Bahamas: Conspiring to destroy Haiti: Past and present

By NOELLE NICOLLS
Tribune Staff Reporter
nnicolls@tribunemedia.net:

THE transformative power of the spoken word has been proven throughout the centuries, but one wonders if declaring The Bahamas a Christian nation through constitutional declaration and use of the public pulpit is sufficient to make it actually so.  The nation's claim to Christian credentials is probably most questionable when sifting through the public perception of Haiti and Haitians.

The word "Haitian", once a symbol of black liberation, has morphed into a derogatory insult in the Bahamian psyche, parallel only to the likes of racial epitaphs like "nigger" or "boy".

Former Member of Parliament, Keod Smith, furiously refuted claims of his Haitian heritage probably as a strategy to preserve his political career.  He could very well have manufactured signs reading: "Not a Haitian."

Young Haitian-Bahamians go to great lengths to hide or subdue their Haitian heritage to increase their chances of gaining basic social acceptance.

Unfortunately, it is clear that public perception of Haiti is heavily influenced by what Sir Hilary Beckles, pro-vice chancellor of the University of the West Indies (UWI), calls "imperial propaganda".  It is no surprise that some people like Tony, a Bahamian with Haitian heritage, are rendered speechless by the "ignorance" of people.

Someone like Tony could wonder where the context, the perspective, the truth went in the debate about Haiti.  It is telling how an American news reporter says with full self-assurance, "Haiti's government was incompetent at best, even before the earthquake", and some Bahamians believe this to be a fact.  There seems to be no formulae to break the stranglehold on the Bahamian psyche from this lingering colonial mentality.

Haiti was battered by the 7.0 magnitude earthquake striking 10-miles off the coast of Port-au-Prince on January 12.  The quake reduced the capital to rubble and dust.  Hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives; almost as many lost their limbs in a wave of sweeping amputations, and even more lost their homes and livelihoods.  Just two years ago, Haiti was battered by a series of four hurricanes in the space of two weeks.  The damage was so severe that there was enough international goodwill for Haiti to secure $1.2 billion in debt relief from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other creditors.

In the wake of the quake, the international community is pushing for total debt relief for Haiti.  Most of the country's remaining debt is owed to Taiwan and Venezuela.

Just last week, Venezuela President Hugo Chavez announced the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA) plan for Haiti, including debt relief, a $20 million donation for the health sector and further investment funds.

"Haiti has no debt with Venezuela, just the opposite: Venezuela has a historical debt with that nation, with that people for whom we feel not pity but rather admiration, and we share their faith, their hope," said Chavez after the meeting of ALBA foreign ministers.

The case of Haiti is far from black and white, although it is easy to apply labels such as ungodly, corrupt and backwards to account for its status as the most economically impoverished country in the western hemisphere.

Superficially, it would appear that Haiti is doomed, even cursed, but the natural disasters in Haiti's history barely match the political, socio-economic earthquakes that have been engineered by external forces for centuries; those seeking to undermine Haiti's ability to be a beacon of light for African people.

Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor during Haiti's revolution, said of his colonial empire: "My decision to destroy the authority of the blacks in Saint Dominque (Haiti) is not so much based on considerations of commerce and money, as on the need to block forever the march of the blacks in the world."

In the minds of some, this endeavour has been successful, but there are those who see through the disparity, into the hope that is Haiti.

"Wake up Bahamas!  Ours is a country that has been built -- for literally the last 30 years -- on the strength, sweat and hard work of our Haitian brethren.  Many of us are descended from immigrants, recent or old, from Haiti, even though we may neither know nor admit it," said Dr Nicolette Bethel, COB lecturer and former Director of Culture.

Haitians may flee their country in search of better economic conditions, but their national pride is largely unshaken.  Prosper Bazard has lived in The Bahamas for 28 years.  The biggest thing that makes him proud to be a Haitian is the knowledge that his forefathers fought the heavily equipped French army with their bare-hands and won.

"Another thing that makes me feel proud is we are a nation that can fight for a living.  We don't have so much money but we can manage to find a way to live.  Even if a Haitian is very poor, they will find a way to survive.  He is not going to steal.  We believe in hard work, we prefer to suffer and not steal," said Mr Bazard.

Haiti is the second free republic in the western hemisphere following the United States, but the first black republic in the post-colonial world.  This might appear to be an historical footnote, even ancient history, but on the contrary, all progress in the modern world, particularly for people of African descent, rests firmly on the back of the ten-year war waged by Haitian freedom fighters for self-rule from the French.  The legacy of Haiti and the contribution of Haitians in shaping liberation consciousness in the modern world is more like a keystone, indispensable and perpetually relevant.

"Bahamians probably do not know much about Haitian history.  I don't think history is high on the list; neither is context.  Haitian people have been demonized as beggars of the Caribbean and I think that is what is ingrained in our psyche," said Fred Mitchell, opposition spokesperson on foreign affairs.

"It is nonsense, because first of all they bring their talents, expertise and skills as migrants to the country.  They helped us to build our country," he said.

Few Bahamians learn about the Haitian revolution, or the history of Haitian-Bahamian relations, because the standard Bahamian school curriculum does not feature Haiti.  Not surprisingly, with its roots still grounded in the colonial world view, "Discovery Day" is still celebrated in The Bahamas after all.  This is despite the fact that next to the United States, Haiti probably has the largest external influence on The Bahamas, for good and for bad.

Even Dr Gail Saunders, scholar in residence at the College of The Bahamas and former Director General of Heritage, said she was not well versed in Haitian history.  She welcomed the opportunity created by this latest tragedy to spread awareness of Haitian issues and history.  (Next week in Insight: an in depth look at The Bahamas and the world without Haiti).

"When Haiti became independent, no country on earth recognized Haiti, and they did so for practical reasons.  Haiti was a slave economy and the slaves threw off the slave masters.  Haiti's present day economic woes began back in 1804.  Haiti did not just become like it is now," said Dr Eugene Newry, former Bahamas Ambassador to Haiti.

"They won their independence militarily.  Psychologically it has a different effect than sitting around a table with someone coming back from London with some papers saying you are free," he said.

The audacity of the Haitian revolution was an unbearable embarrassment to the French.  It was threatening to the slave-based economy of the United States, which failed to live up to its promise of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all.  In its first constitution, Haiti declared it would grant automatic citizenship to any person of African descent arriving on its shores.  The world decided to starve the population with economic embargo and isolation instead of recognising its freedom.

"It was the most vicious example of national strangulation recorded in modern history.  Haiti did not fail.  It was destroyed by two of the most powerful nations on earth, both of which continue to have primary interest in its current condition.  The sudden quake has come in the aftermath of summers of hate.  In many ways the quake has been less destructive than the hate.  Human life was snuffed out by the quake, while the hate has been a long and inhumane suffocation -- a crime against humanity," stated Sir Hilary Beckles, in an article widely published by Caribbean news agencies.

The UWI is currently convening a major conference on the theme "Rethinking and Rebuilding Haiti" to dig beneath the rubble of public perception.

In order to gain access to international trade, in 1825 Haiti agreed to pay France reparations of 150 million gold francs in exchange for recognition and an end to the embargo.  French accountants and actuaries valued land, animals, former slaves, and other commercial properties and services.  Haiti borrowed money from American Citibank to service this debt.  It took more than 100 years to buy its recognition in the international community.

While the reparations debate for African descendants is scorned by the West, and avoided by the descendants themselves, France stands proudly having lived large off the modern equivalent of $21 billion in reparations for losing land and human property while enslaving Haitians.

"Haiti was crushed by this debt repayment. It descended into financial and social chaos.  France was enriched and it took pleasure from the fact that having been defeated by Haitians on the battlefield, it had won on the field of finance," said Sir Hilary Beckles.

At the 2001 United Nations Conference on Race in Durban, South Africa, the Caribbean made strong representation for France to repay Haiti.  The Caribbean Community (Caricom) reaffirmed this call in 2007, during the anniversary celebrations for the two hundredth anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.

Former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide was a strong proponent of this initiative.  His tenure was heralded as a return to order for Haiti, until he was finally escorted out of the country in 2004, under armed guard by American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officials.  Haiti became a United Nations protectorate.

Thousands of government officials under the Aristide-government were removed from office during the questionable coup.  The Americans claim they gave President Aristide a plane ride to the Central Africa Republic, where he now lives in exile. President Aristide maintains he was kidnapped.  The new Haitian government, still in power, wasted little time to withdraw the request from France to repay the reparations money.

