Should Opposition be in on Reconstruction in Haïti?

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.

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

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? 

Is your house strong enough to go back to?

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.

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.

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

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

Dominican Republic promises acceptance and financial aid to Haitian students

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.

Haitian Government shutting down private schools...

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.

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.

Could the Marshall Plan be next for Haiti?

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?

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

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

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

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?

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. 

Human excrement to creating real helth threat in Haiti

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.

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

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.

Homeless fight for shelter near wrecks of Haitian Palace

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.

Haiti Prime Minister fears his government may collapse.

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."

Haitian government may take over private land to relocate homeless

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?

Canada to reconstruct Léogane / Venezuela Jacmel

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?

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

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.

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

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?

France will cancel Haiti's debt. Sarkozy in Haiti today.

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?

Pres. Préval says "3 years to take out the rubles alone"

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...

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

"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?

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.

Dominican Republic was first to help Haitians after earthquake

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.

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.

No shotrage of Fuel expected in Haiti

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.

Haiti Airport reopens Feb 19 for commercial flights

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

US troops starts pulling out of Haïti

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.

Haitian Movie Nights at LHCC soon

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

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

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

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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