KOMPA! MAGAZINE

[Raymi]

By now, it's quite clear that the Government cannot get Haiti out of its dire sraits. It is not powerful enough. It's very relient on outside help to survive, which gives it little leeway in being effective. Quite frankly, the only thing that this Government can really do is try to be a keeper of the peace with the UN in tow.

You certainly cannot rely on the small elite led by the billionaire, Biggio and the other cronies of the MErvs, Brandt, and Acras. Isn't it ironic that these the only entity capable of surviving coup d'etat, changing government, chaos, are only these Greedy demogogues, who are not haitians and is making both Dessalines and Toussaint turn in their graves, that they fought so we could turn our country over for a few to enjoy and pliage, while the son and daughters of slaves who fought for our rebellion continue to live deplorable conditions.

And of what about charity? All it does is feed the people for one day, without addressing the problem of what can be done for them to feed themselves.

It was just reported that Haiti has only 3-4 percent forestation left. Now imagine that.

to be continued.........
_________________
Some men see things as they are and ask why?
I dream of things that never were, and ask why not? RFK.

[Raymi]

Last term, as the President of the Caribbean Law student association, I was approached by this White classmate who sat next to me in Wills. He told me that he had been to Haiti in a small town called LaGonave.

HE was the PResident of the Amnesty International chapter at the Law School. He had heard that we had raised money for another organization that raises money for a school in Haiti the previous term and wanted to know if we could do something together to raise money for this organization that works with Schools in remote towns in Lagonave.

Without hesiation, I jumped at the opportunity, and to make a long story short, we had a siccessful gala at a sheraton hotel with jazz performances, caribbean cuisine and other entertainment. But more importantly we were able to raise $3500, and showed the promise of what even a little can do as Professors, Judges and others gave their support.

Ironically, this event brought a change in me. I saw a passion to help Haiti from this white kid who fell in love with the country and told me it would be his lifelong mission to help. Moreover he suggested that we should go to that downs in Lagonave when school ends this april so we could help, maybe have an extensive seminar in english o whatever.

And there I thought, If only we could see ourselves, the potential to do better that these outsiders see in our country. I was ashamed that this guy knew more about my country than me, had travelled to more places to it than me......And had it not been for him I never would have done anything.

INSTEAD, I WOULD JUST BE ANOTHER OF THOSE INTELIGGENT KNOW IT ALL WHO SITS BEHIND HIS COMPUTER SCREEN< BICTH AND MOAN, about what he, she, they should do but never once LOOK AT MYSELF.

How many of those to we have in the LET"S talk section?

For many who goes haiti, we pack our bags, do some serious shopping, show off. Guys try to screw some hot chicks they would never have a chance of being with the states by flashing their disapora card and then it's over.

SOmehow someway, I believe that something can be done. It has to be.

This morning I contacted my friend and I told him, Let's do it.
I'll take that boat and go to Lagonave in April and see what more I can do.

I cannot be afraid of my own country. Isn't it where I'm from? I have cousins, uncles, aunts who still live there.

What can you do?
_________________
Some men see things as they are and ask why?
I dream of things that never were, and ask why not? RFK.

[Raymi]

Check out this article......
Can one person really make a difference!!! We keep looking for changes in the big scale but fail to realize that the pulse of a country is its people.

Montgomery professor uses education to rebuild Haiti



This story about Anne Jordan-Reynolds' work in Haiti originally ran in the June 7, 2004, Montgomery Advertiser:

A few weeks ago, Montgomerian Anne Jordan-Reynolds walked along the port of Cap-Haitien in northern Haiti looking for old friends she hoped were still alive. After a coup forced Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide into exile Feb. 29, rampant violence continued, forcing everyday people into hiding, the economy to a standstill and an already poverty-stricken nation into an even more brutal way of life.

"There is nothing there, and that's something that's hard for people of our culture to comprehend," Jordan-Reynolds said of life in Haiti. "Daily, people have to make do with what's available."

Lack and chaos dominate Haitian life, but for Jordan-Reynolds the country has become a second home. Two years ago she established a school for children from remote northern villages, a place where for decades the concept of education simply didn't exist. Now, some 300 youngsters gather there daily.