America pundits in the mainstream media rarely, if ever, talk about America's involvement in Haiti, although America invaded the country in 1915 and occupied it for almost 20 years to secure its economic interests.  Americans oversaw the introduction of foreign land ownership to the Haitian constitution, never present since independence. During their rule, foreign economic interests in the country grew, and racial stratification between blacks and mulattos became more ingrained, akin to segregated American states.

Under American rule, Haitian financial reserves were managed from Washington.  Debt servicing accounted for 40 per cent of Haiti's annual income, primarily to service American financial institutions.  America's grip on Haiti's finances was so tight that they withheld the salaries of government officials on one occasion to coerce them to sign a bilateral agreement without modification, according to historians.

Even after the Americans left in 1934, they did not return control of the national treasury to Haiti until the 1940s.  The only stable public institution they left was the US-trained Haitian military.  A series of military coups followed for the next few decades, ending with the infamous Duvalier dynasty.

Former Haitian president François "Papa Doc" Duvalier, said to be born in The Bahamas to a father from Mayaguana and mother from Haiti, is blamed for many of Haiti's current social and economic troubles.  During his 14 year rule, he established the infamous secret police force, the Tonton Macoute, and crippled the Haitian national army.

He embezzled money and was responsible for political assassinations.  His presidency was supported by the United States because of his anti-Communist views.  He was succeeded by his 19-year-old son, Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, who was just as oppressive.

Much of Haiti's debt, still being serviced today, was accumulated under the Duvalier regimes.  Rather than being used for national development, much of the borrowed money was squandered and outright stolen.

Massive deforestation in Haiti was another source of instability, particularly for the natural environment.  Most commentators attribute this to the "poor masses" cutting down trees to burn fire wood.  Dr Newry said this is only half of the story.  Haitian poverty has contributed to deforestation in modern days, but, he said, the problem began with the French, Spanish and other European countries, cutting down forests to grow coffee, sugar, tobacco and other products on a commercial scale.

In the 1940s, Haitians also endured the violent anti-Voodoo crusade of Catholic missionaries.  During this period, called the Rejete massacre, they killed Voodoo priests, destroyed sacred temples and burned forests with centuries-old trees that were honoured by the Haitians.

Haiti's history of triumph and tragedy is too complex to unravel in one article.  External forces were at play at the same time destabilizing internal forces that were at play.  The internal forces are not to be absolved.  The hands of many Haitian nationals are no doubt stained with the tears of many in the starving masses, from corrupt practices, mismanagement, incompetence and warfare.  These conditions appear to be ingrown defects of ancient and modern governmental systems, as many nations well know.  But to take a simplistic look at Haiti, as many seem inclined to do, and pass judgment on the nation without understanding or perspective is to be blinded by ignorance.

As the international community convened in Canada late last month to begin forming a strategic plan for the reconstruction of Haiti, many in the Caribbean community were watching keenly with an eye on the past and an eye on the future.  A major international conference is to be held in the spring to further the strategic planning agenda.

The heart of the matter is: Haiti is inextricably linked to The Bahamas, the Americas and the modern world.  Those who know this to be true are watching closely as the world mobilizes behind the latest international fad that is Haiti.  As donor fatigue will inevitably set in, those who know will be the ones still standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Haiti, embracing Haitians as their brothers and sisters, wondering if the rallying cry, "not without Haiti" will ever light a fire in the Bahamian psyche.

February 01, 2010

tribune242

Missionaries charged with kidnapping Haitian babies

Haitian children are not for sale!

By Anthony L. Hall:


Yesterday, 10 Baptist missionaries from the United States were formally charged with conspiracy and child kidnapping for allegedly trying to abscond from Haiti with 33 children.

They were arrested a week ago today while crossing the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.  The missionaries claim that all of the children were left homeless, and in some cases orphaned, by the January 12 earthquake. And that they had proper authorization - such as could be granted by Haiti’s fractured government.

Yet they now face 5 to 15 years in prison and remain in custody pending further determination by an investigative judge; i.e., no bail!

But, even for Haiti, this is surreal:

First and foremost, instead of inciting moral indignation, this story fills me with hope.  After all, if law enforcement in Haiti is already functioning well enough to apprehend white-collar criminals, this must auger well for Haiti’s rapid recovery.

It’s just too bad the police do not appear to be doing as good a job of arresting the violent criminals who are preying on the millions of displaced women and children now living in tent cities all over Haiti.

Then there’s the almost farcical scene of these missionaries in court pleading that they were engaged in the work of the Lord, not in child trafficking.  But am I the only one who thinks it’s crazy that these folks are being prosecuted for attempting to whisk 33 kids off to a better life when there are probably a thousand times that many desperately wishing, waiting for that opportunity...?

Whatever the case, this story is an unfortunate distraction; not least because the international media are now focusing far more on the fate of these 10 missionaries than on the fate of 10 million Haitians.

Frankly, this judge would be well-advised to release these missionaries on humanitarian grounds as soon as possible – recognizing the good, even if misguided, intentions of the defendants, as well as the overriding welfare of the Haitian people.

“That judge can free you but he can also continue to hold you for further proceedings.”

This, according to Reuters, is the damoclean hope the prosecutor offered the missionaries at their hearing yesterday.  I have to think, though, that the judge will find in fairly short order that the dysfunctional nature of life in Haiti alone raises reasonable doubts about their guilt.

In any case, the charge of child trafficking becomes patently absurd when one considers that the missionaries had parental consent (in some cases); and moreover, that they were involved in trying to help poor Haitian children long before it became fashionable.

Not to mention that even if they were tried and convicted, former President Bill Clinton, who is now the de facto leader of that country, would procure an immediate pardon.  This is, after all, the roving American ambassador who flew all the way to North Korea to procure the release of just two Americans who were convicted on equally dubious charges.

So, point made: Haitian children are not for sale!  And a religious calling to “save the children” does not confer the right to circumvent the laws of poor, earthquake-ravaged Haiti to do so.

Now, for the sake of their country, I hope foolish pride does not prevent Haitian authorities from disposing of this case with dispatch.

NOTE: Many people are accusing these missionaries of cultural and religious arrogance.  But I’ll bet that these are the same people who praised Madonna for taking kids from their poor parents in Malawi by promising that she could give them a better life - complete with Kabbalah indoctrination no doubt.

February 5, 2010

caribbeannetnews

Dancing to Caribbean drums: An appreciation of the life of Rex Nettleford

By Sir Ronald Sanders:

This commentary is being written in the first blush of the news that Rex Nettleford has died.  A profound and deep sense of loss overcame me, and I have no doubt enveloped many throughout the Caribbean, including those who did not know him personally. What everyone understands - those who knew him personally and those who didn’t - is that he was a Caribbean champion; a man who fervently believed in the worth of the term, “Caribbean person” and gave it both intellectual meaning and depiction.

The entire Caribbean knows, in the inner place that is our Caribbean soul, that, with Nettleford’s passing, the region has lost an essence – an essential ingredient of our own validation as a Caribbean civilization – that was unique and is irreplaceable.

Rex Nettleford simply made Caribbean people more assured of themselves; more comfortable in their skins of whatever colour; and more confident that, despite the fact that they are a transplanted people, they had established a unique cultural identity equal to any in the world.

Nettleford was a Jamaican, but he was Caribbean too.  As he said: “The typical West Indian is part-African, part-European, part-Asian, part-Native American but totally Caribbean”.  He developed the point by saying: “The texture of character and the sophistication of sense and sensibility engaging the Planet’s systemic contradictions were ironically colonialism’s benefits for a couple of generations in the West Indies.  In dealing with the dilemma of difference manifested in the ability to assert without rancor, to draw on a sense of rightness without hubris, to remain human(e) in the face of persistent obscenities that plague the human condition, all such attributes in turn served to endow the Caribbean man with the conviction that Planet Earth is, in the end, one world to share”.

He drew on that reality and his fervent belief in it to serve not only multi-ethnic Jamaica, but the wider multi-ethnic, multi-religious Caribbean, and to be a respected regional representative on the world’s stage including on the Executive Board of the United Nations Education, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

All who knew him in his several incarnations at the University of the West Indies, as Professor, as Vice Chancellor and as emeritus Vice Chancellor, will testify to his great erudition; his capacity to argue passionately and convincingly; and to the breadth of his knowledge.

I recall well one such international outing when at a biennial meeting of foreign ministers from the UK and the Caribbean, he represented the University of the West Indies in a discussion of the role of education in Caribbean development.  I led a delegation from Antigua and Barbuda that included the late Leonard Tim Hector, himself an educator and historian.  The discussion on the role of education in development was dominated by Nettleford and Hector, and somewhere in the British archives of that meeting held in London is the verbatim record of their enthralling presentations. It was a discussion conducted without a note by the two main speakers, and none who heard it could fail to be impressed by the quality and force of the arguments.  But, they did a major service to Caribbean scholars.  The Chevening Scholarship resulted from it, and annually Caribbean students journey to the UK for post-graduate work.

