Tag-Archive for » HAITI «
Free Psychic Readings, this Sunday. www.blogtalkradio.com/Lennis
Time: 6:00 to 7:00pm, PST……….Phone: 646-727-2914
One question per caller please, so that everyone gets an opportunity, thxs.
The cholera epidemic in Haiti is getting worse by the minute.
The United Nations now expects that there will be some 425,000 cases of the disease across the country in the first six months since it appeared, more than twice as many as originally projected. And the tally could reach 200,000 before the year is out.
“When we were in the initial stages of planning, we had said there would be 200,000 cases over six months,” said the U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Haiti. “Today the figures are 425,000 over six months, of which 200,000 [are expected] before year’s end, with a peak before Christmas.”
The official tally of cases so far is 66,593, with 1,523 fatalities, but the real numbers are probably much higher because of poor record-keeping.
The epidemic first flared up in a rural part of the country, but now affects all 10 regions of Haiti.
CHICAGO – More than 700 people have died from cholera in Haiti in an epidemic that might have been prevented had international agencies heeded warnings from aid workers, asserted the Rev. Claude Joseph Pressoir, a director of the Chicago-based Remember the Children aid organization.
Pressoir and her husband, Robert, also a minister, traveled to Haiti following the devastating earthquake Jan. 12 that leveled parts of that country, killed at least 300,000 people, left 300,000 amputees and more than a million homeless under tent cities. In addition to the deaths, 9,000 people are being treated for symptoms of the disease. Remember the Children provides shelter, food and medicines to children in Haiti.
“I warned the government to take immediate preventive health care measures during a television interview one day after the earthquake,” Pressoir said. “I urged them to take necessary steps to clean water, implement a sanitation system and to provide nutrition assistance and vaccinations.
“It seems that very little was done toward prevention and now more than 544 people have died. These are deaths that perhaps could have been prevented,” she said. “There has been a lack of coordination, a lack of planning, a lack of caring.
“The international community has been tremendous in its response and aid to Haiti and for that we are very thankful,” Pressoir said, “but we have a sense that there is no one in charge, that agencies are not talking to each other or to Haitians, that desperately needed supplies are sitting in warehouses month after month because of government ineptitude and corruption by some workers.
“Ten months after the quake, we still are talking about the magnitude and the volume of the disaster, the death toll and the devastation. If we had applied some preventive measure, tried to add some structure, even one day or one week at a time, we would have had some effective results by now.”
A fundamental problem, she said, is failure by the United Nations, as the lead international organization, to effectively network with grassroots organizations and the people most affected by the quake, especially those living in slums.
“There seems to be a large number of agencies from the U.N. and other countries involved but not many Haitian-run organizations have been given opportunities to network or partake of the global resources and funds given.
“We know the country, we know the culture,” she said. “They are not empowering us to do the work. They should give us resources as Haitian nationals to deal directly with our people to boost the effectiveness of the relief effort. We speak the language, know the hearts of the people, understand their mentality and their thought process.
“Instead, we find ourselves in a state of economic slavery. The way the things are being done, it’s like we are in bondage. Those in control are not giving us the means or the structure we need to create,” Pressoir added. “Like Denzel Washington said: ‘We can not rebuild for the Haitians; we have to do it with the Haitians.’ There is lack of communication between the different social strata in Haiti, lack of unity and togetherness of purpose, vision and bonding in the process of rebuilding.
“I say to the international community: Even though you have the economic upper hand, it is still our land. It is still our people. Why don’t you go through us to do the work? Why do you want to do it yourself when you don’t even know the land?”
Nonprofit organizations have made a lot of mistakes because of this, she said. “There are instances where mistakes have been made in handling and processing hundreds of relief containers because they are not handled by Haitian nationals who know and could shortcut the customs process.
“This has caused many containers of rice, beans, medicine to expire before they are released from customs, truly a huge waste of resources and goods so greatly needed and expected by the people,” Pressoir said.
