This is the 114th diary on the earthquake disaster in Haiti. The first diary was by Dallasdoc and previous diaries are linked below. The idea is to keep resources visible and easily available for those wishing help. ShelterBox diary is close to box #132 let's help them get it.
Join us in the comments for today's news roundup and more. Be sure to also see diaries by Bev Bell for informed ground-level information on Haiti's needs. Action alerts and links below the fold.
Today I will focus on a personal story and then on two organizations that I donated to today.
Generic Diary, here.
Special focus today on Haiti Emergency Relief Fund and Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti.. Both of these organizations are listed in our Action Alerts. They both help hold our government and the international community accountable and were both represented at yesterdays day long USF Haiti Teach-in. Especianise Loresca was the most compelling panelist and she is who I quoted in the title of the diary.
First let me acknowledge that I don't write well enough to tell her story with anywhere near the impact that it deserves. I highly recommend that you check the sites listed above, as well as PIH, for events near you. The panels were streamed live online, but I have not found video yet. Also I took notes while she was talking but probably got some details wrong.
Laresca is currently a nursing student and and an activist for the poor in Haiti and here. She came here on a boat when she was 13 years old. She is quite an impressive young women but did not come there to speak about herself. She came to tell us about her sister who was left in Haiti.
Her sister, Tiona, lived with her father, mother and 7 siblings. One day when her sister was 10 years old she was helping her father while he was fixing the roof. She saw her father fall in and hurt himself. He injured his spinal cord. He was too poor to get help. He died 3 days later.
Tiona's mother had no job, no home and 7 children to take care of and was now alone. She sent Tiona and one of her brothers to live with other people.
Tiona was sent to her Godmothers. Tiona was 10 when she became a Restaveks slave. She cooked and cleaned for the family. She went to the market to feed 20+ old young men.
One time she never came back from the market. Her Godmother called her mom and her mom went looking for her. But she could not find her. Tiona was sleeping in the street, eating garbage and trying to make it the best a 10 year old can, living alone in the streets, when a kind merchant found her.
This merchant was a kind and generous woman. She took Tiona in fed her and gave her a place to stay. But the merchant wasn't rich and had children of her own to care for, so she had to tell Tiona to leave.
Tiona went back to the streets and got older. She got old enough to get work as a servant.
Tiona was 22 years old when she found her mother. By then Tiona had met a man and had two children with him. They were living with his family when Tiona found her mom. Before Tiona found her mom the family she lived with were mean to her because she didn't have a family.
Once Tiona found her family and especially when they found out that she has a sister in the US, the family was much nicer to her and her children's father married her.
on January 12, 2010 her sister's husband, Enell, did not come home. So they went looking for him. They found him and heard him in the rubble. People were trying to get him out. Her sister sat out crying for two days while people tried to dig him out. On Thursday they got him out. They took him to a clinic but there was no Doctor or anything. They did give him an IV (don't know what was in it) and sent him home. Once they were home Enell just lay around, he could not help out. They were glad he was home. He died on Sunday.
A child born in Haiti with the likelihood of having a good life is slim. Tiona however, has not given up. She is now 31 years old and her and her 3 children, she had another child, put on their uniforms and went to school.
The earthquake didn't kill Enell. The earthquake didn't kill her father or her three brothers. The system did.
As Loresca told the story she was quite composed until the end. When she started talking about Enell and the system that is responsible for his death tears began to roll down her face. She said that the tears are not part of it- she said tears are not part of the story. I think her tears are the story and the story of so many.
On March 10, 2010 at a Senate hearing on Global Health Clinton apologized for his rice policies. Clinton said that he caused Haiti's food dependence. . He also said that the HOPE legislation is flawed. He did not say how, exactly. He did say that the textile trade policy should be expanded.
Miami Harald:
Clinton acknowledged that some of the U.S. legislation he and Bush signed while in office exacerbated Haiti's woes, and he promised to urge Congress to make changes.
Clinton cited the U.S. Congress-approved HOPE II as one piece of legislation in need of revision. As it is, the act -- which gives local garment manufacturers duty-free access to the U.S. market -- has already created 11,000 jobs. Revisions would bring even more.
``I think we can create 100,000 jobs in short order,'' Clinton said.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/...
I don't understand why no one asks Clinton how he can admit that the rice policy caused Haiti's food dependency and not see that our textile trade "agreement" causes sweatshops and perpetuates Haiti's poverty. One of the deals that Clinton Forced Aristide to accept was called the Paris Plan, 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.
So my question to Clinton that will never be asked is if he tells the children in his photo ops that if they work really hard, go to school, get good grades, help others that maybe, just maybe when they grow up they will be able to work at a factory for 12 hours a day, with no safety regulations, no labor regulations, for 2 dollars a day, congratulations. Let me make it clear I don't know enough to know what the policy for Haiti should be. I do know enough to know that Haiti is quite capable of making its own plan. Actually, we know who Haitian's vote for, we know that Haitian's want Aristide to be president and if we don't use aid, propaganda and military force to make Aristide except policies that help us, like Clinton said, his rice policy may have helped farmers in Arkansas but it did not help Haitians, we have a good idea of what kind of government Haitians want. We just don't like seeing poor people being represented by their government. According to Bev Bell and Steven Stoll, Published in Harper’s Magazine Haitian's may want a totally different kid of economy.
So If I had to choose a second most compelling speaker it would be Pierre Labossiere from HERF, which I donated $25 to today and hope you all do the same. He spoke with passion and said some important things.
- The #1 thing Haitian's want is to bring Aristide back!
