10 years after devastating earthquake, Haitian Latter-day Saints welcome friends to nation's first temple
Unimaginable horror fell upon Haiti in the opening month of 2010 when a massive earthquake claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and displaced legions more.
The disaster prompted a world-wide humanitarian response — including tens of millions of dollars from the Church to help fund food, clean water and other disaster aid efforts.
Almost a decade later, the quake recovery continues. But Haitian Latter-day Saints are celebrating this week as they welcome their friends and neighbors to their nation’s first temple.
The Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple public open house officially begins on Tuesday, Aug. 6 — although a few visitors have already toured the new edifice, surrounded by lush gardens reflective of Caribbean flora.
“I can’t believe my eyes,” said Michael Paquette, a Canadian who was one of the first international missionaries to serve in Haiti in the 1980s. “I used to walk up and down this road outside the temple, Route de Freres. (That) was in the early days of missionary work; now there are (several) stakes here in Port-au-Prince. Now the temple is here.”
The building’s beauty is amazing, he added. “It is very special for the saints in Haiti.”
Counted among the first visitors to the Port-au-Prince temple was a delegation from the U.S. Embassy. They were hosted by Caribbean Area President Elder José Alonso, a General Authority Seventy, and Elder Bien Aimé Huberman, an Area Seventy and chairman of the temple’s organizing committee.
Elder Huberman noted the historic significance of having a temple operating in his homeland.
"The temple is, first and foremost, important because the members will be able to do their sacred ordinances,” he said.
In the past, the high cost of travel and passports prevented many Haitian Latter-day Saints from worshipping regularly inside temples in neighboring Dominican Republic and other nearby nations.
“(Now) we will also be able to go to the temple in our own country with our friends, family and our own people,” he said. “It is a new day for us, a new program. We are very satisfied. Everyone is excited and we are ready now for the open house to begin."
The Port-au-Prince temple is distinctly Haitian.
Turquoise blue and lime green carpets throughout the interior mimic the neighboring sea and the island’s fecund plant life. It’s patterned after an array of local vegetation — including palm leaves, tropical flowers and the hibiscus, Haiti’s national flower, according to a Church-provided facts report.
Palm leaf motifs are found in several areas of the temple such as the celestial room, sealing room, baptistry and foyer. Palm leaves, of course, were used to celebrate Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem.
Temple visitors will also spot hibiscus-inspired wall plaster patterns in the brides’ room.
Artwork adorning the Port-au-Prince temple includes two original works: “Haiti Palm Trees by the Sea” and “Mountains near Port-au-Prince,” both by Russian artist Emin Zulfugarov, the report noted.
The public open house will continue through Saturday, Aug. 17 — except for Sunday, Aug. 11.
A youth devotional in Haiti will be held on the eve of the Sept. 1 dedication of the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple. The temple will open for ordinances on Sept. 10.
Haiti is home to more than 23,000 Latter-day Saints.
By: Jason Swensen for churchnews.com | August 5, 2019
Artists struggle to save Haiti museum after 2010 earthquake
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti—Franck Louissaint sighed and frowned as he stepped onto his patio and flung aside shower curtains protecting a painting by a former voodoo priest who became a renowned Haitian artist.
The painting from the 1960s once depicted a seemingly joyous voodoo spirit known as a loa, but it warped into something that looked like a three-dimensional satellite image of mountains after it was damaged by rubble and waterlogged when a 2010 earthquake hit the museum where it was displayed.
“It’s like the skin of a crocodile!” exclaimed Mr. Louissaint, an artist who expects seven more months of work to fully restore the painting by Robert Saint-Brice.
It is one of dozens of well-known paintings that artists are still trying to rescue nearly a decade after the magnitude 7.0 quake killed an estimated 300,000 people or more and struck countless buildings, including the Museum of Haitian Art of St. Pierre College—one of the country’s top institutions. More than 600 other watercolors and paintings by prominent artists are still in storage and in danger of decaying as a small group of artists struggles to restore the damaged works.
While life has begun anew for much of Haiti since the quake, the museum has been shuttered for nine years and only recently opened a tiny room to display a small quantity of art.
On a recent day, 91-year-old museum president Louis DuBois walked briskly through the building, pointing out the damaged roof and walls as he occasionally put on his glasses to inspect certain paintings.
“We have to reopen to the public,” he said. “All the great artists are here.”
The quake also devastated other public spaces dedicated to art across Haiti, with $30 million in losses reported at the Museum d’Art Nader, which had one of the world’s most extensive collections of Haitian art.
But the Museum of Haitian Art is one of the few worldwide to host Haitian paintings from the 20th century. The museum, which previously drew 9,000 visitors a year, was established in the 1970s by art lovers to commemorate U.S. painter DeWitt Peters and is tucked into the southeast corner of Port-au-Prince’s historic area. It features mostly donated artwork.
Fewer than a dozen paintings are currently on display, including one titled “Marriage of Interest” by Rigaud Benoit, who is considered a master of Haitian painting, and “Tower of Babel” by Prefete Duffaut, whose work was collected by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Both men also painted murals inside a cathedral in Port-au-Prince that was flattened by the earthquake.
The museum’s oldest painting dates to 1945 and is by seminal Haitian artist Hector Hyppolite.
The Smithsonian Institution has helped the museum restore some paintings, as has the Louvre, which also donated 1,000 copies of a catalog illustrating all of Mr. Hyppolite’s paintings so local officials could sell them to help generate money.
But the museum still has blank, white walls, with hundreds of works stacked in a narrow storage area exposed to heat, humidity and other dangers. They are taken out only for the occasional cleaning while the more than 30 earth-quake-damaged works are being restored.
Among those needing attention is a 1960s lush jungle scene by Jean-Claude Toussaint, which is nearly ripped in half and also slashed diagonally. The painting remains rolled up with yellowed masking tape that has lost its stickiness.
Mr. DuBois estimates that the museum needs $50,000 to reopen, noting the roof must be fixed and the electricity repaired before additional paintings can be displayed.
For now, he and others are relying solely on the restoration efforts of artists such as Erntz Jeudy of nearby Quisqueya University.
Mr. Jeudy recently sat in front of a 71-by-79-inch painting by Miami-based artist Edouard Duval Carrie titled “The Republican Army of Santo Domingo,” which was stripped down to blank canvas in certain areas.
“This means a lot to me because it’s the restoration of a very rich heritage,” he said. “It’s great to be able to work and transmit this to future generations.”
It’s a feeling familiar for Mr. Louissaint, who works up to 10 hours at a time to restore Mr. Brice’s painting. He said it makes him proud to have permission to touch such artwork.
“It’s the story of the old Haiti,” he said. “It starts to live again.” (AP)
Haiti's Notorious Gang Leader Arnel Joseph Arrested
WASHINGTON/PORT-AU-PRINCE - A wounded Arnel Joseph was lying on a stretcher, ready to be wheeled into an operating room at the Bonne Fin hospital of Les Cayes, a Caribbean seaport located in Haiti's southern region, when members of a special unit of the National Police Force's (PNH) swooped in to arrest him.
"We've captured Arnel!" the officers shouted angrily, then they fired their weapons into the air, in a video seen by VOA Creole.
The alleged gang leader, considered to be one of the country's most dangerous and wanted fugitives, was awaiting surgery on his wounded leg, when he was found and captured, according to National Police Chief Michel Ange Gedeon. The leg was wounded during a fire fight with rival gang leader Ti Sourit, Arnel told reporters as they snapped photos and recorded video of him after his arrest.
Police Chief Gédeon tweeted the news to a stunned nation.
Le chef de gang Arnel Joseph très recherché depuis des mois par la @pnh_officiel a été appréhendé ce lundi à l’Hôpital Bonne Fin (Cayes). Remerciements à nos policiers et à la population haïtienne.#PNH #ArnelJoseph
6568:42 PM - Jul 22, 2019Twitter Ads info and privacy317 people are talking about this
"The gang leader Arnel Joseph (who) the national police force spent months trying to locate has been apprehended Monday at the Hopital Bonne Fin (Cayes). Thank you to our police officers and to the people of Haiti."
The police had been tracking him for months and suspected he was hiding out in the lush seaside of Artibonite in the agricultural region of the country.
Gedeon said the arrest "had been an obsession for the 15,000 police officers of the institution," during an interview with radio station Magik9 Tuesday morning.
