This is the 181th 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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&searchphrThis 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.
Please take a couple of minutes to see/complete (takes 5 minutes) today's action alert and see today's topic directly below action alert. Join us 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.
UPDATE: Can any of you anti - Aristide people answer my question? No one has yet. I am interested if you have information that proves your opinions. There is plenty of verification that the the US led by people like Jesse Helms spent millions on smearing him. Where are you getting your facts, not opinion from?
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Haiti (0+ / 0-)
I am quite familiar with Haiti, having lived much of my life in a country next door (The Bahamas) which has had to pay a high cost for failures in Haiti. I have an extremely low opinion of Aristide, btw - not that he was as bad as Baby Doc or anything, but he wasn't all that much better. Like so many well-meaning people who get into office, he was more concerned with extending his own power than actually getting things done for the people who elected him.
by greatdarkspot on Mon Jul 26, 2010 at 08:07:37 AM PDT
[ Parent | Reply to This | RecommendHide ]
I have asked a number of people (1+ / 0-)
this and haven't recieved an answer. What sources do you base your position on Aristide? For example there are documents as well as CIA agents that show how propaganda was used so that people would believe Aristide is corrupt and a murderer etc.... Do you have sources that show Aristide is what you claim?
The Puzzling Alliance of Chavannes Jean-Baptiste and Charles Henri Baker
When I started learning about Haiti I had no opinion on Aristide or Haiti really. So it is evidence that convinced me that Aristide is decent. He was inexperienced and made some mistakes but he is a decent person and he was overthrown and smeared because he cares about poor people.
I have asked for evidence not opinions and claims from former supporters but documented information that shows he is corrupt or whatever else you believe him to be?
I appreciate you responding and I would like to learn more about where you are from also.
Stand With Haiti
by allie123 on Mon Jul 26, 2010 at
TODAY'S TOPIC: |
Sen Lugar trusts Halliburton to rebuild Haiti more than the Haitian government
VULTURE CAPITALISM:
Bel dan pa di zanmi
(Just becasue someone is smiling at you doesn't mean they're your friend)
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Damming The flood (PG. 54)
The austerity program that in the summer of 1994 Aristide was obliged to accept in exchange for an end to military rule and FRAPH intimidation was designed, in the words of one of the main authors of that program, to redistribute some wealth from the poor to the rich.
This diary addresses why I’m tired of hearing that the Haitian government is too corrupt for the US to give aid directly to it. There are many reasons this argument doesn’t work for me such as:— the contracts are going to corrupt companies like Halliburton; the Haitian Recovery Commission is part of the US's conscious corruption to destabilize and exploit Haiti; and all governments have corrupt aspects, so it strikes me as odd, yet typical, that Haiti’s corrupt government is singled out. US - Haiti Policy is deliberately and inherently corrupt.
Haiti needs a functioning government, a government needs money to function, and the NGOs are getting more aid then the Haitian government is receiving. The US stopped giving aid directly to Haiti when Haiti elected its first Democratically elected President because he, President Aristide, represented poor people. When Haiti was led by ruthless, murderous dictators, the US gave aid directly to the Haitian government, because they were enacting US neoliberal policies. When Aristide was elected, suddenly the government became too corrupt to give aid directly to. Instead the US used aid as leverage. Many Haitians starved to death while the US withheld aid.
I am tired of reading articles about how corrupt the Haitian government is with no mention of the part the US has been playing in this. It makes me mad to hear how the US has consistently and deliberately forced Haiti to enact neoliberal policies to destroy Haiti's farm economy, thereby, forcing Haitian's to take jobs in the assembly industry. This made it easier for US and International Corporations to exploit the workers. It also opened up Haiti's agriculture marked for US companies like the American Rice Corporation. The news continues to inform us how corrupt Haiti is without informing us about the corruption of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC). We don't hear about how shameful US - Haiti policy is.
Which is worse, corruption (and what government isn't corrupt?) or intentional sabotage of Haiti's economy to make the country and its people easier to exploit? Why is it “better” that the US is giving contracts to Halliburton and similar Corporations! Because they can always say, of course, the Haitian government is too corrupt. Now we can all rest assured that our money will be well spent.
Konstitisyon se papie, bayonet se fe
(The constitution is paper, bayonets are steel)
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Travesty in Haiti (pg. 107)
As it turns out, CARE had become involved in what was a very deliberate undermining of the Haitian peasant economy, the cornerstone of a plan that the World Bank and USAID had designed.