From his overarching position as Vice Chancellor of UWI, Nettleford knew, in his own words, that “the world is changing as if in a contest with the speed of light” and UWI had to produce skills “so that its graduates can find firm place and sustained purpose in the ‘knowledge society’ of the third millennium, even while maintaining standards and delivering education of excellence”.  “The challenges of politics, economics, social development in the new global situation,” he said, “demanded no less”.

It was a task to which he set his hand with determination as the University’s principal officer.  But, he also knew, as he put it, that the University had “to place great emphasis on the exercise of the creative attributes of the mind”.  The University had to produce the skills that would make the Caribbean competitive in the global economy, but it had the ongoing responsibility too of nurturing thinkers, ideas-people, innovators – Caribbean people who, from the richness of their own cohabitation and intermingling, could contribute to domestic and global thinking on religious tolerance, international relations, ending racism, and solving conflicts.

Students from every Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) country encountered Nettleford in one or other of his many roles in the University for decades.  They were inspired and motivated by him, and they admired him greatly.  Therefore, it is not surprising that Caribbean people - in their separate states with their national flags and national anthems – are united in their sense of loss – a sense that the essence of the region’s single Caribbean soul is yet again diminished.

Rex Nettleford is to Caribbean cultural identity what Shridath ‘Sonny’ Ramphal, Alister McIntryre and the late William Demas are to the Caribbean’s political and economic identity as a region and in the region’s interaction with the global community.  He belongs to a select group of Caribbean visionaries who the region’s people know without doubt championed them selflessly and faithfully and validated them in the world.

In the rebuilding of Haitian society – occasioned by the massive physical destruction of Haiti by last January’s earthquake – Rex Nettleford would have been a perfect resource for CARICOM’s P J Patterson, Jamaica’s former Prime Minister, as he leads the regional argument not only for the rebuilding of Haiti, but also for the restoration of Haitian society, socially, culturally and politically.

Nettelford was a dancer and choreographer – two disciplines he personally enjoyed and in which his creativity gave enjoyment to audiences throughout the Caribbean.  In these disciplines, he danced to many drums and he was spectacular in his performance. But, it is in the dance to the drums of his Caribbean life that he is a motivating force – Jamaican he was by birth and commitment, but Caribbean he also was by intellectual understanding, cultural recognition, and passionate embrace.

It would be to the Caribbean’s lasting benefit if from the shared sense of loss felt throughout the region, there could be a sustained revival of the drums of Caribbean union to which Rex Nettleford danced in his lifetime.

February 4, 2010

caribbeannetnews

Parents 'reclaim' children in Haiti abduction-adoption row

WASHINGTON, USA (AFP) -- The 33 infants and children that an American Christian group tried to smuggle out of quake-hit Haiti are being reunited with their families, the US-based aid group now caring for them said Tuesday.

The children were picked up last week by members of an Idaho-based Baptist group called New Life Children's Refuge who tried to take them across the border to the Dominican Republic where they planned to establish an orphanage.

But some of the children are not orphans at all.

A woman who identified herself as the mother of one of the 33 children caught up in the process of ten members of a US Christian group charged with child-trafficking speaks to the press. AFP PHOTO

"The parents now are coming to the village to reclaim their children," Heather Paul, the CEO of SOS Children's Villages USA, told NBC's "Today Show". "We already hear that many are saying that we have parents."

Police seized five men and five women with US passports, as well as two Haitians, as they tried late Friday to cross into the neighboring Dominican Republic with the children aged between two months and 14 years.

The case came to light as authorities in the capital Port-au-Prince expressed concern that some Haitian children may have fallen prey to human traffickers or been misidentified as orphans.

Paul said the children had been in poor condition when her group first received them but that they appeared to be on the mend.

"They came quite traumatized, as you can imagine, for a number of reasons. First, the devastation of the earthquake and then the mystery or confusion of their family's disappearance."

"They're getting better," she said.

Paul added that while in the care of the US Baptist group, the children, "weren't well dressed, they were dehydrated. They needed medical assistance."

She said the case underscored the need for stricter rules and greater vigilance in dealing with children in Haiti.

"I don't know all the facts, but if they were good intentions, they've certainly gone awry," she said.

"I think this is proof positive for all those people around the world who would like to adopt Haitian children, that we must wait on the right registration."

Laura Silsby, head of New Life Children's Refuge, has insisted the group's aims were entirely altruistic.

"We came here literally to just help the children. Our intentions were good," she told AFP from police detention. "We wanted to help those who lost parents in the quake or were abandoned."

In Port-au-Prince, interim prosecutor Mazar Fortil said the Christians may face a charge of criminal conspiracy in Haiti as well as possible charges of kidnapping minors and child-trafficking.

US consular officials visited the detained Americans and brought them food and insect repellent, but relatives back in the United States said they had hoped American officials might have done more.

"I've seen them on TV and they look like they're in good spirits," Sean Lankford, whose wife and 18-year-old daughter were among those held, told NBC.

He said he had not been able to speak to them since their arrest and was concerned that they had not received better treatment in detention.

"First off, you know, I think they were required to give them food and water. I mean, the basic essentials for life. And they were to help them to contact counselors on their behalf -- at least to give them the ability to do that. They were late in doing that," Lankford complained.

"I appreciate everything they have done. I know that it took them a while to find them first off. I know also that there's a lot of needs that are happening in Haiti," the Meridian, Idaho resident said.

But he added "as a dad and a husband, you know, I just want to make sure that my wife and my daughter have everything that they need, and my friends there have everything they need to stay healthy while they work through this, and while we try to help them work through this."

caribbeannetnews

Bahamas Blog International

Haiti warned to brace for another big quake

By Mica Rosenberg:


PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters) -- Haiti should be preparing for another major earthquake that could be triggered by the catastrophic one last month which killed up to 200,000 people and left the capital Port-au-Prince in ruins, experts say.

Teams of geophysicists, who have been tracking movements in the fault line that slashes across Haiti and into the Dominican Republic, came to the nation last week to measure changes in the Earth's crust after the 7.0-magnitude quake on January 12.

Increased pressure on the fault after the quake could unleash another of the same size or bigger, although scientists acknowledge they have no way of knowing exactly when or where it will hit.

"Faults are always waiting for the right moment but if another earthquake gives them a little kick they go before their time," said Eric Calais, a professor of geophysics from Purdue University in Indiana, who is leading the seismology project in Haiti.

Preliminary calculations by his group show the January 12 quake could be the "little kick" that sets off another temblor along the 186 mile fault where two regional tectonic plates have been scraping together for millions of years.

More than 50 aftershocks, including one measuring 5.9 magnitude, have shaken Port-au-Prince after last month's quake. The US Geological Survey says the aftershock sequence will continue for months, "if not years", and "damaging earthquakes will remain possible in the coming months".

Calais was due to take his findings to a meeting on Monday with President Rene Preval and the head of the United Nations mission in Haiti, in which he would stress the urgent need to rebuild the city's critical infrastructure safely and quickly.

Haiti's government has announced plans to relocate up to half a million homeless quake victims -- many now camped out in rubble-strewn streets -- in temporary villages outside of Port-au-Prince. But some experts suggest the whole capital should be rebuilt away from the dangerous fault line.

Calais was part of a group of experts who warned Haitian officials in 2008 that there could be a 7.2 magnitude quake on the horizon.

But Haitian officials said there was not enough time or funds to shore up the impoverished Caribbean's country's shoddy construction or take precautions, and in last month's quake, many buildings pancaked, their bricks crumbling to dust.

"It's not too late. Now is the time to really get serious about this," Calais said.

Over 200 years ago, when Haiti saw its last major earthquake, there were actually several temblors in a row, two in 1751 and another in 1770, Calais said.

In one destroyed neighborhood in the Haitian capital, where people now live in tents made of bed sheets and sticks, curious children watched the scientists set up specialized global positioning systems. The devices, placed at different points along the fault, will gather data over three days and compare it to information gathered over the past five years.

But for all the precise measurements, there is no such thing as an exact science of earthquake prediction.

Haiti's national geological survey offices collapsed in the quake, killing some 30 people inside, including the institute's director. This complicates future research in a country that has no seismic network, except for Calais' GPS monitors.

"Scientists are blind when it comes to this earthquake ... We rely on data that is coming from stations that are far away," he said.