In 2018, PNH had offered a $27,000 reward (2 million gourdes) for any information leading to Arnel's arrest.
Post arrest photos go viral
Photos of the tall, thin young man in his 20s, lying naked on a dirt surface as people shouted questions at him quickly went viral on Haitian social media Monday night. In one photo obtained by VOA Creole, the tan Timberland-style boot of a police officer wearing camouflage pants can be seen pressing down on his chest. Arnel looks up in bewilderment.
The image sparked questions about whether human rights activists and MINUJUSTH, The United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti would investigate the circumstances of Arnel's arrest and his treatment by police afterward. The special unit had decided to move in on Arnel before the surgical procedure, rather than waiting until after it was over to swoop in.
MINUJUSTH's stated mission is "strengthening Haiti's rule of law institutions, developing the Haitian National Police, and promoting and protecting human rights."
Who is Arnel Joseph?
The 20-something Arnel had been arrested and sentenced to six years in jail in 2011 for the murder of several policemen. He was released in May of 2017. Haiti's penal code is based on the French judicial system. It is unclear how his sentence was determined.
Arnel is accused of terrorizing residents of the Village de Dieu slum of the capital, and more recently of robbing trucks loaded with merchandise, raping, kidnapping and attacking motorists on National Highway #1, which links the capital and cities to the north.
In a conversation with journalists posted on YouTube, he said he considers himself to be a "representative" of the Village de Dieu slum of the capital, Port-au-Prince. "Our revolution is the Haitian people's revolution," he said.
Links to lawmakers
In April, the discovery of of 24 mobile calls between Arnel and Senator Garcia Delva roiled the nation. Senator Delva, who represents the Artibonite agricultural department of the country where the alleged gang leader had been hiding out, denied any wrongdoing.
"I only have one position on this," he told reporters. "If the commission finds that I, in my conversations with Arnel, ever agreed to associate myself with his (illegal) activities then I agree and accept to pay the consequences. For once, this country needs justice."
When journalists pressed him about why he was in contact with the gang leader in the first place, Delva responded that he "talks to everyone."
"Everyone knows my number, I've never changed it - so everyone calls me - anyone can call me. Anyway, I don't think I'm the only one who converses with him," Delva said. The senator refused to divulge what they discussed and alleged that prominent Haitian businessman and opposition leader Reginald Boulos recognizes Arnel as a community leader. He said Boulos confirmed that in a conversation with a local radio station.
How the phone calls were tracked remains unclear.
Senator Senatus told reporters the commission (Senate Commission for Justice, Security and Defense) had received information that led to them asking the National Telecommunications Council (CONATEL) to provide information about the calls made to and from Senator Delva's phone. But Jean David Rodney, the institution's executive director, denied ever receiving such a request in an interview with Haiti Libre newspaper. He said CONATEL has "no direct relationship with the Senate."
Former Senate leader Youri Latortue, who also represents the Artibonite region in the Senate, echoed his colleague Delva's claims about other prominent politicians being linked to the gang leader.
"I think there are a lot of other names on the list of connections to Arnel," Latortue told VOA Creole. "For example there's Vladimir Jean-Louis "Ti Vlad" who does security work for (former president Michel) Martelly - he's on the list too. We have to investigate the links between what they said exists (between) - the president and the thugs - because some people say it was the president who brought Arnel to Port au Prince.
Those allegations remain unsubstantiated.
Conditions to turn himself in to law enforcement
Prior to his arrest on Monday, Arnel expressed a willingness to turn himself in if the government met certain conditions.
His conditions were: finishing potable water projects, building roads, boosting agriculture and providing electricity to the population.
What's next?
Arnel's capture put an end to years of living on the lam, but the police investigation into his criminal activities continues, according to Carl-Henry Boucher, the administrative director of the national police force.
On social media, reaction to the arrest was mixed.
"Good Job" @michaljoseph9341 commented on VOA Creole's Instagram page.
User @albandywedson questioned why the police waited until he sought treatment to arrest him.
And @benaldo_paul was skeptical of justice really being served, commenting "jomo (President Jovenel Moise) and the honorable garcia delva will have him released."
Another Medal for Haiti Swimming at the 2019 CCCAN Games in Barbados!
The Haitian National Swim Team sent a 4 person delegation: Coach Alain Sergile (1996 Haitian Olympian) and athletes Laila Michel, Emilie Grand’Pierre and Alexandre Grand’Pierre to the CCCAN Games in Barbados June 28th - July 2nd.Our fourth athlete Davidson Vincent was set to swim the 50 & 100 fly and participate in the first ever Haitian Relay Team. Unfortunately, due to Visa issues, he was unable to travel from Haiti. We are working hard to resolve this issue and complete our Relay Team.
A Silver Medal was won by Emilie Grand’Pierre in the 50m breaststroke. Her swim of 35.26 set a new Haitian Record.New Haitian Records were set by Laila Michel in the 200m Butterfly (2:41.37).Alexandre Grand'Pierre in the 200m IM (2:19.00), 50m breaststroke (31.89) and the 100m breaststroke (1:07.57).and Emilie Grand'Pierre in the 200m IM (2:35.07) and 100m breaststroke (1:18.10).Congratulations to our Athletes for proudly representing our Flag! Thank you so much to CARIBBEAN APPAREL for providing the team uniforms and to individual contributors for Supporting Our Movement!
Help Us Qualify Our First Ever Haitian Relay Team to the 2020 Games!Contribute Here!ANSAM, NAP MACHE PRAN YO!Their next competition is World Championships on July 21-28 in South Korea.https://www.haitiroadtotokyo.com
Information provided by: Sons and Daughters of Haiti INC (SNDHAITI) - July 10, 2019
NEWSHaiti rallies to beat Costa Rica, finishes atop Group B in Gold Cup
HARRISON, N.J. — Haiti made history Monday night, topping a group for the first time in seven Concacaf Gold Cup appearances when it rallied to defeat Costa Rica in front of 17,554 fans at Red Bull Arena.
Les Grenadiers leapfrogged the Ticos on the final day of Group B and will face Canada in the quarterfinals Saturday in Houston. Costa Rica, which would have won the group with a draw, will meet Mexico, also at NRG Stadium.
“I think it’s a confidence boost,” New York Red Bulls winger Derrick Etienne Jr. said. “Costa Rica is a very good team, they showed that. We were able to get a win, a good team performance and we just showed that we’re willing to fight.”
The match was a thrilling display of attacking soccer from both sides, leading to a multitude of chances on either end of the stadium. Costa Rica jumped ahead in the 13th minute courtesy of an own goal by Haitian defender Djimy Bend Alexis.
But the 21-year-old who plays for Capoise in the Haitian league went from unlucky goat to hero late in the second half when he scored what proved to be the winner.
“I’m pretty sure this is one of those days he’ll remember forever,” Haiti coach Marc Collat said through a translator.
Disappointed in the effort in the opening 45 minutes, Haiti regrouped in the locker room at halftime and the second half belonged to them. Duckens Nazon leveled from the penalty spot in the 56th minute after he was knocked over in the top-right edge of the box by Chicago Fire defender Francisco Calvo.
With Costa Rican goalkeeper Leonel Moreira diving the other way, Nazon buried his attempt in the opposite corner.
Haiti continued to probe for the winner as their fans drowned out the Ticos support. Les Grenadiers constant pressure in the second half finally paid off in the 81st minute. Etienne, who had 40-50 family members in attendance, played to Alex Christian.
The defender sent a low ball across the six-yard box where New York City FC fullback Ronald Matarrita tried to stop it. But the ball deflected off his foot and into the path of Alexis, who blasted the ball under the crossbar.
“There were obviously two different halves,” Collat said. “The first half was more of a half for Costa Rica, they were a bit more involved and the second half belonged to Haiti.”
Now Haiti goes from celebrating a first-ever Gold Cup win over Costa Rica to preparing to meet a Canadian team that also has high aspirations in the competition. Canada finished second in Group A behind Mexico.
“Canada is a very good team. We’re going to celebrate tonight, but tomorrow it’s back to preparation and back to grinding,” Etienne said. “We’re going to watch some film, see what their weakness is and what we can attack and see what their strengths are and make sure we’re able to stop that. I think it’s going to be a very good matchup and we’re looking forward to it.”
Costa Rica need to regroup to take on a Mexican team that convincingly won Group A with three wins. The Ticos have never beaten El Tri in seven all-time Gold Cup meetings, losing six times.
