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Creole Language Course - Rassias Method
June 25 - July 2
Dartmouth College, NH
Dartmouth is offering a one-week intensive Haitian Creole Language program (June 25 to July 2), designed specifically for humanitarian professionals and volunteers with a health focus. It will be run through Dartmouth’s Rassias Center for World Languages & Cultures, using Professor Rassias’s dynamic and effective method of language instruction which was originally developed for the Peace Corps. The program is quick yet rigorous. Information and application materials can be found here: The course complements a wide-reaching collaboration called Dartmouth Haiti Response involving Dartmouth College, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC), Dartmouth Medical School, and Partners In Health. The effort has donated$1.5 in cash from Dartmouth’s students, faculty, staff, alumni, families and friends; 40 tons of equipment and supplies from the Medical School, DHMC, and many companies and partners; and the service of 51 doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals in Haiti after the earthquake. In addition, Dartmouth admitted two Haitian undergraduate students for spring term 2010 to attend Dartmouth until they could resume classes at Université Quisqueya in Port-au-Prince; the college fully admitted another Haitian undergraduate student and created a one-year exchange for two Haitian medical students. The President of Dartmouth College is Dr. Jim Yong Kim, co-founder of international NGO Partners in Health.
For more about Dartmouth’s commitment to the Haiti see: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~news/features/haiti/index.html
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One month after the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami, Atsuko Fish and her daughter, Emily Fish, traveled to Japan to understand the extent of the devastation and assess needs. Join Atsuko and Emily on a discussion about the current situation in Northern Japan. In addition, the Advisory Committee members of the Japanese Disaster Relief Fund–Boston will provide an update of the fund’s activities to date. One of the grantee organizations, Boston Japan Medical Relief Initiative, will share their work in Tohoku.
The Boston Foundation
75 Arlington Street, 10th Floor
Boston, MA 02116
Space is limited. RSVP at http://jdrfb.eventbrite.com.
Food and refreshments will be served.
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Photo Credit: Partners in Development
On May 25 representatives of several organizations serving Haiti -- all with offices on Boston's North Shore -- will provide an update on progress on the ground in Haiti today.
On the Ground Today in Haiti
Wednesday, May 25 - 6:15 pm
40 Market Street, Downtown Ipswich, MA
(Parking in the rear or at nearby Ipswich Train Station on Market Street. Easily accessible by Commuter Rail.)The following organizations will be represented:Haiti Projects, Inc.: Since 1994 Haiti Projects has been empowering women in the remote, rural region of Fond des Blancs, Haiti to lift themselves out of poverty, become self-sufficient, and build community through participating in an Artisanat Cooperative using the centuries-old art of embroidery to produce heirloom-quality, handmade nightgowns, house linens, and gift items. Proceeds provide livelihoods and support a women's health clinic, community library with technology center, a micro-lending fund, and an education scholarship fund. Haiti Projects' US-office is based in Beverly. Linens will be available for purchase.Partners in Development, Inc.: An Ipswich-based, non-profit, humanitarian agency that has worked with the extreme poor of Haiti and Guatemala for over 20 years, Partners in Development launched its newest initiative in April: a Community Transformation Program in the tent city of Canaan. Through this community project Partners in Development will partner with the displaced people of Canaan to facilitate much needed educational opportunities, healthcare, small businesses, home building, and clean water.Mirebalais National Teaching Hospital, Partners in Health: With a construction planning office in Beverly, Partners in Health, the international community health agency founded by Dr. Paul Farmer and Ophelia Dahl over two decades ago, is building a 320-bed national teaching hospital in Mirebalais, Haiti. The hospital will train Haitian health workers, host visiting residents and feature video-conferencing instruction from Boston's world-class hospitals. The hospital is fully funded by private donors and leading construction companies in the Greater Boston area.The Haiti Fund at the Boston Foundation: Launched on January 14, 2010 with donor support from the Greater Boston community and beyond, the Haiti Relief and Reconstruction Fund has issued over 40 grants primarily to Haitian-led initiatives stimulating peasant agriculture, small enterprise, innovative education, as well as the human rights movement in Haiti. Over five years, with leadership from Haitian Americans and experts in international development, the Fund will advocate for Haitians playing a central role in the reconstruction of their country.
