Guelmana Rochelin
Haiti’s President Says Trump Got at Least One Thing Right
President Donald Trump may have a point when he says the U.S. is wasting money sending aid to foreign countries. And that’s according to the president of one of Trump’s “shithole” nations.Haiti President Jovenel Moise said he was “taken aback” by the “bizarre” derogatory remark Trump allegedly made about Haiti in a White House immigration meeting last month. First reading about it on Twitter, Moise summoned U.S. diplomats for an explanation, one of whom was “embarassed“ and “at a loss for words,“ he said.
Despite the undiplomatic language, the two leaders would find common ground when it comes to foreign aid. Trump has threatened to cut funding and complained that the U.S. hasn’t received enough in return from foreign countries. Moise said billions have been squandered in Haiti.“Right now in Haiti, the money of foreign taxpayers, your money, is being wasted,” the president said in an interview in Port-Au-Prince. “Every year we receive $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion in aid, or more. However, it’s all consumed in a state of disorder that constitutes public international development aid.”Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, has received attention in recent months as Trump has pushed to overhaul U.S. immigration policy, favoring educated, skilled workers over immigrants from poor nations in Latin America and the Caribbean. The administration removed Haiti from a list of countries eligible for temporary work visa programs and plans to end a program protecting tens of thousands of Haitians from deportation.
‘Republic of NGOs’
Trump allegedly described Haiti and unspecified African nations as “shithole countries” in a heated discussion about immigration reform with U.S. lawmakers on Jan. 12. He subsequently posted on Twitter that he, “Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country.”
Moise, an entrepreneur who built a banana export business before taking office just weeks after Trump was inaugurated, said migration benefits all countries and that Haitians have made substantial contributions to the U.S. economy and culture. According to the Pew Research Center, about 110,000 undocumented Haitian immigrants live in the U.S., including those with protected status.Moise aimed his strongest criticism not at Trump, but at the way foreign aid has been administered in Haiti, a country with so many charities it’s been referred to by academics and local press as the "Republic of NGOs.”While he acknowledged Haiti still needs foreign funding, Moise said the Haitian government had been put “in hibernation” while multilateral organizations, charities, foreign governments and non-governmental organizations have wasted billions on development projects that are overpriced and inefficient.“If during the past 40 years the billions of dollars that were spent to assist in Haiti’s development did not provide the expected results, it’s because the paradigm, and approach must change,” Moise, who spoke mostly in Creole and French, said via a translator. “Haiti must have the ability to obtain loans for investments needs, to create wealth, to invest more, to provide electricity 24 hours a day.”
Government Plan
The Caribbean country of nearly 11 million has received $5.1 billion in aid from the U.S. alone since the 2010 earthquake, according to the U.S. Agency for International Development. The quake devastated the country, killing at least 200,000 people, leaving 1.5 million homeless and leveling much of its fragile infrastructure. Billions poured in from donors in the years that followed.Yet, the money has done little to address poverty. Haiti’s per-capita gross domestic product declined to $761 in 2017, according to the International Monetary Fund. Neighboring Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, has a per capita GDP nearly 10 times higher.Haiti’s history of political instability -- marked by a series of coups in the 1990s and 2000s -- corruption and weak institutions have made charities and foreign donors wary of turning over funds to the government.Moise said he has held talks with the IMF, the World Bank, foreign governments and other organizations about giving the government more control. He wants aid agencies to follow a development plan that prioritizes the construction of a nationwide electricity grid, schools and health clinics, reforesting the countryside, and building roads. His four-year plan calls for $1.8 billion of investment.The government last year launched pilot projects in those areas, including one that equipped local public works departments to build roads for a fraction of the price that they were previously being constructed, he said. Moise keeps three toy construction trucks on his nearly empty wood desk in temporary government buildings located beside the remnants of the national palace that was destroyed during the quake.“We’re saying now we want to think of, conceive and implement the development ourselves,” he said. “It’s not that we’re telling our partners to leave, but we want to do it in a state of accountability.”
What A Haitian Entrepreneur And Haitian-American Nurse Can Teach Us About Identity
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“I am a woman first. And then a strong Haitian woman.”
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“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 RochelinGuelmana Rochelin, Founder & CEO of Mana S.A.
