” for sexual acts while on holiday in Thailand.
By Henry Samuel in Paris

Published: 9:52PM BST 07 Oct 2009

The revelations in his 2005 autobiography “The Bad Life” have come back to haunt
Mr Mitterrand after he emerged as one of the most vociferous defenders of Roman Polanski, the
film director currently detained in Switzerland in connection with an outstanding conviction for
unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl in the US in 1977.
In his book, Mr Mitterrand, the nephew of the late Socialist president François Mitterrand, wrote:
“I got into the habit of paying for boys...All these rituals of the market for youths, the slave
market excite me enormously.

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A good news service should not only inform you but also educate you.
At PVS, we try harder everyday.

Take the time to also visit:
haiticinema blog
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France will cancel Haiti's debt. Sarkozy in Haiti today.

2010-02-16T09:29:00.001-05:00

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is scheduled to arrive early Wednesday in Port-au-Prince. It should make a helicopter flight over the affected areas, visiting the field hospital of the French Civil Security located in the French Lycee Alexandre Dumas, meet rescue workers and UN officials.
Mr Sarkozy will also hold talks with his counterpart René Préval, Prime Minister Jean-Marc Bellerive and members of his government, before leaving the island before noon.
According to the Elysee, Mr. Sarkozy will present "extremely significant proposals", including financial terms. He will also confirm the cancellation of the entire country's debt towards France, 56 million euros (just over 76 million dollars).

Who is Nicolas Sarkozy?

Nicolas Sarkozy (pronounced [nikɔla saʁkɔzi] ), born Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy on January 28, 1955, is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier.
Under Jacques Chirac's presidency, he served as Minister of the Interior in Jean-Pierre Raffarin's (UMP) first two governments (from May 2002 to March 2004), then was appointed Minister of Finances in Raffarin's last government (March 2004 to May 2005), and again Minister of the Interior in Dominique de Villepin's government (2005-2007).
Sarkozy was also president of the General council of the Hauts-de-Seine department from 2004 to 2007 and mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine, one of the wealthiest communes of France from 1983 to 2002. He was also Minister of the Budget in the government of Édouard Balladur (RPR, predecessor of the UMP) during François Mitterrand's last term.

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A good news service should not only inform you but also educate you.
At PVS, we try harder everyday.

Take the time to also visit:
haiticinema blog

Like our site?
Send us an e-mail.
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Pres. Préval says "3 years to take out the rubles alone"

2010-02-15T22:40:00.003-05:00

President René G. Préval says that "we are in for at least 3 years just to take out the rubles left behind by the devastating earthquake of January 12, 2010." Following talks with the Prime Minister of Canada, M. Stephen Haper, who was visiting Haiti, M. Préval confirmed that Canada has promised to build an Administrative office for Haiti at the old campus of the French Institute at the Bi-Centenaire.
He also confirmed that the offices of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Planning will soon be housed at the old consular office of the US at Rue Oswald Durand. It still remains a question mark as to where the President's office will be housed.

Sthephen Harper

Prime Minister of Canada

When everyone else was afraid, the Turks went in...

2010-02-15T20:01:00.000-05:00

When everyone else from the International community giving relief aid to Haiti was afraid of going into certain areas, the Turks went in.

In the early days following the January 12 earthquake tha devastated Haiti, "Helping Hands", a relief mission made up of muslems volunteers from Turkey, went to Cité Soleil and Carrefour at the Cultural Center of PVS (Ecole Frère Polycarpe) to bring much needed medical help and hot meals to many Haitians who have just suffered probably the biggest catastrophy of their lifetime. When everything was just held up around the airport area for "security reasons", the turks moved in to where help was needed.
At the request of M. Raynald Delerme, President and CEO of the Haitian American Association of Filmmakers, they went to Carrefour.

Watch this video of Helping Hands.

The Haitian American Association of Filmmakers want to thank "Helping Hands" for their support. The recovery of Haiti is a long term effort. At the present time, The Haitian American Association of Filmmakers is sheltering more than 500 Scouts at PVS Cultural Center (Ecole Frère Polycarpe, Carrefour). We need your help to continue our mission. Please donate what you can.

