What A Haitian Entrepreneur And Haitian-American Nurse Can Teach Us About Identity

•  “I am a woman first. And then a strong Haitian woman.”

• “I’m very comfortable with my femininity and my assertiveness. In Haitian culture, women are the center of the household; providers and caretakers. Just because I can cook at home doesn’t mean I can’t run a multimillion dollar business. Feminism, to me, is the freedom to be a complex, multidimensional individual without living my life in silos."

Guelmana Rochelin

Guelmana Rochelin, Founder & CEO of Mana S.A.

Johaida Jean-Franois

Johaida Jean-Franois, Labor & Delivery RN at Boston Medical Center

From government officials to late night comedy hosts, there has been a lot of conversation around Haiti. But, hearing from those who know it best may offer other narratives on Haiti and on identity. Meet Guelmana Rochelin and Johaida Jean-Franois. One is a Haitian immigrant who returned home to build a company, Mana S.A., in Port-Au-Prince. Another is a first-generation Haitian-American who deftly weaves her values into the work she does as a Labor and Delivery Registered Nurse at Boston Medical Center.A Tale of Two LivesGuelmana tells a story of growing up in an idyllic community in Côteaux, Haiti. “…Tranquil, warm, and family-oriented…My great-grandmother lived with us and the entire extended family all lived a stone’s throw from one another.” Even after her family immigrated to the United States and put down roots in Philadelphia, her passion and love for Haiti never abated. In fact, she was so certain of her future, upon becoming a naturalized citizen, she told her parents, “You guys are taking something from me. I can never be President of any country now.” Luckily, she had other ideas of how to impact Haiti. After attending Villanova University and Harvard Business School, she worked at Goldman Sachs and co-founded a healthcare company with her sister, Affinity Healthcare Solutions. But the lure of Haiti always beckoned. Eventually, on a visit back to Haiti, she realized it was time to return and began to build a venture that would provide economic opportunity to the Haitian community, Mana S.A. The idea came from Guelmana’s realization that the small purchasing power of most Haitians made it hard for many to buy a box of cereal. She also observed some very enterprising merchants buy a box of cereal and then sell individual servings of cereal on the side of the road. And with that, Mana S.A. was born. Guelmana imported machines from around the world, built her own production line, created the cornflakes at the facility, and began to make individual servings of cornflakes. And as we learned on Conan O’Brien, many find the cornflakes pretty tasty. Guelmana’s hope is that by providing employees a living wage – one that enables them to not only feed their family, but also invest in their children's education, she will help lay the foundation of Haiti’s future.Johaida’s story begins in Everett, Massachusetts with deep roots firmly entrenched in Haiti. Her mother worked in the telecommunications industry in Haiti and upon immigrating to the U.S., transitioned into healthcare. As the matriarch of the family, her mother served as a spiritual pillar, as well as a constant source of inspiration. According to Johaida, “I have never seen her struggles, but I have always seen the result of her struggles. And they were always good.” Growing up, Johaida was reminded in ways glaring and subtle that she was different. Sometimes it was the bottle of Malta in her lunch as opposed to her fellow students’ Capri juice pouches. Or the incredulous remark when a person with long hair and light skin was discovered to be of Haitian descent. She channeled her frustration and anger in those experiences towards her education. Johaida graduated from Rivier University, successfully passed the NCLEX-RN, her nursing boards, upon first attempt, and following her mother’s footsteps, entered the healthcare industry. She wanted a community focused on the care of others, not dissimilar to the community her mother experienced in Haiti. Johaida chose to work at Boston Medical Center because as the largest safety net hospital in New England, BMC serves a very diverse population. According to their website, 57% of patients are from under-served populations and 32% of patients do not speak English as a primary language. Despite the numerous languages heard throughout the halls of BMC, as Johaida says, she speaks a universal language: comfort in holding a patient’s hand, care in rubbing a patient’s back, and safety in reassuring eye contact.

