This is the 173rd diary on the earthquake disaster in Haiti. The first diary was by Dallasdoc and previous diaries are linked below. This is the Justice, Not Charity edition of the diary.
"The Haitian people are asking not for charity, but for justice."
The Uses of Haiti last paragraph pg. 307
What, then is to be done? Speaking of events since the 1991 coup, Noam Chomsky has noted that "honest commentary would place all of this in the context of our unwavering opposition to freedom and human rights in Haiti for no less than 200 years." The first order of business, for citizens of the United States, might be a candid and careful assessment of our ruinous policies towards Haiti. Remorse is not a very fashionable sentiment. But for many, old-fashioned penitence might be the first step towards a new solidarity, a pragmatic solidarity that could supplant both our malignant policies of the past and the well -meaning but unfocused charity that does not respond to Haitian aspirations. The Haitian people are asking not for charity, but for justice.
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This is where Paul Farmer's book The Uses of Haiti ends. This is where our new diary begins. Farmer answers our question- what to do first, "The first order of business, for citizens of the United States, might be a candid and careful assessment of our ruinous policies towards Haiti." that is what this diary will attempt to do (mainly through the discussion that takes place in the comments). Many of us are new to learning about Haiti. But we really want to help. This diary is a place to learn about Haiti, about US policy towards Haiti, and to advocate for Haiti.
Join us in the comments for today's news discussion and more. Be sure to also see diaries by Bev Bell for informed ground-level information on Haiti's needs.
Announcement!: |
:*** Announcing*** Please Join Us On July 12, 2010: Black Kos and Justice, Not Charity are teaming up to help Haiti!
Special Edition Haiti Matching Fund Diary is Sponsored By Black Kos! The Wonderful dopper0189 Will Post The Diary On The Six Month Anniversary of The Earthquake. We Have $700 In Matching Funds. We Raised The Matching Fund Money From Contributions from Members of The Group. Now We Ask The Amazing Daily Kos Community To Match US. Last Time You All Showed How Generous, Compassionate, And Fabulous This Community Is. We Raised We Raised $3200. Lets Stay True to Our Word And Not Abandon Haiti, Again, This Time. |
We will be auctioning this Obama Poster #2470/5000. I bought it from his campaign website artists for Obama. I know it isn't as good as the Change poster but it is a good poster to commemorate his historic campaign. I have some more numbered posters but not sure if I will auction. I bought a bunch as a way to donate to his campaign and get a cool poster.
Mr. Aji (also known as Wings, who is a traditional Native silversmith) is donating one of his handcrafted sterling silver pendants, made especially for this fundraiser. (There is a reserve of $150 on the pendant, which would normally retail for up to twice that.) The donated pendant is being designed as I write this. Below is a picture of a similar piece, although instead of the tiny cab at the top and the copper spiral in the center, the donated one will contain a Sleeping Beauty turquoise cabochon in place of the spiral, making it significantly more valuable:
We'll post a photo of the actual piece in a couple of days, when it's finished. Once the winning bidders send proof of the donation for each item, that item will be shipped immediately.
And this is how we are dividing up the $700 matching fund. :
Once the entire $700 has been raised we will donate the matching fund all at once to NGOs that we have seen working hard and getting results in Haiti:
$700
$200 to Partners in Health RunawayRose $125, carolinestargazer $75:
$200 to Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti allie123 $200
$100 to Aristide Foundation for Democracy maggiejean $100
$100 to at this link for Reiser Relief; $100 to The Lambi Fund Avil $100 to Reiser Relief (parryander) and $100 to The Lambi Fund and both are eligible for further matching funds so Avila's $200 will be $400.
Join us Thursday's for book day : Current book is Damming The Flood: Haiti, Aristide, And The Politics Of Containment, by Peter Hallward: Chapter 2 |
Ravet pa janm gen rezon devan poul
Roaches are never right when facing chickens
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Action Alert: |
897 signatures the goal is 1000. If this was a petition regard whether Jane Hamsher Hates Haiti there would be 10s of thousands of signatures. This is to stop Haitian's from being evicted from homeless camps. The Petition to stop rape got results, see UN Human Rights Council Resolution: Accelerating efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women: ensuring due diligence in prevention.
Action Alerts:
Aid
Evictions: Stop Forced Evictions of Haiti's Earthquake Victims Institute For Justice & Democracy in Haiti has a petition, here.