For more about Fair Trade coffeehouse Zumi’s in Ipswich – its community forums and its proprietors Umesh and Zillie Bhuju – see http://www.zumis.com/index.htm.
To link to this article from Zumi's Facebook Page see http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_147492941962566&id=197720533606473.
Zumi's Proprietor Umesh Bhuju, native of Nepal and innovative business leader in Ipswich, MA.
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Photo caption: Funeral of Samuel Georges, 18-year-old who died eight hours after contracting cholera. Cholera is on the rise in Haiti. Photo credit: Ben Depp, www.bendepp.com
Activist and Journalist Beverly Bell warns the world to not be too sanguine about the inauguration of President Michel Martelly and his plans to reinstate a Haitian army.
“We may soon look back on this period in Haiti with greater appreciation. Amidst the world-historic levels of death and suffering from last January’s earthquake, citizens have at least been spared the scale of government violence that has marked much of their nation’s past (not-with-standing attacks against internally displaced persons during forced evictions, and occasionally against street protesters.)“This may change under Michel Martelly, the incoming president. For starters, he wants to bring back the army that former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide dismantled in 1995. Since Haiti already has a police force to maintain public order and the country is not expected to go to war, Martelly can have only one aim for reintroducing armed forces: to reclaim the tool that past presidents have used to shore up their power by means of violent repression of dissent and competition.“Forces are already readying for violence, which will likely be exerted both through the army and through gangs. Journalist Isabeau Doucet filed this eyewitness report last month: “For over a year, on a hillside south of Port-au-Prince, around 100 former soldiers and young recruits train three times a week. They claim to have a network of camps all over the country where Haitian men meet and exercise, learn military protocol and martial arts and receive basic training... The black-and-red flag of Jean-Claude Duvalier’s party hangs in their tarpaulin dressing room… Somebody is paying for this, even though they claim that it’s all-volunteer, and the current government is turning a blind eye, if not giving tacit support.” “Just how the forces of violence may ally with various backers - some combination of Martelly and those surrounding the returned former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier - is one question. Another is how much they may tyrannize a citizens’ movement which is demanding solutions to widespread homelessness, unemployment, and extreme poverty. Two U.S.-based groups supporting community organizing in Haiti are already preparing emergency responses in case significant political violence should erupt.“Beyond Martelly’s plans for an army, his past associations raise concerns about what policies he may bring to office. Martelly was public in his support for the death squad-friendly regimes that reigned after coups d’état against Aristide (1991 and 2004)…”
For the full article which discusses fraud in the two-tiered election, the imminent rise in cholera during the rainy season, and citizen mobilizing for permanent housing see: http://www.otherworldsarepossible.org/another-haiti-possible/haiti-just-when-you-think-it-cant-get-worse.
Beverly Bell has worked with Haitian social movements for over 30 years. She is also author of the book Walking on Fire: Haitian Women's Stories of Survival and Resistance. She coordinates Other Worlds, www.otherworldsarepossible.org, which promotes social and economic alternatives. She is also associate fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies.
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Photo credit: US Navy; Haitian National Police Marching Band at Toussaint L'Ouverture Airport in Port-au-Prince on February 20, 2010, the day after the airport was restored to Haitian command following US emergency management
In an interview with the Toronto Star, newly inaugurated President Michel Martelly said he wants to reinstate a Haitian military "'that can keep the peace, that can secure the borders, control drug trafficking and intervene in times of natural catastrophes, that could protect the environment. We're talking about a modern army, especially an army that could create employment, integrate youth, regain our sovereignty,' he said.