She's also helped struggling artists on the port of Cap-Haitien and taught about the risk of HIV to a population with the highest AIDS incidence outside sub-Saharan Africa. Last year, she traveled to Haiti about every six to eight weeks. Wednesday, even as the country reels from floods in late May that left more than 2,600 dead and missing in Haiti and amid chaos that led the U.S. State Department to warn Americans against visiting the country, she will travel to Haiti yet again.

On her last visit, her friends were safe, except one. Roslie, who'd often spoken of his plans to start a fishing school, had been shot and killed when he was mistaken for an anti-rebel activist.

Friends were shocked to see Jordan-Reynolds at such a tumultuous time -- the dust had barely settled from the coup. She was there to help.

"Obviously, I am very surprised about her coming back to help, because foreigners do not enjoy traveling to Haiti," said Reynolds' friend Allan Phillips in an e-mail interview from Cap-Haitien. "I have lots of friends who love Anne, although they don't know her yet."

She is a wife, a mother and an Auburn University Montgomery professor living in Montgomery. But she's focused on the people of Haiti, the poorest nation in the western hemisphere, one that, she's quick to point out, "is always among the poorest three in the world."

World away

Haiti, roughly the size of Maryland, is only 600 miles southeast of the tip of Florida. But when it comes to standards of living, this country on the island of Hispaniola might as well be on another planet.

"It's at our back doorstep -- that's what absolutely blows my mind," Jordan-Reynolds said. The latest coup, though news-making, is far from unique in Haiti.

"Haiti's history is always unfolding," she said. "Part of life in Haiti is government change." A few years ago, Haiti wasn't even on her mind. What she calls her current "journey" started as the fulfillment of a promise, a simple trip to a faraway place.

Her oldest brother, Al, years ago fell in love with Haiti's music, culture and people after several visits. On the day he died, he urged his sister to visit Haiti. She promised him she would.

In 2001, she traveled there with her husband, Robert, and daughter, Stephanie, who brought along a friend. For two weeks, they backpacked across Haiti, riding in "tap-taps," brightly painted trucks often crowded with 50 or more people.

One day, the tap-tap stopped at Haiti's Labadie Beach, a scenic cruise ship stop mere miles from poverty and chaos -- one example of the country's sharp dichotomy of opulence and desolation. There, she met another tourist, Philocles "Phil" Desir, a Haitian native from Atlanta traveling with his wife, Odeline, and their four children.

Desir told Jordan-Reynolds about the village he once knew.

Turmoil takes toll

He had been one of the lucky ones: In 1986, just as revolts against then-leader Jean Claude Duvalier began, Desir left for America. Now, he's one of the 1.5 million Haitians who live in the United States. On his bus driver's wage, it took 16 years until he was able to afford to visit his homeland with his family

What he saw when he finally got back to his village, Coco Beach, a remote area east of Cap-Haitien, broke his heart.

"I met 10 to 15 children in the street -- they had no clothes," Desir said in a phone interview. "I was asking, 'What can I do for them?' But I had no money."

When he'd left Haiti, at least there had been a school for the village children. Now, education was unheard of, a luxury meant for people in some other world.

On the beach, Desir told Jordan-Reynolds about what had become of Coco Beach. The seed was planted. For days Jordan-Reynolds, her husband and Desir discussed their plans for establishing a school in the village. Plans continued when they returned home. That was July 2001. In January 2002, 25 students gathered in a tent for the first class.

"Now, there are 300 students," Desir said with a laugh. "I cannot help every child in Haiti, but I can help little by little."

Fewer than half of the residents of Haiti can read and write. For parents in Haiti, having a child enrolled in school -- any school -- is as prestigious as Americans having a child in an Ivy League college, Jordan-Reynolds said.

It's nothing like an American school -- six staff members, fluent in Creole and French, teach reading, math and science in buildings with tin roofs supplemented with straw. Sometimes they even teach outside. But it's still a school.

"Here's an entire population who have never had the opportunity to learn to read, because it doesn't exist," said Jordan-Reynolds, who includes parents as well as children in reading classes. "Simply by fate, they're in an area where there is literally nothing."

Concept of 'nothing'

Recently when telling one of her AUM classes about conditions in Haiti, the concept of "nothing" arose.

"There is nothing there," she told her students about Coco Beach and other isolated Haitian villages. "No infrastructure, no running water, no electricity, no roads, no medical care." A sea of blank faces registered barely a trace of comprehension.

