I traveled to Haiti from December 28, 2009 - January 8, 2010 with the Task Force on the Americas.
Update: On January 12, 2010, just a couple days after our delegation returned from Haiti, the country was devastated with a magnitude 7.0 earthquake. Based on our observations in the country, some organizations will attempt to make money off of this disaster. Many NGOs put high percentages of their contributions into salaries, vehicles, and office support rather than helping those who need it most. The following are two organizations that we have identified as being the best, most efficient, most reliable organizations you can contribute to to support Haiti earthquake relief efforts:
- Haiti Reborn (part of the Quixote Center), at the top of the right hand column, there is a link to make your donation)
- Haiti Emergency Relief Fund
Statements from members of our delegation:
- Delegation report (pdf)
- Haiti's problems primarily political (Marc Becker, The Cap Times, January 20, 2010), also published published on Historians Against the War (January 17, 2010), History News Network (January 19, 2010), the Truman State University Index (January 28, 2010, p. 4), with part read on WORT's Insurgent Radio Kiosk (January 26, 2010).
- Haiti-Based Aid Groups, and Haiti Experts Call for U.S. to Prioritize Aid Delivery Over Military Deployment, Letter I signed together with Jesse Jackson, Danny Glover, Harry Belafonte, and many others (January 28, 2010).
- Outside The Box. Haiti: Earthquakes, hurricanes, and colonialism (Bill Collins, January 18, 2010)
- Call the State Department! Allow Aristide to return to Haiti now (Kevin Pina, Haiti Information Project, who helped organize our delegation)
Our solidarity delegation began in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s
capital. We investigated the UN "peacekeeping" force's
human rights abuses, visited with political prisoners, investigate
continued Lavalas repression and exclusion from February/March legislative ballots, and met with unions and popular movements. Our itinerary included visits to
political prisoners, the
SOPUDEP School, the late
Fr. Jean-Juste’s meal
program at St. Clare’s
Parish, as well as
meetings with union
organizers. In
the culturally rich area of Jacmel on the southern
coast we met with the local NGO KONPAY that introduced us to a number of successful sustainable
agricultural and environmental projects.
Statements from our delegation:
- U.S. – Canada Delegation Condemns Human Rights Situation in Haiti (January 4, 2010)
- No Support for Haiti's Undemocratic Elections (January 5, 2010)
Anai Rhoads, Homeland Security Harass Haiti Relief Delegates (January 14, 2010)
My blog (Stuart and BC also blogged about our visits)
My audio recordings, including
- my interview on WORT's Third World View with filmmaker and journalist Kevin Pina broadcast on January 17, 2010: play (32 min) / download (30MB)
- an additional feature with more voices from Haiti broadcast on January 24, 2010: play (32 min) / download (30MB). These programs originally aired on WORT 89.9 FM and streamed at http://www.wort-fm.org.
Powerpoints:
- GlobeMed presentation (January 28, 2010, 48MB)
- Haiti history lecture (1MB)
Jennifer Lewis, "All Eyes On: Marc Becker," Index (Truman State University), February 4, 2010, 11.
I also have some video recordings of our interviews. These include:
- Mythro Philistin, Parti Solidarite
- Florence (teacher)
- Rene Civil, Youth Popular Powe
- Georges Werleigh, rural economist
- Petion Rospide, ex-political prisoner
- Yves Peirre-Louis, activist journalist
- Olen Calixste, singer
I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do with these recordings (they are mostly too long for youtube), but let me know if anyone wants to see them. If you want video, see http://www.youtube.com/user/longmemoryprod
For more information on Haiti, see:
- www.haitiaction.net
- www.ijdh.org
- www.haiti-liberte.com
- canadahaitiaction.ca
- http://www.haitisolidarity.net/