The UN and Haitian Government agreed on April 22 to an immediate 3-week moratorium on forced evictions which expired, Thursday, May 13th. Within that period reports of evictions continued. Humanitarian aid, including food, water and sanitation facilities have been cut off in targeted camps (1, 2). In other locations, residents are being harassed and abused by the police. The people most affected by the earthquake, those who have lost their families, homes and livelihoods, now live in fear that they may be violently forced to leave their present settlements without viable options established for relocation (2).
Additional Action Alerts:
TransAfrica Forum
Stand up and be counted (Partners in Health)
HAITI ACTION COMMITTEE ACTION ALERT
Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti
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Thursday is Haiti diary book day: Book List : |
This is our book list so far:
In the Parish of the Poor by Jean-Bertrand Aristide,
Mountains Beyond Mountains, Damming The Flood, The Uses of Haiti, Travesty in Haiti, Partner To The Poor A Paul Farmer Reader, Walking on Fire, Brother, I'm dying,
Bitter Sugar: Slaves Today in the Caribbean by Maurice Lemoione [1985],
The Black Jacobins, C.L.R. James (h/t Deoliver47),
Edwidge Danticat's TheFarming of Bones,
The Chosen Place, The Timeless People,
Krik? Krak!PIH has a book list,
Breath, Eyes, Memory,
The Rainy Season - Haiti after Duvalier by A. Wilentz,
PIH has a new website. They have recommended reading, book list, links to websites with action alerts. Articles.
Videos
The Agronomist,
Aristide and the Endless Revolution,
Life and Debt ,
Poto Mitan,
Any suggestions? We are looking for books, articles, websites where we can get accurate information about Haiti. Please share any information.
Sources We Like |
Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA)
Canada Action Network
Democracy Now!
Center For Economic and Policy Research
Common Dreams.org
Flashpoint Radio
Global Policy Forum
HaitAction.Net, Haiti Action Committee Action Alert
Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (ijdh)
Kim Ives is the editor of Haiti Liberte
Partners in Health (PIH), PIH-For Advocates
Rabble.ca
SF Bay View
TransAfrica Forum
News Organizations: |
Al Jazeera English
AlterNet
BBC
Caribbean Net News
CNN
guardian.co.uk
Haitian Times
Huffington Post
IPS
MiamiHerald.com
NPR
reliefWeb
"Dye mon, gen mon."
Translation: Beyond the mountain is another mountain.
(A proverb of both patience and the recognition of how difficult life in Haiti is.)
ijdh:
Anyone interested in democracy and rights has reason to be interested in Haiti. Over two centuries ago, Haitians challenged the notions of human rights taking root in Europe and the nascent United States, insisting that all people are human and that slavery could have no place in any republic worthy of the name. This was the beginning of the modern human rights movement.
— Paul Farmer, Co-Founder, Partners in Health
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Reliable source articles: |
Any articles that we missed? Please leave comment.
Haiti's History
President Aristide
US-Haiti-trade policy
Agriculture
AID and here.
Video: |
Watch Paul Farmer and Brian ConcannonVideo, Change Haiti Can Believe In: here.
Watch: Haiti Dreaming for More Than $3 a day
Life and Debt
Aid/Change?:
MUST READ Mark Schuller, Huffington Post, Sowing Seeds of Hope or Seeds of Dependence?
The Washington Informer, Halliburton in Haiti:
Haiti’s Future: Repeating Disasters:
Tectonic Shifts? The upcoming donors' conference for Haiti
TransAfrica, Workers Unite in Haiti:
Summary of HOPE legislation: This is the same trade policy that we usually have to force Haiti to accept. But now we art told to celebrate it as an accomplishment? When did sweatshops become reason to celebrate?
CounterPunch, How NGOs are Profiting Off a Grave Situation: Haiti and the Aid Racket
CounterPunch, Aid Should Go to Haitian Popular Organizations, Not to Contractors or NGOs: Chomsky on Haiti
CounterPunch, Haiti Five Months After the Quake
Center For economic and policy research, Katrina Redux: New Disaster, Same Contractors
tout moun se moun —
(every human being is a human being)
Damming The Flood, (pg. xxxiv): Mantra from Aristide's 1990 campaign:
"Alone we are week, together we are strong; all together we are Lavalas, the flood [yon se`l nou feb, ansanm nou fo, ansanm nou se Lavalas]."
Aristide
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The now requisite warnings: |
Please do your research before donating. The Charity Navigator tool is a useful resource for this purpose. For those not familiar, Charity Navigator evaluates and rates charities according to their financial responsibility and sustainability. Their homepage now lists comprehensive information the major organizations on the ground in Haiti now. (h/t DeepHarm and deb s) An additional resource for researching charities is the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance site.
