Opinion

Why Haiti needs new narratives now more than ever

January 26, 2012 by Gina Athena Ulysse

On Feb 3 at 6pm, BHR hosts a book launch at Harvard's Starr Auditorium - 79 JFK st in CambridgeAn excerpt from "Tectonic Shifts: Haiti Since the Earthquake", edited by Mark Schuller and Pablo Morales

...I realize that in focusing on this issue of representation, I am in a sense actually doing Haiti a disservice. After all, the emphasis on deconstructing symbols only reinscribes the dominant narrative, which already gets lots of airplay. So here my activist and academic goals clash. A deconstructive exercise alone cannot fill the lacuna of stories from Haitian perspectives with counternarratives about the earthquake and its aftermath.

Those of us who study Haiti know this conundrum only too well. As scholars, advocates, or just plain concerned witnesses, we know, to put it crudely and in layman’s terms, that historically speaking, Haiti has an image problem. That remains Haiti’s burden. Sometimes I joke that when the first free black republic made its debut on the world stage, Haiti lacked proper representation. Read more

Two Years Later, Where is the Outrage?

January 19, 2012 by Melinda Miles

Kafou Ayopo camp: May 23 Destruction of the Camp at the Airport Road Intersection: Mayor Wilson Jeudy of Delmas was the first local official in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area to begin illegally dismantling the camps of internally displaced people.There is not enough anger for my anger, there is not enough grief for my grief.

At the two-year anniversary of the earthquake, I am finding myself with a case of insomnia. Here I am, enjoying the perfect Haitian winter, lying awake with my head filled with thoughts I can’t escape. Sure, it’s natural to reflect on what has happened as another year ends, yet what I can’t seem to get away from is all the things that haven’t happened.

The hundreds of thousands who haven’t moved out of the camps they set up after the earthquake, two years ago. The permanent homes that haven’t been constructed, hell even the temporary shelters that haven’t been built. The tarps that only last a couple of months yet haven’t been replaced after two years. The jobs that haven’t been created, the billions that haven’t been spent, the building back better that apparently will never happen. Read more

Reinstate the armed forces

December 9, 2011 by Reginald Toussaint, Special to the Reporter

Reginald ToussaintPresident Michel Martelly’s plan to reinstate the armed forces has stirred a lot of controversy in the international community. On the surface, the debate is about the allocation of resources and the army’s history of human rights abuses. However, a deeper look at this issue reveals the true nature of the conflict, which is who calls the shots in Haiti. The international community has a history of using the threat of sanctions or reducing its aid packages to Haiti as a way of influencing government policy. It would be another blow to Haiti’s sovereignty if they manage to, once again, prevent the Haitian government from making its own decisions and doing what it feels is in the best interests of its constituents.

Since a document highlighting Martelly’s plan surfaced a few months ago, several foreign officials have publicly criticized the plan. Many suggested that such a plan is too costly ($95 million) and Haiti should, instead, focus on strengthening the National Police Force. Read more

IDP camps are filled with 'real' people

December 9, 2011 by Mark Schuller, Special to the Reporter

In many senses the lack of progress following Haiti’s earthquake centers on housing. Assessing the damage, a team evaluated 382,256 housing units in Port-au-Prince. Of these, 205,539 were tagged “green,” ready for human habitation, 99,043 “yellow,” requiring significant repair, and 77,674 “red,” which were so damaged so as to require demolition. Anthropologist Timothy Schwartz led a team to write a report for USAID, who funded the housing evaluation.

The report contained some important warnings; despite its technical successes and easy- to-understand coding system, the program didn’t noticeably alter people’s decisions to move back into homes. Read more

Once again, US interests trump welfare of Haitians in aid

November 15, 2011 by Nathan Yaffe, Special to the Reporter

The US response to the earthquake in Haiti has received ample attention. In the process, several common critiques emerged. Some said aid was disbursed too slowly; others pointed to glaring flaws in individual programs; and of course, many noted that Haitian contractors and NGOs were sidelined from the relief effort.

These critiques make a variety of important points. However, one perspective that’s still underrepresented is the analysis of current US aid efforts in light of the historical relationship between the US and Haiti. Read more

Diaspora pushes for accountability in US aid to Haiti

November 14, 2011 by Kysseline Jean-Mary Cherestal and A.D. Rachel Pierre, Special to the Reporter

The Haitian Diaspora has long maintained close ties to Haiti. Over the many decades Haitians have been immigrating to the US, they have continued to support their brothers and sisters in Haiti by sending remittances, and by standing in solidarity with them, including advocating on their behalf. Now more than ever, the Haitian Diaspora cannot sit idle while gross human rights injustices continue to claim the lives of Haiti’s marginalized citizens.