The HAAF brings medical and psychological relief to Carrefour

2010-02-15T18:43:00.005-05:00

"Lost" at Carrefour was the theme of this special mission of the Haitian American Association of Filmmakers (The HAAF). With the support of Polycarpe, Inc, a non-profit organization directed by Patrick Delerme, younger brother of the President and CEO of the HAAF, Raynald Delerme, much needed medical and psychological aid were given to over 400 people at PVS Cultural Center (Ecole Frère Polycarpe) and source Corossol in Carrefour. According to Patrick Delerme, most women and children reported symptoms of PTSD.

Watch this video of this special mission to Haiti.

The Haitian American Association of Filmmakers want to thank "Polycarpe, inc." for their support. The recovery of Haiti is a long term effort. At the present time, The Haitian American Association of Filmmakers is sheltering more than 500 Scouts at PVS Cultural Center (Ecole Frère Polycarpe, Carrefour). We need your help to continue our mission. Please donate what you can.

Why did so many people die in Haiti's quake?

2010-02-15T15:12:00.000-05:00

By Lucy Rodgers
BBC News

The devastating earthquakes that hit China on 12 May 2008, Italy on 6 April 2009 and Haiti one month ago all measured above 6.0 and took many lives.
But why was the human cost so much greater for Haiti?

When Pete Garratt, Red Cross head of disaster relief, received an alert on 12 January indicating a large quake had hit Haiti near its capital Port-au-Prince, he instantly recognised the seriousness of the emergency.

"I knew that meant deaths and injuries," he says.
The reason he predicted the effects of the quake would be so grave, Mr Garratt explains, is that there are a number of critical factors, learned through years of experience, that contribute to the scale of devastation following such big shifts of the Earth's crust.
One is, perhaps obviously,

, but also how near it is to the surface, the density of the population near its epicentre, as well as whether there are any heavily urbanised areas nearby. These all indicate a higher death toll - and were all features of the Haiti quake.

But poverty also plays its role, Mr Garratt explains, as it exacerbates a country's or region's vulnerability to such disasters.
In places such as Haiti, where 72.1% of the population live on less than $2 a day, and in cities like Port-au-Prince, where many are housed in poor and densely-packed shantytowns and badly-constructed buildings, the devastation is always expected to be greater.
"These countries have less money to put into buildings and there is less governance ensuring building codes are followed," Mr Garratt explains.
"Corruption can also be an issue and so, even when there are government structures to ensure building codes are followed, there are bribes that enable people to take short cuts.
"Put simply - there are the technical elements of the earthquake and then the social elements on top of that."
Therefore, the fact that the Haiti quake hit close to a poorly-constructed, large urban area was crucial in reducing people's chances of survival.

"In Italy it was one town, and a few surrounding villages - not a large urban area. And in China, although it affected a large area and big towns, it was not a city," says Mr Garratt.
"In Haiti, in a big city like Port-au-Prince, with so many structures coming down, this means more rubble will kill more people."
The resulting scale of destruction - of infrastructure, of government and other official organisations - also made it much more difficult to respond once the earthquake hit and had an impact on the number of people rescued from the rubble.

Haiti, unlike China and Italy, simply did not have the resources to act quickly, and it took time to get outside help in.
"The Chinese government was able to mobilise a very military response. Although some parts were hard to reach initially," says Mr Garratt. "The resources they had were very impressive.
"The problem in Haiti was the airport was only half-functioning and you had one road route that took a day to traverse."
The dense urban environment in Port-au-Prince also made it a difficult place for rescue teams to work once they were there, he says.
"You could say that the resulting congestion in large cities meant there was less room for manoeuvre.
"But there were an enormous number of search and rescue teams there and considering the difficulties getting there, they did a good job."
However, the statistics on rescues may not necessarily reflect the true number of victims freed in and around Port-au-Prince, he warns.
"The majority of people are pulled out of the rubble by their neighbours."
Lessons learned
The Red Cross, which had teams dealing with the aftermath of the China, Italy and Haiti earthquakes, believes aid agencies learn lessons from every disaster, although each - like Haiti - poses fresh questions.
"We are always getting better," says Mr Garratt. "But what is a challenge is that there is always something new."
One of the problems in Port-au-Prince is the lack of space, he adds, as well as a constantly shifting and mobile population.
The task now for such organisations is to help the people of Haiti get back on their feet, given the inevitable crippling economic cost of such a quake.

