Cholera, Floods, hurricanes, and nowhere to go. It is the system that is killing Haitians and if enough of us speak out it can change.
The earthquake didn't kill them, the hurricane didn't kill them either, neither did cholera the system killed them and until we speak out loudly enough and change US policy the system will continue to kill them.
I am not religious but I am Praying for Haiti
tout moun se moun
(every human being is a human being)
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Slide Show Hurricane Tomas Floods Leogane
Weather Maps
Hurricane Tomas kills seven in Haiti The number continues to rise.
Reflection: As Tomas’ Rains Fall
But each time the rain falls, I still struggle to turn my mind away from Port-au-Prince’s internally displaced people, especially the hundreds of families living on the street outside my apartment in makeshift tents pulled together from tarp, scrap metal and sheets. For so many of Haiti’s IDPs, rain means no sleep. It means standing up through out the night. It means that the water will transform the floors of their homes into a muddy mess that seeps through their belongings and soaks their beds.
1.3 million people, or over a third of the city’s population, have been living in these conditions for 10 months. On a normal day, it’s criminal. But as Haiti awaits the landfall of Hurricane Tomas, the inevitable and plain vulnerability of the country’s IDP communities makes me want to scream.
Please read the entire article
What ever damage Hurricane Tomas leaves will be a result of the combination of the international community’s failure to deliver the billions of dollars in aid that was supposed to rebuild Haiti and provide secure shelter for the victims of the January earthquake, and the failure of the Haitian government to take a leadership role in the rebuilding process, and to mobilize reasonable measures to protect Haiti’s IDP communities. To date, only 20 percent of the aid pledged to Haiti has actually materialized. And while the U.S. State Department deliberates the release of the 1.15 billion dollars it promised, calamities like cholera and tropical storms that are both predictable and preventable in nature will continue to ravage Haiti’s vulnerable communities.
Updated video: 11-6
Haiti quake survivors face Hurricane Tomas aftermath
Panic grips Haiti refugee camps as million people are told to evacuate before tropical storm strikes
Quake victims told to leave low-lying areas with Tomas due to hit tomorrow
Health workers fear cholera epidemic will worsen dramatically
More than one million people have been advised to leave earthquake homeless camps in Haiti's rubble-choked capital as disaster officials watched the approach of Tropical Storm Tomas.
But few of the earthquake survivors, who have spent nearly 10 months alternately baking and soaking under plastic tarps and tents, have anywhere to go.
Pictures of the flooding here
Hurricane Shelter for Earthquake Survivors
Somewhat better than a tent in a floodplain...
At the old abandoned Hospital Michelle Bedette where earthquake survivors from Camp Corail were taken for temporary shelter from Hurricane Tomas.
We Can Do Better Than This
Hurricane Shelter for IDPs living in Camp Corail
Is this the best we can do?
After ten months and hundreds of millions of dollars, the UN and NGOs scrambled to evacuate people from the official relocation camp at Corail into suitable shelter during Hurricane Tomas. Why hadn't they built hurricane shelters already? Where was the plan they had nine months to come up with?
Hurricane Tomas: Anticipated Destruction Will Be a Man-Made, Not Natural Disaster
Media Availability
Hurricane Tomas: Anticipated Destruction Will Be a Man-Made, Not Natural Disaster
Although Tomas’ winds and rain are a natural phenomenon, the extreme damage the hurricane will inflict on Haiti is in large part the result of a decades-long series of policies that have left Haitians excessively vulnerable to environmental stresses. Any serious discussion of the storm’s damage – or the damage from cholera or Haiti’s January 12 earthquake – should examine these policies implemented by the Government of Haiti and the international community, both before and after the earthquake, including:
a) A flawed international response to the earthquake, especially a failure to provide safe housing for the approximately 1.3 million people displaced by the earthquake and living in tent cities, and the failure to deliver promised funds;
b) A failed response by the Haitian government to the earthquake,including a failure to provide safe areas for emergency and transitional housing after the earthquake or effectively implement projects responding to the four hurricanes that struck Haiti in 2008; and
c) International aid, trade, debt and governance policies that have made Haiti dependent on foreign food and materials, forced Haitian farmers off their land and into the low-lying cities, encouraged the deforestation of Haiti’s hillsides and limited the Haitian government’s ability to provide basic services to its citizens, including healthcare, housing and sanitation services.
Contacts
“THE FREE MAN WILL NEVER BE BROKEN”
In 1804 the Haitian slaves defeated the army of Napoleon making Haiti the first and only nation founded by a slave revolution. At the time of the revolution, 70 percent of the slaves had been born free men and women in Africa. This victory resulted in Haiti being feared by the world’s powerful countries and thus politically marginalized or dominated for the next 200 years. Symbolizing this epic struggle, Neg Mawon stands, shackles broken, machete in hand, defiant and unafraid. He blows a conch to call others to freedom.
Joia found herself weeping in front of the statue when a Haitian woman—a survivor who until that moment was a stranger—approached her. She too was crying and as she put her arms around Joia, she said “Neg mawon pap jamn kraze.” The free man will never be broken.
Back in the United States, Joia is frequently asked about how Haiti can rebuild in the face of this tragedy. Her response is an optimistic one. “Haiti’s strength is her people,” she says with confidence. Insisting that if foreign aid can invest in the public sector--particularly health and education-- and communities are actively engaged in the process, Haiti can be built back better. The woman in front of the statue is not far from Joia’s thoughts as she says “The indomitable spirit of the Haitian people is Haiti’s greatest resource, and it is a spirit that is present in abundance.” Neg Mawon, the free man, will always stand for Haiti. We will always stand with Haiti.
NGOs that work hard and make a difference but they need support. Too much money is going to large ineffective 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." |
Haiti Emergency Relief Foundation (HERF):
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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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:
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Piti, piti, zwazo fe nich li
(Little by little the bird builds its nest)
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Let the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (CIRH) know how they are doing. but please read this first.
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
Call the President, Secretary of State, Congress, Senate and anywhere else that will listen. Demand they release the aid money NOW and urge them to allow Haitian grassroots groups a say in the recovery.
White House: 202-456-1111
Email at www.whitehouse.gov
US State Department: 202-647-4000
Congressional switchboard: 202-224-3121
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We can and must do better. There is an undeniable message here: if you are black and poor you are not human. This is shameful. Thank you Daily Kos for not abandoning Haiti.