Haiti on Africa's Mind

Home away from home

President Abdoulaye Wade welcoming Haitians students

“Welcome to the home of your ancestors,” declared Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade in October 2010, welcoming 163 young Haitians to the campuses of may leading Senegalese universities, including the School Polytechnique of Tièce, the Faculty of Agronomy of Bambay and Cheikh Anta Diop University in downtown Dakar. “Your ancestors left here by physical force; you have returned through moral force,” he added. The Associated Press reported Wade’s initiative to offer free housing and 163 scholarships for young Haitians to study at Senegal’s largest universities, in the wake of the of the Jan. 12 cataclysmic earthquake, met harsh criticism at home. Senegal’s national media branded the project grandiose and egocentric amid the country continuing struggles with poverty, rising unemployment and occasional student demonstrations. Yet, Wade maintained, the young Haitians were neither strangers nor refugees, but members of the Senegalese family.

Recipient of Rwandan scholarship

Although controversial, the decision did not prevent Rwanda from following Wade’s lead. The Rwandan government offered Six Scholarships for Haitian students to pursue their education at the National University of Rwanda beginning in January 2011. Haitian Minister of Youth, Sports and Civic action, Evans Lescouflair, recently visited the country and met with James Musoni, the minister of local government in anticipation of the students’ arrival.

Recipients of Senegalese scholarships

Most recently, Benin took turn offering an additional 110 scholarships to Haitians eager to pursue a higher education. Le Nouvelliste, a leading Haitian newspaper, reported qualified candidates would leave Haiti be between Jan. 3 and 6, 2011 to study, among many tracks, Business Administration, Biological, environmental, technological and social sciences. Students awarded the scholarships later this month would need to obtain 65 percent or better on the qualifying exams that took place on Thursday Dec 23.

Benin’s offer was not the first of its kind made to the Haitian government. In fact, the two countries have been working jointly on similar projects even before the devastating earthquake. The Nouvelliste indicated Haitians officials were reluctant to accept Benin’s offer due to prior complaints of neglect and hardship by Haitians students currently studying there on scholarships. However, Lescouflair accepted the offer after receiving official written confirmation from the Benin officials guaranteeing shelter, food and education for the winning candidates.

Students applying for Benin scholarships

Haitian officials contended, these encouraging programs, although far from perfection, will help contemporaries of African ancestors invest in the future of their states plagued by an alarming illiteracy rate and a serious shortage of competent intellectuals to lead future generations.

Contextualizing the projects, "We are giving the rest of the world a lesson in humanity. Senegal has shown that it's in the hearts of the poor that you can find the gift of generosity," said historian Iba Der Thiam, vice president of the National Assembly. "A country that is neither rich nor developed has agreed to share the little it has with its brothers," he added.

Rapadoo,

Haitian Electorate with Nothing Else to Lose

Martelly snuck into the back door

Tire burning in protest of contested election results

Port-au-Prince, Haiti—Rumors spread like California wild fires the week following the Nov. 28 Haitian elections. Sparks of violent protests flared sporadically until the coalition of 12 candidates retracted earlier calls for cancellation of the elections and decided the discredited Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) should at least count the votes.

Those developments had set the stage up for an atmosphere loaded with suspicions, speculations and anxiety as candidates attacked each other all week-long. However, much of their distrust and disgusts targeted the CEP questioning its ability or lack there of to administer impartial vote tabulations.

Facing serious fraud allegations and numerous counts of voter intimidation, INITE, the party of President Rene Preval,

Jude Celestin, presidential candidate of the INITE party

engaged in some clever political maneuvering by playing down expectations. INITE representatives publicly acknowledged a possible defeat in the elections, suggesting– even with the accusations– they may not have gotten enough vote to make it to the second round, a strategy that worked well by deflecting would be angry criticisms aimed at them over the allegations. Nevertheless, that strategy may have backfired on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after the CEP announced INITE’s unexpected qualification to the second round with 22.4 percent of the votes. Consequently, the party’s headquarter in Port-au-prince found itself in the bulls’ eye of vindictive fires and fuming rage.

Meanwhile, popular singer Michel Martelly felt a strong populist wind at his back following his inspiring anti-establishment rhetoric that led to symbolic calls for cancellations of the elections. The candidate, at times, seemed overconfident and even

Third place candidate, Michel Martelly (Sweet Micky)

bold. “If the results come out in favor of Jude Celestin and myself, I will reject them because he does not have the popularity nor the support system to make it to the second round,” he declared in a midweek press conference. Some called the statements unwise or premature political miscalculations, but Martelly– not known for his political correctness— positioned himself as a possible winner with that move. Nevertheless, the CEP did not have any kind words for him when it announced Martelly was a disappointing third with 21.8 percent of the votes. He would have missed the second round by some 6,845 votes. Rejecting the results, his devout supporters violently stormed the public sphere immediately after the announcements expressing disapproval and disappointments. As a result, conspiracy theories became prevalent on Tuesday night: the difference in votes between Martelly and Jude Celestin of INITE would be a direct result of Celestin’s alleged mischief.