Johaida Jean-FranoisJohaida 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
Haiti urbanisation rises but not wealth: World Bank
PORT-AU-PRINCE: Urbanisation is on the rise in Haiti, the third most urbanised country in Latin America and the Caribbean, but economic growth is still lagging behind, the World Bank said Tuesday (Jan 23), warning of the increased threat of natural disasters on cities growing unabated.More than six million people, or 64 per cent of the population, now live in cities in the poorest country in the Americas, compared to just a third of residents in 1996, the global financial institution said in a report.But, unlike the global trend, economic growth has not accompanied urbanisation in Haiti. GDP per capita dropped from US$757 in 1996 to US$727 in 2013."There's been a process of very rapid urbanisation, at an average pace of 5 per cent per year, that has not been coupled with adequate infrastructure investments to handle this urban growth," World Bank's Director for Social, Urban and Resilience Global Practice Sameh Wahba told AFP.Basic services are also severely lacking. Coupled with the lack of infrastructure, this undermines productivity and livability, the report noted.Poor funding means more than a third of urban residents lack access to clean drinking water, while two thirds lack improved sanitation. An estimated 8 per cent defecate openly.And most urban residents struggle more than their rural counterparts to find jobs."Rather than benefitting from high densities, cities in Haiti today are overcrowded places with wide gaps in infrastructure and services," the report said."Resilient urban growth is hindered by these gaps and by increased exposure to natural disasters, and by ineffective land use planning."The dysfunction and cost of the transportation system means that about three quarters of urban dwellers do not take motorised transport on a daily basis, opting either not to travel or to walk everywhere."Improvements in the connectivity system are required to increase resilience and promote economic growth and job creation," the report says.Wahba noted that in the capital Port-au-Prince, pedestrians have access to an average of just 12 per cent of jobs in the city, which "reduces their chances of increasing income."And the urban growth also makes the country more vulnerable to natural disasters.Eight years after a devastating earthquake killed more than 200,000 people and caused damage worth an estimated 117 per cent of GDP, chaotic construction is still pervasive, despite a construction code.Almost all of Haiti's land area is considered "medium" or "high" earthquake risk, and the World Bank estimates 58 per cent of built-up areas face a risk of flooding.The World Bank recommended serious investment in basic services to provide "resilient" urban planning and better prepare for urban growth. It also called for improved transportation and better municipal financing.By: Channel NewsAsia | January 24, 2018
GOP Lawmaker Matt Gaetz Slams Haiti: ‘Sheet Metal And Garbage’ Everywhere You Look
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z31C6I9YUbg[/embedyt]Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) slammed Haiti on Tuesday, saying the country is covered with garbage and that conditions there are “disgusting.”
Gaetz was defending President Donald Trump, who last week reportedly dismissed Haiti and African nations as “shithole” countries while meeting with lawmakers to discuss immigration.
Trump has denied the comments.
“I would not pick those terms, but I would say that the conditions in Haiti are deplorable, they are disgusting,” Gaetz told MSNBC’s Chris Hayes. “I mean, everywhere you look in Haiti, it’s sheet metal and garbage when I was there.”
Earlier in the conversation, Hayes tried to engage Gaetz by asking how he’d feel if someone used Trump’s reported language to describe Florida.
“If I called ― and you’ll forgive me for using the language of the president ― but if I called Okaloosa County a shithole, you’d understandably be upset with that, right?” Hayes asked.
Gaetz, whose district includes much of Okaloosa County, replied:
“Yes; I could also prove you wrong, because I could bring you to Okaloosa County and show you that it’s the home of the most beautiful beaches in America. I don’t know that in Haiti they can make the same claim.”
Trump’s comment set off protests by the Haitian-American community, including a demonstration outside Mar-a-Lago in Florida on Monday.
“I don’t want my kids to grow up thinking their parents are from a shithole country,” protester James Leger said, according to NBC Miami. “We’re asking you to apologize to the Haitians.”
Another protester wanted to remind Trump that Haitian immigrants contribute to America.
“The president does not understand us,” Jean Bruny, a Haitian pastor in West Palm Beach, told the Palm Beach Post on Monday. “We are not coming here to do any bad thing, we are coming here for a better life and to help our family in Haiti. We pay taxes, we buy houses, we contribute to the United States.”By: Ed Mazza for HuffingtonPost.com | January 16, 2018
Trump meets with GOP Haitian-American congresswoman amid fallout from obscene remarks
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uvlvxiKec8[/embedyt] (CNN)Republican Rep. Mia Love discussed immigration with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office for half an hour Tuesday, just two days after she said she believed the President made racist remarks about Haitians during a meeting with lawmakers.
"This morning's meeting was substantive and productive. We discussed the importance and urgency of finding a solution for DACA recipients, on enhancing border security, and on implementing reforms to ensure our nation continues to attract the world's top talent, regardless of race," Love said in a statement issued by her office, referencing the expiring Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. "I will work with both parties in Congress as well as with the White House to make sure that we reach an agreement."
"I believe Congress can solve the vast majority of the immigration issues the nation faces. There is already agreement on many important aspects. We need to fight against those who have a vested interest in keeping immigration a wedge issue. This has gone unaddressed for far too long. Let's have a real conversation, so Congress can finish the important work we were elected to do."
Love represents Utah and is the first Haitian-American elected to Congress.
Trump came under fire last week after he asked lawmakers why the United States wanted people from "shithole countries" coming into the US, in reference to immigrants from African countries. The President has denied making the comment. Sens. Dick Durbin and Lindsey Graham, a Democrat and Republican respectively who were in the meeting, have confirmed that Trump made those comments.
In an interview on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday, Love said she had been contacted by the White House to discuss immigration reform. "I don't know if those comments would be made if I was in the room," she said.
"I know the comments were made. I don't know in which context they were made," she said. "I'm looking forward to finding out what happened, but more importantly, I'm looking forward to fixing the problem."
She added that she still believed Trump should apologize.
"I think that there are people that are looking for an apology and I think that that would show real leadership," she said.