"It's like if you go to your doctor and the only thing we can do is look at you with binoculars -- so the diagnostic would be pretty poor."

February 2, 2010

caribbeannetnews

Bahamas Blog International

Haiti looks to Caricom to rebuild shattered education system

Written by CMC:



PARAMARIBO, Suriname –

Haiti has used the inaugural Caribbean Community (Caricom) Summit on Youth Development to make an impassioned plea for assistance in rebuilding its shattered education system following the destruction caused by the powerful earthquake on 12 Jan.

Haiti’s Caricom Youth Ambassador (CYA), Leticia Cadet, said rebuilding the education system is a matter of priority for her country still reeling from the effects of the earthquake that left an estimated 200,000 people dead and more than one million homeless.

She presented a petition to a special meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD), one of several conferences leading to the two-day summit that ended last Saturday.

In the petition, Haiti is calling for a "recovery relief effort to support youth development through tertiary education and business development in Haiti …in partnership with Caricom.

"The 12 Jan., earthquake left thousands of students without schools, universities, and teachers in Port-au-Prince and around Haiti.

"Current efforts are focussing on providing food, water, and shelter; but in the coming months and years, the most pressing issue will become the lack of qualified human resources to rebuild Haitian society, which will result from the generations of displaced students unable to access quality education during and following the crisis.

The demand for quality education is, and will continue to be, very critical," according to the petition.

Cadet said while the education system in her country collapsed following the earthquake, prior to 12 Jan., Haiti had little capacity and only a few facilities to offer higher education.

She said Haiti therefore needs the support so as to "avoid (the) creation of a potentially detrimental gap in qualified human resources."

She said with the collapse of the buildings housing the School of Nursing and the School of Human Sciences, students who survived the earthquake stand the possibility of missing the rest of the academic year.

She called for Caricom to provide a minimum of 20 scholarships annually for the next five years, allowing Haitian students to attend the University of the West Indies (UWI).

The youth ambassador also expressed hope that the UWI would be more "flexible" to enrol Haitian students.

Suriname Education Minister Edwin Wolf said at every level, suitable measures and actions should be taken to put appropriate conditions in place to help young people to develop their potential.

"The clichéd phrase that "youth of today is the future of tomorrow,’’ should be discarded. The future of young people is now…today we must listen to them.

"Today we must help them so they can develop their potential and become responsible citizens who can make a contribution to the country and the region," he said.

Barbados Youth Ambassador Christaneisha Soleyn challenged the ministers of youth to find the time to dialogue with young people, provide guidance to them and solicit their advice on how best to address various situations.

01 February 2010 12:00

sunstkittsonline

Haiti must learn to live with earthquakes, experts say

By Jordi Zamora:


PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) -- It will be difficult to convince Haitians to spend extra money and rebuild their quake-ravaged country with structures able to withstand another powerful earthquake, experts said Friday.

Some 170,000 people were killed in the devastating January 12 quake that toppled weak buildings across the Haitian capital.

Two fault lines run under the island of Hispaniola, which Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic, but Haitians have long forgotten about the danger of earthquakes.

"Between six and eight generations of people have gone by who lived with no awareness of earthquakes," Haitian engineer Hans Zennid told AFP.

The previous earthquakes known to have struck the island nation took place in 1742, 1772 and 1842, said Zennid. The 1842 quake was so devastating it forced the government to move the capital from Cap Haitien to its current location.

Despite the devastation, President Rene Preval has said that Port-au-Prince will continue being Haiti's capital.

The presidential palace, built in the 1920s, the Congress building, and virtually every ministry building collapsed when the magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck.

However an 11-floor building belonging to the telephone company towers over the rubble, largely intact.

Zennid was the engineer responsible for making sure that building was earthquake-ready.

"From the start I planned to make the building strong enough to resist a magnitude 6.0 earthquake, because the possibilities of a 7 (magnitude) like the one that just happened is something that happens every 150 years," said Zennid, as he surveyed the building.

A report by US structural engineers giving people the green light to use the building is posted at the entrance, perhaps to ease the fears of workers desperately seeking a semblance of normality. The report said that only one of the pillars suffered minimum damage.

Zennid said he increased the building's strength after a soil analysis.

"When we began to lay the building foundation and I analyzed the soil quality, I added 20 percent to the security level, which allowed it to resist a 7.3," he said.

That meant adding 15 percent more reinforced concrete and steel to the foundation, which meant increasing the cost by some 150,000 dollars.

At first his employers "were upset, but in the end they accepted the price increase," he said.

Haiti's elegant presidential palace can be rebuilt on the same site, even keeping the same style, Zennid said, but engineers will have to completely re-work the building's foundation.

That also applies to the vast majority of homes in Port-au-Prince, including the most luxurious mansions and hotels, many of which collapsed when the quake struck, he said.

As in most underdeveloped countries, even rich Haitians tend to expand their homes in stages instead of building them according to a single, structurally sound blueprint.

In order to do that builders need a large pot of money, and "there is no tradition of home loans here," said French architect Christian Dutour, who has carried out several projects in Haiti.

It will be difficult to explain the importance of proper building codes to a population that overwhelmingly lives below the poverty line.

In the noisy, chaotic streets of Port-au-Prince, street vendors are already selling metal rods salvaged from the earthquake rubble.

According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), which tracks earthquakes around the world, Haiti's quake could represent the beginning of a new cycle of earthquakes after nearly 170 years of geological peace.

The quake's epicenter was just 25 kilometers (15 miles) from Haiti and struck at a very shallow depth of 13 kilometers (eight miles).

The USGS estimated recently that there was a 25 percent probability that one or several magnitude 6 aftershocks could strike in the coming weeks, although they will space out more and more over time.

The January 12 quake freed much of the tension accumulated on one portion of the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault, which runs along the southern portion of Hispaniola -- but another segment east of the epicenter and adjacent to Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince has barely moved, according to the USGS.

"We are sitting on a powder keg," geologist Claude Prepetit, an engineer from the Haitian Mines and Energy bureau, told AFP.

"We are faced with the threat of future earthquakes and have to decentralize, and depopulate Port-au-Prince," he said.

January 30, 2010

caribbeannetnews

Bahamas Blog International

Lessons from Port au Prince, Haiti

By Jean H Charles:


Driving from Port au Prince into the hill of Bourdon, towards the bucolic and attractive suburb of Petionville, one is captivated by the sheer beauty of the setting: a gentle mountain with a deep ravine on the right side, beautiful mansions on the left, with wild ginger plants with their giant red and pink flowers serving as a fence. The guardrail on the side of the road is muted into a moving museum or an art gallery filled with object d’arts of all genres, pots with hand designed motifs, painting and iron works well suited for outdoor gardens. The Haitian artists are turning what they do best, one piece of art after another better and prettier than the previous one; all these creative endeavors at dirt cheap price.

But amongst that splendor, perched on the hill is the vignette of one of the slums that surround the city of Port au Prince. I have often asked how come this disturbing view does not lead to affirmative action to bring about effective use of zoning laws to protect the mountain against possible avalanche. Haitian officials as well as expatriates from the international organizations take that road daily towards their villas into the nooks and the hooks of the many mountains that bring you from the tropical temperature of the littoral sea to the temperate cool weather of the elevated altitude in less than half an hour’s time. There are certainly some lessons that can be taken from the Port au Prince earthquake.

Lesson one: be aware of the ostrich game, it will come back to haunt you!

The growing expansion of the slum named Jalousie, Tokyo, Brooklyn, and Cite Soleil, by the whimsical Haitian people is such a visible abscess that one could not miss them. Action should have been taken to relocate the thousands of Haitian people migrating from the neglected countryside into the city to taste a piece of the illusory pie made of neon light, fast moving cars and a possible job as a gardener or hustler and bustler to get the daily bread. They are also the lumping rod used by the politicians or the government to whip those with opposing views. The extreme misery of the majority of Haitian people before 1/12/10 requested urgent action and responsible measures to alleviate the condition of life of millions. The measures suggested by the international organizations (World Bank, International Monetary Fund, etc.) and adopted by the Haitian government have produced dismal results, which strangely resembles the outpouring of resources and the lack of elementary tools at the makeshift hospitals to save patients that need not die after the earthquake.

Lesson two: the Joseph and the Pharaoh story are still alive today.

The bible in its old testament gave us the story of Joseph being advised by God in a dream to notify the Pharaoh of Egypt that the country and the surrounding areas will endure seven years of drought. The Pharaoh was wise enough to appoint Joseph as his prime minister who engineered a policy of saving enough grain to last the hard times and even sell the surplus to the neighboring nations.