Nearly unfathomable to Americans, "nothing" is a familiar concept in north Haiti, the locale of Coco Beach and Cap-Haitien, the port city Jordan-Reynolds uses as a base. She said most charitable organizations focus their efforts on the south, the area around the capital city Port-Au-Prince, which is far more accessible than the north with its roadless villages.

Late last year, the World Health Organization warned that a food crisis threatened the 268,000 people in north Haiti because road blocks were preventing the delivery of food. Then in November a flood wiped out the crops in that region, resulting in severe famine. The latest flood, two weeks ago, affected southeastern Haiti the most, but Jordan-Reynolds said it affected communication, transportation and basic needs of people throughout the country. Allan Phillips knows the suffering of the Haitian people firsthand.

Phillips, a 25-year-old Cap-Haitien native, works in a local market to provide for his father and eight siblings. He spoke to Jordan-Reynolds in the market one day, just to practice his English. That exchange resulted in a friendship.

"There is absolutely no life where I am now," Phillips said. "Most of the time, people spend the whole day without eating. There is no electricity as it used to be in the past (since the coup earlier this year). Such part may have light in the town, and another doesn't."

Phillips made these comments in an e-mail he attempted to send from several locations over two days before getting through -- a struggle typical of technology in Haiti, he said. "People used to say that Haiti is like someone who is sick throughout her body and that the doctor doesn't know which part he should try to heal first," said Phillips, who taught himself English. "Political problem, social and educational problem, health problem."

Because of the lack of medical care in the village, Jordan-Reynolds' makeshift office in Coco Beach doubles as a clinic.

"I learned early on that if one of the children has orange- or yellow-tinted hair, that's a sign that they're extremely malnourished," she said.

She'd prefer to never see that tint. She sees it all the time.

Pictures tell the story

One day, riding through Cap-Haitien in a car, Jordan-Reynolds figured the best way to describe Haiti's reservoir of "nothing" to the people back home was with no words at all.

Focusing her digital video camera on the unpaved roads, she recorded a panorama of garbage heaped on streets, open sewers, vendors hawking goods to people who couldn't afford them and subdivisions of falling-apart tin shanties. Scattered on the scene were shoeless children walking along, some of them carrying buckets on their heads to bring water back to their families miles away.

Those images were powerful for 21-year-old Teneen Allen, one of Jordan-Reynolds' AUM students.

"Actually getting to visualize it made me realize that they really have nothing," Allen said. Learning that her great grandfather hailed from Haiti only strengthened her devotion to the cause; she hopes to travel to the country soon.

Allen and some of her fellow students gathered excess supplies such as paper and pencils; the Coco Beach school now has enough school supplies to last about two years.

Jordan-Reynolds' daughter, 18-year-old Stephanie Reynolds, will join her mom on her trip to Haiti this week, as will Stephanie's boyfriend, 17-year-old Brandon Young, who said Jordan-Reynolds is like "a second mom." Young recently took Jordan-Reynolds by surprise by donating a lot of his clothing to the people in Coco Beach and organizing a successful school supply drive among his fellow students at Brewbaker Tech.

Jordan-Reynolds said she's continuously surprised at the mounting support the cause gathers wherever she goes. And progress continues: she recently learned that vanilla once grew in Haiti, so she hooked up with a biologist in Costa Rica who specializes in vanilla; soon, these crops may grow in Coco Beach, offering once unheard of economic opportunities. Another recent boon: the school in Coco Beach received nonprofit status, making it eligible for grants.

Long haul

Mention the people of Haiti to a lot of Americans and what springs to mind are recent TV news images of gun-toting rebels and the violence left in their wake.

Jordan-Reynolds has had a closer look. She said the rebels are actually a very small minority of the population and that Haitians are, above all, kind and generous people. A favorite story: One day, she was walking in Cap-Haitien with her old friend Telisemeh when she saw a silver coin on the ground.

Passing by were people who either worked for the Haitian minimum wage -- 110 gourdes, the equivalent of $2.60 a day -- or were chronically unemployed, who lived in houses crafted of scrap materials, with no utilities. They all saw the coin there glinting in the sunlight, but no one dared pick it up.

She asked Telisemeh why.

"He told me the philosophy in Haiti is, 'There may be someone who passes who is in greater need than myself,'" she said. "That blew me away."