Edwidge Danticat's Message To Us All On The Anniversary Of The Earthquake
Today We Mourn, Tomorrow We Fight
"Today, like many of my fellow Haitians and Haitian-Americans, I planned to mourn the dead. I planned to do my mourning quietly and in small doses. I planned to stay busy so I wouldn’t spend the whole day in pain. I planned to check on the children in my family who lost their father and baby brother in the catastrophic earthquake eight years ago. I planned to write notes to friends and family members who were rescued from the rubble by their neighbors. I planned to get through a panel at a literary festival without breaking down in tears. I planned to hold my two daughters a little bit tighter tonight, especially my youngest who was the baby I kept in my arms to keep myself from curling up in a fetal position each time I saw a child being pulled from under a school or house on my television screen. Instead, because the President of the United States, who seems determined to insult Haitians every chance he gets, has said that Haiti--along with “Africa”--is a shithole, I must also lament yet another insult to our dignity.
A few weeks ago, it was “All Haitians have AIDS.” This week we are from a shithole country. Haiti is not unacquainted with racists or white supremacists. We defeated our share of them in 1804 when we became the world’s first black republic. Haiti is not a shithole country. It is a country that, for example, if France hadn’t grown tired of fighting, it would have never sold 828,000 square miles of land to the US, from the western banks of the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, nearly doubling the size of this country. Alexander Hamilton said that the Louisiana Purchase would have never happened were it not for the “courage and obstinate resistance of the black inhabitants” of Haiti. We are also the country that the United States has invaded several times, preventing us from consistently ruling ourselves. If we are a poor country, then our poverty comes in part from pillage and plunder. In the 1980s, the US government--claiming that Haitian pigs had swine fever--participated in the extermination of nearly every native black pig, which represented some families’ entire life savings. These same farmers were then “encouraged” to buy the pampered pink pigs of US farmers. This is only one of many examples I could list.
We are also a country where great art, music, and literature have risen from these and a slew of other woes. We are entrepreneurs, big and small, dreamers, workers. We are a country that created people like my father, who drove a taxicab in Brooklyn, sometimes sixteen hours a day, so that my three brothers (two teachers and an IT specialist) and I could have a better life. We are the country that eight years ago lost over 300,000 people whose lives and memory we should be commemorating today, rather than trying to hold our heads up wherever in the world we happen to be. Apparently, the President’s remarks came out of a discussion about Temporary Protected Status, during which he is reported to have said “Why do we need more Haitians? Take them out.” Mr. President, so many have tried to take us out before. Eight years ago, the earth itself tried to take Haiti out. Yet the courage and obstinate resistance of Haitians remain. We survive, and when given the opportunity, we THRIVE. To borrow a slogan that many Americans of different backgrounds have been using since the beginning of this presidency, today we mourn, tomorrow we fight." - Edwidge Danticat
Trump referred to Haiti and African nations as 'shithole' countries
President Donald Trump referred to African countries, Haiti and El Salvador as "shithole" nations during a meeting Thursday and asked why the U.S. can't have more immigrants from Norway.
Trump referred to Haiti and African nations as 'shithole' countriesWASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday referred to Haiti and African nations as "shithole countries" during a meeting with a bipartisan group of senators at the White House, a Democratic aide briefed on the meeting told NBC News.Trump's comments were first reported by The Washington Post, which said the group of nations referred to also included El Salvador.The comments came as senators huddled in the Oval Office with the president to discuss a path forward on an immigration deal. Trump questioned why the United States would want people from nations such as Haiti while he was being briefed on changes to the visa lottery system.According to the aide, when the group came to discussing immigration from Africa, Trump asked why America would want immigrants from "all these shithole countries" and that the U.S. should have more people coming in from places like Norway. Thursday's meeting came one day after Trump met with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg at the White House.Ap source familiar with Thursday's meeting told NBC News the president was particularly frustrated during discussions about the visa lottery system — a program Trump has railed against repeatedly in recent months. Another White House source explained the language Trump used as his way of trying to emphasize his support for a merit-based immigration system.The White House issued a statement that did not deny the remarks."Certain Washington politicians choose to fight for foreign countries, but President Trump will always fight for the American people," White House Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah told NBC Thursday, as part of a lengthy statement that did not directly dispute the language reportedly used in the meeting."He will always reject temporary, weak and dangerous stopgap measures that threaten the lives of hardworking Americans, and undercut immigrants who seek a better life in the United States through a legal pathway."Republican congressional reaction trickled in Thursday night, with some statements critical of the reported language calling on the White House to immediately provide an "explanation" or additional "context."But Republican Rep. Mia Love — the daughter of Haitian immigrants herself — released a tough statement calling Trump's comments "unkind, divisive, elitist, and fly in the face of our nation's values" and demanding an apology from the president.And Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) said in a tweet that the reported remark "ignores the contributions thousands of Haitians have made to our #SoFla community and nation. Language like that shouldn't be heard in locker rooms and it shouldn't be heard in the White House".It’s not the first time reports have surfaced of Trump speaking unfavorably about immigrants, and Haitians in particular. The New York Times reported in December that Trump said Haitian immigrants "all have AIDS," during a summer 2017 meeting about immigration.According to the Times, Trump also targeted Nigerian immigrants during that meeting, complaining that once they came the United States they would never "go back to their huts." The White House vigorously denied the claims in the story at the time.By: Ali Vitali and Kasie Hunt for NBCnews.com | January 11, 2018