Haiti Relief Aid Comes with Sovereignty Setback Attached
A June report on Haiti by the U.S. Senate Committee on For eign Relations high lighted the IHRC’s potential in a country where reconstruction has largely stalled, due in part to a lack of visible government leadership. The findings could result in the diversion of the U.S. government’s pending contribution of $2 billion — slated for imminent approval and allocation over the next two years — away from the Haitian government “that is way beyond capacity,” a committee official said in a phone interview.
“We need to figure out who is best in place to handle this money, and be less concerned about if it is the government or not who can get this work done,” the official continued. “The problem is that there is a lot of corruption and accountability that has yet to be resolved. We want to empower the government and also spend the money in an effective way, but the Hait ian government has been very weak traditionally and we are seeing that manifested today.”
clip
In a New York Times op-edthat appeared on the six-month anniver sary of the earth quake, Clinton and Bellerive wrote that the Haitian government has “done everything it’s been asked to do by international donors to inspire confidence, maintain transparency and ensure that not one single cent is lost to corruption.”
WSJ, U.S. Senator Warns Aid to Haiti Is at Risk:
The government has failed to make basic reforms such as ensuring transparent elections and reducing barriers for private investment, according to the report "Without Reform, No Return on Investment in Haiti," by Sen. Richard Lugar (R., Ind.), who criticized Haitian President Rene Préval's leadership during the crisis.
"President Préval's actions do not suggest a departure from the self-destructive political behavior that has kept Haiti the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere," the report said. "If reforms ... do not occur, American taxpayer investments in Haiti, beyond essential humanitarian aid, should be reassessed."
Senator Lugar is somewhat correct about the elections. Preval still refuses to allow Haiti's most popular Party, the Lavalas, to participate in the election. However it is one thing to withhold funds designated for Haiti's election, it is quite different to withhold humanitarian aid because of this. (And I hardly think that Lugar is concerned about the Lavalas being excluded. It probably has something to do with whichever candidate the US is backing.
Whether Haiti's government is corrupt or not, Haiti cannot rebuild better without a functioning government. Haiti, as it is, is a Republican’s dream. Everything is privatized and workers have no rights. (I really can not stand Republicans.)
The real reasons that the US (Senator Lugar) want to withhold aid is to force Preval to enact neoliberal policies. Preval has already followed the US's orders by vetoing a minimum wage increase to $5 a day. Instead he "agreed" with Bill Clinton that Haitians only need $3 a day. Preval privatized Haiti's phone company.
Damming The Flood (pg. 54)
The austerity program that in the summer of 1994 Aristide was obliged to accept in exchange for an end to military rule and FRAPH intimidation was designed, in the words of one of the main authors of that program, to redistribute some wealth from the poor to the rich.
Damming The Flood (pg. 56)
It is undeniable true that the 1994 Paris Plan forced Aristide to make some very painful decisions. In exchange for some $770 million in promised aid and loans, the list of concessions appears calamitous: tariffs were to be "drastically" reduced, wages frozen, around half the civil service to be laid off, and all nine of Haiti's remaining public utilities (telephone, electricity, port, airport, cement, flour, a cooking oil plant and two state banks) were to be sold off.
The Uses of Haiti (pg. 97)
Apparently, the 1971 transition from Duvalier Senior to Duvalier Junior... was part of a deal worked out between Francois Duvalier and Nixon administration during Vice President Nelson Rockefeller's trip there in 1970. The United States would support continuation of the Duvalier dynasty, and Jean- Claude, when he came to power, would support a new economic program guided by the United States, a program featuring private investments from the Untied States that would be drawn to Haiti by such incentives as no customs taxes, a minimum wage kept very low, the suppression of labor unions, and the right of American companies to repatriate their profits.
Who is on the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (CIRH) say what the words are and then give the initials? There are 13 foreigners and 13 Haitians. The foreigners largely represent IFIs. The Haitians are from the elite. Writer Herbert Gold calls the elite the "morally repugnant elite," MRE. The name, MRE, has stuck because it is accurate. The elite have conspired with the US and the International community to oppress poor people, which make up the vast majority of Haiti's population.
Luckily Kim Ives is covering this (Must Read: Kim Ives, Land Ownership at the Crux of Haiti's Stalled Reconstruction) because, while I knew the Haitians would be members from Haiti's elite, I did not think they would be notorious. The Commission is led by Bill Clinton and Haiti's Premier Ministre, Max Bellerive. When Clinton does press conferences about working with Haitians to rebuild Haiti the following are two of the Haitians he is talking about. The first one is Dr. Réginald Boulos (Secteur des Affaires) who backed both the 1991 coup and the 2004 coup. The second is Garry Lissade, the former lawyer for Cedras during the 1993 Governor's Island post-coup negotiations.