The Haitian government was advised two years ago by three foreign and two native scientists that a possible seismic event could strike the city of Port au Prince in the near future; due diligence should have been taken for protective measures that could save lives and limb. A similar disaster in Cuba or in the United States would not result in such a big loss of human lives: two hundred thousand and counting.

The Caribbean plate that strikes Port-au- Prince extends all the way through Kingston Jamaica; a similar plate in the North, the Atlantic plate, goes into the city of Santiago, Dominican Republic. Those two governments must not follow the Haitian pattern of faking due diligence. Preventive measures in health, environmental and food security should be taken as soon as possible and as a way of life.

Lesson three, the politics of make believe can only strike back on your own face.

The United States, because of its proximity to and the strength of its commerce with Haiti, is in the best position to take the lead in the recovery effort. Having decided to do so, it has the moral obligation to exercise due diligence in demonstrating its leadership. It cannot hide behind the incompetence of the Haitian government or the ineptness of the United Nations to justify, the errors, the excuses and the mishaps in the ill-advised logistics of the burial of the dead and the delivery of food, water and medicine.

The poor handling of the bodies as ordinary garbage, the fight in getting food and water, the allocation of priorities of who should land first in the congested Port au Prince airport, the decision to organize tent cities instead of starting the rebuilding of Haiti through the relocation to and the renaissance of the 140 small towns are all decisions that will produce donor fatigue and in the long run postpone or forestall the Haitian recovery.

Lesson four: count your friends at the funeral parlor.

In bad times you know who your real friends are! The Haitian community has, akin to the rest of the Caribbean, a sizable Arab community made up of Syrians, Lebanese, Jordanians and Palestinians. They provide a useful outlet for commerce and business. In Haiti they own and run the supermarkets and the wholesale delivery of canned and foreign food. Some of them have also lost their lives and their enterprise.

I have not seen the rush of the Arab governments in lending a hand to Haiti and to their expatriate citizens. Without going into an Arab-Israeli conflict, the disproportionate call to help by Israel is noticeable in light of the very few Israeli citizens residing in Haiti. The mobile hospital sent by the government of Israel was the first one to be deployed and taking care of the sick and the injured in the disaster.

Lesson five: when the disease is in a terminal phase one needs the intervention of a specialist to bring about incremental progress.

The case of Haiti is apropos. The ailments in environmental degradation, food insecurity, and dismal health practice and poor infrastructure is so systemic that it needs a minimum of good governance that goes beyond simple electioneering. Haiti has developed through the years the practice of choosing the worst leaders to lead its destiny; under the pretext of nationalism some of its presidents have sold the country’s sovereignty to remain in power. It is now time for Haiti to choose a leader that will bring about true hospitality to the majority of its citizens.

The Port au Prince earthquake is now labeled as of one of the major disasters of recent history. So many lives need not be lost, if there was a minimum of good governance in the country. The recovery will be hard and painful and the Haitian people are thorough and resilient. It will not happen, though, if lessons are not taken, caring on the ground not demonstrated, and purposeful leadership not exhibited.

January 30, 2010

caribbeannetnews

Bahamas Blog Internaional

Caribbean diplomacy: An endangered species

By Sir Ronald Sanders:

Caribbean governments are in danger of weakening still further their diplomatic capacity endangering its effectiveness, and imperiling their countries’ maneuverability in a harsh world.

Industrialized nations have several instruments on which to draw in their relations with other countries.  Among these are military might, economic clout and diplomatic capacity.

If their security is threatened by other states or non-state actors, such as drug traffickers and terrorists, they are able to deploy their military; on the economic front, they can apply trade sanctions withdraw financial assistance or institute measures to halt cross-border transactions; in diplomacy, they have well-staffed, well trained and well informed foreign ministries and missions abroad who bargain for their interests.  When diplomacy fails, big countries have economic clout and military might on which to fall back.

For small states, such as those in the Caribbean, diplomacy is the only instrument they have to advance their cause and defend their interests in the international community.

In this connection, Caribbean governments should place enormous emphasis on making their diplomatic capacity as strong as possible.

But, there is a growing tendency in many countries of the region to focus diplomacy in the Head of Government.  Many Heads of government, already bogged down with urgent and pressing domestic problems have assigned the foreign affairs portfolio to themselves.  In doing so, they either do not attend crucial meetings that impact their countries, or they attend without the full understanding of complex issues that only exclusive ministerial responsibility backed by expert analysis allows.  In each case, their country’s interest is not well served.

Beyond this, even where governments have appointed foreign ministers, foreign ministries are not seen as vital - or even on par - with ministries concerned with domestic issues.  Therefore, the financial and other resources that they get in annual budgets are inadequate to the extremely important job they have to do on behalf of their nations.

Worse yet, little attention appears to be paid to where and why overseas missions should be located, and who would be best to man them.  In many cases, governments have followed the traditional road establishing missions where they are now least needed and neglecting capitals and international organizations, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), where they are most required.

It cannot be in the best interest of any country for its diplomatic missions to be regarded as a pasture to send unwanted nuisances or reward political friends.  Diplomacy, as has been pointed out, is a vital tool for small countries and its best brains should be appointed to its service.

There is a most important role for Heads of Government in a nation’s diplomacy.  But, it is a role best played after the most careful diplomatic preparation that lays the groundwork for success.  Otherwise, what should be the tool that clinches a deal in a blaze of glory will fail like a damp squib.  Occasional successful forays by Heads of Government in international and bilateral negotiations should not be mistaken as a prescription for how accomplishment is to be achieved.  Often, in these circumstances, the apparent success simply happens to serve the interests of the other government or institution involved.

When the European Union (EU), a grouping of 27 large nations, recently brought their new Constitution into effect, they appointed a Foreign Minister in addition to a President.  In effect, what the EU nations did was to strengthen their global diplomatic outreach in trade, economic cooperation and investment.  In addition to their own national foreign ministries, they now have the additional services of EU missions around the world, most of which have been beefed-up with additional expert staff.

In this connection, while the recently initialed Economic Union Treaty of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) is to be welcomed as the right step forward, it is disappointing that it failed to advance the diplomatic capacity of six small independent states who would most benefit from strengthened and unified diplomacy.

The draft Treaty, which is to be ratified by the parliaments of each country before formal signature and implementation, reads as follows in relation to foreign policy:

“The organisation shall seek to achieve the fullest possible harmonisation of foreign policy among the Member States, to seek to adopt, as far as possible, common positions on international issues, and to establish and maintain, wherever possible, arrangements for joint overseas representation and/or common services”.

Words such as “fullest possible”, “as far as possible” and “wherever possible” are usually inserted in Treaties of this kind where the governments intend to make the least change to the existing situation and where the real intention is to carry on business as usual.  The signal that this sends is unfortunate, for the six independent members of the OECS would benefit enormously from a fully joined-up diplomatic service particularly in the present precarious conditions that confront their economies.

They least, of all, can afford layer upon layer of government.  Already their tax payers are paying contributions to upkeep both the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) Secretariat and the OECS Secretariat.  Arguably, they maintain the OECS Secretariat because they believe that participation in it brings them greater strength than they have individually.  If that is the case, then surely establishing and strengthening joint diplomatic capacity is not only in their bargaining interest, it would also reduce their individual expenditure on foreign affairs or more effectively focus their spending.

Of course, a major difficulty the OECS faces is their neglect of the requirement of the existing Treaty to harmonize their foreign policies “as far as possible”.  Thus, three of the six independent states are members of the Venezuelan-initiated organization, ALBA, and three are not, and three of them have diplomatic relations with China while three maintain formal relations with Taiwan.  Only a serious and visionary dialogue, supported by rigorous analysis of their long-term interests, will create a rational policy.

The global political economy is not friendly to small states of even tolerant of them.  In a world being remorselessly driven by the interests of the larger and more economically powerful states – in which China and Brazil must now be included with the US, the EU and Japan - Caribbean countries need better and stronger diplomatic capacity to advance their causes and protect their interests.

January 29, 2010

caribbeannetnews

Haiti, without a palace too

Leticia Martínez Hernández

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti. — They say that only majestic place in the Haitian capital was its National Palace. The building, enormous and blindingly white, was yet another paradox in this country, immersed in abject poverty, but able to show off a palace in the style of the grand Petit Palais in Versailles.

History recounts that the National Palace took five years to be built, but it took barely one minute for it to be almost completely destroyed. The January 12 earthquake shook this Haitian national symbol mercilessly. This reporter went to the site and spoke with Fritz Longchamp, minister of the presidency, who was working together with his team in an improvised office in the shade of a tree.

