Storm Sandy killed more than 50 people in Haiti and left behind a cholera outbreak and food shortages. It has added to discontent over a government that critics say has failed to improve Haitian's lives. Al Jazeera's Rachel Levin reports from Port au Prince.
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Tampilkan postingan dengan label Haiti. Tampilkan semua postingan
Senin, 05 November 2012
Rabu, 03 Oktober 2012
Haiti Struggles to Cope with Food Crisis
Haiti is facing yet another crisis. A hurricane in August destroyed most of the country's rice crops, adding pressure to a food shortage, and increasing prices of the country's main staple food. The government has begun importing an extra 300,000 bags of rice to ease the situation. But the response to the problem is only short term. Al Jazeera's Tom Ackerman reports.
Sabtu, 11 Februari 2012
A History of Haiti and the Legacy of Violence in Jamaica on the February 13th 'Left of Black'
A History of Haiti and the Legacy of Violence in Jamaica on the February 13thLeft of Black
Host and Duke University Professor Mark Anthony Neal is joined in-studio by Laurent Dubois, the Marcello Lotti Professor of Romance Studies and History at Duke University A co-director of the Haiti Lab at the Franklin Humanities Institute, Dubois discusses his new book Haiti: The Aftershocks of History (Metropolitan Books). Dubois gives historical context to the longstanding relationship between the U.S. and Haiti. Also the author of Soccer Empire: The World Cup and the Future of France, Dubois also talks about how he uses athletics as a gateway into political and cultural engagement.
Later, Neal is joined via Skype© by University of Pennsylvania professor of anthropology Deborah Thomas. The author of Exceptional Violence: Embodied Citizenship and Transnational Jamaica and co-director and co-producer of the film Bad Friday: Rastafari After Coral Gardens, Thomas discusses common misconceptions and stereotypes against Jamaican people. Thomas dives into the history of the Rastafarian Movement and their oppression. Lastly, Thomas talks about her film, and how her background as a dancer inspires her scholarship.
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Left of Black airs at 1:30 p.m. (EST) on Mondays on the Ustream channel: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/left-of-black. Viewers are invited to participate in a Twitter conversation with Neal and featured guests while the show airs using hash tags #LeftofBlack or #dukelive.
Left of Blackis recorded and produced at the John Hope Franklin Center of International and Interdisciplinary Studies at Duke University.
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Follow Left of Black on Twitter: @LeftofBlack
Follow Mark Anthony Neal on Twitter: @NewBlackMan
Follow Laurent Dubois on Twitter: @SoccerPolitics
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Rabu, 02 Februari 2011
Duvalier’s Return to Haiti Reignites Préval Debate
Duvalier’s Return to Haiti Reignites Préval Debate
by Ferentz Lafargue
The unexpected arrival of former dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier has incited another plot twist in the tragic-comedy known as Haitian politics. Duvalier’s reasons and/or ambitions for this return has elicited endless speculation from the moment his Air France flight touched down in Port-au-Prince. One of the first writers to solve this mystery was Huge Desrameaux. Writing in the Miami Herald, Desrameaux revealed that Duvalier had returned to Haiti in a quixotic attempt to reclaim what’s left of his ill-gotten fortune, which is currently being withheld by Swiss authorities. These fortunes will now be easier for the Haitian authorities to reclaim after the Duvalier Law—a Swiss law that eases the ability of a country to retrieve ill-gotten gains—went into effect today.
In spite of Duvalier’s efforts at arguing that his motives are more benevolent (he’s allegedly returned to help with earthquake relief and to donate his remaining bounty to the Red Cross) the audacity of returning to the island that he and his father plundered requires a voluminous amount of hubris. After all, did Duvalier seriously believe he could return home to Haiti and everyone would turn the other cheek?
Duvalier’s impromptu homecoming also offers another opportunity to debate the efficacy of President René Préval’s tenure in office. “Baby Doc” may be the spectacle du jour, but the real question that Haitians must address at this moment is, what is its post-Préval future?