Where's the money for Haiti gone?
Two of the biggest contributions – £754million from the US and £866million from Venezuela – have been held up by delays in Congress and political red tape. Meanwhile, out of the £714million raised by US charities, an incredible £468million still has not arrived.
Of the £130million promised by Britain, only a third has so far been sent, although the UK’s Disasters Emergency Committee insist the rest of the money has been earmarked for long-term projects.
Ian Bray of Oxfam said nations are sitting on their money until the Haiti government explains how they will spend it.
He said: “It is a catch-22 situation. Countries have promised money but the Haiti government hasn’t provided a blueprint for reconstruction. Therefore countries are reluctant to hand money over until that happens.”
And the speed at which the Haiti commission is working is causing alarm. Despite being formed in March the body – led by ex-US president Bill Clinton and Haiti Prime Minister Jean Max Bellerive – only met for the first time last month.
According to Clinton, the CIRH did develop a website for transparency. To show how transparent they are I copied the page they have under transparency:
Transparency
We will be held accountable for the fulfillment of the commitments by the improvement they bring to the lives of Haitians. We are committed to monitoring assistance and documenting how our support helps achieve Haiti’s goals.
More information coming soon.
I can't help but feel a sense of shame, a bit of anger and urgency to act as I begin to learn about US policy toward Haiti. The US corporate media is excellent at repeating whatever "Officials" tell them. Most things are complicated, and my writing is not good enough to express all the nuances. But there are things that are simple. There is no grey area around whether we should have funded death squads in order to remove Haiti's first democratically elected President so that he could not raise the minimum wage, expand access to education, and treat poor people as human beings. There is no middle ground about our policy of demanding Haiti implement neoliberal policies so that in the words of one of the authors of the austerity money can be redistributed from the poor to the rich.
Jeremy Scahill on Democracy Now! responds to Clinton being appointed as UN envoy to Haiti. Must See!
VULTURE CAPITALISM:
tout moun se moun —
(every human being is a human being)
President Aristide |
Action Alert: |
Let the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC) know how they are doing. but read this first please.
Contact Us
We want to hear from you.
If you have general questions or comments, please email us at: info@cirh.ht
For press inquiries please contact: press@cirh.ht
Phone number: (509) 25 19 31 31
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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Thursday is Haiti diary book day: Book List : |
This is our book list so far:
Jean-Bertrand Aristide: In the Parish of the Poor;
Eyes of the Heart
Beverly Bell: Walking on Fire
Edwidge Danticat: Brother, I'm Dying;
The Farming of Bones;
Krik? Krak!;
Breath, Eyes, Memory
Paul Farmer: The Uses of Haiti;
Partner To The Poor: A Paul Farmer Reader;
Getting Haiti Right This Time: The U.S. and the Coup
Peter Hallward: Damming The Flood (2010 updated edition will be out soon. You can
pre-order it now. h/ty NY brit expat published date is 9/6/10)
C.L.R. James: The Black Jacobins, (h/t Deoliver47)
Tracy Kidder: Mountains Beyond Mountains
Maurice Lemoine: Bitter Sugar: Slaves Today in the Caribbean [1985]
Paule Marshall: The Chosen Place, The Timeless People
Timothy T. Schwartz: Travesty in Haiti
Amy Wilentz: The Rainy Season - Haiti after Duvalier
PIH has a new website. They have
recommended reading,
a book list, links to websites with action alerts, and articles.,
videos:
Aristide and the Endless Revolution; Life and Debt; The Agronomist and Poto Mitan.
Any suggestions? We are looking for books, articles, websites where we can get accurate information about Haiti. Please share any information.
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"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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SOURCES WE LIKE: |
Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA),
Canada Action Network
Center For Economic and Policy Research,
Common Dreams.org,
Democracy Now!,
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.
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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,
Immigration,
Vulture Capitalism: (will add more articles).
VIDEO: |
Brian Concannon and Paul Farmer Video, Change Haiti Can Believe In: here,
Watch: Haiti Dreaming for More Than $3 a day,
Life and Debt,
Watch 60 minutes: Edwidge Danticat on US immigration detentions,
Jeremy Scahill on Democracy Now! responds to Clinton being appointed as UN envoy to Haiti. Must See!.