Just a few hours after the tragedy struck, when the extent of the damage was not yet clear, everyone thought that, given the quake had affected the Palace so extensively, weaker buildings must have fared far worse. When our reporting team was visiting, even the helicopters flying overhead made the devastated walls shake.

Longchamp explained that the building’s three cupolas were destroyed; the left and center ones collapsed inward and the one on the right fell forward.

President René Préval’s office, the Council of Ministers room, the First Lady’s office and the meeting room were all buried when the roof collapsed. The central pavilion of columns was likewise demolished. During that collapse, at least four people were killed in the Palace’s central building, and another nine in the Presidential Guard headquarters, now virtually in ruins.

Thirty percent of the palace was destroyed, according to preliminary estimates. Longchamp said the proposal is to repair instead of demolish, because there are no structural problems.

“We would like to rebuild the cupolas, but this time, make them more earthquake-resistant.”

For that purpose, Haitian experts from the National Heritage Institute have been called upon to rebuild the Palace, together with Japanese and U.S. engineers and architects. They are currently assessing its structures and the patrimonial values that still remain among the debris.

The minister of the presidency, still sorrowful over the tragedy, emphasized that the Palace is very much a part of Haiti’s national identity, like its flag and shield.

Translated by Granma International

granma.cu

Bahamas Blog International

Careful planning is needed for Haiti's re-development

By Youri Kemp:


The earthquake that hit Haiti earlier this year was a dreadful catastrophe that shook the conscience of every human being with a heart that beats in their body.

The comments made by certain quarters of the American political community and the religious community at large, are unwarranted.  They are unwarranted because the facts, as seen in the eyes of the persons who made them, are largely irrelevant to the issues at hand.   Gratuitously cruel to some extent.

The major, current issues are in finding ways for aid to reach Haitians in Haiti on the ground as well as what Haiti needs, in the form of development, to ensure that a catastrophe like this is not repeated.

We can surmise that no one can predict an earthquake with any certainty, even though scientists are becoming more accurate with their information.  However, Haiti won't miraculously move off of the plateau of the tectonic plates that caused the earthquake.  Also, Haiti would still need strong infrastructure and strong human services, to be able to better handle a catastrophe, like an earthquake, if a natural disaster happens again.

In a nutshell, considering the earthquake as well as the fact that Haiti is prone to hurricanes, Haiti needs to not only rebuild, but rebuild stronger, given the unnecessary loss of life that occurred.

Stronger building codes and a disaster management plan, is an obvious must.

Resetting the government agenda is also vitally important, but also an obvious must.

In addition, another issue that has arisen, more strongly post quake, is debt relief for Haiti. This, in conjunction with the almost bound to happen cry for reparations from France, are issues that have their merit grounded in historical and redistributive fact and need.

However, the question one must ask is: would spending money, via debt relief and reparations to and through the government of Haiti be worth its effort?  A government, which had its parliament collapse along with other government agencies, on top of the other issues as they relate to its fragile state before the quake (2008 mini-coup/riot that was quashed)?  Would this really work towards a better long term solution to the social, economic and political situation in Haiti?

I have my doubts on the viability of those options at this time. Perhaps it may be something to consider in the future of Haiti.

However, what about the underlying issues that has prevented Haiti moving, in the past, towards building a stronger, more progressive society?  A stronger, more progressive society, which would help to strengthen the people and the institutions of Haiti, in order for Haiti to sustain such a disaster -- God forbid, but more than likely, would happen again in light of the obvious realities.

Without going into a historical diatribe about the merits of any particular organisation, whether it was political or religious, the fact of the matter is that the distraction as it relates to the disruptions that were caused by political instability -- even if we speak to the heart and the socio-economic fibre of Haiti when we mention the name Duvalier, and the Voodoo belief system, which was seen to have propped up the dictator, is something that needs to sorted out, if Haiti is to become progressive.

Conventional wisdom, which in this case I will indulge because many indicators have shown that belief in this particular, even if one considers it axiomatic, position, is relevant; is the issue of the Haitian civil society and their private sector and the fact that they have been virtually non-existent in the past, if not, moribund, to say the most about it.

Civil society organisations have been proven to anchor communities and, by effect, stabilise communities through their organised nature and their ability to negotiate with business and political directorates and lobby for sensitive, effective and meaningful socio-economic solutions to critical issues.

Fostering a sense of common values, commitment and investment interests in the Haitian society, must never be repressed, ignored or uncultivated in the new Haitian society.

Where people have interests and investments’, coalescing around shared values on where the country is headed and what is needed to maintain sustained, positive development- issues as they relate to human and structural development, will be a synergistic, progressive positive.

The private sector must be engaged most vigorously. For the fact that the minimum wage in Haiti is, roughly, US$5 -- and we can imagine that most employers don't adhere to it -- is one that cannot be ignored and issues as they relate to (1) Curbing oligopolistic and monopolistic activity; (2) Providing for sustainable local markets; (3) Ensuring fair value in and access to external markets; and (4) Trade and development assistance from all the relevant partners and stakeholders in the global community, is a large task but must be essential for a new Haitian, country-wide progressive model.

Creating wealth in Haiti is an obvious task that must be addressed and attacked with full commitment from the Haitian government and their international partners.

The concerns as they relate to officials taking a mechanistic approach to the matter, is something that the Haitian government, non-governmental organisations and technical expertise from the development community -- bearing in mind the daunting task of country-wide buy in and creating economic synergies that are self sustaining -- must take in hand from a prejudiced standpoint of the status quo and assist their weaker partners, in that the civil society organisations.

Certainly, there are enough 'what to do's' to go about.  This author is not void of any.  However, what Haiti and its partners in assistance needs now is to identify which 'what to do' to target and work at it.  The second hardest part is 'how to do' as well as measuring the success of the 'what to do' as it would be and is impacted by the 'how did'?  This is obviously after immediate reconstruction and investment for that reconstruction.

Partners from around the globe must converge on Haiti and assist the society at large with whatever decisions are made. This includes not just assistance with debt relief -- if that be the case -- or development through trade or just supporting NGOs stationed in Haiti.

But, assist Haiti with the technical expertise to build a better nation, from the inside out.

January 26, 2010

caribbeannetnews

Traumatised Haitians struggle to comprehend grim fate

By Dave Clark:


PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) -- It's not immediately clear where the crowd gathered in prayer ends and where the refugee encampment begins, as one group of listless, traumatised people bleeds into another.

With a symbol of state strength, Haiti's once magnificent National Palace, lying in ruins behind them, thousands left homeless by the devastating quake pin their hopes of salvation on God rather than on the works of man.

The reading is Psalm 102, and the reader has a high, clear voice, sometimes distorted by feedback through the massive rock concert-size speakers.

"Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come unto thee," she declares. "Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily."

Worshippers in the crowd follow the text with their fingers in battered copies of the Bible salvaged from their demolished homes. In a break in the text their wavering voices sing along with a Misericordia prayer.

"For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth," the Psalm continues. "My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread."

"For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping," runs the reading. "Because of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down."

Many Haitians were cast down on January 12, when a 7.0-magnitude quake tore into the capital and surrounding region, burying at least 112,000 people in the ruins of their shops and homes and leaving a million homeless.

Now the survivors are looking for sense among the senseless waste. A queue of them waits by the side of the stage as the reading continues.

One by one they take the microphone and loudly confess their sins and those of their people, begging the forgiveness of a God they can only suppose to have been so angered by Haitians that his wrath felled them in their thousands.

"My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass," the reader continues, her voice tireless. "But thou, O Lord, shall endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations."

"He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer. This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord."

Not everyone in the crowd has come to pray, some are just bored by life in the tents and makeshift bivouacs carpeting the surrounding ceremonial square. others are here to do what business they can to survive.

A haggard-looking woman hawks a neat pile of freshly cleaned and pressed face towels. One optimist has erected a stall selling souvenir key rings with the Haitian flags and arm bands celebrating US President Barack Obama.

Elsewhere, family life continues. One woman huddles in a tiny patch of shade, breast-feeding an infant. Small boys wash in a bucket of soapy water while nearby their playmates fly kites made of wire and plastic waste.

Stands sell short sticks of sugar cane and small oily pastries.

Two young men unload French-language textbooks from a sack to sell on the kerbside. The cover boasts that readers will become fluent after a few easy lessons, but the salesmen themselves struggle to express themselves.

"What do I think of what happened? I don't think anything about it."

Across the road, marshalled by police with pump-action shotguns, a large but orderly and calm crowd presses around the door of a newly reopened bank, hoping to access cash, hoping that relatives abroad have sent donations.

