Haiti Ahead

Despite all, life goes on as abnormally as it can be in Port-au-Prince today; see the pictures I just posted. The people there seems to be assimilating more and more with their new found realities; living in tents, sleeping outside, living through after-shocks, standing in line for their food, etc. Let me state first of all that I purposely did not attempt to visit any of the nearby camps for having seen enough of the horrors on TV, I was looking for something positive, something that would not rob me a the few hours of sleep that would manage to get through all the noise, the dog barking all through the night, and the roosters and ducks singing in the early hours of the morning. My family lives in a little known area across from the main airport, right on the main boulevard, 20 minutes from the city center, named Sarthe. We landed at 2:00 pm sharp on Friday afternoon (March 19, 2010) on small plane by way Porto Rico. I snapped a couple pictures from the air as we were getting closer ...

Here we are 2 months since the devastating earthquake hit Haiti and not much to talk of in lieu of rebuilding. The humanitarian aids have been concentrated exclusively in food and medical care. The government is silent and secretive on its plan for the country. Although, some tents have now been distributed; it is for the most part inadequate. I have heard prices ranging from $75.00 US to $4000 for a tent; no wonder some are going without. Already we heard of countless horror stories when it rains. In my post dated January 22, 2010; “Call for a Nouvelle Port-au-Prince”, I called for tents to be distributed right away and the government’s buildings to be rebuilt in a different location; effectively moving the city. It unfortunately failed onto deft ears. I wish I knew how much money has been collected on our behalf so far? Not only that the Haitian Prime Minister claimed he cannot forcefully move people from the rubbled city, trying to appear democratic; he now claims that it is going ...

“If you don’t know my name, you don’t know your own”; James Baldwin . Now, I can’t say for certain that the Department of Agriculture has a picture of George Washington Carver on its wall; I used to roam the hall of that building at lunch recess for many years and I don’t remember seeing one there. As for the School of Agriculture, I attended a couple of parties there; but I failed the entrance exam but, I’m not so sure they know who he is there hero either. The previous sentence might put me in the company of those who have the least to say about agriculture in Haiti. But, that is not all. I was once a farm boy in the area known as “La Plaine”. The vast and lush sugar cane and banana plantations in that area contributed handsomely in getting me where I am today. I can honestly say that there is not one of the cash crops raised in that area that I did not plant myself or at the least watch others plant. Now that we have established the fact that I am at the least bit familiar with the...

Yesterday, I was in the car driving when the news came of yet another earthquake. This one, of 8.8 magnitudes has struck Chile, South America. Quickly my fear of the news crews, health and aids organizations leaving Haiti resurfaced to remind me of how little time we have to change the course in Haiti. I’d admit; although unfounded, some may find this sentiment selfish. The sluggishly started recovery effort in Haiti, the images of all these ragged tents lining the streets and the few parks of Port-au-Prince, occupied my thinking for hours and on. The painful realization of thousands dead and those still under the rubbles, the slow pace of progress which has hunted me and others for weeks, is re-activated with more vigor and a voodoo like attacks. Here are people dying in Chile and the potential for tsunami to strike coastal cities from Hawaii all the way to Japan and all I can think about is Haiti. What about you? What were your 1st thoughts? Although I feel for the Chilean people, I...

It has been over a month since the devastating EARTHQUAKE; in fact, his one month birthday was commemorated on February the 12th. Masses were held, dignitaries were on hand for the unfortunate event. It should have been baptized “a day for the survivors”. I personally did not watch any of it on TV. I’m still trying to grasp the invisibleness of some semblance of normalcy in the country. I’m still taken by the ineptitude of the Haitian Government to help his people in its darkest hour. Where are they now? What are they doing? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’ve seen the pictures taken with passing foreign representatives. I’d like to be a fly on the wall in one of those board meetings they claim to be having. Are they in there blaming each other, or setting up a plan of action? Oh wait, that was a month ago! What phase are they in now? Did I hear clean up and demolishment? For how long? Is there anything else? Tents Cities? Or are they just seating there crying broke, waiting for the International ...

Let me state 1st and foremost, I have nothing against Wyclef Jean. Personally, I think he cares very much about Haiti and its people, and he means well. Unlike most of us living abroad, he made his duty to help the less fortunate in the country in their darkest hour. I’m, in no way, questioning his sincerity. I must also state categorically that he is not running for president; as far as I know. But, his story is all too familiar with those the Haitian people usually fall in love with, elect into office, and get burnt by. Among the more recent, one can cite Papa Doc; the doctor who at first spent his career in the countryside combatting malaria and other diseases which were ravaging the farmers in Haiti. Even closer we remember Jean Bertrand Aristide; the radical priest turned politician who was the Great Haitian Hope. To say it kindly, none of them lived up to our expectations. They did not only betray the trust of their people, they also turn on them like the plague. Haiti,...

Once upon a time there was an Island the Indians called Haiti, Quiskeya, or Boyo. Christopher Columbus came, killed them all and took over their little paradise. He named it Hispaniola. The European powers would fought over it for years; dividing it in two, some times tree parts. The Indians out of the way, they set out to exploit the fertile land and all the natural resources that it possesses. In the 17 hundreds, they invaded Africa. There they kidnapped its inhabitants, put them on ships, in the most horrible conditions known to man. They brought them to Hispaniola to work the land as slaves. The Island prospered even more and became the envy of all Europe; La perle des Antilles. The Aristocracy in France and Spain lived opulently, lavishly, wastefully, on the backs of those African slaves. The slaves would revolt several times, with one revolt more successful than the other; but none resulted in the reversal of the system that has enslaved them. The Masters successfully divided t...