A note about ratings listed here: We have looked up all of the charities listed here and we've put ratings next to the ones that have actually been rated. It looks like this: (****/A). The number of stars (1-4) indicates the rating from Charity Navigator and is also a clickable link to a detailed review of that particular charity. The letter grade is from AIP and is explained here.
The lack of a rating does not mean that something is wrong with it. A lot of good (and bad) organizations have yet to be rated. For more tips, see: Evaluating Charities Not Currently Rated by Charity Navigator.
NGOs: |
The Aristide Foundation for Democracy (AFD) was created in 1996 by former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide (the first democratically elected president of Haiti) with a simple principle in mind: "The promise of democracy can only be fulfilled if all sectors of Haitian society are able to actively participate in the democratic life of the nation." |
Can-Do.org is intensely dedicated to working on the local level to provide lasting solutions to some of the world’s most critical issues, from environmental degradation to natural disasters, humanitarian crises to educational inequity. Their donation page is here.
Fonkoze (***) , a micro-lending organization in Haiti. From their Web site:
Fonkoze is Haiti’s Alternative Bank for the Organized Poor. We are the largest micro-finance institution offering a full range of financial services to the rural-based poor in Haiti. Fonkoze is committed to the economic and social improvement of the people and communities of Haiti and to the reduction of poverty in the country.
According to their Web site, their offices have taken quite a hit. This is another one in the category of long-term rebuilding. (h/t parryander and dizzydean)
Haiti Emergency Relief Foundation:
Haiti’s grassroots movement – including labor unions, women’s groups, educators and human rights activists, support committees for political prisoners, and agricultural cooperatives – are funneling needed aid to those most hit by the earthquake. They are doing what they can – with the most limited of funds – to make a difference. Please take this chance to lend them your support. All donations to the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund will be forwarded to our partners on the ground to help them rebuild what has been destroyed.
Healing Hands for Haiti (a physical rehab and prosthetics organization based in Port au Prince), Lamp for Haiti, and a group that umbrellas several projects called Healing Haiti. parryander has personal experience with these groups, so I suggest checking out their comments.
Another organization, The Honor and Respect Foundation, was described in a story on Narconews called Getting Help to Haiti. The foundation was created by journalist Reed Lindsay, who is now Telsur's D.C. Bureau Chief, for children who couldn't get into other schools. Their website says that it "seeks to establish funds in support of several specific programs carried out by grassroots groups in the poorest neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince." I have a phone number for a contact there and will get direct information tonight.
Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti:
We fight for the human rights of Haiti’s poor, in court, on the streets and wherever decisions about Haitians’ rights are made. We represent the unjustly imprisoned and victims of political persecution, coordinate grassroots advocacy in Haiti and the US, train human rights advocates in Haiti and disseminate human rights information worldwide.
IJDH is simply the most reliable source for information and analysis on human rights in Haiti. — Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)
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L'Athletique D'Haiti:
"While many children and parents see the club as a way to make it to the Haitian National team and also as a route ?to college scholarships or professional teams outside of Haiti, there’s more to the program than sports. By encouraging youngsters from wealthier families to compete with those from the slums, Robert Duval is also chipping away at the barriers of long divided Haitian society. And as Duval points out, ‘Some of these kids have a lot of talent, not only for soccer. Maybe it’s school or music or writing poetry. But sports will lift them to the next level of life.’" ?- Finbar O’Reilly, National Post, Canada
L'Athletique D'Haiti parryander describes Bobby Duval
Besides being an immensely generous and charming man, he can be delightfully blunt and wonderfully funny. He has no time for crap. He has been through the wars - those of his personal experience being a prisoner of Baby Doc, and also those of the violence in Cite Soleil - the gang wars.
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The Lambi Fund (****) is a secular non-profit nonprofit whose mission is "to assist the popular, democratic movement in Haiti. Its goal is to help strengthen civil society as a necessary foundation of democracy and development. The fund channels financial and other resources to community-based organizations that promote the social and economic empowerment of the Haitian people." They support "projects that embrace the following principles: non-violent, non-partisan, community-based, promoting the advancement of women, using education and training for empowerment, and promoting the overall democratic movement."