 Being Haitian, Being a WomanI am always curious to see how women live their multifaceted identities. And it was not surprising to see that Johaida and Guelmana had differing views on how to live their complex identities.For Johaida, she emphatically said, “I am a woman first. And then a strong Haitian woman.” Much of our conversation centered around her work caring for so many new women and newborns. Being surrounded by such diverse women going through a common experience drives her strong gender identity.Guelmana’s answer was more complicated. “I’m very comfortable with my femininity and my assertiveness. In Haitian culture, women are the center of the household; providers and caretakers. Just because I can cook at home doesn’t mean I can’t run a multimillion dollar business. Feminism, to me, is the freedom to be a complex, multidimensional individual without living my life in silos."Both emphasize the importance of choices and the refusal to be categorized and put into a box. And despite their different professional paths, both live lives infused with passion, surrounded by community, and guided by family. Johaida and Guelmana approach their multifaceted identities differently, but one common aspect of their narratives holds true – they have a lot of pride in the strength and resilience of the first black republic, Haiti.By: Peggy Yu for Forbes.com | February 1, 2018

Penn State’s Franklyn Decker Is Pushing the Haitian Dream with Timoun Kontan

Franklyn Decker started Timoun Kontan as part of his service trip to Haiti, and the organization has turned into an active force in transforming the community there.ranklyn Decker, a neuroscience major at Penn State University, originally from Bowie, MD, created a non-profit organization in Haiti with a group of eight other students from his univeristy. Its name is Timoun Kontan, which means “Happy Kids” in Haitian Creole.Timoun Kontan started as a spring break service trip to Port Au Prince, the capital of Haiti, that was arranged through a sociology class taught by Sam Richards, a professor at Penn State, thanks to his connection to the Caribbean country. “Haiti is where we saw issues we could try to help with,” Franklyn says, explaining why they chose it as the place to start the non-profit. Since then, Timoun Kontan has developed from helping building a home for children during spring break to developing community through providing education to Haitian children and economic assistance to their families. “We are trying to raise the community up and give them the tools they need to become more successful,” Franklyn states.According to the USAID Fact sheet (2016), illiteracy remains one of the key challenge for this country, “75 percent of children at the end of first grade and nearly half of students finishing second grade could not read a single word. Half of the adult population is illiterate.” School enrollment is low, staying at roughly 75 percent, and the average years of schooling hovers around 5 years, which is mostly due to the cost of schooling. “School fees can be prohibitively expensive for low-income families,” the report points out.Another significant key challenge to the development of the community in Haiti is lack of government oversight. “Most schools in Haiti receive minimal government oversight and are expensive relative to average earnings. More than 85 percent of primary schools are privately managed by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), churches, communities, and for‐profit operators,” reported the USAID Fact sheet. At least 90 percent of Haiti’s 15,200 primary schools are non-public, many of which managed by religious organizations, NGOs and communities. This means a majority of Haitian school children rely on organizations such as Timoun Kontan for education.The earthquake that hit Haiti in 2010 further compromised the country’s education system. Thousands of schools were erased, at least 75 percent of which were in Port-Au-Prince. The ones that were escaped the disaster were in dilapidated condition, failing to meet the safety requirement for rebuilding. Charles Tardieu, former education minister of the country, stated, “Let’s face the reality that many schools are never going to be used again, and that we urgently need other ways to revive the system.”

“We are trying to raise the community up and give them the tools they need to become more successful,” Franklyn says.

Students were not only displaced of a place to go and learn, but also of a home. The disaster crushed the dreams of young Haitians under the rubbles of their school along with bodies of their friends, family, classmates and teachers. Michel Renau, director of national exams at the Ministry of National Education, Youth and Sports, mourned the situation, “without education, we have nothing. We’ve been set back very far. But if we pull ourselves together quickly, we’ll go on.”In that dark time, Timoun Kontan, a small non-profit organization, rose to make a huge difference in Haiti: it helps lessen the financial burden of sending children to school. The organization reached out to those kids who may not have a chance of education otherwise and ensured that they are provided with whatever they needed without forcing the family into poverty. “If a child does not have a family that takes care of them, our organization provides a home for them to live in. If a child does have a family, then we help the family support the child monetarily through a food and educational scholarship or stipend.” So far, Timoun Kontan has been able to pay for the education of several kids for the next year and provide them with a month’s worth of food and sanitary supplies.Despite the education issue in Haiti, according to Franklyn, things are not all bad. “Honestly, this experience helped me understand how perspective can drive your outlook on life. Going to Haiti, I foolishly expected everyone there to be suffering and miserable but after arriving and getting to know the people there it put me in a new state of mind.” The effort of the Haitians in changing their life and creating a better community surprised Franklyn, “The people of Haiti are funny, intelligent, kind and loving, which I’ve come to realize are characteristics any human being can embody regardless of the circumstances they face. I really love the people and the country in general.”