“The confidence is still there,” FC Cincinnati defender Kendall Waston said. “Disappointment happens and it’s the way we respond from it is what matters. This is going to help us a lot to wake up.”
Michael Brun Is Taking Haitian Rhythms Global
Brun became famous on the EDM circuit, but his upcoming album ‘Lokal’ channels traditional forms like konpa and rara
In the early 2010s, during the heady days when EDM was clobbering its way into the global pop mainstream, you could have found Michael Brun holding down a set at any number of rave-centric festivals. But when he toured the U.S. in 2017, he was pedaling a very different kind of propulsion: Brun’s Bayo tour brought block-party flair and homegrown talent from his native Haiti to American listeners.
These shows were a creative reintroduction of sorts — the stony dance music that fills Anglo arenas receded, giving way to the more complicated, syncopated rhythms that can be found in the musical traditions of Haiti. These shows also served as the root of Brun’s debut album, Lokal. “[During the initial dates of the Bayo tour] I was playing a lot of afrobeats [from Nigeria], and I was also playing a lot of Haitian music,” the producer recalls. “I was like, what will bridge the gap in my set? I’m gonna make that track.”
The first of these transatlantic bridge songs is “Akwaaba Ayiti,” a motoring rework of a song by the Nigerian star Mr. Eazi, out today; Lokal will follow on the 28th. The album’s arrival coincides with a wave of new attention for Brun: He has been working with the Colombian reggaeton superstar J Balvin and also gained the support of YouTube, which picked him for its Foundry program, an initiative dedicated to elevating international independent artists. Taken together, this marks an emphatic transformation for Brun, from one-time four-on-the-floor maven to transatlantic polymath aiding the spread of Caribbean hybrids throughout the U.S. and Africa.
Brun’s metamorphosis began when he started returning to Haiti regularly to work at the Audio Institute, a non-profit that offers two years of audio education. Brun is on the board — as are Arcade Fire and Paul Oakenfold — but he found himself absorbing new musical language as if he were a student. “Working with rara bands, traditional voodoo rhythms that people would play in big street processions, and a lot of different types of Haitian artists, learning the history of the sounds, it started making a lot more sense,” he says. With familiarity came a new interest.
Between 2016 and 2018, Brun released three songs that captured his gradual immersion in the sounds of his homeland: “Wherever I Go,” “Gaya” and “Bayo.” “After three years in a row trying to mix Haitian music and international music, I was like, ‘I’ve gotta run with this,'” the producer adds. He was encouraged by the enthusiastic responses of artists from both camps — not only the Haitian singer Lakou Muzik but also the international dabbler Diplo.
Brun’s re-immersion in the styles of Haiti came against a backdrop of shifting tastes in the market for pop around the world. “What you considered for years the dominant American pop music style suddenly is not that cool anymore,” the Lisbon-based producer Branko explained last year. “People are looking for other perspectives on pop music that are more interesting, more vibrant, less of a creation of a bunch of A&Rs in a room talking about very abstract concepts. They want something that actually happened in the street and gathered a proper following and then developed into a YouTube hit.” As a result, styles like Brazilian baile funk and Nigerian afrobeats have enjoyed new recognition far from their countries of origin.
That could bode well for Lokal, which achieves moments of poised synthesis. There are traces of house music in “Ede’m Chante” — it samples the Chicago legend Mr. Fingers — and “Peze Kafe,” where keyboards pulse with the comforting tones of Nineties pop-dance cuts. These threads sit easily next to rara horns, which add a thick, blurting energy but require a particular sort of precision. “You play a single tone, and you can only go up and down an octave,” Brun explains. “If you want to play a melody, you have to play it in unison with the person next to you. It’s like trying to play piano with different people on each key.”
Brun also leans on the sound of konpa, a Caribbean hybrid that became popular in the 1950s. “It was really musically advanced, merging jazz, big band and Calypso all into a Haitian sound,” he says. The distinctive metallic guitar sound in “Kale” is sampled from Les Difficiles de Petion-Ville, one of Brun’s favorite konpa acts. “Those guitars are very iconic for Haiti,” he notes.
But the riffs point in other directions as well. “Sometimes when I hear his guitars, it feels like something I might have heard my dad or grandfather play — some traditional Nigerian music,” Mr. Eazi says. And the lean, drubbing beat in “Kale” points in many directions: “It has elements of baile funk; it has elements of dancehall [from Jamaica],” Brun adds.
That’s part of the pleasure of this music: While Brun’s early big-tent tracks had the single-minded appeal that grabs young ravers, Lokal is furthering multiple traditions simultaneously. To hear Mr. Eazi tell it, there’s more of this on the way. “He’s got me singing in French, got me singing in Spanish, got me singing with some creole, got me on soca riddims,” Mr. Eazi says of Brun. “I thought I had good knowledge of music from across the world, but Michael blew that out of the park.”
Accused by judges, Haitian president denies corruption allegations
Port-au-Prince (AFP) - Haitian President Jovenel Moise on Wednesday denied allegations that he was at the center of an embezzlement scheme spanning the last decade.
"I'm looking you in the eye today to say: your president, whom you voted for, is not guilty of corruption," Moise told a press conference.
"The people who mishandled and misused state funds will be brought to justice in a fair, equitable trial without political persecution," he added.
The judges of Haiti's High Court of Auditors said in a voluminous report at the end of May that Moise was at the center of an embezzlement scheme that siphoned off Venezuelan aid money intended for road repairs, laying out what they said was a litany of examples of corruption and mismanagement.
The magistrates said they discovered, for example, that in 2014 Haitian authorities signed contracts with two different companies -- Agritrans and Betexs -- for the same road-repair project. The two turned out to have the same tax registration number and the same personnel.
Before he came to power in 2017, Moise headed Agritrans, which received more than 33 million gourdes ($700,000 at the time) to do the road work, though the company in principle did nothing but grow bananas.
Agritrans received an advance two months before the road-repair contract was signed, leading the magistrates to believe "there was collusion, favoritism and embezzlement."
"To those who think it's alright to criticize the company I led before being president, before being a candidate, I say that justice is doing its work. The business is there and all the paperwork exists," Moise responded Wednesday.
Several thousand demonstrators marched through Port-au-Prince on Sunday to demand Moise's resignation.
Two people were killed by gunfire on the sidelines of the rally, which ended with significant violence and property damage.
Midfielder Bicou Bissainthe Included in Haiti’s 2019 Gold Cup Roster
FRISCO – North Texas Soccer Club midfielder Bicou Bissainthe has been called up to represent Haiti in the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup.
Bissainthe 20, has appeared in every USL League One match for North Texas SC this season, making six substitute appearances and three starts. Bissainthe has yet to make his senior debut for Haiti but played four games for Haiti’s U-20 side in the 2018 Concacaf U-20 Championship where he scored three goals.
Haiti is in Group B for this year’s edition of the Gold Cup and will play matches against Bermuda (June 16), Nicaragua (June 20) and Costa Rica (June 24). Bissainthe will have a chance to play in his home stadium as Haiti’s second group stage match will be played in Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas against Nicaragua.
Two deaths as protesters burn tires, block roads in Haiti
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Protesters denouncing corruption blocked roads and paralyzed much of Haiti’s capital Sunday as they demanded the removal of President Jovenel Moise, while police reported two people killed and five injured.
Demonstrators burned tires and threw stones during the march in Port-au-Prince, where the scent of burning rubber filled the air. Many stores and gas stations were closed and travel between some cities was impeded as protesters blocked roads with cars, stones and other large objects.
Police erected barricades near the presidential palace and fired tear gas to drive away demonstrators who tried to breach them.
Police spokesman Michael-Ange Jeunes said gunshots caused the two deaths and wounded four people. He said a police officer was injured by a thrown rock.
There was no information on who fired the shots.
Louis-Jeunes said protesters set fire to two police cars and two buildings. He said 12 people had been arrested.
Similar protests were held in the Haitian cities of Jacmel, Cap-Haitien, Saint-Marc and Gonaives. Demonstrators came from a wide cross-section of society, including political parties, religious groups and community organizations.
Protesters were demanding further investigation into the fate of funds that resulted from subsidized oil shipments from Venezuela under the Petrocaribe program. A Senate investigation recently determined at least 14 former government officials allegedly misused $3.8 billion under the administration of former President Michel Martelly.