"The cause of the quake was natural, but in what other country would it have had such an effect?" asks 33-year-old security guard Mercelus Luckner, fearful that he is unemployed after finding his firm's offices in ruins.

"Haitians have made many mistakes. They offended God. God is punishing us," he reasons, holding on to a vague hope that one of the foreign aid workers arriving in the city will pluck him from the crowd and offer him a job.

The Psalm ends: "Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure:"

January 25, 2010

caribbeannetnews

Bahamas Caribbean Blog International

Help Haiti out of Haiti

Jamaicaobserver Editorial:


Centuries ago, the colonial powers of the western world executed a monstrous plan to transport millions of Africans across the Atlantic in the name of slavery.   It was, in every sense of the word, a raw ride -- the Africans were shackled and crammed like sardines below the decks of the cargo ships -- which still makes for horrific reading.

Countless Africans succumbed to the disease and depression that accessorised the trip, jumping overboard to escape the unrelenting wretchedness which was every bit as heart-rending as what is going on in earthquake-devastated Haiti today.

But as long as the slave trade was profitable, no amount of suffering could undermine the objectives of its organisers.   They needed free labour and they weren't about to let logistics, regard for human rights, or anything else get in the way of the transatlantic slave trade.   On and on it went, for over 300 years, defying rebellion after rebellion, until the economics of it no longer made sense.

Even when slavery was completely abolished in 1838, the hard-fought-for freedom proved elusive for most, as the process of transitioning from a slave society to an emancipated one was far easier said than done.

The devil was in the detail.

Much as it is in Haiti where, according to several reports coming out of that country, people are dying of thirst and hunger within shouting distance of life-saving supplies.

According to one Associated Press (AP) report published in our Friday edition, General Douglas Fraser, head of the US Southern command that is running Haiti's airports, said 1,400 flights are on a waiting list for slots at the Port-au-Prince airport that can handle 120-140 flights per day.   Further afield, artistes of international acclaim are releasing songs, more money is being collected and benefits are being staged... all in the name of helping Haiti.

We hate to appear cynical, or worse, ungrateful.

However, the fact is that even as the world comes up with scheme after scheme to help Haiti, the desperate earthquake survivors are running amok among the rubble, literally maddened by the stench of death and devastation.

According to one report, a 15-year-old girl was shot in the head while allegedly making off with two stolen pictures. What was going through her adolescent mind at the time is anyone's guess now.

Was she thinking of selling them for money to buy food?

If so, to whom?

Was she even aware of what she was doing?

Either way, it just doesn't make sense.

What people like this late young girl need more than all the entertainment, all the millions, in the world right now, is to be removed from the trauma that is Haiti.   That's why those who can, have flocked to the shores, desperate to get out on the first thing smoking.

The survivors need a clean environment, compassion, food, a warm bed, medical aid and maybe a picture or two to give them a mental break, however brief, from the horrors of the past two weeks.

That just isn't available in Haiti at the moment, but it is in the countries that are tripping over themselves to help.

History tells us that with the will, evacuation would be a cinch.

Reality says otherwise.

January 24, 2010

jamaicaobserver

The Haiti debacle

By Lloyd B Smith:


WONDER what is going through the minds of Jean-Claude Duvalier and Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the two exiled top honchos of Haiti? No doubt, both men would love to return at this time to their country which has been devastated by what has been described as that poverty-stricken country's worst earthquake in 200 years.

In the case of Jean-Claude Duvalier (Baby Doc), will his conscience sufficiently prick him to the extent where he will repatriate some of the many millions that he plundered from the public purse? Surely, he cannot return in the flesh lest he be numbered among the thousands of corpses in short order. Aristide, on the other hand, has a tremendous following but his return may well present a serious political dilemma for an already very confused state.

I don't know about my readers, but when I ponder the fact that Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere that has now been hit by perhaps the worst natural disaster in living memory in the same region, one has to wonder if bad luck is worse than obeah (or is it voodoo?) Incidentally, it has been rumoured in Haiti that a high-ranking voodoo priest is responsible for this latest debacle because of an ungrateful people who made Aristide go. And here in Jamaica, there are the many cynics who maintain that the Haitians "wuk too much obeah (voodoo)", so that's why they received such a catastrophic visitation.

Be that as it may, the Haiti quake may well turn out in the long run to be a blessing in disguise for that most unfortunate country. Indeed, one cannot help but ask why, after all these decades during which Haiti has been ignored and despised, it is now being showered with so much aid, money and debt forgiveness? Isn't there some amount of hypocrisy involved here?

I must confess that I have become a bit sceptical about this massive outpouring of generosity and can only hope that most if not all that is being donated will in fact reach those thousands of suffering victims now bereft of just about everything except their miserable lives. In this vein, I must warn would-be donors to be wary of scammers and shysters who will use even this most tragic spectacle for self-aggrandisement. And please, don't just send "ole clothes" or personal effects that you have got tired of and were waiting to throw out, not to mention those expired foodstuff, including canned goods. The Haitians are poor and beleaguered, but they still have their dignity and self-respect.

In the meantime, what I find most interesting, if not intriguing, is the juxtaposition of the Jamaican "tax quake" which jolted us recently thanks to "Papa Bruce" and his team and that seismic wonder not too far from our shores. God-fearing Jamaicans are praising the Almighty for having spared us, because if it was us and not Haiti which had been so affected by that quake, then not even dog would want to eat our supper!

Despite the fact that Jamaica and Haiti are in the same fault line, we experienced only some minor shocks. But you know, I have to wonder if God is partial? After all, why should he bypass us and take on Haiti? Are we the preferred "children of Israel"? Whichever way one looks at this scenario, it is obvious that we are a very lucky country and Haiti, on the other hand, is a very unlucky place to live. Four hurricanes in one year battered that country, then this quake.

But while Jamaica has been spared the debilitating effects of natural disasters (acts of God), we have been subject to many acts of man such as our record number of murders. So let us not become too smug as if to say everything is coming up roses. Indeed, if all the promises and plans now being offered by the international community to Haiti should materialise, then Jamaica may well begin to compete for its current position - that of being the poorest country in the West!

It is good to see Jamaicans rising to the occasion in a bid to help our Haitian brothers and sisters in their distress. Our Prime Minister Bruce Golding has taken on the task of leading the charge on behalf of Caricom and this is most commendable, although he must be reminded that he still has his "quake back a yard" to deal with. In this context, we can only hope that Mr Golding does not become too comfy and distracted from his major task at hand - that of salvaging the Jamaican economy.

I am a bit worried about what I am hearing on the streets being spouted by gleeful Jamaica Labour Party supporters who feel that the Golding Cabinet pulled a fast one on the Jamaican public with respect to the tax package and the debt-management initiative. Against this background, Mr Golding needs to clarify whether the first tax package announced at the end of 2009 was a deliberate ploy to prepare the country for the debt-management initiative. There is talk that this was the only way to get the International Monetary Fund to soften its position while at the same time bullying the well-off who were benefiting so profusely from government paper to decide to share some of the burden. Is this a classic case of the politics of deception or expediency?

Meanwhile, there are many lessons to be learnt from the Haitian debacle, chief of which is what corruption can do to a country, including the needless loss of many human lives. More anon.

lloydbsmith@hotmail.com

January 19, 2010

jamaicaobserver

Bahamas Caribbean Blog International

Disaster has a silver lining - an Obama Plan

By Franklin Johnston:



If you are poor you get sympathy; if you are "piss poor" you get help. Give thanks for Haiti! Jamaica's economic future is in the Greater Antilles, a market of 36m people (Haiti, Cuba, DR and us) and 5m in its diaspora - Air Jamaica can be viable with a 4m market. We live in 35 minutes of this large market yet are blind to our manifest destiny. Heaven is our backyard and we must build solid economic relations with our neighbours. Haiti's tragedy can be the spark to ignite our development and theirs.

We are powerless when faced with forces of nature. Despite the conspiracy theorists, Haitians are as good as people at the Vesuvius, Krakatoa or San Francisco disasters, just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Haiti is more sinned against than sinning, CNN cites the close bond with the US, but "the full has not been told". Still, 30-odd coups since independence killed more Haitians, only quietly. Their own leaders have bloody hands. Disasters have killed more in China than any nation, yet they flourish. Nature isn't angry, it's not God's retribution. The earth does what the earth does. If you live on an earth fault, expect a holocaust any time. You must move! Many died in the San Francisco quake and recent tsunami, did they move? No! We are flooded out, but rebuild on the same gully banks and bawl, pray, cuss the state and thank God for the cash after every flood. I am empty, but if you have tears, shed them! Soon, media fatigue will set in, the waters will close and Haiti will be as it was, but we can change tragedy to triumph. Think with me now:

*Dry your eyes and let's find the silver lining in this disaster. Can we mould a global flow of random donations into a structured plan for Haiti and the Caribbean? We won't spoil the spirit by reminding the US and France they owe Haiti. We can leverage this to get Haiti an economic makeover - an Obama Plan - as the US gave to Europe in the post-war Marshall Plan. To quote Shakespeare's As You Like It:

"Sweet are the uses of adversity

Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous

Wears yet a precious jewel in its head."

