Stories from Quick Reads and Haiti
Haiti: Joining the African Union
Mackendie Toupuissant writes [fr]: “The news went almost unnoticed. Until now, Haiti was a mere “observer” in the African Union. Since early February, the first black republic in history became a” full associate member “of the African Union (AU). This decision, the first of its kind for a country of the African Diaspora...
Haiti: Legislative “Assault” Against Civil Service
“Back in May 2011, undistracted by Haiti’s 4.5-million dollar presidential inauguration, I sounded the alarm about a brewing legislative coup d’etat“: Haiti Chery explains.
Haiti: Prayers & Priorities
The Millikan Daily meets a “beach head for incoming Methodists to Haiti” and is less than impressed with her “mission”, saying: “I for one, am touched that there are people so kind and devout in their servitude to God that they would drink his blood all night on Ash Wednesday...
Haiti: Students in Sheds
Haiti Grassroots Watch explores the issues surrounding the non-reconstruction of the state university in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake.
Martinique: All together around Creole
The Creole language in the Caribbean and the cooperation between islands were recently discussed during the Creole-speaking Regions Days, as explained in this post on Tous Créoles [Fr Cr/Fr]. One of the most debated issues was a visa waiving program between the French Caribbean islands and the rest of the...
Haiti: Haitians at Tuskegee
The Haitian Blogger republishes a story about the Haitian Tuskegee airmen.
Haiti: More Cases of UN Sexual Assault
Following new allegations of sexual assault against minors by UN troops in Haiti, mediahacker notes that “the peacekeeping troops accused of sexually abusing the young man in Port Salut have been released from custody and the impunity…continues.”
Haiti: Leadership Triangle
“There they were, at the official ceremony: the living, breathing banes of Haiti’s existence”: The Haitian Blogger republishes an article which suggests that Martelly, Clinton and Duvalier's “rubbing shoulders” at a recent event “offer[s] an insight into the prospects for Haiti’s reconstruction and, indeed, into the prospects for Haiti’s political...
Haiti: Two Years, Today
Today is the second anniversary of the Haiti earthquake. Regional bloggers post remembrances, here, here and here.
Haiti: Housing Still a Problem
“While over one million refugees suffered under tents following the January 12, 2010, earthquake, 128 newly constructed homes, finished in May, 2010, sat empty for 15 months,” reports Haiti Grassroots Watch, adding: “Today, the majority of these ‘social housing’ units are occupied, but mostly by illegal squatters…”
Haiti: Celebrity Visits Overshadow Real News
“I just don't get it. Why is it newsworthy that Kim Kardashian was in Haiti?”: Toussaint on Haiti “continue[s] to be baffled by the relative media silence around the effort of Haitians to hold the United Nations accountable” and asks: “How can we maintain attention on this issue until it...
Haiti: Business Wins, Haiti Loses
Haiti Grassroots Watch has been looking at the issues surrounding the inauguration of an industrial zone in the north of the island, and finds that “once again, Haiti’s government and her private sector – and their international supervisors – are pitching sweatshop level salaries as a key ‘comparative advantage.'”
Haiti: Cholera Compensation or Opportunism?
Stanley Lucas has a few questions about a court case that is seeking to compensate Haitian cholera victims, saying: “At worst, it seems an opportunistic attempt to capitalize on a tragic situation for fund raising purposes. What is equally concerning is [the] approach to this challenge. Rather than offer the...
Haiti: “Abandoned Population”
Dying in Haiti republishes the desperate pleas of a Catholic priest in Robillard, who says that “several of the family members of the cholera inpatients of [the area] have TB symptoms. The situation of Robilllard is definitely becoming chaotic. We cannot expose an entire population to some TB people.”
Haiti: Cholera Vaccine?
Dying in Haiti links to an article which suggests that it would cost 40 million dollars to vaccinate everyone in Haiti against cholera and says: “That seems like a good deal. We need to remember that the UN costs 60 million dollars per MONTH to keep them in Haiti. Which...
Haiti: Where's the Running Water?
A multi-million dollar project to supply water to several marginal neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince was approved in 2006; 5 years later, there is still no running water. Haiti Grassroots Watch looked into it and this is what they found.
Caribbean: the meaning of identity
Creative Commess hosts a blog symposium “about Caribbean people, about West Indian people, about our contemporary experiences … ranging through race & identity to culture, mental health to constructs of beauty and more,” with contributions from seven Caribbean bloggers.
Haiti: Enough of Occupation
The Haitian Blogger has had enough of the United Nations occupation of Haiti, saying: “All Haitian's [sic] will start respecting the U.S. and it's [sic] proxy the UN MINUSTAH military force when they begin to put a value on Haitian life.”
Haiti: Cholera, One Year Later
Dying in Haiti marks the one year anniversary of Haiti's cholera outbreak, saying: “Conservative numbers say that cholera has infected 500,000 Haitians and killed 6,500 of them. This is more than any place in the world.”
Haiti: Duvalier's Lawyer Disrupts Press Conference
mediahacker posts audio of “one of Jean-Claude Duvalier’s lawyers…attempt[ing] to shout over Gerardo Ducos, a researcher for Amnesty International, as he [spoke] to reporters…about his organization’s call for prosecuting the former dictator.”
Haiti: Waste Management by Troops
mediahacker looks at the issue of UN troops and waste management in Haiti, asking, tongue firmly in cheek, “Does this only become a big deal if it causes an outbreak of deadly disease? Or is living with swarms of mosquitoes and an overpowering stench in the area an acceptable level...