Venezuela’s collapsing economy has forced the South American nation to halt or drastically curtail Petrocaribe shipments, leading to problems for power generation. Many Haitians now receive electricity for only a few hours a day.
Haitian American Swimmer Sets Sights on Tokyo Olympics
WASHINGTON / MIAMI — When Naomy Grand'Pierre was a child, three of her mother's cousins drowned in an accident in Haiti. The event sparked such fear in Grand'Pierre's mother that she made sure her own children would never meet a similar fate. So, she enrolled them in swimming lessons, which changed their lives.
"Swimming lessons led to training, then competitions, and that's how I learned about the Olympic Games and decided I wanted to represent Haiti in this sport," she said.
Grand'Pierre, 22, is Haiti's first female Olympic swimmer. She represented the country at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, where she competed in the 50-meter freestyle event. She finished 56th with a time of 27.46 seconds, not fast enough to advance to the semifinals. Now, the Montreal, Canada-born Haitian American who grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, is training to race in Tokyo, Japan, in 2020.
"The most valuable lesson (I learned from the 2016 Olympics) is that dreams do come true," Grand'Pierre said in a 2017 interview with her sweat, a digital platform dedicated to women's health and fitness.
"It's super cliché, but when I was 10 years old, I really wanted to go to the Olympics. I would tell everybody and would always get negative feedback. People would say, 'You know how hard it is to do that? You're not fast enough.' So, I learned very early on, dreams are super fragile and you only share it with people who are there to encourage you and share that journey with you."
The swimmer, wearing a white jacket adorned with Haiti emblems, was all smiles as she sat down for a conversation with VOA Creole at the Caribbean Marketplace in Miami's Little Haiti neighborhood.
"I train every day," she said. "It takes a lot of dedication, mental strength, but I'm doing everything I can to represent Haiti in the best possible way."
Grand'Pierre currently lives and trains in Atlanta. Her workout routine is a mix of swimming, running, weights and core exercises six days a week.
Haiti's Rio team was the country's largest since 1976 and included 10 athletes (seven men, three women). But they did not medal. In fact, the country has not won an Olympic medal since 1928, when Silvio Cator won silver in the long jump competition and became a national hero.
Budgetary constraints also pose a problem. VOA Creole was unable to get specifics on this year's budget from Haiti's Olympic Committee. But the budget for 2016 was a paltry 4.5 million gourdes (about $45,000), according to a report published in Haiti Libre newspaper.
Some members of the Haitian diaspora in the United States are trying to help. Haitian Ballers, a nonprofit group launched by Haitian American basketball coach Yves Jean, traveled to Haiti with friends in May to announce an initiative to refurbish swimming pools where local athletes can train.
"We're thinking about possibly hotel pools, doing a partnership at hotel pools. Wherever we can find a pool, we would love to get in, but we really need sponsors at this point," said Stacey Blitch, an American sports and fitness specialist who accompanied Haitian Ballers to Port-au-Prince.
Grand'Pierre participated in one of the group's events in Port-au-Prince at a swimming pool at Adventist University of Haiti.
Although the odds seem to be against her, Grand'Pierre remains positive and undeterred.
"I feel very supported by the Haitian community. They are very proud of me, and I get a lot of positive feedback," she said.
Grand'Pierre says the Olympic swim team has launched an online fundraising campaign on HaitiRoadToTokyo.com. Their goal is $150,000. To get the word out, the star swimmer posed for photos, shook hands and gave interviews in Little Haiti. Her next meet and greet with the Haitian community is set for June 13 in Chicago.
SEAL vet dishes on mysterious arrest in Haiti
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — An American security contractor at the center of a mysterious case roiling Haitian politics says that he and a group of fellow veterans were sent to Haiti on a mission to protect a businessman signing a more than $50 million contract at the country’s central bank.
Chris Osman, a 44-year-old retired Navy SEAL, told The Associated Press that he and six fellow contractors were arrested by Haitian police during what was supposed to be a simple Sunday afternoon reconnaissance of the route their client would take to the bank the following day, Feb. 18.
"It went bad for us," he said in the first on-the-record interview by any of the arrested men. "I don't know what the real truth is."
Osman said he and his fellow contractors — carrying a dozen semi-automatic rifles and pistols, along with satellite phones and other gear — had pulled away from the bank when they were stopped by police and detained for three days before they were set free by Haiti's Justice Ministry and allowed to fly home to the U.S., where they were released without charges.
The contractors’ unexplained release and the still-murky nature of their mission have helped fuel political chaos in Haiti, where President Jovenel Moise has faced months of protests over his government’s failure to prosecute the theft and mismanagement of $2 billion in subsidized oil aid from Venezuela under the administration of his predecessor and political patron, Michel Martelly.
Neither Moise’s administration nor the American ambassador in Haiti, Michele Sison, has offered any explanation of the U.S. contractors’ mission in Haiti or the reason for their release, which appeared to violate Haitian criminal procedure. Moise’s allies in the lower house of Parliament dissolved the Haitian government by dismissing Prime Minister Jean-Henry Ceant on Monday hours before he was due to testify in the Senate about the American contractors’ case.
Communications Minister Jean-Michel Lapin was being named interim prime minister Thursday, but there seemed little likelihood that the government would be able to bring stability to a country gripped by rising inflation, energy shortages and popular discontent.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio flew to Haiti Wednesday for meetings with the president and opposition in which, the senator said on Twitter, he discussed the formation of a new government and the need for “good faith dialogue” and parliamentary elections scheduled for October.
News site The Intercept reported Wednesday, citing anonymous sources, that one of the contractors, 52-year-old Marine veteran Kent Kroeker, had been told the mission was to escort presidential aide Fritz Jean-Louis to the Haitian central bank, who would electronically transfer $80 million from the government’s Venezuela oil fund to a second account controlled solely by the president in order to give Moise greater power over the government’s limited funds.
Osman said that report did not match his experience in several key ways.
Osman said he received a call from Hawkstorm Global, a security company based in Dallas, Texas, about a job in Haiti to provide private security for a client of the Bank of the Republic of Haiti for $1,000 a day. He said he didn't know the client until he arrived in Haiti on a commercial flight on Feb. 16 and was introduced to Josue Leconte, a Haitian-American businessman with ties to the Moise administration.
Leconte's civil engineering firm, Preble-Rish, has done millions of dollars of business with the Haitian government over the years, according to Jake Johnston, a research associate at the Washington-based Center for Economic and Policy Research who recently published a three-week investigation into the contractors' case. Leconte's partner is related by marriage to former president Martelly.
"These are not just acquaintances, but people who for decades are basically family," Johnston said. The only Haitian arrested in the case, Michael Estera, is a driver who has worked for Preble-Rish for many years, according to his lawyer.
Leconte told the AP when reached by phone that he could not talk about the case and had no comment before hanging up. Meanwhile, spokesman Jean Baden Dubois said the governor of Haiti's central bank was on a business trip in Qatar and unavailable for comment.
The contractors were told that they would be escorting Leconte from his Port-au-Prince home to the central bank to sign an infrastructure deal with Moise's administration, Osman said, adding that the deal required the signature of at least one high-ranking central bank official, hence the location.
"We were all told that it was a huge contract with (Leconte's) company ... and that his company provides engineering contracts for the government of Haiti and that they were really close friends with the president and that the money was for infrastructure and rebuilding Haiti," Osman said.
On the day they were arrested, the group of four Americans, two Serbian nationals and two Haitian drivers got into two cars owned by Jean-Louis for a reconnaissance mission and to swing by the bank so some team members could talk to people there and let them know what they were doing, he said.
"The actual job didn't even start until the next day," Osman said, adding that he never met or saw Jean-Louis during his time in Haiti, and that the only time he heard the name was when police asked if he knew Jean-Louis while he was in jail.
He said team members Dustin Porte and Talon Ray Burton got out of the car to speak with bank officials or security while the rest of the group stayed inside with weapons nearby. Porte and Burton could not be reached for comment, and Burton's brother did not return a message for comment.
As they pulled away from the bank, Osman said a group of Haitian police officers stopped them and called their superiors. At that moment, Leconte and another man whom Osman identified as team leader and retired Navy SEAL Mike Phillips showed up in one car, and then Kroeker showed up in another car. Osman said police told Leconte and Phillips they could leave, and that Kroeker, a former KC-130 pilot, stayed with the group.
"They literally abandoned us," Osman said of Leconte and Phillips.