Message to the Nation by Senator Dieudonne Luma Etienne
As part of the commemoration of the 214th anniversary of Haiti's independence, Sen. Dieudonne Luma Etienne, First Secretary of the Upper House and the only woman elected to the Senate, delivered a message to the Nation that we invite you to share.Message from Senator Étienne :"My dear compatriots,At the dawn of this new year coinciding with the 214th anniversary of Haiti's Independence Day, I call on all Haitians, from here and elsewhere, to stand together and defend the interests of the nation.Let's go United!Let us know that the destiny of our dear Haiti depends only on our visions oriented towards endogenous development and our actions. This country that our ancestors bequeathed us is an inheritance symbolizing union and freedom. We must work constantly to value and enhance its splendor.In this new year, join forces, our skills to make our country a place where reign 'the love of Tèt Ansanm'. have the imperious obligation to work, more than ever, in agreement with my fathers conscripted to defend the interests of the Nation by laws implementing new applications of change project for a transformed country.I pledge to push for the promotion of women's leadership I pledge to push for the promotion of women's "leadership" in order to continue to defend the rights of Haitian women and to work to eradicate all forms of economic violence against them. Always in the spirit of establishing a lasting democratic system for the benefit of the Nation, I will devote myself to taking vital decisions in relation to my parliamentary functions in order to equip the country with a Permanent Electoral Council, since 2018 is a year devoted to the preparation of the elections.With that, I remind you that the Fatherland needs your talents indistinctly. Haiti needs its sons and daughters from everywhere.Let us be strong, united and work together for our happiness, to enhance our dignity and our sovereignty.Happy New Year 2018 and Happy Independence Day to you all my dear compatriots !"By: HL/ HaitiLibre | January 3, 2018
CARICOM congratulates Haiti on 214th anniversary of Independence
GEORGETOWN,Guyana (CMC) — The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has congratulated the Government and people of Haiti on the nation's 214th anniversary of political independence from France.In a message to mark the anniversary, celebrated on January 1, CARICOM Secretary-General Irwin LaRoque said the occasion is cause for celebration “since history has proven that the success of the Haitian Revolution extended into the success of the region both socially and politically.”He noted that the French speaking CARICOM country has demonstrated its resilience to the world on several occasions.“The courage and fortitude of the Haitian people have served as an inspiration to the people of the Region. The contribution of the country to the world of art, music, literature and academia has gained Haiti international renown.”The Secretary General, in his letter to the President of Haiti, Jovenel Moïse, said that as the regional grouping looks forward to Haiti's leadership of CARICOM, the nation continues to make its mark through its commitment to the welfare of people with disabilities.“The Caribbean Community salutes Haiti as it continues its journey of self determination,” LaRoque said.By: Jamaicaobserver.com | January 1, 2018
Cracking down on smuggling eggs into Haiti — for people to eat
JIMANI, Dominican Republic — It’s dusk on market day at the Haitian-Dominican border. Throngs of Haitians have cleared Dominican trucks of their wares, stuffing diapers, brooms and food-flavoring mixes into buses, and strapping the overflow to roofs for the return trip to Port-au-Prince.
But off the main drag here, a smuggling operation is underway.
Men and women empty a couple of trucks, tying boxes with colored string and setting them in piles on the ground. Purchasers stack them on wheelbarrows and rush them to nearby Lake Azuei, where wooden boats stand ready for the trip to Haiti.
The contraband is eggs. Demand is high in Haiti, where malnutrition is a real threat for many people. Haitians eat more than 30 million eggs a month, and most cross the border illegally from their only land neighbor, whose eggs can cost half the price.
Haiti essentially banned Dominican eggs in 2008. The move followed discovery of avian flu across the border, but many doubt that’s the main reason. Haiti faces a dilemma familiar to many countries: Keep prices low by allowing free trade, or restricting imports and encouraging domestic production, even though that is likely to drive up prices, at least in the short term.
Officials say its goal tightening the border should help create an internal market. Instead, dysfunction and lack of investment feed a vicious cycle that perpetuates Haiti’s status as the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country. The government has paid more attention to the border than to the other half of the strategy — boosting local production. But it hasn’t fully implemented either part, frustrating nearly everyone.
The border briefly re-opened to Dominican eggs after a devastating earthquake in 2010. But the next year, Haitian authorities cracked down with greater determination. Four years later, they banned 23 more common items, including pasta, snacks and cement mix from crossing the land border, citing the inability of customs officers to properly inspect and levy duties. Those products continue to pass as contraband, helping fill the boats on Lake Azuei.
While improving border controls might increase customs revenue, much of the public sees the effort as heavy-handed and arbitrary, especially when it’s not accompanied by strong efforts to develop the economy. The patchwork of half-measures makes life in Haiti even more precarious.
Those bringing Dominican eggs into Haiti never know if they will make it back to Port-au-Prince with their cargo, or if it will be seized. Haitian producers brace for a glut of cheap eggs during the Dominican tourism industry’s off-season. Uncertainty makes banks reluctant to provide loans to new producers.
Much of what is sold in Port-au-Prince comes from the twice-weekly market a couple of hours away in Jimani, where Haitians bargain heatedly before loading up and heading home.
Jocelyn Lefevre, who sells Haitian chickens and Dominican eggs in a Port-au-Prince open market, rails against the government for the way he is treated at the border.
“The police chase us, and the customs agents take our stuff while letting other merchandise go through!” he said. Besides, it’s expensive to travel to the border and to change money. But it’s still a better deal than buying Haitian eggs.