That's a big part of what drives her to help. She said when she made the commitment, she knew "it was for the duration."

It's something her family is getting used to.

"I still worry every time she goes," said Jordan-Reynolds' mother, Helen Jordan, who remembers her daughter as always "looking out for the underdog" from an early age. "But she has made friends that seem to look out for her when she goes."

Haitian friends let Jordan-Reynolds know whether conditions are good for travel. Often, they aren't. When a "manifestation" erupts - when armed rebels arrive - normally booming town life, with thousands crowded into open-air markets, is eerily quiet, she said. People stay inside, traffic stops.

"You can hear a pin drop," she said of these times, which sometimes include takeovers of the local police force. "People are so afraid."

Violence erupted last November during one of her visits. Sequestered in a Cap-Haitien convent as another chapter of Haitian history began to unfold, Jordan Reynolds told her friends she wanted to go outside, to get a look at what was happening.

No, you can't see, the Haitians told her. You don't want to see.

Though danger looms, Jordan-Reynolds' husband shares her love of Haiti and knows there's no stopping her.

"She has always been a 'try-to-save-the-world,' 'never say no'-type person," Robert Reynolds said. "But this is unlike any project she's undertaken. It has almost become part of her fiber." A lot of people Jordan-Reynolds talks to say they'd never travel to Haiti. Many who have been have vowed never to return. But she has a different outlook.

"I belong there," she said. "I say I'm on a journey, and I don't know where this journey will end. It isn't at all the journey I had foreseen in life. Now, I'm grateful for it."
_________________
Some men see things as they are and ask why?
I dream of things that never were, and ask why not? RFK.

[daphnee]

Raymi wrote:

By now, it's quite clear that the Government cannot get Haiti out of its dire sraits. It is not powerful enough. It's very relient on outside help to survive, which gives it little leeway in being effective. Quite frankly, the only thing that this Government can really do is try to be a keeper of the peace with the UN in tow. You certainly cannot rely on the small elite led by the billionaire, Biggio and the other cronies of the MErvs, Brandt, and Acras. Isn't it ironic that these the only entity capable of surviving coup d'etat, changing government, chaos, are only these Greedy demogogues, who are not haitians and is making both Dessalines and Toussaint turn in their graves, that they fought so we could turn our country over for a few to enjoy and pliage, while the son and daughters of slaves who fought for our rebellion continue to live deplorable conditions. And of what about charity? All it does is feed the people for one day, without addressing the problem of what can be done for them to feed themselves. It was just reported that Haiti has only 3-4 percent forestation left. Now imagine that. to be continued.........

what's up RayRay...long time no hear..btw I think this is the 2nd post of this nature that you posted on the board...just wondering what are you're ideas because honestly I don't know where to begin. As much as I loved Haiti when I went there a couple of weeks ago, the poverty was very apparent as well. I feel like I can do but so much...I donate to charities, I make my trips to the motherland and hopefully bring in $$$ to the country and my family is very involved in trying to develop their town and other things but at the same token you can't help to feel frusturated as well and think of the number of people that have been targetted for trying to make a change. Honestly for years I say let the US take over but our Haitian pride won't allow for us to do so but all I see right now is our people languishing over the years. We have not been able to sustain ourselves for the longest time now and its just sad. And as for the deforestation issue...I'm not surprised at all. During the carnival the theme was about keeping Haiti green and such but when you land you see smoke in the air from people burning trees....while there at my hotel I saw trees burning on the mountian tops and I thought what a contradiction... I really don't even know where to begin with our little country but education should be our #1 priority I think.
_________________
"Mwen di non, AYITI PAP KRAZE!!!!"

[douskokoye]

Ray,

I'm down. Maybe we can leverage the popularity of KM to do something significant as members. We need to put our heads together and think critically about what we can do.
_________________
Ignorance doesn't kill but it makes you sweat a lot.

[SIROMYEL]

douskokoye wrote:

Ray, I'm down. Maybe we can leverage the popularity of KM to do something significant as members. We need to put our heads together and think critically about what we can do.

I second that.


Maybe we could form a commitee with people who are interested.

[douskokoye]

Seriously guys...with all of Haiti's needs about the ONLY thing that brings young people together in our community is music.

We really should leverage this technological engine and hold these bands accountable. We hold each band to one fundraising event per year in support of existing and/or new projects for Haiti?