Added the Rev. Robert Pressoir: “We have 8 million people. Give them training, award the rebuilding contracts to Haitian-owned companies, which is a great way to increase employment and bring more resources into Haitian hands instead of favoring foreign companies. You see Dominican companies, American companies doing the rebuilding, getting the big contracts. That is not right. If you really desire to create opportunities, hire Haitians, deal with Haitian-owned and run companies with a component for training and management accountability. We must rebuild the economy. Why not teach the young people, train them to use equipment so they have skills that will be useful not only now but in the future?
“The international community has contributed a lot to Haiti,” Robert Pressoir said. “It has been doing great work and I believe it is genuine in its compassion and love for Haiti but we are making an appeal: that the international agencies work closer with Haitian nationals in Haiti at all levels – administrative, medical, nutritional, agricultural and educational – and instead of just telling us what to do, work together with us,” he said.
“We need things to function better. We want to be more effective. We have a lot of people who depend on us and we want to be able to help them and give them hope,” Robert Pressoir said. “We have hundreds of children waiting for Remember the Children to get better, to get a better location to house them so that they can have a better life.
Lauryn Hill has resurfaced with a new look. Hill was at the top of her game in 1998 with the album The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill. Then she fell off. Did she have a breakdown? Why did she disappear? Hill says she needed to get her support system together. She says her time away was a time for personal growth. Hill is no longer sporting locks. She is wearing her hair straight. Hill says she is working on a new CD, and she says will be singing more on this project.
Bush Wipes Hand on Clinton After Touching Haitians? George “damn damn damn” Bush just cannot get it right. He is so crazy that even after he leaves the White House he can’t stop making a fool of himself. It appears that on his own time, he’s even more ridiculous. During relief efforts in Haiti where they shook the people’s hands and offered some sense of hope, he turns to Clinton and what looks like a tap to say, “Okay man, we’ve done what we’re going to do here, let’s go!” Turns into a swipe all the way down Clinton’s arm. If he has to speak on it, he’ll probably say, “It was just a joke man! Someone’s hand was a little too sweaty or something, so I gave Clinton the ‘dirt’ touch. Get it? Like the poot touch? Awww, forget you if you can’t take a joke.” He just seems to be this kind of dummy to me
They have been both been colonized, oppressed and exploited. They have lived through brutal dictatorships and U.S. invasions.
The two countries that occupy the tiny island of Hispaniola may have a shared history, but they have developed into two startlingly different places. The massive earthquake that devastated the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince left many people in the Dominican Republic, just 250 kilometres away, feeling nothing worse than a little dizziness.
“In the Dominican capital, Santo Domingo, new high-rise apartment buildings that have gone up over the past several years swayed but did not collapse. The brand-new metro system closed in case of aftershocks. In most cases, however, the biggest issue was motion sickness,” historian Michele Wucker wrote on her blog.
These neighbouring nations are worlds apart.
The life expectancy in the Dominican Republic is 73; in Haiti, it’s just 60. The Dominican Republic is a popular tourist destination and winter escape for hundreds of thousands of Canadians, where Donald Trump develops luxurious golf courses and avocados are a major export.
To most Canadians, Haiti has been largely visible through a series of escalating humanitarian crises broadcast on the nightly news.
Ms. Wucker, author of Why the Cocks Fight: Dominicans, Haitians, and the Struggle for Hispaniola, said the way the countries developed since their colonization has led to their divergent realities.
“The Dominican Republic has actually benefited from not being on the radar of the world as much as Haiti,” she said. “There’s been a lot of international meddling in both countries, but Haiti has been given much less of a chance to really have a say in its own destiny.”
Originally dubbed La Isla Espanola by Christopher Columbus in 1492, the island was a colony of Spain until it formally ceded the western third to the French in 1697.
But the Spaniards were not that interested in their colony as they were preoccupied with the riches to be had in other parts of Latin America,
Ms. Wucker said.
Haiti, on the other hand, was seen as a key asset to the French. They reaped profit from its natural resources and the labour of hundreds of thousands of imported slaves. And when those slaves revolted in 1804, making Haiti the world’s first sovereign black republic, they demanded indemnity. Haiti was forced to pay 150-million francs in exchange for recognition as an independent state, a designation that would allow them to trade with the rest of the world.