One problem, officials say, is the high cost of entering the poultry business in Haiti. To make a profit, you need a minimum of 10,000 hens, said Michel Chancy, a former Ministry of Agriculture official who now advises the government. Buying imported birds and cages, as most Haitian egg producers do, can cost $30 a bird, he said. The biggest expense after that is feed, whose ingredients generally come from the United States.
Haiti Broilers, a joint Haitian-Jamaican company producing chicken near Port-au-Prince, expanded into the egg market four years ago and is now the biggest supplier in Haiti, with 400,000 hens. The expansion created 200 more jobs.
Dominique Charles Jean, hatchery manager for Haiti Broilers, said the company financed its Haiti operations by itself, but the government helped with paperwork that reduced import duties on feed and equipment.
Damonclès Thermeus, who heads the Ministry of Agriculture’s unit on poultry production, foresees many more jobs in a growing egg and poultry industry, plus jobs for people growing corn and other ingredients for feed. If the ministry prioritizes egg production and invests every year, Haiti can reach self-sufficiency in eggs in 15 to 25 years, he said.
In particular, Thermeus and Chancy say, the government should provide technical assistance for producers, facilitate bulk purchases of feed for multiple producers, and provide incentives for banks to lend at low rates. But Chancy still thinks that securing the border is job one.
He knows it’s not easy. Last March, Chancy helped draft a plan to increase domestic egg production. The plan declared it “practically impossible to eliminate egg contraband at the border” due to the interdependence of the Haitian market and Dominican producers.
But it’s worth working toward that goal, Chancy said, citing an increase in domestic production since 2011. “That interdiction is an opportunity for us to invest,” he said.
In the last six years, Haitian companies have gone from producing a million eggs a month to 7 million. That’s a lot of eggs, but it still means that Haitian producers are providing less than one per month for each of the country’s 11 million people.
Max Antoine, who heads the government commission on border management, said political instability — a recent history of disputed elections, deposed leaders and interim governments — has made it difficult to secure the border. There also are budget and morale problems. Smugglers have attacked agents, and customs posts have been burned.
Many merchants in Port-au-Prince hate their country’s reliance on imported food, but also hate the government’s remedy.
Jorel Hibart buys eggs from sellers like Lefevre and fries them to sell in breakfast plates on a Port-au-Prince street. He said Haitian eggs would cost more, and he can’t afford it.
Hibart wants the government to focus on creating jobs and developing the economy. He doesn’t like depending on the Dominican Republic, which Haiti ruled long ago. But the idea that the government would cut his supply of eggs agitates him. If they do that, he cried, “We’ll all die in this country!”
“All of this stuff is Dominican,” he said, pointing angrily around his cluttered cooking table.
Then he paused to serve his next customer a heaping plate of fried Dominican egg with Dominican spaghetti and Dominican tomato sauce — a classic Haitian breakfast.
This story was produced in association with Round Earth Media, which is supporting the next generation of global journalists. Michel Joseph contributed to the report.
Haiti - Venezuela : «Haiti continues to be a model for our America» dixit Nicolás Maduro
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro Moros, and the Venezuelan people extend their sincere congratulations to the Government and the sister Republic of Haiti to commemorate the 214 years of its independence."Haiti has always been an example of libertarian principles, of advocacy and equality. The steadfastness, perseverance and revolutionary character of its people are historical elements that continue to be a model for Our America and for the world.The homeland of Bolívar and Chávez sends its warmest congratulations on the occasion of this National Day and reaffirms its commitment to honor the Republic of Haiti and the historical legacy of giants such as Alexandre Pétion and Toussaint Louverture; to continue the struggle for equality, sovereignty, social justice and the promotion of integration in Latin America and the Caribbean through initiatives such as Petrocaribe and ALBA."Recalling in his message, that the late leader of the Bolivarian Revolution, Commander Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (died March 5, 2013 http://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-8024-haiti-flash-president-hugo-chavez-passed-away.html ) had said about Haiti, January 17, 2010 "Haiti, the first black republic of the world and the first Republic of Our America from January 1, 1804, managed to defeat the Napoleonic troops after 12 years of struggle. Haiti: that of the black Jacobins, that of Toussaint Louverture and Alexandre Pétion. Haiti: that of Miranda arrived with his dream of liberating a whole continent and as it will happen with Bolivar which received all the solidarity and the support of the black Jacobins and hoist for the first time our flag on March 12th, 1806.""The homeland of Petión is also the homeland of Bolivar.¡ Que viva Haití !"By: HL/ HaitiLibre.com | January 2, 2018
Reggie 'Combat Jack' Ossé, Hip-Hop Journalist And Podcaster, Dies At 48