‘The people of Haiti are funny, intelligent, kind, and loving which I’ve come to realize are characteristics any human being can embody regardless of the circumstances they face’ (Image courtesy of Franklyn Decker)

Franklyn has already gone back to Port Au Prince for a second time during the summer, and he definitely has plans to continue his work with the Timoun Kontan after graduating from Penn State. “I decided I wanted to become a surgeon after taking an anatomy and physiology class in high school and shadowing a couple of doctors. I’m currently not sure how I would integrate my involvement in this organization with my future profession, but I am excited to see how it all plays out.”Currently, Timoun Kontan is working on a home for the children of Larousse, who are currently living in “a cramped dilapidated home.” Their goal is to place them, primarily orphans and children given away by their families, in a safe environment with free food and education. The organization also strives to reunite those who have been given away with their families. In the mean time, the children’s home will also act as a community center where children of all ages and backgrounds can come together and nurture their dreams, which hopefully will grow into positive changes to their damaged community.

By Stephanie Yamoah, Towson University for Studybreaks.com | December 11, 2017

Millions at risk of famine in post-hurricane Haiti

It's been almost a year since southern Haiti was devastated by Hurricane Matthew.It has also been almost eight years since an earthquake killed more than 300,000 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless.But a recent visit to a UNICEF treatment centre in the south shows everything continues to go wrong in the country.Dozens of malnourished children visit the centre daily, struggling against diseases and the endemic poverty that is so deeply entrenched in Haiti.Half of the country's population is malnourished. According to the World Food Programme, 1.32 million people are in Phase 3 Crisis, which means they are severely food insecure. Additionally, three million people are in Phase 2 Stress, which mean they are food insecure.Unfortunately, this is nothing new.Haiti has been struggling to feed its people for years. It is one of the poorest countries in the world.Natural disasters only deteriorate the situation. Hurricane Matthew had a devastating effect on food production. Agricultural plots, seeds and irrigation systems were destroyed.One year on, not much has changed.Everyone we spoke to repeated the same phrase over and over again: "I used to have … but now it's gone."It was very little, but at least some had a business, or seeds, or nets and other sources that would help them feed themselves. But they were destroyed by the hurricane.The UN has some small programmes assisting farmers, and is currently working on long-term development ones. But that's not enough to get people out of the current crisis.The UN appealed for more than $56m for food security. I have been told that less than 50 percent of that was provided by donor countries.

Political issues

But that's not the only problem. Nine months ago, Haiti's new President Jovenel Moise took office, with the promise to increase support to the country's agricultural sectors.Farmers denounce that only 6.9 percent of next year's budget has been assigned to assist communities in desperate need of help. Moise has also raised taxes and that's why demonstrations have been ongoing in the capital for months.The president was elected in an electoral process in which only 20 percent of the population voted."Moise has very little support. The only ones that are keeping him in power are the United States, France and the international community," a source told me in Port-au-Prince.And the budget?"It's been designed to benefit the elite and to continue strangling the poor," said economist Camille Charlemers."It is what keeps us dependent on foreign aid. Without food production, Haiti needs to import almost everything."And of course there is massive corruption. A recent investigation showed how politicians, including the presidents and prime ministers, allegedly embezzled around $2bn from a Petrocaribe deal with Venezuela.Haiti is currently paying off that debt while millions are going hungry.Some historians have said that the country has been condemned since it was born, adding that the first black republic was a bad example. They say that 'slaves' were not supposed to have a nation and that's why a brutal embargo was imposed by France, Spain, the US and the UK.Over 200 years later, Haiti continues to struggle, a victim of the ruling elites that profit from the enormous poverty rates in the country, and of an international community that, for whatever reason, continues to fail.By: Teresa Bo for Aljazeera.com | November 28, 2017

