The return of former president Jean-Claude Duvalier was a shock to Haiti, both in terms of surprise as well as the frisson that it sent through much of the population. Associated by some with a time of stability, “Baby Doc” Duvalier was more commonly known for the brutal legacy he continued in his father’s footsteps. […]
Haiti’s former “President for Life” Jean-Claude Duvalier made a surprising return to Haiti on Sunday after 25 years in exile. He stated that he hoped to take part in the “rebirth” of the nation, and aging friends said they had begged him to come back and visit. But a simple Duvalierist reunion in the luxurious […]
On my personal blog, I posted a piece about my interactions with exploitation and violations of workers rights in Haiti. To see the full post go to: http://developmentandpolitics.blogspot.com/2010/12/some-musings-on-workers-rights-and.html Sometimes when the day, the week, the month, has been long, I take a stroll to some kind of stress release, to see friends or sneak into […]
Low-resource countries often carry the heaviest disease burden and maintain the smallest health workforce. The deadly cholera epidemic in Haiti is only the most recent example of how the time for ‘task shifting’ has arrived. By Allyn Gaestel for ISN Insights http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Current-Affairs/ISN-Insights/Detail?lng=en&ots627=fce62fe0-528d-4884-9cdf-283c282cf0b2&id=124470&contextid734=124470&contextid735=124469&tabid=124469
The irony of profitability Lately, Haitians have experienced high levels of—what scholars have coined– psychological reactance. It is a reaction caused by the fear of losing something deemed valuable, in this particular case, their very lives. Naturally– when neighbors– friends, and family members—those still alive—keep dying of an invisible, highly contagious and seemingly uncontrollable disease, […]
I recently published a piece for PlusNews about the Tuberculosis epidemic that has long been endemic in Haiti and could worsen with the living situations of over a million Haitians still living in tents ten months after the January 12 earthquake. As with most issues in post-quake Haiti, the earthquake merely brought to light and […]
The much discussed and fretted over rainy season has arrived in Haiti. No, you didn’t miss it—there hasn’t been an official hurricane yet, and all fingers are crossed that it does not arrive. But storms too small to be named, but big enough to tear down trees and tents and scatter rubble and garbage have […]
The situation in Haiti is quietly, exhaustedly unstable. People I talk to in camps complain of flooding when it rains, and children get fevers and diarrhea for lack of clean water. Port-au-Prince has never had universal potable water, but now that over a million people are homeless and unemployed, many cannot afford to buy clean […]
In late July Haitian activists organized rallies in cities across the country to mark the 95th anniversary of the start of the US occupation of Haiti in 1915. Among the protestors’ concerns is the contingent of 11,000 uniformed UN personal – including 9,000 military troops – stationed in Haiti as part the United Nations Stabilization […]
I am now writing from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. I arrived here on Sunday and am freelancing for several organizations for the next few months. While I will try to keep a broad lens for the blog, I thought I would kick it off with a post on human rights in Haiti, as the human rights situation […]
After noting the U.S. response to the Haiti earthquake on this blog, I thought it would be good to follow-up and note that the U.S. response is continuing, even as Haiti no longer dominates the headlines. This report in The Washington Post describes the visit to Haiti yesterday by former Presidents Clinton and Bush: Former […]
Nicolas Sarkozy made the first visit ever by a French president to Haiti, once his nation’s richest colony — offering aid to a country laid to waste after a catastrophic earthquake.
In follow-up to my Haiti post, Transparency International has just released a handbook on humanitarian aid. Very interesting and worth checking out.
In the first days following the 7.0 earthquake in Haiti, American media failed the public by misreporting or omitting entirely Cuba’s involvement in the relief efforts. Only two mainstream media outlets reported on Cuba’s response. One was Fox News, which claimed (incorrectly) that among the neighboring Caribbean countries providing aid, Cuba was absent. The other […]
What is the human instinct when tragedy strikes outside of your immediate circle? (I use the term ‘circle’ quite loosely and encourage self definition). For the past two weeks, I’ve been in keen observation mode. Watching Anderson Cooper on CNN, reading various and varied thoughts on Haiti in my Google Reader, and monitoring the various […]