Reggie Ossé, better known to the hip-hop world as podcast host Combat Jack, has passed away from colon cancer. Chris Morrow, Ossé's friend and his co-founder of Loud Speaker Networks, confirmed his death, telling NPR that he died this morning at Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital in New York. Ossé was 48 years old.In October of this year, Ossé shared that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of colon cancer with his fans online.Ossé was born and raised in Brooklyn. Before Combat Jack, he worked as music attorney, representing the likes of Jay-Z and Capone-N-Noreaga during the fledgling stages of their careers. In 1989, Ossé switched from entertainment law to entertainment journalism. He would go on to work for MTV Networks before launching his own Internet radio show titled The Combat Jack Show in 2010.The Combat Jack Show started on a lark — with a crazy crew of sidemen including Dallas Penn, Premium Pete, an occasional Just Blaze, DJ Benhameen and producer A-King — on its way to becoming a pioneering hip-hop podcast. The show scored some of the rarest and rawest hip-hop interviews of an era when rap's center of gravity started its move toward the Internet. Ossé was able to get gems out of otherwise reserved or reclusive rappers by employing a type of interview style many emulate today. From Scarface playing guitar live and proclaiming his love for Pink Floyd to Prodigy detailing his own childhood kidnapping to J. Cole telling the story of how he wanted to sign Kendrick Lamar, listeners knew they would always get something special out of a Combat Jack interview.Ossé co-founded the Loud Speakers Network, a family of podcasts, in 2013. Before his passing, Ossé produced and hosted groundbreaking podcast Mogul: The Life & Death of Chris Lighty earlier this year. Produced in conjunction with Gimlet Media, the series about the life and death of the notable hip-hop industry executive Chris Lighty became hip-hop's first serial narrative podcast when it debuted on Spotify. "For Reggie to bring back the legacy of my brother Chris through the Mogul series was monumental for me and the culture of hip-hop," Chris's brother Dave Lighty tells NPR.In an interview with NPR Music earlier this year, Ossé explained why he felt it was necessary to champion Lighty's work ethic and accomplishments."Our culture is so rich — not just in hip-hop but [black culture]," Ossé said. "We have been the creators of culture since we hit this land. Let's look beyond the parameters that we already know and just really try to expand the dimensions of telling our stories."By: Sidney Madden for NPR.com | December 20, 2017
Seismic shock at the border
The Directorate of Civil Protection reports that there was an earthquake Tuesday before dawn in Hinche and Maïssade, then less than one hour intervals to Belladère and Savanette...For its part, the Technical Unit of Seismology (UTS) of BME indicates that a quake of magnitude 3.8 on the Richter scale occurred Tuesday, December 19 at 3:42 am and 19 seconds.The epicenter was located on the Haitian-Dominican border at 12.2km east of Thomonde, 14.8 km north of Bemmadère and 17.8km north of Lascahobas. The shock was widely felt in Belladère and Lascahobas.No damage was reported from the authorities.By: HL/ HaitiLibre | December 20, 2017
Haiti’s Beloved Troubadour Emmanuel “Manno” Charlemagne Dies at 69
And Haiti’s beloved folk singer and troubadour Emmanuel “Manno” Charlemagne has died in a Miami Beach hospital at the age of 69. Through his music, Charlemagne helped inspire a generation of Haitians to rebel against longtime dictator François Duvalier. He was often called the Haitian Bob Marley. He briefly served as mayor of Port-au-Prince in the 1990s.By: Democracynow.org| November 14, 2017
Commissioning ceremony a major milestone for student from Haiti
PITTSBURG, KANSAS - Clyvens Exantus is on the cusp of accomplishing two of his life goals in one day. The 25-year-old Pittsburg State student and Army ROTC cadet is set to commission as a Second Lieutenant and earn his bachelor’s degree in political science on Friday.“If you’d have told me this 10 years ago, I don’t think I’d have believed you,” said Exantus. “I’ve have wondered what you were up to, because it probably would have been no good.”Ten years ago, Exantus was living 2,000 miles away in his home country of Haiti. Exantus’ parents moved to the U.S. when he was a child in order to seek a better life for him and his siblings, who stayed behind in Haiti.“I grew up with my grandmother first,” said Exantus. “She passed away when I was about 10. I then was sent to live with my Auntie whose name was Sheila. She put an emphasis on going to school."Because they had moved to the U.S., his parents were able to pay for private school.“That’s a luxury not every kid in Haiti has,” said Exantus. “Now, I just want to emphasize what private school in Haiti is.” He pauses for a chuckle before adding, “It’s not the private school of here, but still, I was able to get an education.”Thanks to his aunt’s insistence on the importance of academics, and his parents’ financial support, Exantus began to see the possibilities an education could provide.“Most of my peers weren’t going to high school,” said Exantus. “My auntie and grandma really wanted me to be different. I guess I inherited their competitive nature. I wanted to do better than the rest of my peers. I had dreams of becoming a lawyer.”After spending his entire childhood away from his parents, Exantus found himself, at the age of 17, moving from Haiti live with them in Maryland.“It was a culture shock,” said Exantus. “There was no uniform to wear, buses came to pick you up and you didn’t have to pay the woman who drove you to school.”Not only did Exantus have to learn a new culture, he also had to reconsider his relationship with his parents — especially his father, who had transformed his own life from math teacher in Haiti to non-commissioned officer in the Army.“I’d never lived with my dad,” said Exantus. “So, I had this picture in my head of a math teacher. But then I came to live with him and here was this incredibly competitive man. He woke up early for P.T. (physical training), and took pride in what he did. His Army friends would come over and I remember thinking, ‘I want that type of brotherhood.’ So, I knew I wanted to join the Army.”His parents would move several times over the subsequent years, eventually settling in Fort Riley, Kansas, where his father currently is stationed. It was at PSU that Exantus was able to combine his two passions, military and academics, into one by contracting in the ROTC program.“I actually Googled colleges in Kansas, and Pittsburg State showed up,” said Exantus. “I saw the Gorilla mascot and thought, ‘Well, this is unique.’ When I toured campus, I was shown the ROTC Hall of Fame and that’s what sold me. I saw the type of people that graduated from here. I went home and told my dad I knew where I was going.”Exantus has made the most of his time while at PSU, and, according to Major Eric Hollingsworth of PSU’s Military Science department, he has a bright future.“He’s a hard worker, and he’s hungry,” said Hollingsworth. “A lot of the cadets haven’t had the trying life experience Clyvens has had. He’s definitely an outstanding example of the type of officer this program is known for producing.”For his part, Exantus understands the tremendous opportunities he’s had from Pittsburg State and the Army.“I can’t say thank you enough,” he said. “Think about it: A kid from the poorest country in the western hemisphere. For me to get an opportunity to come to Pittsburg State and not only graduate college, but to also commission in the United States Army, the greatest fighting force the world has ever seen. It’s beyond my wildest dreams.”Pittsburg State University’s ROTC Commissioning will take place at 10 a.m., on Friday, Dec. 15, in the Dean Family VIP Room at the Bicknell Family Center for the Arts.By: KOAM 7 News Koamtv.com : December 12, 2017