And as the Red Cross and others admit, their success in responding to the Haiti emergency will be judged not just on the first weeks of emergency aid, but on whether communities are left more resilient and better equipped when the next disaster strikes.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/8510900.stm

Dominican Republic was first to help Haitians after earthquake

2010-02-15T10:46:00.002-05:00

The Dominican Republic is one of the first nations to come to Haiti's help immediately after the earthquake of January 12, 2010. Many Haitians were brought to the closest border hospitals in the DR for medical care. PVS television did not just stay in Haiti. We went to those hospitals to see for ourselves.

Watch this special video.

No more tents for Haiti. Plastic sheets instead.

2010-02-15T06:56:00.006-05:00

International aid officials at first announced a campaign to put the homeless in tents and appealed for donations from around the world. Some 49,000 tents had reached Haiti when the government announced Wednesday it was opting for plastic sheets.
With an estimated 1.2 million people displaced by the earthquake — some 770,000 of them still in the capital — officials say there is no room for family-sized tents with their wide bases.
Besides, they are bulky and don't last long enough to justify their cost, the aid community has decided.

The officials are mobilizing a plan they call the "shelter surge:"
• By May 1, one plastic tarp will be given to each of about 250,000 displaced families.

• Transitional shelters of 18 square meters (194 square feet), with corrugated iron roofs, will then be built. They will have earthquake- and storm-resistant frames of timber or steel and are supposed to last for three years.
But putting up such shelters will take serious time and effort. Land must be procured. Money — at least $1,000 per transitional home — must be found. And desperate people who just weeks ago lost their homes must be persuaded to relocate yet again, and getting them to abandon neighborhoods and friends won't be simple. (Keep going down to watch a video of what those shelters look like)

"This is a big problem. We need to move people and they need to agree to move," U.N. Under-Secretary-General of Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes said after visiting tarp cities in the quake-decimated city of Leogane.
Getting even the bulk of that done before the June 1 start of hurricane season seems unlikely. And plenty of people — including politicians from donor nations as well as today's tarp-dwellers — are concerned.
The European Union said Thursday that it would mount a military operation — including heavy equipment and engineers — to level the ground for the shelters and put them up. It did not say how many troops would be sent, by which nations or when.

A delegation of visiting U.S. lawmakers led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi raised concerns over tarps in a Friday meeting with President Rene Preval and Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive.
"We can't just put tarps up in those low-lying areas and hope for the best," said Senator George LeMieux, a Florida Republican.
Preval declined to answer questions about the problem after the meeting. But in a hushed voice, he expressed concern in side conversations with aides.
Asked about tents vs. tarps, Pelosi simply replied: "That's a decision that has to be made here."
Ironically, many of those charged with deciding are themselves sleeping in tents.

Watch a video of Indonesia after the 2009 earthquake there and get an idea of what those transitional shelter with corrugated iron roofare like. (You'll only get this kind of investigative reporting on PVS)

No shotrage of Fuel expected in Haiti

2010-02-14T19:44:00.001-05:00

Shipments to the privately owned Port-au-Prince terminal, which normally receives and stores more than 70 percent of Haiti's fuel, had been halted since the January 12 quake damaged its piers and installations.

Varreux's Haitian operator WIN Group and equipment and service provider SEACOR Holdings Inc said in a statement the first shipment of fuel to the restored berth was completed early last Sunday and the vessel had departed.

The bulk of Terminal Varreux's 18 storage tanks -- with a total capacity of approximately 45 million gallons (170 million liters) -- were undamaged. Mevs said the restoration of fuel shipments would give a major boost to recovery efforts in Haiti.

WIN and SEACOR said the repairs at Varreux had included the installation of an interim vessel mooring system, the repair and testing of critical piping systems and the revision of terminal operating procedures.

Haiti Airport reopens Feb 19 for commercial flights

2010-02-14T17:10:00.000-05:00

American Airlines will begin flying to Port-au-Prince on February 19, with Air Canada and Air France to follow shortly after.

The airport was turned over almost entirely to disaster relief and military flights after the January 12 earthquake, which destroyed hundreds of buildings in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and killed 212,000 people.
The quake caused serious damage to the airport's terminal. Crews have repaired airport lighting and
the part of the terminal that the airlines will use.

Air traffic control responsibilities, which were assumed by the U.S. military following the quake, are slowly being turned over to Haitian controllers. They are currently directing flights from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will expand those hours from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on February 19, Burke said.

At the peak of the disaster the airport had a capacity of 120 landings of military and relief aircraft daily. Those flights have dwindled to an average of about 70 daily in recent days.

