This is the 193rd diary since the earthquake 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.
NOTE: While we don't want people to lose focus on Haiti, there is another humanitarian crisis that also needs our attention now: Pakistan. According to the most recent reports, catastrophic flooding caused by an unusually heavy monsoon season has left more than 1,600 dead, more than 17 million homeless, nearly 14 million with no access to drinking water, and tens of thousands already with cholera and other major infectious diseases. The international community has been unusually slow to commit to aid, and it is even slower in arriving. We ask you to help save lives in Pakistan, as well: Please read and rec up diaries to help keep this story alive; support the new "Help Pakistan" diarists' group by getting involved, visit the sites of the aid groups linked in those diaries; and give if you can - even $5 helps provide a tarp, some rice, or clean drinking water.
Be sure not to miss JDH's Summer Reading list.. Please take a couple of minutes to see/complete (takes 5 minutes) today's action alert directly below today's topic. Join us for today's news discussion and more.
Today's Topic: IHRC Still Moving at Snail's Pace
Three days ago, the Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission [IHRC] issued a press release touting its progress: More than seven months after the quake, the Commission held its second meeting. The first ("largely procedural," "introductory") meeting, of course, didn't come until more than five months after the quake, so presumably this is progress. The Commission, co-chaired by Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive and former U.S. President Bill Clinton, counts a number of international members, as well as Haitians who are exclusively members of Haiti's financial and governmental elite (who names, until recently, were kept entirely from the public). Ostensibly created to help ensure a quick, efficient, and effective reconstruction process for Haiti, the group has been notably slow in accomplishing anything of actual substance.
After this week's meeting, the IHRC announced the following projects:
"* A $94.2 million back-to-school program, partly funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and implemented by the Ministry of Education
"* A $17 million proposal from a consortium of UN agencies that will remove 234,000 m3 of debris in at least six districts in Port-au-Prince and establish a debris recycling system
"* A $15 million project from Partners in Health to build a new medical facility and teaching hospital that will train the next generation of Haitian doctors and health care professionals
"* A fully funded, $200 million agricultural development program that will increase overall farm income in targeted areas and create more than 50,000 sustainable jobs"
Interestingly, it appears that these much-touted projects are not yet funded, so one is left to wonder whether they actually exist in anything other than virtual "proposal" form. Why? Because the [perhaps intentionally?] poorly-drafted press release, when parsed, makes it clear that the monies to fund these projects do not yet exist:
To date, the Commission has received more than $1.6 billion in new project proposals that span across all aspects of Haiti’s recovery and development, from agriculture and education, to water and disaster preparedness. Of this, nearly $1 billion in funding has already been committed and the IHRC expects the additional funds to come from the Haiti Reconstruction Fund (HRF) and a combination of existing and future commitments from the international community. The Commission is actively working with donors to quickly disburse committed funds.
Toward the end of the press release - indeed, almost as an afterthought - the Commission announces that it has finally, "after an exhaustive search," hired an executive director. In other words, all these months, there has been no staff director at the IHRC. The Commission's sense of priority is unfortunately telling.
Oh, and so who is the lucky candidate? One Gabriel Verrett. The same Gabriel Verrett who has been serving as the senior economic advisor to Haiti President René Garcia Preval.
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tout moun se moun —
(every human being is a human being)
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Action Alert: |
Action Alert: Election:
The International Community Should Support Prompt and Fair
Elections in Haiti. Fanmi Lavalas has the support of the largest percentage of the Haitian electorate and elections that forbid their presence is essentially undemocratic and disenfranchising the choice of the vast majority of Haitians. The US and International Community should not fund illegitimate elections.
It is like the Democratic Party being excluded from our upcoming midterm elections.
To stand in solidarity with Haiti at this crucial time, please contact US government officials, your local senators, and representatives and tell them not to fund illegitimate elections that Lavalas must be allowed to
participate in free, democratic elections. The US should withhold aid for the elections unless the ban is lifted. The ban on Lavalas in the upcoming elections must be revoked.
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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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 Damming The Flood, (pg. xxxiv)
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Top Story: See comments for Today's News Update: |
TOP STORY:
Roger Annis, Letter to CBC Vancouver, August 18, 2010, here.
To give an example, Haiti is headed towards a flawed presidential national election on November 28 in which its largest and most representative political party, the Fanmi Lavalas of deposed president Jean-Bertrand Aristide has been banned by the unconstitutional electoral authority. Nowhere is this news reported in Canada. How can Haiti rebuild without a representative and effective president and national government? What is the purpose of holding a national election if it will only increase division and tension within the country, not to speak of deepening class conflict? Why are Canada and other big powers in Haiti supporting such a flawed process?
Your programs have focused its too infrequent reporting on Haiti by talking to agencies that have a vested interest in promoting their charitable models and that, in turn, present a positive view of their work and of the overall situation in Haiti. It is time for The Early Edition, On The Coast and the CBC as a whole to put on your fifth estate cap and delve more deeply into the troubling stories of disaster relief in Pakistan, Haiti and anywhere else where the patterns of neglect or abuse rear their heads. Generosity among the world’s peoples is not flagging; patience and understanding for seemingly insoluble crises of poverty and underdevelopment are.
Kim Yves, "IHRC Finally Meets," here.