Haitian Women Seek Support for Children Fathered by UN Troops
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA — Lawyers representing 10 Haitian women who say they had children with U.N. peacekeepers have filed the first legal actions in Haiti against the U.N. and individual peacekeepers for child support and paternity claims.The lawsuits filed by the Haiti-based human rights group Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI) are part of a legal battle by Haitian women to force peacekeepers who they say fathered their children to contribute to their upbringing."Having and then abandoning children is not within the official capacity of a U.N. peacekeeper and therefore we argue that this does give a Haitian court jurisdiction to resolve paternity and child support claims," Nicole Phillips, a lawyer at the U.S.-based Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), who is working on the case, said Tuesday.Ten mothers of 11 children who they say were abandoned by U.N. troops are seeking financial support from them. One of the mothers was 17 when she gave birth, which amounts to statutory rape under Haitian law, the IJDH said.Under the U.N.'s "zero-tolerance policy," sexual relationships between peacekeepers and residents of countries hosting a U.N. mission are strongly discouraged.Farhan Haq, a spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation responsibility for child support rests with those "individuals who have been established to have fathered children."The United Nations "cannot legally establish paternity or child support entitlements ... compensation is a matter of personal accountability to be determined under national legal processes," Haq said by email.The 13-year U.N. mission left Haiti in October after being sent in to stabilize a country plagued by political turmoil.The mission introduced a cholera epidemic that killed 10,000 people and has been dogged by accusations of sexual assault.The Haitian mothers are struggling to bring up their children they say were fathered by soldiers from the U.N.'s peacekeeping force stationed in Haiti, known as MINUSTAH, who came from Uruguay, Argentina, Nigeria and Sri Lanka, said their lawyer, Mario Joseph at BAI, who filed the lawsuits."These mothers and their children face severe economic difficulties and discrimination," he said, adding that six of the mothers were left homeless after Hurricane Matthew devastated the Caribbean island last year.By: VOANews.com | December 12, 2017
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.”
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
Haitian American Students Association Holds Sit-In After Trump Administration’s TPS Decision
“So even if I’m here and I feel good my friends are aware of this I’m still bitter, very bitter.”
“When I say Haiti, you say ‘Rise Up,’” Mathania Toussaint, the PR chair for Haitian American Student Association (HASA), instructed the group of students and allies gathered on the steps of Kimmel Thursday night. Toussaint lead them in the chant, which swelled with each call and response.
This was the scene from the sit-in, organized in response to the Trump administration’s recent decision to strip immigrants of their Temporary Protected Status (TPS). HASA said it was necessary to bring attention to the move, which will affect immigrants from Honduras, Nicaragua, Sudan and Haiti, because they believe the issue has been overlooked in discourse regarding immigrant struggles.
“After we first found out about the decision, HASA was kind of scrambling because we found out about it over Thanksgiving break and had a planned meeting,” Toussaint said. “So we flipped everything because this is more important. We need to talk about TPS. Trump has systematically removed immigrants of color from the U.S., it’s been group by group.”
Initially, Toussaint expressed qualms about the prospect of organizing the demonstration because she hadn’t planned a protest before. But the reaction from students, especially Haitian students like sophomore Fatima Julien, made it abundantly clear her decision to highlight this issue was necessary.
“After finding out about the TPS removal, I was like ‘Shit, what are we going to do…What can I do?’” Julien said. “Then finding out about the sit-in I harassed all my social media followers saying ‘Come: if you’re a social justice type I’m taking attendance.’”
“Being here, especially during the chant,” Julien continued, “I got a little emotional but it was good. It feels nice to be able to say that I was here and that my friends know about it.”
Julien, who immigrated to the U.S. two years ago, has family members who will be directly affected by the decision: a sister will have to return and cousins that were trapped under the rubble of the massive 2010 earthquake, will also be forced out of the U.S. In light of their trauma, Julien expressed trepidation about them returning to Haiti.
Despite those fears, she also made it clear she and her family would continue fighting to ensure everyone remained in the states.
The sit-in was planned to operate with the goals of bringing attention to the TPS matter and educating attendees on ways to help those affected going forward. Albert Saint Jean, the New York organizing fellow at the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) and Ellie Happel an NYU Law graduate, both provided information on the latter.