For her part, Mirlande Manigat was strategic over the course of the suspenseful week staying away from swirling speculations of her leading in early vote counts. Therefore, the CEP’s announcement of her winning 31.9 percent of the votes to lead the race was not a surprise. She would square off with Celestin in

Leading candidate Mirlande Manigat

the second round scheduled for Jan. 16, 2011; however, that scenario is not likely since international observers and government officials have had to walk a political landmine. The apparent peaceful atmosphere is fragile and necessitates intricate balancing to appease the protesters and prevent further chaos. As a result, pundits speculate a compromise could be in the making where all three candidates could take part in the second round. However, the constitutionality of such compromise remains questionable.

While protestors fought for democratic ends, they used the most undemocratic means and took the country deep into the familiar realm of lawlessness. Absent any symbolic show of unity and leadership to denounce the despicable acts of violence in the most robust of terms, that angry electorate, with nothing else to lose but their very soul, will not stop until transparency and fairness ensure that their choices are prioritized.

Rapadoo,

Related Articles

• Haiti delays publication of disputed vote results (thestar.com)
• Politics Brings New Turmoil in Haiti (time.com)
• After Quake and Cholera, Politics Brings New Turmoil to Haiti – TIME(news.google.com)
• Haitian presidential candidate calls for entirely new vote, not runoff (cnn.com)
• Haitian candidate calls for calm (bbc.co.uk)
• Haiti seeks international help to resolve election dispute (alternet.org)
• Officials asks Haitian president to delay election results (cnn.com)
• Haiti’s leading candidate speaks against council (thehimalayantimes.com)

Missed Messages from the Haitian Elections

Hear my cries, I’m hurting!

Port-au-Prince, Haiti–The Nov. 28 Haitian elections helped gain real insights into the state of the country on various levels, all inside one weekend when democracy was supposed to shine and lift the country’s morale above the debris, cholera’s death grip and ineffective governance to help the battered nation paint some vague picture of a not so distant horizon.

To no one’s surprise, Haitians are mentally fatigued from a tumultuous year that some have compared to 1804, the year of the country’s independence, characterized by rivers of blood and the smell of death. The elections offered and delicate yet legitimate channel for the people to let out their cries of discontent with current developments. Those who stayed home, apparently a great deal, were captivating with their symbolic speech: your priorities are not ours. After all, cholera has a bounty on their heads, tropical storm Thomas is somewhere laughing with mom, dad and uncle Pete’s shadows, and eviction notices keep claiming their inhabitable tents.

Others however, braved the elements for their freedom of expression: fatigued or not, their fate was the priority and necessitated a proactive stance. Amidst uncertainties, poor organization and lack of adequate leadership, they charged forward: the alternatives were unacceptable.

On the other side of the spectrum, some alternate universe was the dirty dozen plus five, salivating over the prospect of 10 billion big ones in promised aid. Surely, the people would see some of it. However, in a rare, emotional symbol, they united against INITE, the incumbent party, said to have staged a highway robbery of the presidency in broad daylight. They realized, at that point, they stood to lose it all: the elections, presidency, $10 billions and their picture in world history books. Therefore, 12 of the 18 remaining candidates sang in unison: cancel the ongoing elections.

It is unclear how much forward thinking went into the process, but the voters were emotional, angry and malleable, so they follow the leads of the entertainers rejecting business as usual in the most usual way.

The entertainers’ command revealed their mastery of their domain: Michel Martelly and disqualified candidate Wyclef know how to excite a crowd. The rest of the candidates simply followed their leads never once verifying the claims of fraud and irregularities, consulting the authorities or the international observers to validate their stance. Such actions would reflect competence clever leadership or even some diplomatic skills. Instead, these would be presidents brought the electorate on the edge of chaos and destruction protesting unverified claims, actions that would undoubtedly scared away the reluctant donors and their wallets. In fact, the UN has lately been singing such a tune through its representative Mulet: ‘I will leave you with your imported cholera, no security and no money if you do not settle down.’

Interestingly, the complete disconnect of incumbent President Rene Preval with the Haitian reality surfaced. He is a fallen hero, the only president to have successfully completed two full-term in office since the declaration of independence on January 1, 1804. Acknowledging the peoples’ obvious disapproval of his performance, he contemplated life in exile and did not like the prospect; hence, he forced his hands trying to keep his party in power through Jude Celestin, his unwed son-in-law and father of 13. Préval’s blatant disregard of the clear conflict of interest coupled with the fraudulent allegations of his party have shredded any perceived credibility he thought he had; now exile may not only be imminent, it may even be enviable.

As expected, the shortsighted consensus of the dirty dozens was short-lived. Recently the candidates have had to boogie dance to UN’s threats, the real boss, and forced to abandon their earlier cancellation rhetoric. They are learning it is not enough to be a rebel or renegade, but pragmatic leadership is a necessity.

There, at the crossroad of confusion and exhaustion, lie the desperate cries of this resilient people in search of a leader, a rupture with its tainted legacy and path to restore its dignity and sovereignty.