Read the Full Essay @ America's Quarterly
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Ferentz Lafargue is guest blogger to AQ Online and is an assistant professor at the The New School for Liberal Arts.
by Ferentz Lafargue
The unexpected arrival of former dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier has incited another plot twist in the tragic-comedy known as Haitian politics. Duvalier’s reasons and/or ambitions for this return has elicited endless speculation from the moment his Air France flight touched down in Port-au-Prince. One of the first writers to solve this mystery was Huge Desrameaux. Writing in the Miami Herald, Desrameaux revealed that Duvalier had returned to Haiti in a quixotic attempt to reclaim what’s left of his ill-gotten fortune, which is currently being withheld by Swiss authorities. These fortunes will now be easier for the Haitian authorities to reclaim after the Duvalier Law—a Swiss law that eases the ability of a country to retrieve ill-gotten gains—went into effect today.
In spite of Duvalier’s efforts at arguing that his motives are more benevolent (he’s allegedly returned to help with earthquake relief and to donate his remaining bounty to the Red Cross) the audacity of returning to the island that he and his father plundered requires a voluminous amount of hubris. After all, did Duvalier seriously believe he could return home to Haiti and everyone would turn the other cheek?
Duvalier’s impromptu homecoming also offers another opportunity to debate the efficacy of President René Préval’s tenure in office. “Baby Doc” may be the spectacle du jour, but the real question that Haitians must address at this moment is, what is its post-Préval future?
Read the Full Essay @ America's Quarterly
***
Ferentz Lafargue is guest blogger to AQ Online and is an assistant professor at the The New School for Liberal Arts.
Rabu, 19 Januari 2011
Rabu, 12 Januari 2011
Haiti and the Year of Sorrow
Suffering continues a year after the earthquake.
Haiti and the Year of Sorrow
by Pascal Robert | TheLoop21
As the only nation created from a successful revolt of African Slaves, Haiti has been a beacon of light for oppressed people around the world. Ironically that same proud history of struggle through its valiant fight for liberty from the French in 1804 resulted in policies brought forth by its neighbors, many of whom were still steeped in slavery and colonialism, that mired Haiti in a cycle of poverty, political oppression, and periods of great suffering over its 200-year history.
In the face of such a history of turmoil, nothing has had the devastating affect on the lives of the Haitian people like the horrific earthquake that struck the country on Jan. 12, 2010. The category 7.0 colossus leveled the capital, Port-au-Prince, and devastated the towns of Jacmel and Leogane. In the end, nearly 300,00 Haitians lost their lives while the images of children with bodies lodged under pounds of rubble were broadcast to televisions around the world. The suffering of the Haitian people was put on display for all the world to see. The level of human devastation and misery felt by Haitians in the wake of the earthquake became a nightly spectacle that seared the hearts of people in almost every corner of the globe. Tears were shed by those who had little knowledge of Haitians and their proud history or the suffering they endured because of that history.
The resilience shown by the Haitian people in the face of this disaster was inspirational. The will to live among many of the earthquake's victims was evidenced by stories of individuals who had survived several days under debris, without water or food, to surprisingly be discovered by rescuers alive when all hopes of survival should have been lost.
Americans and the international community responded with a generosity and an outpouring of support demonstrated in those rare moments when humanity works under the guidance of its better angels. Celebrities, athletes and entertainers heard the cries of Haitian children dismembered by the earthquake loosing arms ands legs in often the most harsh, makeshift medical facilities. All together, Americans raised more than $1.4 billion in charitable donations. The international community pledged more than $10 billion to help Haiti just two months after the earthquake.
Though these efforts and pledges illustrated how people can often show the best intentions after such massive human devastation, the practical realities of planning and implementation combined with bureaucracy and sometimes mismanagement have denied the survivors of Haiti's earthquake the resources needed to adequately help them and their country get back on a trajectory toward any semblance of normalcy.