Phillips declined to comment and referred requests for interviews to Kroeker, who did not respond to a request for comment.
The group was released Feb. 20. Osman said a police officer simply opened the cell doors, led them to diplomatic vehicles that took them to the airport. He said he didn't know who ordered their release or authorized it. Once they arrived in Miami, he said the FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security interviewed everyone separately for several hours.
"We asked what was going on," Osman said. "They said, 'Nothing, man, you're not going to be charged with anything. ... Welcome home.'"
Haiti's tourism industry hard hit after days of violent street protests
PORT-AU-PRINCE (AFP) - With flaming barricades and widespread looting, 10 days of street violence in Haiti have all but buried a tourism industry that managed to resurrect itself after a devastating earthquake in 2010.
Ugly, violent footage beamed around the world has again sent the message that this impoverished Caribbean country is politically unstable and no place to go on vacation.
The final straw was the helicopter evacuation last week of around 100 Canadian tourists, trapped as angry protesters demanded the resignation of the president, whom they accuse of corruption.
"We have been through 12 days of hell. We managed the crisis but today we are suffering from the aftershocks," said Tourism Minister Marie-Christine Stephenson.
BLACKLIST
Beside the direct effects of the demonstrations, the United States delivered another crushing blow on Feb 14 when it urged its citizens not to travel to Haiti, which thus joined a no-go list with war-torn countries like Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan.
Ms Stephenson said the US travel alert for Haiti was too harsh, calling the riots something that flared up unexpectedly and are now over.
"OK, they lasted 12 days but I am not sure that other Caribbean countries, which have had riots of their own, have been punished as severely and quickly as we have," said the minister.
Overnight, the decision by the US State Department hit the tourism industry hard. Travel websites simply stopped offering flights to Haiti's two international airports.
Hotels are reporting cancellation of reservations and many empty rooms.
Officials in the industry have yet to tally up the damage, but say that for the second time in less than a year, they will have to lay off workers.
In July of last year, three days of riots over a government attempt to raise fuel prices ruined the summer vacation season for Haiti's tourism industry.
It is not just hotels that will suffer again, said Ms Beatrice Nadal-Mevs, president of the Haitian Tourism Association.
"This is going to affect everyday people because these are direct jobs that are going to be lost and supply chains will be threatened: farming, fishing, crafts, transport," Ms Nadal-Mevs said.
MARDI GRAS CANCELLED
With the opposition planning more demonstrations to seek the resignation of President Jovenel Moise, the sector got yet more bad news with word that Carnival celebrations have been called off in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince.
City Hall said it could not guarantee revellers' safety.
The festivities, which this year were planned for March 3-5, usually draw many Haitians living abroad and fleeing the winter cold in Canada and the eastern US.
Another major Carnival celebration is scheduled to take place in the city of Gonaives, but the government has not said if it will go ahead.
As grim as things are, some foreign tourists have gone ahead with visits to Haiti.
On Wednesday, a group of Australians under police escort visited a square featuring statues of heroes of Haiti's independence from France. Days ago, demonstrators at the same plaza were throwing rocks at police, who responded with volleys of tear gas grenades.
A woman named Carole, who did not want to give her last name, said, "I trust the company we're travelling with. They not only want to take us but they want to bring us back."
Mr Kevin McCue, another of the people in the group of 20, said he was glad that their tour operator had not opted for Plan B, which would have meant skipping Haiti and spending the whole week in the neighbouring Dominican Republic.
"Tourism is alive and well here. People should come. The more they come, the better they spread some money among people who need it and the better for Haiti," said Mr McCue.
Armed Americans Arrested in Haiti Returned to US
WASHINGTON —
Five U.S. citizens who were among eight men detained over the weekend in Haiti with automatic weapons and other arms have returned to the United States.
U.S. and Haitian officials say the men departed the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, Wednesday afternoon before their scheduled court appearance.
"The return of the individuals to the U.S. was coordinated with the Haitian authorities,” a State Department spokesperson confirmed to VOA.
The men were arrested upon arrival in the U.S., although it is unclear what they are being charged with in the United States or where they are being held.
The spokesperson told VOA that State defers to law enforcement for answers to those questions.
Three former servicemen
Earlier Wednesday, the Miami Herald quoted a police source s saying “they left,” referring to the five Americans. The men are identified as: former Navy SEALS Christopher Michael Osman and Christopher Mark McKinley, former Marine Kent Leland Kroeker and Americans Dustin Porte and Talon Ray Burton.
Two Serbs were also arrested, Vlade Jankvic and Danilo Bajagic, one of whom is a permanent U.S. resident, according to a photo of his green card sent to VOA Creole reporters. They were also on the American Airlines flight to Miami. A Haitian national, Michael Estera, whom the United States deported, remains in Haiti.
The men were found with automatic rifles, pistols, drones and satellite communications equipment in their vehicles, which had no license plates.
Violent demonstrations
Their arrests followed more than a week of violent demonstrations by Haitians demanding the resignation of President Jovenel Moise, who has been beleaguered by rising inflation and accusations of corruption.
News of the men’s departure came on the same day Haitian National Police (PNH) spokesman Michel-Ange Louis-Jeune told VOA Creole a report would made public on the findings of the investigation following the arrest of the eight men suspected of “conspiracy.” He announced Wednesday that the report had been delayed.
In an interview with the U.S.-based cable news network CNN, Haiti Prime Minister Jean-Henry Ceant described the men as “mercenaries” and “terrorists” seeking to destabilize “the executive branch of government.”
Citing police sources, the Miami Herald reported that when questioned, the men said they were on a “government mission” and were under no obligation to talk to Haitian law enforcement. They said their “boss would call his boss,” referring to the police commissioner.
The U.S. consul general visited the detainees at the Port-au-Prince police station shortly after the arrest. Haitian Justice official Paul Eronce Villard also saw them. He denied Tuesday reports that he was pressured to free the Americans.
“I personally was never pressured to free the men held by the Port-au-Prince police station” he told local reporters. But Villard told the Herald that the National Palace had pressured police to release them.
Stunning departure
News of the departure of the five Americans stunned the nation.
The men were spotted by Haitian social media guru Carel Pedre, who hosts a popular radio and television entertainment show in Port-au-Prince. Pedre tweeted video of the men aboard his flight, American Airlines flight 1059.
"Neg yo te arete yo te sou vol mwen an (AA 1059). M’ap konfime ke otorite ameriken vinn pran yo nan avyon an e yo menote yo!"
After landing in Miami, Pedre broadcast an eyewitness account of what he saw and heard on his Facebook account.
According to Pedre, most of the passengers were unaware that the Americans were on board. He said some suspected it might be them but they were not sure. Upon arrival in Miami, their flight, which landed early, was held on the tarmac for 30 minutes before proceeding to the gate. Pedre said an announcement was then made that law enforcement officials would be boarding the flight before anyone could get off. He said the men were rounded up and handcuffed, one by one, before being led off the aircraft.
“Since many of you have seen the video posted on social media showing the men very relaxed, hands unencumbered — I have to tell you that they also boarded the plane very relaxed — I didn’t even notice it was them and many of the other passengers were suspicious but we didn’t realize it was them,” he said.
Pedre said one of the men was smiling as he left the plane.
“Since they are now in the hands of U.S. law enforcement, and there is more transparency in America than in Haiti, we may learn more (about why they were in Haiti),” he said.
Reaction on social media was scathing. “#Haiti has no justice. Was there even an investigation into this??? This country is really messed up” @lynejea tweeted.
“What a HUGE surprise,” @micfrd tweeted. “Like we really expected The Haitian Government to Keep American Citizens Prisoners?”
@Lamytheman1 tweeted “No surprise here. You trade those 5 guys for a larger humanitarian aid package. Haiti government knows why those guys were there. Didn’t they get caught with a member of the Palace? It’s sad all those politicians made up bs to keep the people guessing.”
And @Moniclesca tweeted “I wonder how @DG_PNH (Haiti’s National Police Chief) will explain this one? What will @jeanhenryceant (the prime minister) say? Was this also part of the deal to vote against Maduro in Venezuela?”
Heavily armed Americans claiming to be on ‘government mission’ arrested in Haiti
Five Americans who claimed they were on “a government mission” in Haiti were arrested by local authorities after being found with a stash of automatic rifles and pistols, according to a report.
The group was picked up Sunday at a police checkpoint in Port-au-Prince driving in two vehicles without licence plates, the Miami Herald reported.