Partners in Health (****/A+) has now started a BLOG about its efforts called Stand with Haiti. It has very useful information. Partners in Health is also putting out a call for health volunteers, in case you are a medical professional who can help out that way:
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We are deeply grateful for the multitude of people who have contacted us wanting to provide medical assistance. As patients flood to our sites from Port-au-Prince, we're finding ourselves in need of both medical personnel and supplies. In particular, we need surgeons (especially trauma/orthopedic surgeons), ER doctors and nurses, and full surgical teams (including anesthesiologists, scrub and post-op nurses, and nurse anesthetists). If you are a health professional interested in volunteering, please send an email to volunteer@pih.org with information on:
• Your credentials
• Language capabilities (Haitian Creole or French desired)
• Overseas experience (if any)
• Any prior experience in emergency/post-disaster relief efforts
• Availability
• Contact information
As phone lines in Haiti remain down and transportation and communication are difficult, PIH is still in the process of determining where we can set up operations in Port-au-Prince, and how we can transport patients and volunteers to our sites. We will be able to offer more concrete information after these logistical matters are resolved. Once again – thank you for your support. Kenbe fèm.
The Jean Cadet Restavek Foundation. Restaveks are child slaves. This is an organization for children run by a Haitian man who is a former child slave.
Reiser Relief, a group that parryander works with
Matching Funds
Turn a $25 donation into a $50 donation.
Matching funds currently available at this link for Reiser Relief, a group that parryander works with:
Reiser Relief is a charity started by my friend Father Reiser - it funds our water truck, pays teachers salaries, feeds kids, and it supports orphanages and homes for the elderly and women.
A total of $20K in matching funds have been provided for Reiser Relief from Razoo.
As of May 13, over $4K remain (this number does not appear to be updated daily, but we will keep it as current as possible).
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ShelterBox: TexMex is busy moving, but carolina stargazer is still watching the store. The next ShelterBox diary is planned for Tuesday morning, but activity in
Friday's diary will be monitored until then. Matching funds are available.
SOIL is based in Haiti (founded by two American females) and although their regular mission is :Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods (SOIL) is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting soil resources, empowering communities and transforming wastes into resources in Haiti, they are in the streets in PAP providing normal disaster relief services and translation (they speak Kreyol). They have said that all donations in the next 30 days (at least) will go directly to their relief work rather than their usual mission. They have been in Haiti for several years and are very familiar with it.
Social Networking Efforts: |
Media Make Change has this to say:
Too often, we hear stories that are told about the survivors, where a narrator with a minimal connection to the tragedy attempts to explain lives that s/he doesn’t truly understand. But Haitian citizens have the right to tell their own stories; they have the right to engage in public discussion about how to remedy the crisis in Haiti.
Check out their 5 Easy Ways to Help page. In particular, they would like to have your old digital camera to put in the hands of a Haitian citizen.
Past diaries in this series: |
Be sure to also see diaries by Bev Bell for informed ground-level information on Haiti's needs.
Mokurai has contributed The Real Story in Haiti and Haiti: Dimensions of Disaster.
FishOutofWater takes a moment to explore the benefits of Partners in Health's commitment to solar powered health centers.
Meteor Blades points the way to a better and more sustainable future for Haitians in Haiti Could Use a New Deal.
As the MSM (in the United States) turns attention away from Haiti, Deoliver47 reminds us that things are not suddenly all better: Raining Disease and More Deaths.
For some good pre-earthquake background on Haiti, see Daisy Cutter's Book Review: "Damming the Flood" by Peter Hallward, pt 1. This diary was published in July 2008 and presents a history of Haiti up to 1999 using Hallward's book as a reference. Excellent.
Two recent diaries by Deep harm remind us that the rains are coming and tents are needed.
ShelterBox: TexMex is busy moving, but carolina stargazer is still watching the store. The next ShelterBox diary is planned for Tuesday morning, but activity in Tuesday's diary will be monitored until then. Matching funds are available.
News Update: |
Immigration/Migration
Filing deadline for TPS is 7/20
Kim Ives, Advocates Warn That TPS Deadline Is Fast Approaching
Many U.S.-based rights groups had pressured both the Bush and Obama administrations to grant Haitians TPS following four back-to-back storms that struck the country in September 2008, causing widespread death and destruction. The Obama administration only granted TPS to Haitians after January’s quake. To provide applicants with the names of free or low-cost lawyers or Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) accredited representatives near them and to answer other questions, the New York Immigration Coalition has set up the New York State Immigration Hotline. Within New York State the number is 1-800-566-7636, and from outside New York State, 1-212- 419-3737. All calls are free and confi dential. These efforts are supported by the Fund for New Citizens at the New York Community Trust on the web at www.nycommunitytrust. org.