'Shameful': UK and US Under Fire Over Blocked Funds For Haiti Cholera Victims

China, France and Russia also among major UN donors resisting appeal to spend $40m of UN money on victims of cholera epidemic, claim lawyers

          

Human rights lawyers have accused the UK and other large donors of blocking the release of a multimillion-dollar UN fund to provide relief to victims of a cholera epidemic that has killed 10,000 people in Haiti.The outbreak, which affected hundreds of thousands of Haitians, was caused when infected UN peacekeepers from Nepal brought the disease to the country in 2010.

In June, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, asked member states to allow him to repurpose $40.5m (£30m) of leftover money to the Haiti cholera fund, which he said could have an “immediate impact in saving lives”.The appeal to reallocate unspent money designated for Haiti in 2015-16 has met with strong resistance from major donors. None of the five UN security council’s permanent members, which includes the US and the UK, approved the proposed funding reallocation. The UN Haiti cholera multi-partner trust fund, which gathered more than $2m, now lies almost empty.Brian Concannon, executive director of the Boston-based Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), said: “We have had conversations with the UK about cholera for years. They have been saying, ‘This is a matter of principle and we need to expect the rule of law.’”“Now that the money is on the table, the fact that the UK is not reallocating it is very concerning. No one else is going to step up.”Concannon, who was in the UK this week to meet the all-party parliamentary group on Haiti, said: “We’re asking the UK to take a leadership role in the UN security council. All the [permanent security council members] spend hundreds of millions of taxpayers dollars on the UN. But the UN is flouting its legal responsibilities towards the people of Haiti on cholera.”The UN only admitted its role in the outbreak last year. Former UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon issued a carefully worded apology and said that the UN and member states had a “moral obligation” to relieve the Haitian suffering. The agency promised to raise $400m from member states to provide assistance to the Haitian victims. Since the fund was set up, however, only about $2.6m has been collected. The UK has donated $623,000 to this fund. Its share of the unspent $40.5m would be more than double that amount, at $2.3m.The IJDH works with thousands of cholera victims through the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux, a Port-au-Prince based human rights law firm. A lawsuit the groups filed on behalf of 5,000 cholera victims in a New York federal court in 2013 was dismissed by a judge, on the basis of UN immunity. After an appeal, the UN second circuit court of appeals in New York upheld the decision in 2016.Concannon is also working with the US Senate, to mobilise support for reallocating the funds. Democratic and Republican lawmakers have in the past criticised the Obama administration and the UN for failing to ensure Haiti’s victims were helped.Concannon said it was “shameful” the UN couldn’t come up with even a tenth of the amount originally promised. “The underspend idea wasn’t supposed to be the end result, but low-hanging fruit.“People in the UK or the US can forget about people in Haiti, but the people in Haiti cannot forget people in the UK or US.”Mario Joseph, a lawyer with BAI, said: “Imagine what would have happened if the Nepalese had brought the disease to the UK? What would be the reaction here – would there be the same disregard as people have shown the people of Haiti? For that reason alone, the UK should take a leadership role.”A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesperson said: “The UK recognises the devastating impact that cholera has had on the Haitian people, and we welcome the crucial role the UN is playing to eradicate it. The UK is the fourth largest donor to the UN trust fund, in addition to other contributions to tackling cholera in Haiti.“It is for each UN member state to decide how to use returned unspent peacekeeping funds. We call on all countries to volunteer contributions to the UN trust fund from whatever source is appropriate for them.”By: Karen McVeigh for TheGuardian.com | November 2, 2017