While more than 1 million Haitians languish in inadequate makeshift tents that have grown into whole towns and villages of displaced individuals, less than 12 percent of the temporary post-earthquake housing needed to protect them from hurricanes, massive rains and the indignities of often living without any latrines have been built since the earthquake. Because the earthquake damaged the main prison in the Capital of Port-Au-Prince, thousands of hardened criminals have taken to these tent cities and turned their innocent suffering fellow countrymen into prey.
Read Full Essay @ theLoop21
Haiti and the Year of Sorrow
by Pascal Robert | TheLoop21
As the only nation created from a successful revolt of African Slaves, Haiti has been a beacon of light for oppressed people around the world. Ironically that same proud history of struggle through its valiant fight for liberty from the French in 1804 resulted in policies brought forth by its neighbors, many of whom were still steeped in slavery and colonialism, that mired Haiti in a cycle of poverty, political oppression, and periods of great suffering over its 200-year history.
In the face of such a history of turmoil, nothing has had the devastating affect on the lives of the Haitian people like the horrific earthquake that struck the country on Jan. 12, 2010. The category 7.0 colossus leveled the capital, Port-au-Prince, and devastated the towns of Jacmel and Leogane. In the end, nearly 300,00 Haitians lost their lives while the images of children with bodies lodged under pounds of rubble were broadcast to televisions around the world. The suffering of the Haitian people was put on display for all the world to see. The level of human devastation and misery felt by Haitians in the wake of the earthquake became a nightly spectacle that seared the hearts of people in almost every corner of the globe. Tears were shed by those who had little knowledge of Haitians and their proud history or the suffering they endured because of that history.
The resilience shown by the Haitian people in the face of this disaster was inspirational. The will to live among many of the earthquake's victims was evidenced by stories of individuals who had survived several days under debris, without water or food, to surprisingly be discovered by rescuers alive when all hopes of survival should have been lost.
Americans and the international community responded with a generosity and an outpouring of support demonstrated in those rare moments when humanity works under the guidance of its better angels. Celebrities, athletes and entertainers heard the cries of Haitian children dismembered by the earthquake loosing arms ands legs in often the most harsh, makeshift medical facilities. All together, Americans raised more than $1.4 billion in charitable donations. The international community pledged more than $10 billion to help Haiti just two months after the earthquake.
Though these efforts and pledges illustrated how people can often show the best intentions after such massive human devastation, the practical realities of planning and implementation combined with bureaucracy and sometimes mismanagement have denied the survivors of Haiti's earthquake the resources needed to adequately help them and their country get back on a trajectory toward any semblance of normalcy.
While more than 1 million Haitians languish in inadequate makeshift tents that have grown into whole towns and villages of displaced individuals, less than 12 percent of the temporary post-earthquake housing needed to protect them from hurricanes, massive rains and the indignities of often living without any latrines have been built since the earthquake. Because the earthquake damaged the main prison in the Capital of Port-Au-Prince, thousands of hardened criminals have taken to these tent cities and turned their innocent suffering fellow countrymen into prey.
Read Full Essay @ theLoop21
Selasa, 11 Januari 2011
Haiti: Where Did the Money Go?
In January 2010, a 7.0 earthquake devastated Haiti. The international community, including one out of two Americans, pledged billions of dollars in aid, yet the nation has seen little improvement. Three hundred thousand died, nearly two million live in ramshackle tent cities. Cholera has swept through the population, killing thousands and hospitalizing many others. Only about 2% of the rubble has been cleared.
Is this what you expected when you pledged your aid dollars? Independent journalists Film@11.tv journeyed to Haiti in November 2010 to see the situation for themselves, and dig into the burning question: what happened to all that money?
Is this what you expected when you pledged your aid dollars? Independent journalists Film@11.tv journeyed to Haiti in November 2010 to see the situation for themselves, and dig into the burning question: what happened to all that money?
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