Haiti – Six months later

Haiti on Wednesday-Night.com; CIA World Factbook: Haiti;
NYT Times Topics: Haiti;
The fault line in Haiti runs straight to France: The earthquake’s destruction has been aggravated not by a pact with the Devil, but by the crippling legacy of imperialism
KANPE ; Fonkoze – Haiti’s Alternative Bank for the Organized Poor. We are the largest micro-finance institution offering a full range of financial services to the rural-based poor in Haiti.

KANPE means “Stand Up” in Haitian Creole, and, as the name suggests, the bulk of the organisation’s initiatives and activities, developed in tandem with its local partners Partners in Health (PIH, or Zanmi Lasante in Creole) and micro-credit specialists Fonkoze, are geared towards seeing Haiti’s most vulnerable citizens achieve self-sufficiency. The organisation’s recognition of the long-term nature of its mandate is reflected in its slogan, “Haïti rebuilds, one village at a time”.

Haitian leader says reconstruction is flagging
The international community, by channeling aid money into Haiti through outside nongovernmental organizations, is not permitting Haitians to play a big enough role in the reconstruction of their own country, according to Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive. Consequently, he said, only some 20% of all aid pledged for rebuilding has been received. BBC (12/27)
24 October
A devastated country in the time of cholera
(The Economist) WITH few signs of recovery nine months after Haiti’s earthquake, the country’s government and its main foreign-aid donors were forced to tout a rather underwhelming achievement—the absence of water-borne diseases like typhoid, diphtheria and cholera—as evidence of progress. Now, even that claim is beyond their grasp. In the past four days over 200 people have died of cholera in the country, and a handful of victims have shown up in Port-au-Prince, the capital.
This was the situation that humanitarian workers feared most. The capital’s tent cities, numbering over 1,300 and still home to 1.3m people, are veritable Petri dishes for disease.
21 September
Wyclef Jean drops Haitian presidential challenge
(CNN) — Wyclef Jean officially ended his bid to be president of Haiti a month after election officials ruled that he was ineligible to run, the hip-hop singer said Tuesday.
Jean previously vowed to fight the Haitian electoral council’s ruling that he was not a resident of the country.
5 August
Wyclef Jean Files as Haiti Presidential Candidate
Hip-hop star Wyclef Jean registered as a candidate on Thursday for Haiti’s November presidential election, a party official said.
Hip-hop star eyes Haitian presidency
(FT) Wyclef Jean played a leading role after the devastating earthquake but doubts cloud his ability to revive the country
Rancor over Haiti fund continues
More than six months after the Jan. 12 earthquake that devastated Haiti, just 18% of the $5.3 billion pledged by international donors has reached rebuilding efforts on the ground. Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive and former U.S. President Bill Clinton, who are heading Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission, have been critical of the World Bank, which is managing some of the reconstruction funds, for what they say are high administrative costs and excessive bureaucracy. The Miami Herald (8/3)
IMF cancels Haiti’s $268M debt
The International Monetary Fund agreed Wednesday to cancel Haiti’s $268 million debt and approve a new $60 million loan. The new three-year interest-free loan is intended for use by Haiti’s central bank to maintain an international currency reserve and manage the flow of aid and reconstruction funds into the country. AlertNet.org/Reuters (7/21)
13 July
Arcade Fire et Régine Chassagne au secours d’Haïti
Six mois exactement après le terrible séisme du 12 janvier ayant frappé Haïti, la fondation KANPE a été lancée lundi au Festival d’été de Québec. Cette organisation a pour objet de briser le cercle vicieux de la pauvreté chez les familles les plus vulnérables là-bas, en y implantant un modèle de croissance fondé sur l’autonomie des personnes désoeuvrées. (Montreal Gazette) Arcade Fire backs fostering initiative (NYT) At Quebec Festival, Arcade Fire Focuses on Haiti
Haiti’s tent cities start to feel permanent
Port-au-Prince residents displaced by the Jan. 12 earthquake are turning temporary shelters in tent cities into more permanent structures as the pace of relocation leaves them with little hope of imminent resettlement. An estimated 1 million people are scraping out a living in the camps, faced with insufficient access to basic services and increasing crime levels. The Miami Herald (free registration) (7/13)
12 July
Finishing Haiti’s Unfinished Work
By JEAN-MAX BELLERIVE and BILL CLINTON
SIX months have passed since the earthquake that shook the coast of Haiti. But for the people who live there, today is just another day in the long process of rebuilding and re-imagining their future amid a hurricane season that threatens to undo the progress they’ve made.
As co-chairs of the Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission, we are well aware that the scale and urgency of needs on the ground continue to be enormous: millions of people still require shelter; access to basic services like education, water and sanitation, electricity and health care; and the tools to lift themselves from poverty.

The Destroyed National Palace In Port-Au-Prince, Haiti
(Reuters) A front loader is seen ready for work near the destroyed national palace in Port-au-Prince July 12, 2010.
Haiti is commemorating on Monday the six-month anniversary of the disaster that killed more than 300,000 people.
In Haiti, reconstruction grinds
Six months after a massive earthquake devastated Haiti relief and reconstruction efforts have stalled as overwhelmed Haitian authorities struggle to assert control and donors fail to deliver promised funding. More than 1.4 million peoples remain without adequate permanent housing. Children’s advocates worry available services are inadequate and the reality many families face will lead to an explosion in the numbers of “restaveks” — children sent to work in slavelike conditions in exchange for food and housing. The New York Times (7/10) , The Toronto Star (7/11) , CNN (7/11)
Crisis in Haiti: Six months after a massive earthquake struck Haiti, the International Rescue Committee’s teams of experts continue to deliver help and hope to the devastated city of Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas. Scott Pelley video on IRC work Haiti: Six Months After the Earthquake
8 July
Haiti: Key data on earthquake emergency relief published by MSF
Living conditions remain dire for thousands of Haitians
Six months after the January 12 earthquake in Haiti, the international medical humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has published a report describing the organization’s largest ever emergency response. The report also describes the dire living conditions of Haitians today and provides an explanation of MSF’s commitment in years to come
7 July
Flooded with NGOs, Haiti Looks to Fall Presidential Polls
(IPS) – They descended in droves after the Jan. 12 earthquake devastated the French-speaking Caribbean Community (Caricom) country, killing an estimated 300,000 people and leaving more than one million homeless. Now, six months later, the 15-member Caricom grouping is appealing to the United Nations to help bring about some “level of order” among the hundreds of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that they fear could undermine the fragile democracy in Haiti