Sak pa ka fet la mezanmi?
_________________
Ignorance doesn't kill but it makes you sweat a lot.

[gnmusic1]

Thanks for your post Raymi. This is the topic that doesn't lose momentum but somehow doesn't seem to gain any either.

For all who do not have an idea where to start or how to start (that was me a year ago), you may choose to get some insight here:
http://committed.to/haiti

Understand your options and aim for effectiveness according to your purpose.

Differentiate between your involvements.
Helping to feed someone is different that helping someone to grow a crop and live off it.
Helping a school to meet its payroll obligations is different than brainstorming to find a secure stream of support income for that school.
Both contrasting approaches have their importance and necessity, but we want to look ahead and aim for the most promising route, be it a route that must be created as one takes one existing route. Think outside the box.

It is not always necessary to reinvent the wheel. Try to build upon some people's initial efforts. Don't sit and do nothing because you have not yet been able to establish the majestic infrastructure that will allow you to do things your own way. You can help someone else while your master plan is on the drawing board. By all means, do dream big, but don't dream forever; use your time wisely and alternate action with the design of your personal plan(s). Experience is always a good addition and may be useful as your carry out your master plan.

Passion and commitment always help, so go through the little pain of finding what you really want to be involved in. You may not have to do it more than once. Once that's done, you will have less hesitation going forward.

Be mindful that you cannot make a big dent into big problems. This is NOT the "big picture" to be looking at! [Homework for you: What is then the big picture one should be looking at?] Be also mindful that the more people share your views and are engaged in similar actions to help Haiti, the brighter the country's future will be.

[daphnee]

gnmusic1 wrote:

Thanks for your post Raymi. This is the topic that doesn't lose momentum but somehow doesn't seem to gain any either. For all who do not have an idea where to start or how to start (that was me a year ago), you may choose to get some insight here: http://committed.to/haiti Understand your options and aim for effectiveness according to your purpose. Differentiate between your involvements. Helping to feed someone is different that helping someone to grow a crop and live off it. Helping a school to meet its payroll obligations is different than brainstorming to find a secure stream of support income for that school. Both contrasting approaches have their importance and necessity, but we want to look ahead and aim for the most promising route, be it a route that must be created as one takes one existing route. Think outside the box. It is not always necessary to reinvent the wheel. Try to build upon some people's initial efforts. Don't sit and do nothing because you have not yet been able to establish the majestic infrastructure that will allow you to do things your own way. You can help someone else while your master plan is on the drawing board. By all means, do dream big, but don't dream forever; use your time wisely and alternate action with the design of your personal plan(s). Experience is always a good addition and may be useful as your carry out your master plan. Passion and commitment always help, so go through the little pain of finding what you really want to be involved in. You may not have to do it more than once. Once that's done, you will have less hesitation going forward. Be mindful that you cannot make a big dent into big problems. This is NOT the "big picture" to be looking at! [Homework for you: What is then the big picture one should be looking at?] Be also mindful that the more people share your views and are engaged in similar actions to help Haiti, the brighter the country's future will be.

gnmusic...thank you for your input...I truly appreciated that...

Can I ask you guys something though, do you guys ever get frusturated? Particularly you guys RayRay and gnmusic???...I know I do...Like I said before my family is very involved in trying to build up their hometown and have created their own little fundraising projects and such and actually there's a big function planned in March that I won't be able to attend. But I've seen my fair share of people being greedy, people being unappreciative, and even people questioning our credibility and genuiness. Nevertheless we haven't given up but sometimes your plans are thwarted due to the fact that people are consistently trying to hamper your efforts. You guys haven't experienced that???
_________________
"Mwen di non, AYITI PAP KRAZE!!!!"

[Haitianone]

Raymi

I know you want to help and should do it, I did 4 years ago got in whole lot of trouble to the point both the Haitian and DR government wanted to leave but they did with caution, BECAUSE ON PAPER I AM AMERICAN not Haitian.

I do not know your naturality but if you are not Haitian you will find it difficult. Shipping stuff to Haiti totally another disaster the place is a joke. This government of course is doing nothing, ok mininal change.

I wish you best and come with the attitude a little bit a time otherwise you can end up in trouble because the mentalities of our brothers down there is like from the Stone Age and they will whatever they can to keep it that way.
_________________
Statehood or Bust