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[haitiwebs]

Although this is my site, I rarely comment here. However this time I must do so in sympathy with the thousands of people in Haiti victims of Jeanne's catastrophy. They are talking about 500 dead in Gonaives, the possibility that the island of La Tortue and it's 26,000 inhabitants have been submerged under water, and hundreds of thousands of people being homeless.

Can you all, for once forget about your differences and unite in the wake of that tremendous disaster? It is disapointing to see that no one is commenting about it here.

What do we need to have for a wake up call?

[jafrikayiti]

What we need is information. I have been busy trying to reach people in Port-de-Paix all day to no avail....

I checked most websites and nothing concrete yet about the real situation in the north and especially the solidarity network being mounted to help our brothers and sisters in Haiti.

Information is what we need now...

Jafrikayiti

[haitiwebs]

I got some info here

http://haitipressnetwork.com/news.cfm?articleID=5305

[jafrikayiti]

Yes, I saw this one also. But, I wonder if anyone has been able to contact people who live in the North and North-West cities to get eye-witness accounts. The phone lines are all bugged. I spoke with someone in Port-au-Prince minutes ago. Unfortunately it's a person who was not aware of what is going on in the affected areas either.

These events show how much we need to create the mental space to focus our energies on building infrastructures in the country instead of wasting precious resources, time and intelligence on endless makeshift political crises.

I was on Ile de la Tortue in January of this year (see beautiful sunset picture on my website). And I can tell you this idea that it can get submerged is very believable. And worst, I know how unequipped the people living there are. So, there is a high chance that most people got caught on the island and never made it to mainland via Port-de-Paix or Môle St. Nicholas, which themselves are probably in bad shape as well but - at least there are place to run up the mountains and some sort of hospitals....

This year 2004 is teaching us many lessons....hard lessons....that we would be wiser to learn....all of us.

Please keep the info flowing. It is much appreciated.

[haitiwebs]

Jaf, I do appreciate your efforts and answers. I am really sadden by all that thing and am anxious for news.

[jafrikayiti]

Latest info from a brother who posted on www.haitiforever.com the island of La Tortue was never submerged, although the helicos failed to locate it when they went searching. Apparently, people on the island lost all their animals but it is not clear yet, if and how many human casualties we suffered there. So the main tragedy area remains Gonaives. At latest count, the number 600 is what I read for the whole of Haiti.

Now a few thoughts about the lessons I am taking from all this and which I wish to share with my Haitian brothers and sisters...

REVEYE NOU FANMI M YO POU NOU KA VIV ANSANM OLYE NOU KONTINYE MOURI GRENN PA GRENN, PIL SOU PIL...

Mezanmi, sa se yon lot siy anko ki montre kijan nan kafou nou ye la a Ayisyen pa ta dwe ap gaspiye tan, lajan ak enèji nan chimen tenten - ap jere fo kriz, ap sèvi kochondenn pou MounPa k ap fè eksperyans laboratwa ak konsèp tou nèf yo batize "Responsibility to protect". Kote yon seri fos enperyalis ap aji tankou "pompiers-pyromanes" kap mete dife pou yo etenn lè yo vle, si yo gen tan pou sa.

Ayiti sètoblije viv ak mechanste zot, men li pa kapab kontinye sibi ensousyans nou, timounri nou, noumenm Ayisyen.

Mwen fenk sot li komantè Camille Charlmers ak Raoul Peck k ap rele anmwey - se pa sa yo wè la a yo te espere ki t ap rive sou teren politik la.

Gen gwo tantasyon pou yon nèg ta di mesye sa yo kèk move mo paske sa fè lontan anpil moun ap di yo atansyon Ayiti pa ka sibi ti revolisyon tèt cho tout lasentjounen anko....nou pa gen ren pou sa. Tèt mon nou kale, blad tete n fin pete, de grenn je n pa ka pi kreve pase sa. Nou pa ka pèmèt nou aprann pou nou bliye.

Lajan pou nou ta itilize nan bati enfrastrikti nan peyi a (tankou pon, baraj , pye bwa (pou evite malè ki pi bon pase mande padon devan lanati), nou gaspiye li nan 3 zan dilatwa, ap fè reyinyon moun fou k ap anrichi Otèl Montana kote tout negosiyasyon ralba t ap fèt san pèp pa ladan l - osijè eleksyon kote nou deja fin depanse yon kantinte lajan, tan, resous pou nou oganize yo.