Haiti - Social : The First Lady of Haiti in Belize

Monday, the First Lady of Haiti, Martine Moïse, left Port-au-Prince to Belize to attend the Forum of First Ladies and Wives of Heads of State and Prime Ministers from CARICOM member countries.This meeting, which will establish a Caribbean network of first ladies, aims, among other things, to highlight the health and well-being of women, girls and adolescents in the Caribbean by 2030, objective #5 of sustainable development.Martine Moïse will participate in a series of discussions to support proposals for the promotion and valorisation of women from all Caribbean countries, notably through the Caribbean Child Initiative (CARIWAC) networks, which also intend to :

• Promoting the health and well-being of adolescents in the Caribbean and reducing teenage pregnancy by 20% ;
• Encourage the prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of cervical cancer, improve access to screening and strengthen infrastructure through the promotion and use of HPV vaccine ;
• Eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV and congenital syphilis in the Caribbean ;
• Support advocacy for the reduction of gender-based and sexual violence against women and children (including trafficking in persons) through appropriate legislation, psychosocial support for victims and the inclusion of men and boys in solutions.

By: HL/ HaitiLibre | September 5, 2017

School Games at the Horizon

School Games at the Horizon Thanks to the valuable assistance of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Civic Action (MJSAC), thousands of young people from Thomassin and the surrounding area entertained during the summer holidays 2017 by participating as actors or spectators at the Football Championship organized at the Sport Park of Thomassin from July 16 to August 27, won by the team "Tèt Chaje" of Fermathe at the expense of FC Malik.After the organization of these summer activities, Minister Régine Lamur already has her head turned towards the School Games because, according to her, the return of sport to school is a convinced imperative that "It is the basis of any national selection competitive. None of the sporting disciplines practiced in Haiti can be excluded because a discipline with little or no media coverage can create a prestigious place among the major sports nations."In addition, she also emphasized the brain games that promote concentration and reflection, key factors in the process of creation and development."A better framing of our youth and the exploitation of our sports talents can be a new departure for our country in search of a new image on the international level. However, recognizing that resources are modest and needs unlimited, the Minister wants to build on cooperation and calls on all sectors of national life to unite with the Ministry of Youth, in order to build a new Haiti around of young people.HaitiLibre| September 1, 2017

JCE investigates on a network of false identities of Haitian children

Haiti - DR : JCE investigates on a network of false identities of Haitian children Sunday Castillo Pantaleón Member of the Dominican Committee for International Solidarity with Haiti, denounced the existence of a mafia network, which makes false identities from the data of the Dominicans who died in the hospitals "Luis Eduardo Aybar" and "Francisco Moscoso Puello" to document illegally against finance, Haitian children born on the Dominican soil.

He said that this network "demanded the certifications of deceased persons in the legal services of these two hospitals and with this data, they document for money, Haitian children with late birth declarations, which makes them appear as children of the deceased in the Civil Registry of the JCE."

Juan César Castaños Guzmán, the President of the JCE ("Junta Central Electoral") instructed Dolores Fernández, the National Director of Civil Registration, to carry out a thorough investigation of these two hospitals and to the Late Reporting Unit, on all cases that match these characteristics.

Guzmán assured that "the investigation will be conducted with the levels of promptness that circumstances deserve and in a timely manner we will take all necessary legal steps." Recalling that foreign mothers, irrespective of their nationality and not legally resident in the Dominican Republic, must register the birth of their child in the JCE Book of Aliens in accordance with the provisions of the Dominican Constitution.

HL/HaitiLibre

Haitian children, Andrea Bocelli sing for Pope Francis

A choir of children from Haiti led by world-renown opera singer Andrea Bocelli sang for Pope Francis after his weekly general audience on Wednesday. The choir, called “Voices of Haiti,” is made up of youth ages 9-15 from the poorest areas of Haiti and are in Rome for their two-week-long European tour.