As the two year mark of the devastating January 12, 2010 earthquake approaches, Haiti’s reconstruction and development have barely begun. Read more

Martelly, the consolidation of power, and the tailoring of Iron-Pants

November 14, 2011 by Patrick Sylvain, Contributing Editor

Patrick SylvainPresident Martelly declared education and fighting corruption among his highest priorities in the reconstruction of Haiti. Simultaneously, he extended a participatory hand to some of the country’s former leaders — known human rights violators, drug traffickers, and corruptors. For some reason, Jean-Claude Duvalier and former President Aristide are held in high regard by Martelly and have been sought by him, in this, the first year of his presidency.

Martelly’s overtures to political leaders can simply be read as symbolic, which, in a country like Haiti that has historically been mired in exclusionary politics can result in personal and political triumph. Martelly’s embrace of both friends and foes automatically garners him political points that his predecessors have failed to earn. Whether his political embraces and and maneuverings are genuine or not is absolutely irrelevant; what is important is the how his presidency has been perceived during this period of power consolidation, the most critical for any government. Read more

Science for Haiti: A necessity moving forward

October 12, 2011 by Ilio Durandis, Special to the Reporter

Ilio DurandisThe American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) recently published Science for Haiti: A Report on Advancing Haitian Science and Science Education capacity, which sets the stage for Haitian policy makers to incorporate science in their strategies of the reconstruction of Haiti. The theme of the report centers on two key components: advancing Haitian science and science education.

Science, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary is defined as the state of knowing. Its etymology is from the Latin word: Scientia, which literally means knowledge. If science is the state of knowing, why more often than not the subject matters bring in a fear of knowing? To fully appreciate the set of goals and recommendations presented in the Science for Haiti paper, we must try to explain the state of science in Haiti and how it is perceived by most Haitians. Read more

Helpful tools to save a foreclosed home

October 12, 2011 by Emie Michaud Weinstock, Special to the Reporter

Imagine buying a house, a place to call home. The mortgage is paid on time and the yard is maintained. Then suddenly the mortgage rate shoots up from 6% to 18% because it is a variable rate mortgage. Many calls are made to the lender and but go unreturned. Applications for a loan modification are filed but the bank says that because payments are still being made, it can’t approve the modification; and the only to approve one is if a payment is missed and the mortgage goes into default. The next month, the mortgage isn’t paid because the payment has become too expensive. Finally, a notice in the mail comes that the bank has foreclosed on the property. The bank also says that it wants you and your family out of the house. The bank is evicting you, and you have nowhere to go.

This was the case of Guy Lebrun, the Haitian radio host of Verite Variete. So he went to Read more

‘I am Haitian, not a Creole, and I speak Haitian’

October 7, 2011 by Patrick Sylvain, Contributing Editor

Haitians are sometimes baffled when I tell them that I do not speak Creole (Kreyòl); rather, that I speak Haitian, the language of a politically and culturally established independent nation. Once I explain my position, they either agree with my reasoning or they completely reject it, and revert to their default beliefs. For many Haitians, the ‘Creole’ notion is a significant problem, and it is old.

The entire Caribbean region became a constructed space once the Spanish colonizers who decimated the original inhabitants brought in West African slaves. Shaped by European economic needs, the region became an initiate of the first systematic process of globalization, linking the “New World” to new markets – a system entrenched to the point that a restructuring the physical landscape of the region was rendered. Differentiated social class structures were established as the aristocratic Spaniards (who wanted to distinguish themselves from the various grades of descendants born in the colonies) referred to colony-born Spanish descendants as “Criollos”. Read more

Putting a new lens on Haiti news coverage

September 13, 2011 by Giordano Cossu, Special to the Reporter

A photo session during the Solidar’IT web-journalism training at RSF Operational Media Centre in Bourdon. By Frederick Alexis
Haitian media have an essential role to ensure that Haiti and its reconstruction stay in the news -- now that international attention has faded away while problems remain unresolved. Many media turned to the web to reach a wider audience, especially
towards the diaspora, but challenges persist. A training program specifically designed to form web journalists in Haiti has seen its light in Port-au-Prince.