Kounye a, men nou genyen yon ekip nèg ak zam fann fwa ki di se militè yo ye, yo vle 10 zan aryere pou travay to pa t fè....paske gouvènman Lavalas la pat fè travay li komsadwa pou ofisyalize amandman konstitisyon an pou aboli FAdH. Okontrè, tout tan gaspiye nan tentennad chirepit ant moun k ap rele tèt yo pworesis. Rezilta FAdH ak FRAPH retounen nan dengonn nou tout. Ou kwè se yo ki pral pwoteje lanasyon kont dega inondasyon? Se sa yo montre nèg nan "School of Americas?"

Pawol anpil, machwè gonfle....men anverite si nou pa pran moman detrès sa yo pou nou deside bay kèk santèn nèg k ap fè politik nan Potoprens yo mwens plas nan refleksyon nou epi bay "moun andeyo" yo (kidonk moun ki nan tout ANNDAN fon kè peyi a) atansyon yo bezwen, epi merite. Atansyon y ap mouri mande nou pou nou ba yo depi lontan je nou ploge nan gwo liv nou yo...

enben...nou ta mèt konnen tout bon vre, nou sou menm chimen ak dinozo yo....osnon pou nou di pi klè...nou se potre rat laboratwa nan lakou doktè Frankestein.

Jafrikayiti

"Annou chwazi lavi. Wi, fanmi m yo, se lavi ki towo a !"

[Noudweront]

MWEN pa bezwen reveye, paske mwen pat janm nan domi. Mwen fet je kale.

Sa kap pase la-a pa yon sipriz. Mwen te toujou di ke li gen poul fet.

Pa bay tet nou manti anko: Ayiti fini, Ayiti fouti. Nou pa gen mwayen sove sitirasyon sa-a. Li depase kapasite nou. Etranje pap sove nou. Se yo ki te pwogramel poul te ka pase, pou NOU te ka pase konsa, san yo bezwen riske tet yo nan mitan nou.

Ki les ki te kontwole komes shabon ki fini ak tout bwa nan peyi ya , si se pa neg lame yo? Ki les ki resevwa plis ed ak asistans pou yo mal pase neg lame yo?

Si nou vle sove kek Ayisyen, mande pou boujwa al viv ann Ewop, kote yo pwal we ke yo pat janm boujwa.

Vote klas mitan-an bay Meriken, mas pep ki kwe li Afriken-yan, bay shak $2500, voyel ann Afrik, epi res-la, gayel ann Amazoni. Fe Endou ak Shinwa kado te-ya.

Se sel fason poun asire sivi biyolojik nou. Tradisyon lanfe nou yo two fo, you gen twop rasin kode. Ke se swa model yo pote ba nou, tout otan ke se sou menm te ya nap viv, nou pap janm shanje mantalite. E se la-a pwoblem nan ye.

Le nou va lod kote, nan lod peyi kote vle pa vle nou oblije panse a aji lot jan poun ka viv, na siviv.

Mwen regret. Mwen pa ront. Mas pep la pito mouri avanl tounen esklav anko.

Se moun ki te kwa yo wa yo, ke map ri.

Apre 50 Avril, men Guy Filip ki di model-li se Pinoshe. Eske nou pa we nou fouti? AK Guy Filip ki pwal fe 50 tan koushe an kwa sou rout devlopman peyi ya anko la-a, ki sa kap janm shanje????

[Marc Henri]

Je suis entierement d'accord avec Noudweront, l'année derniere à pareille date, les etrangers avec les complices haitiens aux Gonaives ont provoqué une catastrophe politique et cette année , encore un jour de septembre , aux Gonaives des centaines de morts. Que devrons -nous conclure dans tout cela ?

Je répondrai plus tard au cours de la journée. Petite reflection s'impose.

[jafrikayiti]

Cessons d'être défaitiste - ce qui se passe en Haiti était prévisible, évitable. Mais c'est aussi vrai que nous avons les moyens d'y remédier.

Like I said earlier, we need to stop wasting our precious time and energies being ginea pigs for other people's theories and socio-political experiments. To achieve this Haitians need to start believing in themselves. And it is not true that Haitians have never tried to deal with the issues. During Preval's term in office the government tried hard to focus on reforestation and land reform....but then as now, our dear self-appointed friends kept stirring us towards political drama and a bucnh of stupid followers in Port-au-Prince refused to follow the lead of visionnaries like Jean Dominique and others who understood that our energies should be focused not on 'Port-au-Prince' bullshit being called 'politics' but on the PEOPLE, the people, the people in the country side who have been begging for our attention all these decades.

