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Haiti often seems to be perpetually instable, at a crossroads, at an impasse.  It is important to remember though that Haiti is full of talented young people who, if given the opportunity, go on to do great things.  Haiti is sorely in need of new leaders in government, in civil society, and in the private sector.  The Haitian Education and Leadership Program (HELP) has long provided scholarships to high performing students in Haiti who would not otherwise be able to pursue higher education.  On 26 February, HELP Haiti will hold a webinar in which several successful alumni will speak about their experiences with the program.  Think about participating and supporting their work.  More information follows as well as the registration link. 

There is no justice without a functioning judicial system and Haiti's is broken.  Prisons are sorely over-crowded in part due to 80% of inmates being held for years with no trial.  In addition, activists report a distrubing increase in illegal preventive detentions.  Judges are few, overwhelmed, and often threatened.  Haiti remains a fragile democracy and will remain so without justice and the rule of law.  If the judicial system improves, then we will know that Haiti is, at last, changing for better.  The full article by AP journalists Evens Sanon and Danica Coto is linked and follows below. 

Part of the reason we made this website was to highlight good work being done by good people, especially Haitians, for the betterment of the country.  Haiti has many overlooked heroes, too many of whom pay the ultimate price for trying to bring about a more just society.  Monferrial Dorval, former head of the Port-au-Prince Bar Association and international human rights champion, was assassinated on August 28, 2020.  His legacy was remembered on 10 December which is International Human Rights Day.  He was committed to the rule of law, human rights, and drafted a bill that would prevent Haitians in Haiti and abroad from not having citizenship due to gaps in civil registration and documentation.  May his example be an inspiration to others. 

During their years in power, the Duvaliers led a kleptocracy - stealing from the people to maintain extravagant lifestyles.  They did not do so alone.  Being anti-communist, they were long supported by the United States while Swiss banks hid millions of dollars from the Duvaliers and those close to them.  In 2002, Duvalier funds in Geneva, Vaud and Zurich were frozen.  In 2009, the Federal Office of Justice announced the money would be returned to Haiti although this was overturned the following year.  These funds, which belong to the Haitian people, have yet to be returned.   Doing so is long overdue. 

Haitian women hold together families, communities, and the country.  Despite this, violence against women and girls remains a persistent problem.  The kindnapping, torture, and murder of a high school girl has infuriated civil society who are pushing artists, influences, and politicans to do more to prevent and respond.  The girl, Evelyne Sincère, has become a symbol of injustice - but not indifference this time.  If Haiti is to change, both civil society and the government will need to work tirelessly for the protection of women and girls.  The best way to honor Evelyne is to prevent it from happening to anyone else.  The full article by Miami Herald journallist Jacqueline Charles follows. 

Many of Haiti's roads are terrible - some major routes have been improved but overall it is far behind its Latin American and Caribbean neighbors.  Roads are important for the economy, getting goods to and from regional markets, for public health, getting people to health care facilities when they need care, and for disaster preparedness/response, being able to get national and international responders/commodities to where they are most needed.  Due to the rough conditions, travel is more difficult and expensive than it should be. To get a better sense of what it is like to be a passenger or driver in Haiti, check out the documentary "Deadliest Roads: Haiti".    

According to France 24, the Haitian High Court of Auditors released a report slamming the mis-use of $2 billion in aid from Venezuela from 2008-2016.  For a country Haiti's size, this level of funding could have been used for much needed schools, clinics, and infrastructure - in other words, a better future.  Instead it was utterly wasted due to corruption and bad management.  The Haitian political elite is quite upset that U.S Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently met the Haitian President in a hallway without the pomp and circumstance of a normal bilateral meeting.   I understand that anger but until Haiti has a government that is accountable and invests in its own people instead of lining its pockets, it will not be taken seriously in a region where most of its neighbors are making progress.

Most U.S administrations have been ambivalent or hostile to Haiti.  Even the administrations that have ostensibly wanted to help it have at times done tremendous harm.  The Trump Administration is amongst those that are hostile to Haiti - too black, too poor, no money to be made there.  Not only is the United States deporting Haitians, including those with COVID-19, it is preparing to send back former death squad leader Emmanuel "Toto" Constant.  He is truly a man who belongs behind bars, either American or Haitian, but now is not the time to further destabilise Haiti with his presence.   The Washington Post Editorial Board calls for a compassionate approach - which will not happen unless the electorate in key states like Florida demand it.  

Repected Haitian-American author Edwidge Dandicat writes in the Miami Herald op-ed below that the United States is endangering Haitians and communities in Haiti by deporting them regardless of their health status.  More than 100 Immigrants’ rights organizations, faith-based groups, academic institutions across the United States and Haiti, have sent a letter to the Trump administration, the Department of Homeland Security and ICE, urging them to stop the deportations and find community-based alternatives to detention that will prevent the spread of COVID-19.  For members of the Haitian Diaspora and friends of Haiti, now is the time to contact your representatives and senators.  Haiti's political and health care systems are much too fragile right now to deal with a major epidemic.  The end result is that people will lose their lives.   

On February 13th, a fire killed thirteen children and two adult caretakers at a "children's home" that the U.S based Church of Bible Understanding supported in Haiti.  I want to be clear that there are some faith-based groups doing heroic work for health, education, and social justice in Haiti.  There are, however, as many unscruplous organisations who see children as a way to fund-raise salaries, overhead, while providing little for the kids themselves.  Orphanages are money-makers and thus are plentiful, numbering oven 700.  Many of these children are abused and exploited in the name of God and money. If these organisations were really interested in helping, they would make familly planning available so parents have no more children than they want or can afford, would support families to take care of the children they already have, and expand adoption/foster networks for children who have no family to take them in.  The church refuses to comment on the allegations of children who have come forward to say they were abused.  The full article by AP journalists Michael Weissenstein and Ben Fox follows.