The airfield is being run out of a portable control tower brought to Haiti by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.

US troops starts pulling out of Haïti

2010-02-14T14:25:00.002-05:00

In a press briefing yesterday, Gen. Douglas Fraser announced that the U.S. military does not count more that 13,000 troops on the ground. Just after the earthquake of January 12, there were up to 22,000 American troops on Haitian soil.
"There are about 13,000 military men and women who support the relief effort in Haiti," said General Fraser in a press conference. He took the opportunity to point out that the Haitian government gradually regained control of the Toussaint Louverture Airport during the day.
General Fraser has however refused to say precisely how long the U.S. military would remain on the ground, ensuring that it would be this as it will be necessary.

"The international aid and relief efforts have improved and increased in Haiti and we've seen an ability to transition those capabilities to other needs around the world." Many have warned that the lack of shelter is the most significant threat facing Haitians with the rainy season starting around May. Conditions at makeshift camps for the homeless are already fast becoming major health concerns.

Does this also mean that security is not a major threat for the delivery of humanitarian assistance in Haïti.
There were growing calls to speed up efforts to provide tarps and tents ahead of the rainy season, which threatens to bring more misery to the estimated 1.2 million left homeless by the massive earthquake a month ago.
President Rene Preval stressed the urgent need for shelter in a meeting with visiting USAID chief Rajiv Shah and US General Douglas Fraser on Saturday, said Shah, who pledged to boost distribution of shelter material.

Haitian Movie Nights at LHCC soon

2010-02-13T21:11:00.000-05:00

It was set and ready to start on the 23rd of January. Then came 01-12-2010. Haitian movie nights that was supposed to be held every week-end at the Little Haiti Cultural Center had to be postponed. A new mission was being undertaken by the President and CEO of the Haitian American Association of Filmmakers, bringing relief aid to Carrefour, Haiti. It's not over yet, but it's time to get also back to the principal mission of the HAAF, promoting and distributing Haitian films. A meeting is scheduled for this Wednesday to set up a starting date with the administration of the LHCC. Read more... Go to http://thehaaf.blogspot.com/

February 12, 2010 is prayer day in Haïti

2010-02-13T19:58:00.001-05:00

Today, Haitians have gathered in churches, streets, camps, before the ruins of the National Palace, in memory of the 217,000 people who perished in the earthquake that devastated Haiti a month ago.

For this national day of mourning, the Haitian population was invited by the government to take white clothes and go from 6:00 am to the many ceremonies held in churches, camps and even in the streets blocked for the occasion. "All religions of Haiti, voodoo, Catholics, Baptists, Protestants, we are all gathered here to pray," Haiti did more for "wealth" that "the spirit of the Lord," declaimed a preacher on stage.

Judicial inquiry into the lawyer of the 10 Americans

2010-02-13T19:46:00.000-05:00

The Salvadoran police is investigating the attorney for the 10 Americans who were arrested in Haiti for child abduction and trafficking.
Jorge Puello Jorge Anibal Torres Puello his full name was submitted as a Dominican lawyer in the case of ten Americans accused of kidnapping and conspiracy.
After seeing pictures of Me Puello, in the press, the Salvadoran police wondered if it is not "Jorge Torres Orellana, a man aged 32, who is suspected of leading a vast network of prostitution. He was recruiting girls and young women of Caribbean and Central America into thinking they would work as models.

In a press release police stated that: "We can not confirm that this is the same person as we have not finished analyzing fingerprints"

The Interpol (International Criminal Police Organization) is also working on this case and this, together with the Salvadoran police, Interpol states it has issued a search warrant against Jorge Torres Orellana.

In turn Me Puello told the New York Times "I have nothing to do with El Salvador," adding that his name was common in Latin America.

More than 15,000 US citizens evacuated from Haiti

2010-02-13T19:36:00.000-05:00

The United States has evacuated more than 15,000 U.S. citizens in Haiti since the earthquake of January 12 said Kenneth Merten, U.S. ambassador in Port-au-Prince. This number exceeds the evacuations from Lebanon in 2006, he said, referring to the war between Israel and Hezbollah that hit the suburbs of Beirut. However, requests for evacuation have decreased Mr. Merten noted, many of the evacuees have dual nationalities, Haitian and American.

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2010-02-13T19:11:00.001-05:00

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