Inside their cars were six automatic rifles, six pistols, two professional drones and three satellite phones, cops told the paper. Images of the guns have been circulating on WhatsApp.
Asked what they were doing in Haiti, the men told police “they were on a mission, and they didn’t have to speak to us,” Port-au-Prince police chief Joel Casseus told the paper. “They said they were on a government mission.”
Three of the men — Christopher Michael Osman, 44, Kent Leland Kroeker, 52, and Christopher Mark McKinley, 49 — are US military veterans, the paper reported.
A fourth man, Talon Ray Burton, 52, once worked as a federal contractor for the US government.
Three other individuals, including a Russian, Serbian and Haitian national, were traveling with the Americans and were also arrested.
Local authorities said Tuesday they still don’t know what the men were doing in the country. They face charges of possessions of illegal arms and other crimes.
The State Department and US Embassy said they had been made aware of the Americans’ arrest. The embassy told police they had no covert operations on the ground.
There is currently a travel warning for US citizens in Haiti due to violent protests that have broken out in the country.
Haiti's President Says He Won't Step Down as Violent Protests Grip the Capital
Haiti’s embattled leader has made his first public statements since protests rocked the Caribbean nation’s capital more than a week ago, vowing in a televised address that he will not step down.
Voice of America reports that President Jovenal Moise appeared on national television Thursday to address calls for his for resignation. Critics claim his government lacks transparency and is ineffective.
“I hear you,” Moise said in a speech aired by national broadcaster TNH and live-streamed on Facebook. “You are the reason I ran for president. I’m working for you.”
Over the past eight days, protesters have taken to the streets of the capital Port-au-Prince and other cities to denounce what they say is rampant corruption in the country.
At least nine people have been killed amid the violent unrest, according to Al Jazeera. In the southern port city of Aquin, 78 inmates broke out of a prison while police were dealing with protesters, the Guardian reports.
Current and former government officials have been accused of misappropriating Venezuelan loans meant for development after 2008, according to the BBC.
Soaring inflation has also led to worsening living conditions for the population, 60% of whom live on less than $2 a day.
Moise said in his address that he had taken measures to improve the lives of Haitians, urging patience for reforms to take effect. He has reportedly called for dialogue with the opposition, to no avail.
Protesters appeared unmoved by the president’s speech and some were back on the streets shortly after.
The U.S. Department of State has raised its travel alert for Haiti to level 4. “Do not travel due to crime and civil unrest,” the Bureau of Consular Affairs advised on its website.
Moise has been in power since his electoral victory in November 2016. Previously a little-known entrepreneur, he campaigned on a promise of addressing climate change and corruption, as well as modernizing the agricultural industry to provide more jobs for citizens.
Hotel dishwasher awarded $21 million after boss made her work on Sundays
The jury also found she was due $35,000 in back wages and $500,000 for emotional pain and mental anguish.But a cap on punitive damages prevents her from receiving anywhere close to that amount.Marie Jean Pierre, who worked as a dishwasher at the Conrad Miami, sued Virginia-based Park Hotels & Resorts, formerly known as Hilton Worldwide, in 2017 for violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The landmark law bans employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin.The award was filed on Tuesday with the U.S. District Court in Miami. The jury also found she was due $35,000 in back wages and $500,000 for emotional pain and mental anguish.Pierre, 60, is a mother of six and a member of the Soldiers of Christ Church, a Catholic missionary group that helps the poor, her attorney Pierre said in the lawsuit that she informed the Conrad Miami from the beginning of her employment that she could not work Sundays because of her religious beliefs.Her lawyer, Marc Brumer, said Hilton argued in court that it was unaware Pierre was a missionary, and never knew why she always wanted Sundays off.In 2009, she alleges the hotel scheduled her to work on a Sunday, according to the lawsuit. She says she told her employer she would have to resign, but in an effort to persuade her not to quit, they accommodated her request until 2015.Sometime in 2015, the kitchen manager at the Conrad Miami, "demanded" Pierre work Sundays, the lawsuit states and for a short time allowed her to swap shifts with other coworkers to have the day off.On March 31, 2016, Pierre says she was fired for alleged misconduct, negligence and “unexcused absences,” according to the lawsuit.Although there is a cap on punitive damage awards in federal court, Pierre's attorney said he expects she will receive at least $500,000."I asked for $50 million, knowing that I was capped at $300,000," Brumer told NBC News on Wednesday. "I didn't do this for money. I did this to right the wrongs."The jury was unaware that the law caps the amount of punitive damages she could receive.Hilton said it was "very disappointed by the jury's verdict, and don't believe that it is supported by the facts of this case or the law.""During Ms. Pierre's ten years with the hotel, multiple concessions were made to accommodate her personal and religious commitments," a spokeswoman said. "We intend to appeal, and demonstrate that the Conrad Miami was and remains a welcoming place for all guests and employees."By: Janelle Griffith for NBCnews.com | January 16, 2019
Cremas Is Haiti's Beloved Holiday Beverage That You Should Drink All Season
"We associate cremas with the best parts of growing up: communions, weddings, and the holidays. It’s a celebration drink.”
When I asked Nadege Fleurimond, chef and author of Haiti Uncovered, to describe cremas, she paused. Breaking into a wide smile, she said, “It’s like eggnog, but a million times better and without eggs. Think coquito, but creamier, flavorful, bold, and robust.”
Cremas, also spelled kremas, is the celebration drink of Haiti. Its foundation is a mix of condensed and evaporated milk, which is enhanced with cream of coconut, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, and lime. Other variations include almond extract or raisins. Traditionally, the spirit that makes cremas so festive—i.e., boozy—is clairin, a clear liquor that Fleurimond says is akin to moonshine. It's derived from the juice of Haiti’s organic, native sugarcane varieties, which is then fermented by wild yeast. Made in rural areas untouched by industrial farming practices, clairin’s flavor is complex and varies by region, time of year, and producer.
“This is what the everyday Haitian drinks as their liquor, and this is what we use to make our cremas traditionally,” Fleurimond says. However, clairin is not readily available in the States, so other spirits are used. “In the States, people make it with rum since clairin is not common here and with Haitians, the choice of rum is almost always Barbancourt.”
The regional differences among varietals of cremas are not insignificant, as Fleurimond discovered traveling throughout the island for her cookbook, Haiti Uncovered.
“In the north of Haiti, coconut is typically not used in cremas. Southern Haitians tend to use coconut in a lot of foods, and cremas is no exception,” Fleurimond says. However, recent decades have seen some fusion of regional styles. “With the internet and more communication between towns, there is more of a culinary exchange, and you’ll see some people selling cremas made with coconut milk in the north.”
This culinary exchange is not just isolated within the island nation, but across the Atlantic to many Haitians of the diaspora. Charlene Absalon, owner of Queens-based Cremas Absalon, is part of a collective of Haitian-American entrepreneurs looking to educate others on the richness of Haiti’s food and culture. What started as a way for Absalon to learn more about Haitian cuisine turned into a business, and she created Cremas Absalon in 2013. Her cremas uses dark rum and omits the coconut for a more fluid consistency.
Absalon is not afraid to challenge tradition with flavors such as coffee, cinnamon, creme brûlée, and hazelnut, an ingredient not found in Haitian cuisine. “I’m taking these American recipes I collected as a child and incorporating them into Haitian flavors,” she says.
Despite initial pushback from some members of her community for not being “authentic” enough, Absalon is on a mission to redefine cremas. “I wanted to evolve what cremas should be. I call my cremas ‘new age’ because I wanted to create different flavors that pair well with the creaminess, and something that is versatile,” she says. Her version of cremas has found local and national success, so she plans to expand her home-based business to a retail location next year.
While opinions abound on how to make great cremas, both Fleurimond and Absalon agree that cremas should be full of flavor, and well-balanced. Great cremas should leave you guessing — and wanting more.
“You need that smooth, creamy texture first. For me, having coconut is crucial, because it’s what most of us know,” Fleurimond explains. “You also need a nice balance of flavor. Cremas is an alcoholic beverage, so it should be sweet but have a little kick to put you in the holiday mood.” Absalon echoed Fluerimond’s sentiment: “It’s a very rich product that is time-consuming and you have to make it right — having good cremas is a delicacy.”
And if there’s a right way of making it, there’s a right way of drinking it, too. “I tell people to drink cremas like you would drink scotch: you pour a little bit in a cup, with or without ice, savor, and enjoy,” Absalon says.