La deuxième réunion de la CIRH, le mardi 17 août 2010 à l’hôtel Karibe de Pétion-Ville
On Aug. 17, just hours before it was to make public the offi cial list of presidential candidate disqualifi cations, Haiti’s nine-member Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) postponed the announcement until Friday, Aug. 20.
Tensions grew this week as rumors began to leak out before the offi cial announcement. Young toughs associated with the campaign of hip-hop musician Wyclef Jean declared that they would rampage if the CEP disqualifi ed him, or, as Haitians say, gave him a "carnet," a reference to the ejection penalty card in a soccer game. One of Jean’s representatives was arrested following the declaration, and Wyclef Jean announced he was "in hiding" following death threats, which some viewed as a publicity stunt.
Join us Sunday's for book day : Current book is Damming The Flood: Haiti, Aristide, And The Politics Of Containment, by Peter Hallward: Chapter 4 Pt 2: |
This is our book list so far:
Isabel Allende (h/t Deoliver47): Island Beneath the Sea, here:
Jean-Bertrand Aristide:: In the Parish of the Poor, here; Eyes of the Heart here;
Beverly Bell: Walking on Fire, here:
Edwidge Danticat: Brother, I'm Dying here; The Farming of Bones here; Krik? Krak! here; Breath, Eyes, Memory here:
Paul Farmer: The Uses of Haiti here; Partner To The Poor: A Paul Farmer Reader here; Getting Haiti Right This Time: The U.S. and the Coup here:
Peter Hallward: Damming The Flood here (2010 updated edition will be out soon. You can pre-order it now) here. h/ty NY brit expat published date is 11/30/10):
C.L.R. James: The Black Jacobins here, (h/t Deoliver47):
Tracy Kidder: Mountains Beyond Mountains here:
Maurice Lemoine: Bitter Sugar: Slaves Today in the Caribbean [1985] here:
Paule Marshall: The Chosen Place, The Timeless People here:
Randall Robinson, An Unbroken Agony: Haiti, From Revolution to the Kidnapping of a President, here:
Timothy T. Schwartz: Travesty in Haiti here:
Amy Wilentz: The Rainy Season - Haiti after Duvalier here
IJDH, Summer Reading list: here.
PIH has a new website here; They have a recommended reading list here; a book list, links to websites with action alerts, and articles.
videos:
Aristide and the Endless Revolution here; Life and Debt here; The Agronomist here; Poto Mitan here.
Any suggestions? We are looking for books, articles, websites where we can get accurate information about Haiti. Please share any information.
I found one. The World Traveler - Haiti page.: This website has links to articles about Haiti and it has excerpts from books including The Uses of Haiti and Damming The Flood.
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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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RELIABLE SOURCE ARTICLES:
Any articles that we missed? Please leave comment.
History,here:
President Aristide,here:
Trade Policy, here:
Agriculture, here:
Immigration, here:
Vulture Capitalism, here (will add more articles).
Video: |
Brian Concannon and Paul Farmer Video, Change Haiti Can Believe In: here,
Haiti Dreaming for More Than $3 a day Watch, here: Life and Debt, here:
Edwidge Danticat on US immigration detentions 60 minutes, here: Jeremy Scahill on Democracy Now! responds to Clinton being appointed as UN envoy to Haiti, here.
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NEWS ORGANIZATIONS:
Al Jazeera English, here: AlterNet, here: BBC, here: Caribbean Net News, here: CNN, here: COHA,
here: Common Dreams.org, here: gaurdian. co.uk, here: Huffington Post, here:
IPS, here: MiamiHerald.com, here: NPR, here: ReliefWeb, here: The Daily Beast, here: The Root, here.
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Aid - Change?
Nicole Lee, "Haiti: An Opportunity For A New Model," here.
Mark Schuller, "Falling through the cracks or unstable foundations?" here
IJDH, "Haitians in IDP Camps are living better now than before the earthquake? Are you kidding me?" here
Bev Bell interview, "Making money from the earthquake in Haiti" listen here
IJDH, "Challenges Facing Haiti’s Justice Sector: Prepared for Congressional Briefing" here
Kim Ives, "Land Ownership at the Crux of Haiti's Stalled Reconstruction," here.
Kim Ives talks about it with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now!, here
CIRH, Interim Haiti Recovery Commission here, 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.
Mark Schuller, "Tectonic Shifts? The upcoming donors' conference for Haiti" here,
HOPE legislation Summary of HOPE legislation here: 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" here,
Democracy Now!, "Humanitarian Aid, New Colonialism?" here
More Articles, here..
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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.
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 (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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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
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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." |
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
diary will be monitored until then. |
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: |
The World Traveler - Haiti page.: This website has links to articles about Haiti and it has excerpts from books including The Uses of Haiti and Damming The Flood.
Be sure to also see diaries by Bev Bell for informed ground-level information on Haiti's needs.
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.
ShelterBox:carolina stargazer is still watching the store. The next ShelterBox diary is planned for Tuesday morning, but activity in diary will be monitored until then. Matching funds are available.
Sunday is Haiti diary book day. Here is the Book List
UPCOMING DIARIES
Tuesday: *** Open ***
Thursday: ***Open***
Sunday: allie123 book diary
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.