"Papa" Helps Haiti's Street Children.
Children and teenagers make up 45 percent of Haiti's population. Many have been traumatized by January's earthquake. Some have lost parents or relatives who were their only means of support. The lucky ones find care and shelter from others. But, many end up on the streets, fending for themselves and adding to Haiti's already sizeable population of street children.
The song is called Kids Carnival, a rap about surviving on the streets. The artists are these street children from Port au Prince.
Each day, about 30 kids - the rappers among them - gather at the home of the man who helped them record it, 32-year-old Jimmy Bonhomme. He's a former street kid himself, and he provides the one meal these kids have each day.
Part of song at this video link with news report on this story.
Our Daily Kos Series for Helping Haiti's Earthquake Survivors continues with this Diary: A list of resources to help are provided in these diaries here.
Storms threaten survivors: Relocation Double Standards
Michelle Obama, Jill Biden visit Haiti with hopes to draw media attention to continuing crisis with rainy/hurricane season approaching
Michelle's tour of Haiti
Life Moving Foward
- Bill Clinton: Haiti elections by end of year.
The former U.S. president said Haiti would need help to stage its presidential election and already-delayed legislative elections as it rebuilds after the January 12 earthquake that killed up to 300,000 people and decimated the country's economy and infrastructure.
Organizing new elections is set to be a major task, but they are crucial to put in place a new parliament that will be legally empowered to spend relief aid. International donors have pledged nearly $10 billion for Haiti's reconstruction.
- Children Return To School In Haiti.
Now, three months after the earthquake, life is beginning to return to normal for many Haitian children and teens, now allowed to return to school. For the school buildings that were destroyed, classes will resume in tents for now, until new classrooms can be built.
- Haiti Debt Relief Bill Authored by Congresswoman Maxine Waters Passes House, Senate.
The House of Representatives today passed legislation authored and introduced by Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) providing debt relief for Haiti. Following its original passage in the House on March 10th, the bill was passed by the Senate, with an amendment, on March 26th and returned to the House for final passage. The Debt Relief for Earthquake Recovery in Haiti Act (H.R. 4573) will now make its way to the White House to be signed into law.
Congresswoman Waters said, "America has stood by the people of Haiti during their hour of need, and the passage of this bill today signifies our intention to ensure that Haiti can rebuild and recover without accumulating more debt."
- Haiti survivors stand strong with new limbs.
Almost three months after doctors amputated Emmanuelle Lundy's left leg just below the knee, she is making birthday plans, posting upbeat status updates on Facebook, and looking forward to dancing at a big concert later this month.
Another thing she's doing: ignoring the stares of others as she learns to walk again with a prosthetic limb.
"If people look at me in a strange way, well, I feel normal, and people are going to have to look at me in a normal way,'' said Lundy, leaning on crutches. "It's my leg, even if I have to take it off to shower.''
MSNBC Video link here
- Into the Trembling Heart: Five hours in Port-au-Prince. (Please click on article link to see many more pictures.)
Coming from Kingston, the scenes of poverty are not entirely alien, and yet, despite its obvious economic disadvantages there’s something distinctly developed about the Haitian people. Amid the piles of broken concrete, trash and flattened buildings, there’s no begging, no wailing, no time for anything but digging upward and outward for the inhabitants of this rebel nation.
... As we walk through a tent city and the remnants of a destroyed church, Zaka tells me about the people he lost and the chance for renewal: "Grand Rue can be a symbol to world," he says with almost bizarre confidence, "a chance to show how the people of Haiti can create good from so much destruction."
- Three architecture professors hope to improve conditions in refugee camps.
Three University of Minnesota architecture professors will travel to Haiti on Friday to assess living conditions in refugee camps and consult on how to help rebuild communities displaced by the January earthquake.
- Utah businessman vows to build American hospital in Haiti.
The full-service, 103-bed hospital will have a women's care unit, a pediatric ward, an area for general, preventive care, a surgical ward and a unit specializing in infectious disease.
Care will mostly be free of charge and delivered at first by volunteer American medical personnel. The goal is to eventually staff it with trained Haitians.