Well, since some of us only accept the truth when the hear it coming from a white man. Here is a press release saying the same thing....from the London, England based Haiti Support Group.

Another disaster in Haiti: we name the guilty parties

- Haiti Support Group press release, 21 September 2004

Quote:

So far the total number of fatalities caused by the recent heavy rains and flash-floods in north-west Haiti stands at around 600, but the final tally is sure to be far higher.

This is the second major disaster this year, in addition to numerous other deadly but less well-reported floods. The news is terrible, but it is not enough to wring our hands and say 'poor Haiti'. Nor is it sufficient to call on the international community to provide more and better humanitarian relief. We must look at the reasons why Haiti is prone to these catastrophes.

Both the flash-floods in the south-east in May, and now these in the north-west, are a direct consequence of the over-farming and deforestation of the country's hills and mountainsides. When heavy rain falls, the water cannot be absorbed, and instead cascades down valleys and ravines, sweeping away anything and anybody it its path.

The problems of soil-erosion and deforestation are well-known, and so is the only possible remedy - land reform. Yet over the course of almost three decades, the country's economic policy has been dictated by international finance institutions, such as the World Bank, the IMF and the Inter-American Development Bank, and not only has land reform never appeared on their agenda, but no national government that has proposed it has received any encouragement to carry it out.

Instead, successive governments have been obliged to carry out neo-liberal economic policies which give no priority to the countryside whatsoever, even though some two-thirds of the population live there.

Billions and billions in international aid has been lent to Haitian governments, but the focus has remained on governance, security, elections and support for the private sector. Next to nothing has been done to support the agricultural sector - no land reform, no subsidies for fertilisers or storage facilities, no reforestation campaign, no irrigation projects, no protection from cheaper imports, etc. etc.

Is it any wonder that Haiti's peasant farmers overwork their small plots, and cut down trees to raise cash from charcoal production?

Even now, after neo-liberal economic policies in Haiti have been shown to have failed over and over again, the current government - with the support of the international finance institutions and the European Commission - is continuing to ignore the needs of the rural population. At the international donors' conference in Washington DC. in July, yet again the focus was on support for the urban private sector.

The attitude of the current interim government was summed up when, shortly after the May 2004 flood disaster, Prime Minister Gerald Latortue said perhaps the solution would be to employ former soldiers to shoot peasants found cutting down trees.

By, once more, doing everything to preserve the dominance of the country's immensely rich elite, and nothing to support the peasantry, the international community is complicit in the loss of life and misery caused by this, and future, natural disasters in Haiti.

Contact:: Charles Arthur - haitisupport@gn.apc.org

______________________________________________

This email is forwarded as a service of the Haiti Support Group.

See the Haiti Support Group web site:

www.haitisupport.gn.apc.org

[MAWON]

Noudweront, ou di :

?mande pou boujwa al viv ann Ewop, kote yo pwal we ke yo pat janm boujwa. Vote klas mitan-an bay Meriken, mas pep ki kwe li Afriken-yan, bay shak $2500, voye ann Afrik, epi res-la, gayel ann Amazoni. Fe Endou ak Shinwa kado te-ya. Se sel fason poun asire sivi biyolojik nou. ?

Mwen konprann indiyasyion-ou, men mwen pa krè ke tout sa ou di la, se sa ki soti lan kè-w. Sou pwen de voye boujwa al viv an Ewop, mwen dako avè-w sanpousan, men de lot sijesyon-yo mwen pa ka finn dako avè-w. Zansèt nou yo te fè twop sakrifis pou yo te kite ti bout tè sa ban nou, pou nou ta al bay li konsa.

O sijè de, voye res moun yo al viv an Amazoni, gen yon refleksyon mwen te fè sou sa depi lontan. Mwen te pense, ke pou dèt indepandans la, si LaFrans te vle negosye, nou te ka mande-l pou li ta bann mwatye Giyann Fransez, ki se yon tè ki preske vid. Se yon gwan teritwa, apeprè 20 pli gwo ke Ayiti, e ki gen yon popilasyon de 200,000 moun selman, e lan 200,000 moun sa-yo 2/3 se ayisyen. Si Lafrans ta dako fè sa, nou te ka voye inpe moun lan pati yo ban nou-an, pou nou ta resoud pwoblem sipèpleman ke nou genyen nan zile nou-a.