ROME - There was a special surprise at the end of Pope Francis’s general audience on Wednesday - a performance by acclaimed Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and a choir of 60 children from the poorest areas of Haiti.The choir, called “Voices of Haiti,” sang three songs with Bocelli, including ‘Amazing Grace’ and ‘Ave Maria,’ following the general audience in the Vatican’s Pope Paul VI hall Aug. 2. After the performance the children and world-renowned singer were greeted by Pope Francis.The performance was part of a nearly two-week-long European tour of the children’s choir, made up of youth ages 9-15, coming from some of the poorest areas of Port-au-Prince Haiti. Besides Rome, the tour included stops in Pisa, Florence and Lajatico, Italy, Bocelli’s birthplace.In Lajatico they will perform with Bocelli in front of 15,000 people for the 12th edition of his annual concert at the famous Teatro del Silenzio. In Florence they sang for the inauguration of a foundation dedicated to the Italian director Franco Zeffirelli.According to a press release, the project, “offers the opportunity to children and young Haitians coming from extremely disadvantaged situations to enhance their talent thanks to a highly specialized training, benefitting also of a wealth of opportunities, precious for their future.“Grown up in a context of extreme poverty, thirsty for beauty, eager to learn, through a highly professional educational path, the young singers have reached a great understanding, have become aware of discipline, passion, love for music and of the joy of sharing. Therefore, what they can convey through their singing is pure joy.”The children of the choir and related projects come from the Citè Soleil slums where over 300,000 people live in tin shack houses, without access to water and sanitation.The project has been ongoing since January 2016. The children participate in weekly rehearsals on Saturdays, which include breakfast, lunch and game time in addition to vocal exercises, music therapy and song rehearsal. Buses pick them up and bring them home after.They learn both folk Haitian and international music and perform throughout the year in local celebrations in their community, such as Easter and the end of the school year. In September 2016 they traveled internationally for the first time, performing in New York City.“Voices of Haiti” is a project of the Andrea Bocelli Foundation. In addition to the choir, the foundation also introduces music into the 30 schools supported by the local St. Luc Foundation in Haiti.They also help to provide education, food, and health assistance to thousands of children, water and electricity to remote and poor communities, solar panels and libraries.According to their website, “because all the students come from poor economic and social backgrounds, through music they have been able to find a way to consolidate discipline, cooperation, and have moved away from the misery brought on by the grip of poverty.“Music becomes an additional means for social and intellectual development, not only personal, but for entire communities.”“Voices of Haiti” is directed by Malcolm J. Merriweather, a professor at Brooklyn College Conservatory in New York, and is run by a team of Haitian collaborators made up of musicians, teachers, and administrators.Why a choir? Because “music is the soul’s voice, its strength and beauty open minds, and develop thoughts…” the website continues.“From the secret melodies of celestial bodies to the beat of the fruit fly wings, creation is a sound metaphor of its Creator, and every element contributes, imperceptibly, but effectively to universal harmony, that with immeasurable perfection rules life and expresses a poetic, amazing synonym of God.”By: Hannah Brockhaus | August 2, 2017