- He said that the Clinton/Bush Charity Fund is a huge insult to Haitian's. ( I have renamed the fund the Clinton/Bush Redemption Fund, maybe I will start a petition?)
- His organization works with grassroots organizations and is a good one to donate too. They also work on holding the US and International community accountable for promises made and policies forced on Haiti.
This is from the bio USF provided:
PIERRE LABOSSIERE: Bio: Labossiere is a Haitian-born activist and cofounder of the Haiti Action Committee. In addition, he serves on the board of the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund. He has long been involved in campaigns to free political prisoners in Haiti.
Walter Riley is the chair of the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund and he emphasized learning Haitian history and what the US, France,and Canada have done to exploit Haiti. He also strongly asked that we help the Lavalas Party with its campaign for democratic elections. I very nervously asked him 2 questions. First question, because propaganda has played such a huge role in the exploitation of Haiti where can we get the truth what are some good sources?
This was a bit funny because Doug Sovern kcbs reporter was on the panel. So when Walter Riley responded of course he had to say we have a source Dough Sovern here. I will get to Doug Sovern later. Mr. Riley basically said to do what we are doing. Check the internet and check HERF website which I donated to and we have a link to them in our action alert.
Second question was how exactly,specifically can we help the Lavalas Part with its campaign? His answer was the same as his answer for the 1st question. However the one person there I was to nervous to talk to Brian Concannon from Institute from Justice and Democracy in Haiti which I donated $25 to today and hope you all do the same was in the next panel and responded to my question. He said to check there action alerts for what we can do to help (which I hope you guys do, since me and swampus put a lot of work into making our action alert and most actions just require a couple clicks or a phone call). And I found out that they will have a new action alert next week.
I have to say that I am still not sure how to help the Lavalas Party with its Democracy campaign other than donating to IJDH and HERF. These organizations are as important as PIH because they support grassroots organizations in Haiti and they raise awareness about Haiti and focus on the US, France's Canada's and the International communities policies. As a matter of fact IJHD is partnered with PIH. The international Donor's meeting pledged 11.5 billion dollars to Haiti. But pledging and following through are two different things. Haiti has received less than 1/3 or money pledged by the International community to help after the 2008 hurricanes. So it important that we pay close attention to US policy and what is happening with the aid.
I want to make clear that I am totally just learning about Haiti but can't help but to fall in love with it. My approach is different from some others and I think it may drive some people away.
I felt like if I was going to post this diary for the longterm and continue to raise or try to raise money for Haiti it felt like it would be disrespectful not to learn about the place.
I did the Action alert part, with Swampus, becauese I have never been to Haiti,I have no idea what is best for Haiti. I feel like the best thing I can do besides donating and raising money to get cash and equipment over to Haiti, is fight like hell to stop my gov and the IBD, IMF, France Canda... but especially my Gov from exploiting Haiti. The sole purpose of neo liberal policies is to make us rich and exploit other countries. Clinton is still saying that cheap labor is what Haiti has to offer (that pisses me off, Imagine dropping your child off at school and telling them one day they may be able o work 12 hours with no safety requirements for $2 a day). I know it is a losing battle but at least I can say I tried. If that makes sense. So this diary when i post it (and usually the comment section) is an open thread for news, information and discussion about Haiti. I really like it when people that are from Haiti, have been there or just know a bunch about it offer input. Because I try to be careful and end my sentences in I think.
Now to Doug Sovern from KCBS I will be blunt because I am not articulate enough not to be. Our media is failing us. Compare thisCBS report to this article in the Guatemala Times by a COHA Research assistant..
So Mr. Sovern's report was more media coverage by someone who hasn't read any books on Haiti. I mean if I feel that I have to learn about Haiti in order to help raise money for it, wouldn't you think that someone being paid to report on it would put the news he reports in historical context.
He said that Haitian people told him that they wanted Clinton to lead the recovery effort. Now I don't know who he was talking with but I wonder if it occurred to him that they may be just saying that to him becasue he is an American or did he ask who they would prefer Clinton or Aristide? He is better than average US reporters and that is largely the problem. It was good of him to be on the panel and I commend him for at least showing up. It is not enough to walk in on the middle of a movie and then start reporting on it as if you know what you are talking about without bothering to see the beginning.
Action Alerts: (For a more detailed version, click here.)
Aid
Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti has a petition, We Can Do Better for Haiti: Demand Transparency and Improved Aid Distribution:
As a donor and a taxpayer, I am insisting that the governments and NGOs entrusted with the world’s generosity respond more efficiently and effectively to Haiti’s earthquake. This means:
- better coordination among aid donors and providers;
- allowing more participation of earthquake victims in the planning and implementation of earthquake response projects; and
- more transparency about where and how Haiti earthquake funds are spent.
transAfrica forum has an Emergency Relief Petition for Haiti.
They also urge us to contact the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and demand accountability and efficient aid delivery.
Additional Action Alerts:
TransAfrica Forum
Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti
Stand up and be counted (Partners in Health)
HAITI ACTION COMMITTEE ACTION ALERT
Update March 11: allie123 has finished a detailed list of contact information for the committees, subcommittees, offices, and office holders who have influence over these policies. She has made the source code for this list available here.
UPCOMING DIARIES
Tuesday: allie123
Wednesday: allie123
Thursday: ***open***
Friday: ***open***
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 our usual introduction and the list of charities the community has developed. Doing one of these diaries, thanks to Norbrook, is not nearly as demanding as it was early in the series. Also, updates need to be made far less frequently. You don't need to set aside huge chunks of time for it and it's easy to multi-task if you have other things to do, as long as you're able to check the comments every 30 minutes or so.
**There is also a backup to the original google doc. See this comment for more details.
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.