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St Pete Times Article on WYCLEF and YELE Haiti !!!!!!
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JMPerry



Joined: 11 Mar 2006
Posts: 1184
Location: Tampa Bay, FL

 PostPosted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 2:30 am    Post subject: St Pete Times Article on WYCLEF and YELE Haiti !!!!!! Reply with quote Back to top

Guys, Wyclef/Yele made the front page of the St Pete Times today and I thought I would share with the rest of you guys. Very interesting article.

Enjoy

JMPerry
KePy Records, Inc.
"Raising the Standard"


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Haiti's hip-hop helper
Wyclef Jean could bring down the house as a recording artist in the 1990s.But now he's bringing in talent, money and hope to rebuild his battered homeland.
By DAVID ADAMS, Times Latin America Correspondent
Published March 13, 2006
________________________________________

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Standing atop a huge float piled high with music speakers, Haitian-born hip-hop star, Wyclef Jean, tore into his carnival theme song: Van Vire! (The Wind is Turning! )
Even by the eye-popping standards of Haiti's biggest annual festival, Jean made quite a sight, clad in the tricorn hat and sword of Haiti's revolutionary hero, Jean-Jacques Dessalines. But Jean, 35, wasn't there just to play carnival. Only days after Haitians elected a new president, Jean improvised his lyrics to address the winner, popular agronomist Rene Preval.

"I called Preval before the show and I said,
Dear President, the Haitian people need food.
Dear President, the Haitian people need jobs.
Dear President, the Haitian people need security."
With the carnival beat reaching a crescendo, Jean delivered his punchline:
"And the President said, "Van vire! Van vire!' "

During the eight-hour procession that wound through streets around the downtown presidential palace, Jean delivered the same words over and over. There's no doubting the remarkable power of his message: one of Haiti's richest and most famous men offering new hope to fellow citizens of the hemisphere's poorest nation. On paper, Jean is Haiti's least likely savior. He doesn't have a Ph.D in economics. In fact, he went to school on a donkey. He likes to wear his hair braided in corn rows, and isn't much of a dresser - certainly not a suit-and-tie man. He prefers T-shirts and jump suits accented with a large rose gold medallion of Christ's face - his "Jesus piece."

But none of that is an obstacle for Jean, whose band, the Fugees, made him a multimillionaire and an international star when he was in his 20s. On the contrary, Jean is trying to use his celebrity status as a tool for development, much as Bono, lead singer of U2, has done for Third World debt relief. Over the past decade, billions of dollars in international aid have flowed to Haiti in a vain attempt at nation-building. But it's achieved little. Life expectancy is only 53 - and dropping. Only 15 percent of workers can find formal jobs; half have no jobs at all. "People come to Haiti and they don't succeed. They don't study the terrain," said Jean, at the end of a hectic five-day visit this month. "I am nongovernmental," he added. "You can't understand the country unless you walk with the people, be with the people."

A year ago, Jean started his own development movement, Yele Haiti, in an effort to boost the work of groups already doing good work in Haiti. The organization derives its name from a Creole word meaning a "cry of freedom." "If you are making all this money, you have to give something back," he said. "Yele Haiti lets me sleep at night." By investing millions of dollars in student scholarships, street cleaning, hip-hop contests and youth soccer, Yele Haiti is putting Haiti's future in the hands of its poorest citizens, instead of the corrupt or inefficient politicians who have routinely stolen or wasted much of the foreign aid. In only its first year Yele Haiti has made an impact with a relatively small budget of $2.5-million and an impressive list of backers including actor Angelina Jolie.

Early doubters suspected it was all a publicity stunt. But he has all but silenced his critics, winning over gang leaders in the poorest slums as well as high-ranking international policymakers. Between recording sessions at his Manhattan studios he recently met with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. "I think he's absolutely genuine," said John Bevan, director of political affairs for the United Nations in Haiti. "He's breaking a lot of stereotypes and challenging a lot of preconceived ideas."