Brattleboro Business Supplies Diapers to Children in Haiti

BRATTLEBORO — Cloth diapers are better for babies. That's what Karen Amidon believes, and she's built a business around it.Green Mountain Diapers is a small family-owned business based in Brattleboro. It sells all sorts of cloth diapers and accessories, and while it can't afford to run its own subsidized cloth diaper program, it donates to nonprofits dedicated to giving cloth diapers to families in need.One of those organizations is Jake's Diapers based out of Fox Valley, Wis.Six years ago, Stephanie Bowers, Jake's Diapers' founder, went on a women's mission trip to an orphanage in Peru where she said adults were reusing disposable diapers on the orphans.Diapers, Bowers said, are a precious resource in developing and remote countries. In Haiti, after the 2010 earthquake, things were especially bad. Bowers said worms and chronic diarrhea were a big problem for babies, who often times sit on the ground without diapers. Many homes don't have floors."They were praying for diapers," Bowers said.So Bowers started Jake's Diapers, a nonprofit dedicated to providing cloth diapers to children and families living in extreme poverty.The goal of this project is "to help the babies and their families not only survive but thrive."Bowers hopes that providing babies with diapers will allow families to spend money on other crucial items like food.In the areas Jake's Diapers serves — Haiti, Guatemala, Ecuador, Peru, Democratic Republic Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Wisconsin and Papua New Guinea — healthcare is not always available to families."Maternal health care, or any health care, in Haiti is pretty much nonexistent," Bowers said.Walking to clinics can take days, she said. Baby mortality rates are under-reported but, Bowers said, 30 to 40 percent of babies are reported to die. She said Haiti has the highest infant mortality rate in the world. The maternal mortality is also high, she said."It takes only $115 in the U.S. to provide babies with cloth diapers for life," she said.Providing babies with diapers is a mission that Bowers is passionate about."This is a calling for me," she said, adding that she was deeply affected visiting developing nations. "It's a level of poverty that we cannot even comprehend," she said. "I start to lose words because the concept is challenging but real. They're just like you and me. I was born in Albany, N.Y. These babies were born in Haiti."Jake's Diapers only uses cloth diapers, which Bowers said are more economical and practical for families living in extreme poverty. Many areas don't have trash service and cloth diapers are reuseable, so tend to be cheaper for some families.Green Mountain Diapers donates diapers the company doesn't think it can sell, but that are still usable. The company doesn't sell in-store, but products are available for pick up. Amidon has a similar passion for diapers. Rather than discovering her passion while abroad, Amidon's interest in cloth diapers came from necessity, while at home taking care of her two children.Amidon believes cloth diapering is what's best for children because cloth diapers are softer and more natural for babies. She tried cloth diapering with her first child, but it proved disastrous. Eventually, Amidon solved her cloth diapering woes. She and her husband, Doug Amidon, opened Green Mountain Diapers to offer more products to the cloth diapering industry.Elizabeth Ellis, the customer support handler, started working for Green Mountain Diapers when Amidon asked her for help. Ellis was a stay-at-home mom who knew Amidon from church.Along with handling customer relations and support, Ellis is in charge of coordinating the company's donations.Green Mountain diapers also donates to The Rebecca Foundation, Giving Diapers Giving Hope, Share the Love, Cover Your Bum and Cloth for Everybum."We want to see babies who need cloth diapers to be in cloth diapers," Ellis said. "We know not everyone can afford it."When Ellis started cloth diapering she assumed it would be more economical. Not all cloth diapers are cheap, though. Many new parents are attracted to the all-in-one diapers that have the diaper and diaper cover attached, but they're the most expensive diapers the company sells.The diapers donated to places like Jake's Diapers are foldable. They're the sort of diapers used about 50 years ago, Ellis said. She showcased the Cloth-eez Flat Birdseye diapers, which come in one large size and can be folded multiple times. "They're easy to wash, so they're good for orphanages," Ellis said. She said they could be intimidating to newer parents, who are scared of the folding process, but for many moms they are therapeutic.Cloth-eez is a brand designed by Amidon. Prefoldable diapers used to just come in infant and large, but Amidon designed newborn, small, medium, large and extra large. "They're effective and easy to wash," Ellis said. "They're middle of the road on price."Green Mountain Diapers recommends that parents have about 36 diapers that fit their baby and about six to eight diaper covers.Jake's Diapers takes new or used cloth diapers and monetary donations. To donate to Jake's Diapers, go to www.jakesdiapers.org.Harmony Birch | August 1,2017

China Donates To Haiti

On Wednesday July 5th in the annex of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Civic Action (MJSAC) to Frères, Mario Florvil the Director General of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Civic Action, in the presence of the executives of the Directorate of Physical and Sports Activities (DAPS) of the Ministry, received from Ling Jun, the Permanent Representative of the China Trade Development Bureau in Haiti, a donation of sports equipments and materials as part of bilateral cooperation Haiti - People's Republic of China.The donation consisted of 18 lots of sports equipment, including balls, jerseys, football boots, basketball and volleyball, sports socks, nets, trophies.Mario Florvil welcomed China's initiative "This aid comes at a time when the Haitian government through the MJSAC wants to give another direction and a new breath to the sport sector," considering that Haiti greatly needs all the forms of support that can enable it to support sport, whose development represents a priority for the new government, ensuring that its Ministry will make good use of these materials.Ling Jun hopes that these materials will contribute to the improvement of the conditions of training and the physical constitution of the young Haitians. Reaffirming the importance that China attaches to physical and sports development before evoking the Haitian Ministry's desire to return sport to school.HL