It is this debt that many see as the beginning of Haiti’s decline. The country did not finish paying it down until 1938. By that time, the mismanagement of their resources had led to massive deforestation, crippling its potential for agriculture, while the other side of the island flourished.
“Haiti was basically in bankruptcy since the beginning of its independent life,” said Nestor Rodriguez, a University of Toronto academic born in the Dominican Republic.
His native country, by contrast, declared its independence from Haiti and was left with much more agriculturally viable land and a less densely populated nation. Infrastructure, political institutions and trade relations were able to develop without as much interference from foreign interests.
Both countries struggled with political stability and were occupied by The United States at different points during the 20th century. Coups, revolts and political uprisings plagued both sides of the border, as did the rule of violent dictatorships.
Haiti suffered the oppressive regimes of François (Papa Doc) Duvalier, and his son, Jean-Claude, while the Dominican Republic was traumatized by the power of general Rafael Trujillo. But after his assassination in the 1960s, the Dominican Republic began its transition toward democracy. Ms. Wucker said the country now has a confidence in its political system that does not exist in Haiti.”The Dominican Republic has essentially had a head start.”
That does not mean the island will remain so sharplydivided. On Monday, Haitian President René Préval addressed Dominican President Leonel Fernandez at a meeting on disaster relief, indicating a willingness to forget past grievances.
******
Study in contrasts
Haiti Dominican Republic
Population 9.03 million 9.65 million
Land mass 27,560 km{+2} 48,320 km{+2}
Population density 361.55/km{+2} 207.31/km{+2}
GDP per capita $1,300 $8,200
GDP growth rate 1.3% 5.3%
Poverty rate 80% 42%
Urban population 47% 69%
Life expectancy 60 73
Median age 20.2 24.9
Birth rate 29.1 per 1,000 22.4 per 1,000
Death rate 8.7 per 1,000 5.3 per 1,000
Infant mortality 59.7 per 1,000 26.0 per 1,000
Fertility rate 3.8 per woman 2.8 per woman
Literacy 52.9% 87%
Homicide rate 11.5 per 100,000 23.57 per 100,000
HIV-AIDS prevalence 2.2% 1.1%
Internet hosts 2 280,457
Television stations 2 25
Paved roads 1,011 km 9,872 km
Sources: UN, CIA Factbook, World Bank
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have accused Duvalier of committing crimes against humanity during his 15 years in power (1971-1986), a period when torture was widespread across Haiti.
On Thursday, the 59-year-old and his longtime companion, Veronique Roy, checked out of their high-end hotel in the Port-au-Prince hills and disappeared into the traffic-choked streets.
He would not reveal where he was going. A source close to the so-called “president-for-life” said he was going to move into a house here.
No further plans were revealed.
Former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier’s return to his poverty-stricken country has people here fascinated.
It’s the topic of breakfast, lunch and dinner conversations, and it dominates radio shows during Port-au-Prince’s torturous rush-hour crawl.
The leading questions remain unanswered: Why come back and why now? If it’s not to exercise political power after 25 years in exile, could it be, as longtime critics suggest, a simple money grab?
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“Baby Doc” has more than $5 million in a Swiss bank. Those assets are frozen. It’s alleged that Duvalier looted his country’s treasury decades ago and the millions belong to the people of Haiti.
But under one condition, the money all goes to Duvalier. If Haitian authorities have easy access to him and do not charge him by Feb. 20, then he can clean out the bank account, no questions asked. By coming home, he’s cleared one big hurdle.
When NBC News asked his lawyer Reynold Georges if Duvalier was broke, he said, “I don’t know. That is his personal life.”
The theory of a money motive in a country where almost a million still live in tents one year after the earthquake has not discouraged Duvalier supporters who see him as a possible life raft.
Could he bring back the days when Haitians did not fear getting robbed or kidnapped? Could he keep their children from going hungry? Could his return bring attention to their plight?
Nostalgia for a glorified past seems to be driving his backers, despite the fact more than 50 percent of the population isn’t old enough to remember what life was like when he or his father, known as “Papa Doc,” ruled Haiti.