* * *


Born in the small village of Laserre, outside the capital, Jean's parents left Haiti when he was 2. He didn't see them again until they returned seven years later to take him to the United States. Despite growing up in Brooklyn and New Jersey, he clung to his Haitian roots. His father was a Creole-speaking preacher and Jean and his brothers made up the church band. Success came fronting the Fugees. The name highlighted the sense they were refugees in America. Jean never took U.S. citizenship. While he has nothing but admiration for the United States - calling it "the greatest country on Earth" - Haiti is where his heart lies. His wife is Haitian. They adopted a Haitian child.

In 1997, he took the Fugees to Haiti for a historic concert. Jean hoped it would be the start of repairing Haiti's world image. But he was soon discouraged. That year a series of protests and strikes plunged the country into a new crisis. In 2004, he tried to organize another concert. This time nature intervened. In September a flood devastated the port city of Gonaives. Jean jumped on a relief helicopter to survey the destruction. Haiti needed a lot more than a concert, he realized. So, he sought professional advice. Jean approached Hugh Locke, a veteran United Nations development consultant. "I look at the people I choose as professors I can learn a lot from," said Jean, sitting at the Haitian TV station he bought recently. "I pair myself with geniuses." Though Locke had no experience in Haiti, he had worked all over the world with major figures, including Mikhail Gorbachev and the Dalai Lama. "I didn't know who Wyclef was. I don't follow hip-hop at all," said Locke, 51, a soft-spoken Canadian. He was immediately impressed by Jean's vision of music, art and sports as a model for development. Jean calls it "the Wyclef strategy," putting his celebrity fundraising capacity at the disposal of people committed to long-term development work. "I just want to be a liaison for Haiti," he said. The idea appealed to Locke's belief in promoting sustainable development through modern business methods of branding and corporate partnerships; he calls it "the next generation of nation building."

Locke turned for advice to the World Bank, where officials saw an opportunity. "Wyclef's ability to dialogue across the Haitian spectrum, and especially with slum gang members, is probably unique at the moment," said Caroline Anstey, the bank's Caribbean director. Things looked bleak when Locke arrived in Haiti in late 2004. "At first people thought we were (crazy)," he said. The country was still struggling to come to terms with the violent ouster of president Jean-Bertrand Aristide earlier that year. Armed gangs ruled large parts of the capital. Kidnapping was on the rise. But Yele's timing is turning out well. Preval's election victory last month came on a platform of social healing. "The armed groups have pulled back so there's a chance to move in and make a difference socially," said Bobby Duval, founder of L'Athletique d'Haiti , a Yele-backed soccer program. Yele Haiti's model is also helping clean the capital's garbage-clogged streets, through a cooperative effort with the Pan American Development Foundation. "We decided to bring Wyclef in to brand it. That way we would have fewer people shooting at us," said John Currelly, PADF's Haiti director, another Canadian with 25 years experience working in Haiti.

Under the deal, PADF teamed up with Jean, a local cell phone company and the United States Agency for International Development to hire 1,400 street cleaners at $2 a day. While that is barely enough for anyone to get by on in Haiti, it's twice what many of the poor make. Yele and PADF also joined forces to repair 20 storm-damaged schools in Gonaives. Through another educational group, Yele was able to arrange 3,600 scholarships. A third group agreed to provide teacher training to end corporal punishment. This year Yele plans to double its scholarship program. Other projects include the conversion of a derelict former baseball factory into a music school and a hip-hop recording studio for young artists. Yele Haiti's development approach contrasts with larger international donors who tend to choose short-term projects for quick results, rather than more beneficial longer-term wealth generation ideas.
"Development has been going on for a long time, but it has been top-down," Currelly said. "We are building democracy from the bottom up. Wyclef understands that."