Rapadoo,

Related Articles

• Haiti waits for election results amid fraud, chaos (ctv.ca)
• Tense Haiti awaits results of turbulent elections (reuters.com)
• Haiti waits for election results amid fraud, chaos (foxnews.com)
• Haitians wait anxiously for election results (cnn.com)
• Haiti election result expected to trigger presidential runoff vote(guardian.co.uk)
• Haitians Wonder What Happens Now (theroot.com)
• VIDEO: Viceroy of Haiti, UN’s Edmond Mulet, Interferes with Candidates and Threatens Departure of MINUSTAH if Election Invalidated!(hcvanalysis.wordpress.com)
• Haiti’s Presidential Vote: Outrage Over a ‘Selection’ (time.com)
• Haiti’s Presidential Hopefuls Face Hopeless Voters – NPR (news.google.com)
• Haiti’s Elections Marred by Allegations of Voter Fraud (time.com)

Cholera, a Deterrent to Child Trafficking

The irony of profitability

Cholera victim waiting for medical help

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, people react psychologically by taking greater risks or measures to prevent more lost. That would explain recent rioting, fleeing to the relatively inhospitable safety of the Dominican Republic and even killings, as some recent reports have indicated.

Similarly, this concept applies to the neighboring country of the Dominican Republic. The Haiti cholera case has demonstrated, if contracted, cholera could avalanche into a countrywide epidemic destroying as many lives on its path. Therefore, it is perfectly logical for Dominicans, too, to experience varying levels of psychological reactance; thus, compelling government officials to deploy available resources to border towns, an attempt to keep fleeing Haitians on their side of the fence.

Nevertheless, these preventative deployments, urgently needed in the months after the earthquake to prevent a massive flood of human trafficking on the border, could not be allocated complained government officials. Yet, facing the threat of cholera, troops flooded the Haitian/Dominican border with unprecedented urgency urging Haitians to keep their fatally infectious disease on their territory.

The office of Leonel Fernandez, president of the Dominican Republic, has offered some sympathetic plea about the exploitation of children: “The Dominican government deeply laments cases involving exploitation and trafficking of Haitian minors,” it wrote in an email to the Miami Herald claiming the administration “intensified border security, prosecutions and sanctions against smugglers.” The truth however, rested in Dominican immigration records, which the Herald indicated, have shown only two convictions since 2006 and none since 2007.

Traffickers smuggled 1,411 children out of the country one month after the earthquake, figures that increased sharply to more than 7,300 boys and girls through October. As the Herald as indicated, “Gen. Francisco Gil Ramirez, the then-director of CESFRONT border guards, challenged Herald reporters during an interview for proof that his guards had been bribed to let undocumented kids enter the country. But the general declined to watch videos shot by The Herald, where middle-men are seen taking cash from Haitians who cross the river and later hand it to CESFRONT guards.”

While both Haitians and Dominican governments have signed treaties and laws to combat the rampant child trafficking industry, a U.S. State Department report concluded, this year, that the Dominican Republic “does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so. »

In fact, neither government has seen the border plague as a compelling interest, admitted Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive to reporters of the Miami Herald. “There are people on the Haitian side who are profiting because they are the ones who organize the trafficking. The same on the Dominican side, » he articulated.

Evidently, this is not only a Dominican problem. Some minimal efforts from the Haitian government, even in the scarcity of resources, to strategically dispatch some forces to the most heavily trafficked area along the border could serve as a deterrence or at least significantly reduce the atrocities. After all, the Haitian government has the sole responsibility to protect its citizens. Its failure to offer tangible solutions to pursue the unscrupulous has not only facilitated trafficking, but also perpetuated the practice.

However, the hypocritical nature of the immediate preventive measures of Dominican officials should not be overlooked. When the neighbors complained about a lack of necessary resources to stop this lucrative, illicit commerce, in the face of a cholera epidemic, the same children are not good enough to even seek protection or at least find temporary shelters from the exploiters. While government allocated necessary resources and made appropriate, yet unpopular decisions to protect their citizenry from a potential cholera outbreak, Haitians could virtually do nothing to protect them from this disease deemed unfamiliar to the entire Western Continent.

As the mountain of circumstantial evidence about the origin of this cholera strand, « It very much likely did come either with peacekeepers or other relief personnel, » said John Mekalanos, Harvard University microbiology chair. « I don’t see there is any way to avoid the conclusion that an unfortunate and presumably accidental introduction of the organism occurred, » he later added. Meanwhile, cholera will keep accumulating Haitian lives absent any containment and/or developed immunity to it, like South Asian peacekeepers did during their summer outbreak. Official reports have confirmed 72,000 cholera cases in Haiti, including more than 2,000 fatalities.

Rapadoo,

Related Articles

• Haiti cholera spreads over border (bbc.co.uk)
• Haiti death toll from cholera rises to 1,721 (washalerts.wordpress.com)
• Haiti’s Cholera (outsidethebeltway.com)
• Haitians Riot As Cholera Toll Reaches 1,000 (abcnews.go.com)