Like many treasured holiday recipes, cremas is firmly embedded in memories, and its cultural significance is not to be downplayed. “We associate cremas with the best part of growing up: communions, weddings, and the holidays. It’s a celebration drink,” Fleurimond says.
For Absalon, creating cremas is not only a way to introduce the celebratory drink to the masses; it also serves as a tool to educate others beyond the one-sided narrative of Haiti portrayed in the media. “People see Haiti and they think about poverty and corruption, and I want to show that we have great food and culture, too,” she says.
Below, find Fleurimond's recipe for ten servings of cremas:
Mix two cans of cream of coconut (sweetened); two cans of sweetened condensed milk; one can of evaporated milk; one teaspoon of nutmeg; one teaspoon of cinnamon; two cups Rhum Barbancourt, Wrey and Nephew Overproof Rum, or grain alcohol; one tablespoon vanilla extract; one tablespoon almond extract; one teaspoon of lime juice; and the zest of one lime; and a pinch of salt. Chill for at least four hours (preferably overnight), and serve with ice.
Rewriting Haiti's Narrative: Ten Haitian Entrepreneurs Helping To Reinvent Their Nation
Haiti's social and economic narrative is being rewritten by innovative entrepreneurs dedicated to championing sustainability and self-sufficiency while celebrating the vibrant and creative culture of the island and its citizens, which dates back to the Haitian Revolution that started in 1791 and represents the world’s first and only successful slave revolt.
Political instability, natural disasters and a lack of economic opportunities have contributed to mass migrations away from the island and a view of Haiti as a troubled nation in the eyes of the world. A generation of enterprising young Haitians are chipping away at that imposed narrative and replacing it with one that speaks to the strength, ingenuity and beauty of the country and its culture.
Haiti has a rich history and vibrant culture. Photocredit: GettyGetty
Here you will meet ten young entrepreneurs who are creating opportunity in this Caribbean island nation to uplift Haiti’s environmental, economic and social landscape.These inspiring Haitian entrepreneurs are demonstrating that a nation can overcome its challenges and rewrite its story, both for itself and in the eyes of the larger world. They also prove that a combination of innovative ideas, effective use of technology and a dedication to solutions that honor the integrity of both the natural and the human landscape can produce truly transformative results.
Jude Celiscar, Goodoo Courier, LLC
Jude Celiscar Speaking on Leadership.Used with permission.
In his travels between Haiti and the U.S., Celiscar became aware of the difficulties that many Haitians face in the purchasing and delivery of consumer goods. Recognizing that commerce is the backbone of an economy, Celiscar formed Goodoo Courier to address those issues. The company partners with small businesses and university students to help stimulate economic growth on both the individual and societal level. Concerned with the natural environment as well as the economy, Goodoo Courier uses recycled materials from other areas of the island for its packaging materials.In addition to being the founder of the company, Celiscar is also an author and international speaker on business and leadership. He is dedicated to changing Haiti’s narrative and inspiring young people to invest in themselves and their country by taking the lead in creating opportunities for success.
Don’t be so quick to think about the financial profit but think about the social impact, the social transformation that your company will have on your community and on your environment.- Jude Celiscar
Daphnée Karen Floréal, Bijou Lakay
Daphnée Karen Floréal.Used with permission.
With a talent for art and finance and possessing a strong business sense, Floréal merged her skills and passions in forming Bijou Lakay. Taking inspiration from Haiti’s native elements, Floréal uses wood and beef horns to create ethically sourced handcrafted jewelry pieces. While inspired by international trends, her pieces strongly reflect and celebrate the vibrant Haitian culture. Along with reducing unemployment and having a positive impact on the economy, Bijou Lakay’s community of artisans also strives to preserve and pass on the creative crafting processes and cultural heritage of Haiti.Floréal is actively engaged in promoting entrepreneurship and other activities that have a positive impact on the youth of Haiti, such as literacy and sports. In her love for her home, commitment to cultural authenticity and entrepreneurial spirit, Floréal is a reflection of the current reshaping of Haitian creativity and identity.
Always dream big. Even if you are living in one of the poorest countries in the world, your country can’t define your story. You are the only one who can decide what your life, what your family and what your business will be. - Daphnée Karen Floréal
Mike Bellot, Solo Bag
Mike Bellot Reading By the Light of a Solo Bag.Used with permission.
After losing a close family member in a fire started by a candle that was being used to provide light for evening schoolwork, Bellot was driven to invent the Solo Bag. The school bag, embedded with a solar panel and an integrated LED light, allows students in the rural areas of Haiti to study at night. As only 37% of the population has access to electricity, many children are unable to do schoolwork after nightfall. Poor lighting affects literacy and leads students to be less productive, with many often giving up on school entirely and perpetuating a cycle of poverty.
This revolutionary sustainable solution not only helps the students of Haiti, but can also help the 1.2 billion people worldwide who do not have access to electricity.
An economist, entrepreneur and innovator with degrees in International Trade and Global Political Economy, Bellot also invented the world’s first mobile aquaponic garden system, Ancora BoxFarm, a system designed to help farmers in areas that are vulnerable to natural hazards and disasters.
Nora Jeanne Joseph, RADIKAL
RADIKAL, Empowering Haitian Women.Used with permission.
Jeanne Joseph established RADIKAL to address the root causes of gender inequity and economic disparity with a business model that creates revenue opportunities for women in Haiti. RADIKAL creates micro-enterprises that offer organic beauty, wellness and environmental products to underserved consumers through a dynamic network of micro-entrepreneurs. Utilizing the internet, social media and mobile technology has transformed the ability of these micro-enterprises to create financial independence in marginalized communities.Jeanne Joseph is dedicated to changing Haiti's global image by demonstrating that the island can rely on its own resources to foster economic growth and gender equality. Embracing the use of only organic, high-quality local raw materials and using a circular economic model that allows Haitian women to invest in their own thriving micro-franchises, RADIKAL redefines sustainability in the current context of the country.
I am passionate about sustainability, women's empowerment and Haiti! – Nora Jeanne Joseph
Stephane Jean-Baptiste, Kreyòl Essence
Stephane Jean-Baptiste, Kreyòl Essence.Used with permission.
Endeavoring to tackle the socioeconomic disparities that plague Haiti, Jean-Baptiste formed Kreyol Essence, a company with a business model that benefits the country both economically and environmentally. A high-end product available to the global market, Haitian Black Castor Oil is helping to ignite an aggressive reforestation plan that propels the growth of undervalued native tropical vegetation. Imported commodities from around the world have crippled the agricultural economy of Haiti and Jean-Baptiste is driven to correct that problem, creating prosperity and self-sufficiency through the use of the island’s natural resources.Using ethically sourced and organic ingredients to craft a luxury brand that celebrates the vibrant and bold imagery of the island, Jean-Baptiste is working to rewrite Haiti’s narrative and change the global image of the country using sustainable materials and practices.
I consider our work as an opportunity to develop new marketing strategies to help me visually communicate our multicultural perspective with all people. - Stephane Jean-Baptiste
Jessenia Thimotee, Epis Kreyol
Jessenia Thimotee , Epis Kreyol.Used with permission.
Thimotee is promoting Haiti’s native vegetation, food culture and sustainable practices with Epis Kreyol. Made with non-genetically modified organisms and organic Haitian spices noted for their healing properties, the flavorful seasoning sauce is safe for almost all palettes. The ingredients are grown organically, making it equally safe for the island’s natural environment.
Epis Kreyol is putting Haiti on the map with its native spices, allowing food enthusiasts from all over the world to enjoy an authentic taste of Haiti.
Johnson "Blada" Desauguste, Kay Blada Recycling
Johnson Desauguste, Kay Blada Recycling.Used with permission.
Desauguste was inspired to form the nonprofit organization, Kay Blada Recycling, after growing up witnessing the extreme poverty and environmental devastation that plague Haiti. Kay Blada Recycling addresses both issues by providing sustainable employment to local Haitians in the mission to alleviate plastic waste on the island. Along with the direct recycling effort, Desauguste is also dedicated to educating Haitian citizens about waste management and environmental stewardship. Cleaner streets and waterways are a direct result of his mission to inspire and empower people to clean up Haiti’s natural environment.In the three years since its founding, Kay Blada Recycling has grown to employ 100 people and has recycled over 85,000 pounds of plastic. Desauguste continues to seek out ways to further the causes of lowering unemployment and decreasing plastic waste.