"Martelly said he met with Edmond Mulet, head of the UN mission that has maintained order in Haiti since 2004 (known as MINUSTAH), and told him 'there will need to be a relationship between this (military) force we have to train ... and MINUSTAH, as their departure will definitely depend on scheduling the establishment of this force.' Mulet told the Star that negotiations have begun to eventually downsize MINUSTAH and transfer its functions to a new force... "A beefed-up Haitian National Police was supposed to replace the army (disbanded by President Jean Bertrand Aristide in 1995) as a domestic security force. But despite years of investment, the 'police are not well equipped and don't have the means to be apolitical,' Martelly said. 'They are badly paid and sometimes neglected, which leads them astray.'" For the full story see: http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/991592--martelly-plans-army-re
vival-for-haiti
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On May 14, 2011, with outgoing President Rene Preval removing his red and blue Presidential sash and placing it over incoming President Michel Martelly, "the inauguration marked the first time in Haitian history that a president had transferred power to a member of the opposition." The new President "laid out his top priorities for rebuilding the country, a plan that focused on education, tax collection, security and foreign investment. To 'change the face of Haiti,' he said everybody had to do their part. "Martelly told his audience not to throw rocks in protest or build homes on precarious ravines. When he told his audience to pay taxes to improve services, the message seemed aimed at the business class sitting in the shade of the stands.... "Martelly reiterated a pledge to rebuild the crumbling capital of Port-au-Prince, revive an economically depressed countryside and bolster security. Universal education for children, he said, would not only be free but also mandatory."
Neither former President Jean Claude Duvalier or Jean Bertrand Aristide appeared at the ceremony. For the full report from Associated Press see:
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Friends, I apologize for the lapses in writing, while the challenges go on in Haiti and other parts of the world. I will continue posting from this site occasionally as I prepare to move to a new blog site.
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Travel for philanthropic purposes may be motivated by the desire to do good -- but too often it does harm.
Learn from those who have planned meaningful and respectful trips how to create a positive philanthropic journey, one with the potential for making a difference.
Travel Philanthropy
May 19, 5:30-7:00
Wheelock College
43 Hawes Street, Brookline, MA
Our hostess will be President Jackie Jenkins-Scott of Wheelock College at its Brookline Campus. Wheelock has engaged board members and students in service trips with Safe Harbor, an educational program for families living and working in the garbage dumps of Guatemala City.
Presenters will include Marc Manashil of the San Francisco Bay Area, former founder and Executive Director of The Clarence Foundation, which pioneered the development of international giving circles and a traveling giving circle to Kenya. Joining him will be Dick Simon, who has engaged many in philanthropic travel as founder of Presidents' Action Network of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO). He and his son, Alex Simon, a student at George Washington University, also deeply engaged in the YPO, will describe how travel philanthropy has been an integral part of their family's culture.
A list of helpful resources for planning trips will be provided.
Click here to download the event flyer. RSVP online or to neid@tpi.org.
New England International Donors (NEID) brings together donors, grantmakers, social investors, and those who advise them, to change the world through giving. Through networking, educational opportunities and information sharing, NEID aims to spark donor action and collaboration. For more about NEID see www.neidonors.org
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"'On April 29, 2011, the federal finance ministry filed a motion for confiscation of Duvalier assets blocked in Switzerland with the Federal Administrative Tribunal,'" the ministry said in a statement on Monday.
"If the motion for confiscation is admitted, Switzerland will return the Duvalier assets to Haiti,"... amounting to 5.8 million Swiss francs (4.5 million euros, 6.7 million dollars). Switzerland had announced the first
stage of return process, a fresh one-year block, three months ago.
"'Baby Doc' Duvalier and his followers are accused of plundering hundreds of millions of dollars of state funds during their 15-year reign. But traces of the assets have evaporated around the world over the decades, leaving the money repeatedly frozen by authorities in a Swiss bank in a tit-for-tat court battle with the holders since 'Baby Doc' was toppled in 1986.
"The Swiss accounts are held by the opaque Liechtenstein-based Brouilly foundation, which is tied to the Duvalier family, according to authorities. Haiti's former strongman has denied that he owns the money...Swiss officials have said they want the money to be used for projects to tackle poverty.
"Haiti's president-elect, Michel Martelly, was quoted as saying in a newspaper interview last month that he was considering an amnesty for former leaders Jean-Bertrand Aristide and Duvalier to promote
reconciliation."