Solidar’IT is a project that supports Haitian journalism after the earthquake of January 12, 2010. Through the voices of Haitian journalists and the use of web and multimedia tools, it aims to improve awareness about Haiti and its reconstruction.
The web-journalism training program, in partnership with Groupe Medialternatif in Haiti, Solidar’IT is supported by Youphil.com and financed by the Fondation de France, Reporters Without Borders and Unesco.

Among the many effects that goudou goudou has had in Haiti, many media saw their moral role in society strengthened. Read more

100 Days: Bloated Promises and Dangerous Games

September 13, 2011 by Patrick Sylvain, Contributing Editor

Patrick Sylvain
As an individual who is at the apex of symbolic political power, President Michel Martelly lacks sufficient material and procedural power to be an effective president, even if his desire is to truly transform Haiti. He is removed from the sphere of power itself, which is that of a political party within the chamber of parliamentary power where deals are made on a basis of give and take, or at its worst, plain political corruption instituted in the Haitian body politic. Given the level of material damage, and the absence of institutions that are needed to bolster democracy and sustainable growth in the country, one would think that the political class would rise above the morass that has dragged Haiti into the political and economic gutter and try to create a new political atmosphere for the safeguarding of the nation. Instead, the arrogance expressed by Martelly and members of Parliament has increased the repugnancy of Haitian politics. Read more

Evictions Report: Government adds insult to injuries of displaced

August 4, 2011 by Etant Dupain, Special to the Reporter

The Haitian Government is violating the rights of Haitians more seriously than the non-governmental organizations (NGOS). During recent weeks, destroying the camps of the internally displaced people has become something normal. And now the Mayor Jean-Yves Jason of Port-au-Prince has evicted 514 families that were living in the Sylivo Cator soccer stadium, without respect to their rights or their dignity.
A protest by civil society organizations against the presence of MINUSTAH on July 28, 2011.
This is yet another time that the Haitian Government has violated the International Convention on Human Rights, which recognizes the rights that all victims of natural catastrophes have to live with dignity.Mayor Jason of Port-au-Prince declared: “The government doesn’t owe people anything, the 10,000 gourdes ($500 U.S.) the government gives is charity for them to restart their lives.” That is the kind of declaration we might expect to hear from the mouths of NGOs, not from those who govern - those to whom we have given a mandate to govern us.

Of the 514 families that were living in the stadium, there are 124 (about 600 people) that the Mayor agreed to relocate in another space. However, the other nearly 400 families were left in the streets with only 10,000 gourdes and no other assistance to find an alternative. Read more

A Legacy of National Disunity

July 20, 2011 by Patrick Sylvain, Contributing Editor

Patrick Sylvain

Fighting for power at the expense of the nation is nothing new in Haiti. A paternalistic state that has thrived on totalitarianism and corruption, Haiti’s history as a cohesive political nation was short lived.

And today, Haiti cannot be fully considered a viable political nation, despite having a constitution, a parliament, a judiciary and an executive. Haiti’s peril is due to not only the refusal of the West to compensate for its carnivorous colonial past and lingering market-driven need for dominance, but also to its own self-imposed post-slavery military culture and the divergent political views linked to the colonial affiliations of our founding fathers. Read more

Martelly’s Bittersweet Challenges

June 9, 2011 by Jocelyn McCalla, Special to The Reporter

Jocelyn McCalla

President Michel “Sweet Micky” Martelly faces daunting challenges and high expectations as he prepares to preside atop a dysfunctional government. Amongt his challenges are a newly minted parliament that seeks to score high early on.

First, the positive: Martelly has staked part of the success of his administration on its ability to make primary school education universal and real. Few in Haiti believe that he can pull it off, given the costs of building an entirely new structure, the estimated 500,000 school children denied the opportunity since time immemorial and the paucity of trained teachers and school administrators. Yet education is perhaps the most effective weapon against chronic poverty and Haiti remaining an international charity case. By making schooling a priority, at the very least Martelly sends a strong signal that he’s willing to try.

However, meeting domestic and international expectations is another story. In principle, democracy disallows arbitrary rule, forcing the Executive to argue, battle and perhaps compromise with the legislature. While Haiti’s parliament appears to be dominated by INITE party members, in reality it is quite fragmented. The party was cobbled together in 2010 when then President René Préval was deemed to have the upper hand: many rent-seekers hedged their bet by running for office under INITE’s umbrella. They are likely to not act in unison but as an eclectic group of elected officials that will shift and play musical chairs in accordance with the prevailing winds. Read more