Saint Jean recommended students reach out to organizations such as Haitian Women for Haitian refugees, Haitian Americans United for Progress and, the one he’s a part of, BAJI. “Because we’re actually in the communities doing work, helping people to get legal access,” he explained.
He added that often the help impacted communities need isn’t complex and can be as simple as assisting a family with filing paperwork.
Similarly, Happel suggested that helping the Haitian community could be very doable right here at NYU — with NYU Law and undergrads collaborating to monitor what’s happening in Congress, in Haitian neighborhoods and responding accordingly.
After the sit-in’s moment of silence for Haitians affected by the cholera epidemic the nation is still recovering from, attendees began to gather their belongings to leave. HASA president, Fabrice Juin, left those gathered with a final message.
“I personally only see things like these — sit-ins — as beneficial and productive if every single one of you leaves the space with more knowledge and ready to help physically and tangibly,” Juin said. “Thank you for showing up but I also want to let you know pay attention and ask yourself ‘What can I do in my own way to help the cause?’”
By: Arimeta Diop for NYUlocal.com | December 11, 2017
UN to Haiti: 'Proof is in the pudding' on Corruption
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) — The United Nations, which last month launched a fresh mission to promote long-term development in Haiti, has had it with nice words: when it comes to corruption and human rights, "the proof is in the pudding.""They have said they want to fight corruption, so they have to take responsibility," insisted Susan Page, who is heading the UN Mission for Justice Support in Haiti (MINUJUSTH)."I'm going to take them at their word, but I'm also going to help them if that is really what they want," the American career diplomat said.Elected president after an electoral crisis that paralyzed the country for two years, Jovenel Moise insists he is going to use his time in office to clean up Haitian politics."Corruption, in all its forms, eats away and atrophies the economy, it profoundly weakens the political foundations and destabilizes society's social tissue: corruption is a crime against development," the president, who took office earlier this year, told the UN general assembly in New York in September.The concern is that his words are taking their time in being translated into action. In late August, a minister was sacked over corruption allegations, but no legal action has yet been taken.The new UN mission starts just as one of the symbols of financial waste in Haiti resurfaces: on Thursday, the Senate will debate a parliamentary report accusing a dozen former ministers, who held office between 2010 and 2016, of "fraud on a grand scale.""We'll see how they react, not just in regard to the report but in general," said Page, pointing to Haitian institutions in charge of fighting corruption and money laundering."Will they strengthen the capabilities of agents in these organizations? Really put investigations in place which they will then pursue to the very end? Will they bring people to justice? We will see."Gnawed away by corruption, the country's justice system is notoriously slow-moving. Its prison population, 400 percent above capacity, is one of the highest in the world.Maintaining the rule of law also demands a real commitment to improving conditions in detention centers, but there, too, MINUJUSTH will not take the lead."It's an age-old problem that the Haitians will have to sort out themselves," said Page. "We are here to support, not to do it for them. They need to have the political will to do it."Restoring the UN's image in Haiti during this new mission will prove almost as big a task as overhauling its justice system.The 13 years of the preceding UN mission, known as MINUSTAH, were blighted by sex crimes perpetrated against Haitian woman and children by UN police and peacekeeping troops, as well as a cholera epidemic sparked by Nepalese peacekeepers that has already claimed 10,000 lives.MINUJUSTH is the UN's sixth peacekeeping mission in Haiti over the past 25 years, a country where there is very little risk of civil war, regional conflict or terrorist attacks. The label "peacekeeping" exasperates many Haitian politicians, who may support the drive against corruption but also want a debate to redefine the UN mandate.Aware of that debate, Page prefers not to take sides: "The UN Security Council considers it necessary to keep a certain level of stability here and to tackle the great challenges which threaten long-term development... that is not a mandate for development – that is to enable a transition between a peacekeeping mission and a lasting development."
By: Jamaicaobserver.com | November 29, 2017
Haiti - Humanitarian : $250,000 donation from Haiti to Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica
After providing urgent humanitarian aid to Turks & Caicos Islands, badly affected by the passage of hurricanes Irma and Maria (630 generators, 1,000 sheets of plywood, 4,500 tarpaulins, 2,000 gypsum boards and 4,000 sheets among others). Permanent Representative of Haiti to the UN, Ambassador Denis Regis at the last high-level donor conference for the Caribbean in New York, announced Haiti's assistance to the Antigua and Barbuda Islands and Dominica $ 250,000 each.In his speech, Ambassador Regis explained "[...] The Republic of Haiti, having been hit hard by a series of deadly natural disasters over the last 10 years, [...] knows from experience the multiplicity of obstacles to which is faced the reconstruction and rehabilitation of critical infrastructure, especially in countries such as ours or structural handicaps are legion and the public investment capacity is so precarious [...][...] in response to the recent call by the CARICOM countries, I have the honor to announce that the Government of Haiti, despite the difficult economic and financial situation of the country, but fully involved in international solidarity is pleased to contribute US $ 250,000 to the reconstruction efforts of each of the sister nations of Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica, so hard hit by hurricanes Irma and Maria [...][...] These contributions, although modest, are nonetheless a testimony of friendship and fraternity, in the tradition of mutual aid and regional solidarity of the Caribbean Community, and in the spirit of international cooperation [...]"By: HL/ PI/ HaitiLibre | November 30,2017