Europe got long-term US help and their economies soared. Bruce should lobby for an "Obama Plan" for Haiti.

*Would the UK, Italy, France, Germany do for Haiti and the Caribbean what the US did for them 65 years ago? Haiti is the poorest Western nation and the US president's troika and the West will deliver "big time"! But, what of the new money - Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Dubai, Abu Dhabi - known for glitzy projects and obscene consumption? Let's see the generosity of Islamic states, Africa and Asia.

If Bruce and Portia get their minds around it, Haiti can be the sheet anchor of a Caribbean renaissance. Transport economics make the Greater Antilles our market. In our "salad days" we went to Miami for lunch on Fridays and got home for the nightly news. Cuba with 12m people, D R 11m, Haiti 10m, are our backyard! The geography imperative is incontrovertible and we ignore it to our peril. T&T draws close to its OECS neighbours as should we to ours. Fishermen trade with Haiti, as did the Tainos, and if they can cope in French and Spanish, so can we. Caricom neocons elevate English law and language and scorn economic reality. Thank God their tour to Haiti's ground zero, to clog the airspace, was thwarted. Caricom's bruised ego is not a topic Bruce should raise with Mrs Clinton. There are 92-plus agencies in Haiti on Phase 1 - first response aid and none toured before giving. Spoilt brats! Bruce and Portia should proffer a vision for Phase 5 - sustainable projects, to Hillary Clinton (the Marshall Plan was named after a secretary of state) and René Préval to be based on Caribbean enterprise and skills. Here is my list for our PM:

*An "Obama Plan" for Haiti and the Caribbean, funded by the Middle East, US, Europe, Asia, Africa to modernise transport, farming, manufacture, inter-island trade, exports and human capital; to use Caribbean skills and embed the know-how in the islands.

For Jamaica proper, Bruce and Portia must negotiate deals and facilities in Haiti for our Phase 4 "smart start" projects to benefit Haiti's market and ours. These include:

*Land for a Jamaica logistics park and entrepot for trade, manufacture and large-scale farming. A "recce" team to include Tony Hylton (ports, logistics); Peter McConnell, Jamaica Broilers (food farms); Grace (processing, distribution); Gassan Azan (trade goods); SRC and UWI/CARDI (yam, cassava, potato, tissue culture). The initial 13m-market enables high volume, low-cost production and import - big volume, small margins. Inter-island shuttle shipping will thrive and maritime and other jobs will open up on both shores.

*English has made us lazy. Let's learn French, Spanish, tackle the big markets in our backyard, build cross-border industry and let Caricom deliver what it can.

*Regional airlines and shipping in a market of 36m is feasible. Our commuter and private aircraft fleets will grow as some staff travel to work in Haiti, DR, etc.

*The UWI, UTech, NCU should give academic credits for field work and place 300

second-year students in a Caribbean Service Corps on a work-study track in social work, nursing, farming, construction, food tech, conservation, etc, projects as building and operating community bakeries. They should partner with Haiti's institutions.

* Our banks, money transfer, professional services firms, HEART/NTA must seek joint ventures. Haiti is close and can be treated as part of our internal market. Let's reach beyond our comfort levels and be brave for Haiti and for our own good.

*Our universities should team up with local consultants to bid on foreign-funded projects in Haiti and develop a portfolio of social and economic work.

We are rich compared to Haiti, so 5000 families should adopt a Haitian child for one year until they sort themselves out. One more mouth to feed is doable! We gain friends, have fun, free French lessons for the family and blessings galore! Stay conscious!

Dr Franklin Johnston is an international project manager with Teape-Johnston Consultants, currently on assignment in the UK.

franklinjohnston@hotmail.com

January 22, 2010

jamaicaobserver

Bahamas Caribbean Blog International

Turning Guantanamo Bay into a point of light

By Jean H Charles:

The American base at Guantanamo in Cuba, refitted to receive the enemy combatant prisoners and the terrorists of Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen, is on the verge of being closed again due to negative publicity surrounding the alleged mistreatment of those prisoners.   Guantanamo Bay, with proper leadership and foresight, can reborn brightly as the most suitable place from critical care to recovery and rehabilitation for the Haitians victims of the devastating earthquake in a longer term.   It is at only half an hour from the town of Mole St Nicholas, Haiti where Christopher Columbus landed in the country five hundred years ago.

Those Haitians will return home later to a Haiti rebuilt and ready to receive them.   Guantanamo, with the leadership of the United States and financial support from the rest of the world, is a potential first response disaster relief and management center for the Western Hemisphere.   Fidel and Raul Castro, I am certain, would applaud such a move, causing a melting of the ice between the two governments, Cuba and the United States.   Such synergy is already in place in Leogane, Haiti, where Cuban and American doctors are working hand in hand in perfect harmony.

The vista of a young man with broken feet being discharged from the hospital with no one to receive him and no home to go to is disheartening at best.   Haiti after 1/12/10 needs a rehabilitation center for the thousand of discharged patients and halfway home for the thousand of orphaned children before adoption.   The situation in Haiti is similar to the fate of Europe after the defeat of the Nazis.   It took the leadership of a General John Marshall to transform the towns and the cities of France, Germany and England into vibrant entities.   It took also the leadership of General MacArthur in Asia to transform Japan into the power house of today.

Haiti, a pearl of the islands before its independence, was destined to become a ever-shining pearl after its gallant victory over slavery.   It has not been such.   This massive destruction will set Haiti years behind if no proper leadership is exhibited.   I share the concern of millions in the world, who wish Haiti well and would like to see its people enter into the kingdom of peace, harmony and welfare.

The state of the state of Haiti today is now one of confusion.   The United States has asked Canada and Brazil to join its administration in taking the lead for the reconstruction of Haiti, yet France and the European Community want to be major players in a country where French language and French mores are still queen.   Israel, Cuba, Venezuela and Turkey have been so far the most ready helpers.   The Dominican Republic is now setting itself to become the trustee of Haiti.

The Haitian government is nowhere to be found.   There was no better governance in the best of times. President Barack Obama has promised not to let the Haitians suffer alone in this difficult situation.   He will have to appoint a strong leader to lead the recovery, bring the sick, and the ones with broken limbs to Guantanamo, work with Europe and the other countries that want to devise a Marshall plan for Haiti and help instill in the country a sense of urgency, safety and solidarity of one towards the other.

One week after the earthquake, the excuses in the delay in breaking the bottleneck for essential delivery of health care to the people affected by the disaster are not reasonable.   The Haitian people once more have demonstrated their resilience, they know not to expect solace from their own government, they expect, though, a better coordination of leadership and logistics from the international community.

The Haitian government has paid the transportation for the refugees to return home to their ancestral towns.   It is planning tent cities on the outskirt of Port au Prince, against the grain of Haitian ethos that refuse to be refugees in their own country.   They need a hospitality center in each one of the small towns of Haiti to alleviate and organize the arrivals of the new residents.   A purse of a minimum of one million dollars in each one of the 150 towns of Haiti will go a long way in setting the stage for the reconstruction of Haiti and easing the pressure on the capital.

The power vacuum in Haiti on the national and international level is potentially as explosive as the recent earthquake:

– the political ballet dance of the United States not wanting to offend the Haitian government in taking charge of essential services,
– the United Nations wounded by the loss of its people and discredited for dismal performance for the last five years in Haiti,
– the rest of the international community already into a mode of a charity fatigue due to unnecessary bottleneck by those three players,
– the posturing of the major nonprofit organizations more interested in putting the spotlight on themselves instead of working together to bring essential services to the ordinary earthquake afflicted person.
– the Haitian government culture of treating its own citizens as pariah entities.

These are all the ingredients that will impede the speedy recovery of Haiti.   As the doctors and the nurses in the field who need essential tools and medication to save the sick and the wounded, as the community leaders in the slum documented by BBC, who provide better services for burying the dead, healing the sick, and feeding the hungry than the slow pace of the world armada camped at the airport still discussing logistics and protocol while Haitians are dying from post and non treatment.

I am crying for help, please! The ghost of Katrina is still haunting Haiti.

January 23, 2010

caribbeannetnews