That's 100 Haitians that otherwise would not have anything to do with their time due to the high unemployment rate in Haiti, and 85,000 pounds of plastic that was going be burned or end up in the ocean. Think about it. - Johnson Desauguste
Wanda Tima, L'union Suite & The Haitian American
Wanda Tima, L'union Suite.Used with permission.
Tima created L’Union Suite to serve as an online platform for networking and connecting young entrepreneurs with established professionals in entertainment, sports, culture and humanitarian efforts. The platform gathers and curates authentic stories about Haiti, Haitians and Haitian-Americans to reveal the unique and inspiring life of the island and its citizens to the world. These accurate and authentic accounts excite interest in Haiti and attract tourists, boosting the nation’s economy.Dedicated to changing Haiti’s narrative, L’ Union Suite has created a wave of young ambassadors to tell and share the stories that no one else will tell. Sharing news and information about efforts and accomplishments allows the world can see Haitians and the Haitian diaspora with less focus on the country’s difficulties and more on the joy of a strong and resilient people. Tima’s ultimate goal is to inspire others and create a legacy of hard work, dedication, and community change.
Since launching in 2011, L’union Suite has attracted over 10 million visitors a week and gained more than 300,000 subscribers via the site and social media platforms.
Christian Tribie, 121 Consulting Group
Christian Tribie, 121 Consulting.Used with permission.
Focusing on sustainable development in energy, water and agriculture, 121 Consulting is comprised of a group of individuals dedicated to developing a better Haiti. The group’s first project was the engineering, procurement and construction of a 130 kilowatt PV system with a 196 kilowatt-hour lithium storage capacity. The system supports an office building that provides services to improve Haitian education, health, children and orphanages. The project developer, 10Power, promoted gender equality and the empowerment of the local workforce, along with providing valuable training on OSHA safety and code compliance (NEC 2017).The project represents the largest solar installation on a UNICEF base to date and was a Caribbean Renewable Energy Forum (CREF) 2018 Industry Award Winner. It stands as a benchmark for the growth of renewables development in the Caribbean. 121 Consulting and 10Power continue to pursue more projects where local empowerment will drive economic success in Haiti.
With the continued tenacity and innovation of organizations like these, the Caribbean’s switch to a clean and resilient energy grid will be much sooner than many thought possible. Adam Carter- Advisory committee member, CIBC FirstCaribbean
Duquesne Fednard, D&E Green Enterprises
Duquesne Fednard , D&E Green Enterprises.Used with permission.
Fednard is a passionate social entrepreneur who seeks to break the cycle of extreme poverty by using innovative approaches in employing local resources to solve local problems. He has created several programs to address and successfully alleviate extreme poverty in Haiti and is always looking for new ways to solve social issues in a financially viable and scalable manner.Fednard built Haiti’s first and only business processing outsourcing center (BPO), providing training and high paying jobs to underprivileged youth. He has also created an automatic savings program (SxC) for ultra-low income people by harnessing their existing spending on basic food staples. Other successful projects implemented by Fednard and D&E Green Enterprises have been corncob- and solar-powered micro-grids that provide reliable power to more than 300 households and a factory for producing highly efficient cookstoves to slow the deforestation caused by the excessive use of charcoal.
“I believe if we can create financially viable systems to provide universal access to basic services such as clean energy, health care and education, extreme poverty will be a thing of the past.” - Duquesne Fednard
GOP Rep. Mark Sanford: Haitian babies born in US don’t deserve birthrights because they are not ‘former slaves’
Outgoing South Carolina Republican Rep. Mark Sanford on Wednesday insisted that some babies born in the U.S. — from places like Haiti — do not deserve to be granted birthright citizenship because the 14th Amendment was only intended to apply to descendants of slaves.During a discussion on MSNBC about President Donald Trump’s plan to end birthright citizenship, Sanford argued that the constitution did not apply to immigrants when it said all “persons” born in the U.S. have the right to be citizens.“What do you make of the suggestion that birthright citizenship can be revoked with the stroke of a pen?” MSNBC host Craig Melvin asked the South Carolina Republican.“I would find that hard to believe,” Sanford replied. “I’m not a fan of birthright citizenship. But I think it’s much more complex than the stroke of a pen.”“Why are you not a fan of it?” Melvin wondered. “You do recognize that it’s in enshrined in the Constitution, the Fourteenth Amendment?”“I happen to be [co-sponsoring] a bill that would say otherwise,” Sanford stuttered. “I think there are a number of folks who have said that particular interpretation is not really what the founding fathers intended.”“The idea that you just happen to come in from Haiti or anywhere else and because you get your boat to shore, all the sudden you are open to the same rights and privileges that anybody else is, I think that’s at odds with the intent,” he continued. “I think it was ultimately about slavery at that time and rights that should come to former slaves. But we’ll leave that to legal experts.”The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, however, does not mention slavery as a requirement for bestowing citizenship rights on people born in the U.S.Section 1 states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”Sanford, who lost his seat in this year’s Republican primary, also said that he could not condemn the alleged racism of Rep. Steve King (R-IA) because he has been “focused on shutting down the office here.”Watch the video below from MSNBC.https://twitter.com/r35i5t/status/1057718366516011009?s=21By: David Edwards for rawstory.com | October 27, 2018
Wyclef Jean Inks Netflix Deal
Whether you’re Ready or Not, hip-hop Mogul Wyclef Jean is set to start Killing us Softly with a new Netflix movie. As a life-long fan of the rapper/actor/producer/activist, the news has me singing, “Oooh La La La La La La Lalala La Laaah, sweet thing.”
Netflix announced that they’re collaborating with Jean, a “musical visionary,” on a CG animated musical that reimagines his life story. Jean will produce the project in collaboration with the entertainment media company, Stampede. The movie which will be written by Justin Marks (The Jungle Book, Top Gun: Maverick) is inspired by Jean’s childhood in Haiti.
Jean had this to say about the upcoming project, “I grew up in extreme poverty but I was rich with imagination. Now to see that imagination turn into reality with Netflix and my producing partners makes me want to tell the kids from the slums around the world to never stop dreaming.”
Melissa Cobb, Vice President of Kids and Family at Netflix, added, “When Wyclef first came to us with the rich story idea for an animated film about his personal journey and the evolution of his music from when he was a young boy in Haiti to finding his voice in New York City – we were hooked. Animation is a medium that travels the globe exceptionally well and we cannot wait to share Wyclef’s unique perspective and voice with family audiences around the world.”
If you’re not familiar with Jean and his body of work you should take the time to get familiar with his storied career. Born in Haiti in the late 60’s, Jean emigrated to the United States at age nine and fell in love with hip-hop culture. In the early 90’s, he joined forces with Pras Michel and Lauryn Hill to form the hip-hop supergroup, The Fugees. The group exploded in popularity after releasing their second album, The Score, which spawned several hip-hop classics including Ready or Not, Fu-Gee-La, and Killing me Softly. The album’s breakout success opened doors for the group’s members, who went on to great fame. Jean would produce music for the biggest acts in popular music including Carlos Santana, Destiny’s Child, and Shakira.
It’s no secret that Netflix has a Scrooge McDuck-like vault full of money. They’re spending cash on new projects faster than a Beverly Hills trophy-spouse with a mimosa in their hand, an American Express black card in their wallet, and low self-esteem. It’s no secret either that many of these Netflix Original projects are hot trash. But there are a few reasons to stay optimistic about their collaboration with Jean.
Jean’s has an unassailable track record as a musician and producer. Lots of musicians reach platinum sales numbers and win Grammys, but few have done it like Jean. He’s not one to jump onboard a hot trend, he is a trendsetter. The Fugees rose to fame with a sound unlike anybody else. Their music blends rap, R&B, and reggae together into a unique style that after 20 years, still bumps in the club. He’s a successful artist who values artistic expression more than commercial success. And when is the last time you watched a movie taking place in Haiti? A story set in Haiti that cherishes the culture is a long time coming. Combine Jean’s creative talent, unique cultural perspective, and rags to riches tale his Netflix collaboration has the makings of a heartfelt, insightful, avant-garde picture.
It’s still early in the film’s production cycle, but I’m optimistic that Jean will show Hollywood that great origin stories don’t require awkward cameos, people in capes, or billionaires shot dead in an alley.
By: By Victor Stiff for Thatshelf.com |