NYT, After Quake, Haitians With Dreams Look for an Exit
Election
IJDH's report is helpful. I am speculating that if the US and International Community fund an election for Haiti where Preval's unconstitutional CEP's decision to exclude the most popular party in Haiti the Lavalas is upheld, then the US and International Community are the ones calling the shots and either making or helping Preval uphold the exclusion of the Lavalas party. If the US and International Community refuse to fund the corrupt election Preval is planning and refuse to recognize the results, then it is Preval making the decision to uphold the exclusion of the Lavalas and other political parties.
This answers many questions about the election. Must Read: IJDH Releases Report Calling for "fair, inclusive and constitutional elections" in Haiti
IJDH is shap ing the dia log around elec tions in Haiti with a new com pre hen sive report that ana lyzes con sti tu tional pro vi sions in depth and breaks the myths around elec tion mechan ics. The report dis cusses the impor tance of "fair, inclu sive and con sti tu tional elec tions" in Haiti, and ana lyzes the main obsta cles to achiev ing this goal.
CARICOM SUMMIT: Transparent elections needed for Haiti
Collection of Articles 6 months after quake
MUST READ Mark Schuller, Huffington Post, Sowing Seeds of Hope or Seeds of Dependence?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
this next link is definitely not for the squeamish. good video but very disturbing images, though i suspect realistic.
Haiti survivor, Wilson Octaveus: 'This is my wife's head. It has been eaten by dogs.' He lost his wife, three of his 12 children and his house. Now in a leaky shack and growing a little food, he tries to look after his remaining family
In Haiti, the Displaced Are Left Clinging to the Edge" (NYT): Only 28,000 of the 1.5 million Haitians displaced by the earthquake have moved into new homes, and the Port-au-Prince area remains a tableau of life in the ruins.
We have abandoned the Haitians (Guardian.co.uk): Haiti must stand as proof of the possibility of true humanitarian intervention. The earthquake that devastated the country was a natural disaster. To ignore the suffering in its aftermath is a crime.
6 Months Later, "Lack of Progress is Not for Lack of Funding":
Two of the largest benefactors of the $1.3 billion are the Red Cross and Catholic Relief Services. A CBS News investigation two months ago found both organizations had spent less than 25 percent of the donations received for Haiti relief. Two months later, little has changed. According to the American Red Cross, they have "raised approximately $468 million for the Haiti relief and recovery efforts, spending nearly a third of the money - $148.5million – in the first six months." Meanwhile, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reports that Catholic Relief Services "has used only $30.6-million of the $140.8-million, or 22 percent, of the money it raised."
BBC, Audio slideshow: Living in the rubble
Half a year after an earthquake, Haiti has a long way to go
All of the following articles I find mostly propaganda,
According to VOA our response has been great??? VOA, U.S. Response To Haiti Earthquake
The corporate shill that ABC is it is recommending people donate to the worst charities Clinton Bush Fund, Red Cross etc.... Not surprising but still infuriating.
ABC,Haiti Earthquake Six Months Later: Where and How to Donate
NPR, Haiti, Six Months Since The Earthquake
Aid
MUST READ Mark Schuller, Huffington Post, Sowing Seeds of Hope or Seeds of Dependence?
CARICOM Calls for Direct Support to Haitian Government:
Venezuela Leads World in Aid to Haiti
CNN, Haiti health care improving, still dicey
Haiti earthquake: ABC, CNN, BBC America plan updates
NYT, OP-ED CONTRIBUTORS, Haiti’s Eternal Weight:
Other news and information: |
Thursday is Haiti diary book day. Here is the Book List
:We are cutting back the diary to 3 days a week but diaries will have new information in them. If you are interested in posting a dairy please leave comment.
UPCOMING DIARIES
Monday: Aji
Thursday: Book day - allie123
Saturday: RunawayRose
If you would like to volunteer to contribute a diary to continue this series, please volunteer in the comments below. Norbrook has created a Google documents file with the source code for the first version of the diary with the NGO list. allie123 created a Google doc for the new series Justice, Not Charity. However, because we are cutting back to 2 or 3 diaries a week we will be adding a focus and new information to each diary now.
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The icons and March 13 formatting revision of this diary series are courtesy of the html artist known on Daily Kos as Pluto. The "Help Haiti" image at the top of the diary that has become the "logo" of this series is courtesy of AuntKat. Big thank you to swampus for maintaining the google doc for months.