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AID - CHANGE?
AlterNet, Haiti and The Broken Promises,
Must Read, IJDH, Challenges Facing Haiti’s Justice Sector: Prepared for Congressional Briefing,
Must Read: Kim Ives, Land Ownership at the Crux of Haiti's Stalled Reconstruction.
Kim Ives talks about it with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now!, here,
They say this web site is for transparency. I doubt it. What do you all think? Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, Clinton & Bellerive co-chairs, 26 members 13 foreigners and 13 of Haiti's elite business people. One of which Reginald Boulos was a backer of both coups. Another memberGarry Lissade, the former lawyer for Cedras during the 1993 Governor's Island post-coup negotiations.
MUST READ Mark Schuller, Huffington Post, Sowing Seeds of Hope or Seeds of Dependence?,
Haiti’s Future: Repeating Disasters,
Tectonic Shifts? The upcoming donors' conference for 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,
More Articles, here..
Humanitarian Aid, New Colonialism?. |
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News Update: |
TOP STORY:
All you journalists here is some good advise -
A guide for American journalists: How to report on Haiti when you visit again six months from now
Today, Cite Soleil is the most dangerous slum in the world. There is no need to back up this claim with evidence. It is 'sprawling.' Again, there's no time for the thesaurus. Talk about ruthless gangs, bullet holes, pigs and trash. Filth everywhere. Desperate people are eating cookies made of dirt and mud! That always grabs the reader's attention.
Washington Post Editorial, U.S.-sponsored conference pledged billions to rebuild Haiti, but little paid out
Democracy Now!, IMF Cancels Haiti’s Debt But Gives Haiti a New Loan
Debt relief activists are praising the International Monetary Fund’s decision to cancel Haiti’s $268 million debt to the institution, but at the same time groups including Jubilee USA have criticized the IMF for continuing to give Haiti loans instead of outright grants. Earlier this week, the IMF gave Haiti a $60 million loan to help fund post-earthquake reconstruction efforts. Eric LeCompte of Jubilee USA said, "The role of the IMF in Haiti has been long criticized, and this new loan could set Haiti on the wrong path toward a new cycle of debt."
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.
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." |
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.
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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.
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Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti:
Mission
We strive to work with the people of Haiti in their non-violent struggle for the consolidation of constitutional democracy, jus tice and human rights, by distributing objective and accurate information on human rights conditions in Haiti, pursuing legal cases, and cooperating with human rights and solidarity groups in Haiti and abroad.
IJDH draws on its founders’ internationally-acclaimed success accompanying Haiti’s poor majority in the fields of law, medicine and social justice activism. We seek the restoration of the rule of law and democracy in the short term, and work for the long-term sustainable change necessary to avert Haiti’s next crisis.
"IJDH is simply the most reliable source for information and analysis on human rights in Haiti." — Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) |
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".
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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.
PIH 6 month report! And website with slide show, Six months have now passed since a devastating earthquake ripped through Haiti.
Every day since January 12, 2010, Partners In Health (PIH) and our sister organization Zanmi Lasante (ZL) have been working to help Haiti's people build their lives and their country back better.
Although not yet fully funded, the Stand With Haiti Fund we established in March has provided PIH and ZL with the resources and the strategic vision to begin the process of building back better in Haiti through a combination of: strengthened clinical services at our existing health centers and hospitals as well as in new facilities; expanded social and economic support programs for the most vulnerable patients and community members where we work; and investments in long-term, strategic revitalization of the public health and medical education systems.
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Reiser Relief, a group that parryander works with
Matching Funds
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). |
ShelterBox: carolina stargazer is still watching the store. The next ShelterBox diary is now posted twice a week but activity in
the diary is monitored throughout the week. |
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: |
New Media Advocacy Project
The New Media Advocacy Project combats poverty and human rights violations by using digital video, Internet social networking, and interactive media to strengthen social justice legal advocacy in courts, legislatures, and communities.
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Past diaries in this series: |
Deadly Force, Deadly Fears: How Many More Oscar Grants? this is not a diary about Haiti. But it does shine a light on racist policies affect on communities.
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.
ShelterBox: carolina stargazer is still watching the store. The next ShelterBox diary is now posted twice a week but activity in
the diary is monitored throughout the week.
Other news and information: |
Thursday is Haiti diary book day. Here is the Book List
UPCOMING DIARIES
Tuesday: 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.