* * *


One day last week Jean led a group of New York friends, relatives and fellow musicians into Cite Soleil, Haiti's most notorious gang-infested slum. Jean wanted to prove that the area was not impossible to work in. They declined a U.N. offer of bullet-proof vehicles and armed military escort. Standing side-by-side with slum gang leaders, Jean held his arm aloft together with a white Haitian singer, Roberto Martino, lead singer of T-Vice, one of Haiti's most popular compas rock bands. "I want this division of color to end," Jean shouted through a megaphone to the crowd, referring to the chasm between poor blacks in the slums and the rich white minority in the hills overlooking the city. His message seemed to resonate. "Wyclef's visit will change things in Cite Soleil," said Ti Blanc, one of the most feared gang leaders. "The tension between the bourgeoisie and the poor will soon clear up." But many in the crowd wanted to know what Jean planned to do for them materially. "We did a lot of (bad) things because we were hungry," said Smith Delva, 21, who works in a local market hauling goods. "Hope is good, but we need food." That evening at a press conference, Jean issued a challenge to relief agencies working in Haiti to get food supplies moving. "We tell you that the guys are willing to put down their guns," he added. Yele Haiti hopes this month to set up a new project bringing together women street cooks to create community kitchens to feed schoolchildren. Jean has already won the backing of the United Nations World Food Program, which feeds 800,000 people in Haiti - almost 10 percent of the country's population.



One of Jean's biggest dreams is to bring tourism back to the island. One plan involves building a resort off Haiti's coast, styled after Atlantis, the Bahamanian megahotel and casino. Some of his ideas may seem outlandish. One involves shipping his 1958 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow, valued at around $125,000, to Haiti to be erected as a monument symbolizing human potential. Jean says the government must step up with its own major programs. If it doesn't, he might just have to take over himself. His ability to operate at different levels, from poor slum dwellers to World Bank economists, could be a winning combination. For now, he considers himself "too young" to run for president, but doesn't rule it out in the future.

"I want to build my island first," he said.
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hangout4life



Joined: 11 Mar 2006
Posts: 552
Location: saw bezwen konnen fe

 PostPosted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 2:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

wyclef is doing a really good job i hope li kenbe la li pa lage paske si li rete lap rive konte li bezwen rive a (BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO)
 
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Sanrick



Joined: 11 Mar 2006
Posts: 12483
Location: Everett-MA

 PostPosted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 2:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

Very nice article. This guy is doing such a good job and he deservers a lot of respect.

Keep up the good work Wyclef

Thanks for sharing with us JMPerry
 
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Ti boxer



Joined: 11 Mar 2006
Posts: 2188
Location: MA

 PostPosted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 2:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

Misye ap travaille wi li minm! I've got nothing but props for the brother! Se sak fe Wyclef, mwen paka knock on him. Neg konsekan konsa, even if you don't like something about him - ou obliger ba li tout props li merite! Cause he deserves it. Le moun nan fe bon, mwen obliger rekonet sa!

Thanks Perry!

Ti Boxer
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Machiavel
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 PostPosted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 3:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

It's hard to read an article like this and not get drenched with emotions. Amidst all the despair, poverty and insecurity in the country, it's a breath of fresh to know that one man is making a difference.
 
Gromosso



Joined: 12 Mar 2006
Posts: 10479

 PostPosted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 4:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

Wyclef tap Ouve Leko'l Cite Soleil. Good move Clef! Se pou Van an Vire vre.

Thanks for the article Perry.
 
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TOTOVICE



Joined: 11 Mar 2006
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Location: BOSTON MA

 PostPosted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 4:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

Chapo ba to you Wycleff- Why can t we have more people like Cleff. TOUT BESOIN PRESIDENT.

BRAVO BRAVO.

TOTOVICE
MASS KONPA " BEL JAZZ "
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TheFrick1



Joined: 12 Mar 2006
Posts: 44
Location: Upper Marlboro, MD

 PostPosted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 5:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

Wycleff...I am very proud of the work you've been doing for our country, every little bit counts.
 
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SIROMYEL



Joined: 11 Mar 2006
Posts: 9967
Location: TAMPA

 PostPosted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 5:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

I am growing a sense of respect and admiration for wyclef that is be yond expression

The guy is simply phenomenal. Someone told me that he declined an invitation tot he grammies to go and vote in haiti. That initself deserves a big applause.

kembe la clef!!!!!!!!!!! Allhaiti needs is probably 10 moun tankou'w and we'd be on our way.
 
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belchokola



Joined: 12 Mar 2006
Posts: 114
Location: NY

 PostPosted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 6:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

Thanks JM for the article.

Chapo ba for Wyclef!!! Keep it up!!!
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