Do you understand what is taking place in Haiti right now? In fact, it is nothing new: Elected officials take refuge behind nominated officials to 'fool' the people.
Why did Alexis get fired so late? What is the rational for deposing him, considering that his politics was approved by parliament recently? This is a reactionary parliament which acts by instinct, no real mass behind their decisions. they take action because they are afraid to lose their own job. Remenber! They did not show real concern for the deterioration of the living conditions of the people which many organizations have been voicing for nearly six months.
Instead they spent the time arguing on how to get rid of boulos, a senator who is retained as being tied to US citizenship, or fighting among themselves over petty matters. I don't believe that Mr. Alexi lacks the competence to do the job and do it well. And they know it too! For fear of getting fired by the people; they take action and there find the scapegoat.
The private sector needs to show that they, at least, have some understanding of the plight of the poor at this particular time in the History of the Country.
For too long they remain so passive and look at the masses with disdain. They could have collaborated with the government to see how they could help to curb prices on some most basic food items.This would have prevented the riots and looting of the pastweek. It does not seem that it is going to work like that any more. It cannot be that as long as you as a government official or a business owner is fed alongside your family, the hell for the rest of the nation which is the majority.
I have heard about so much dialogues between political parties in Haiti. Everyday you hear that there exist good dialogues between parties. It is obvious that these dialogues continue to be mere political cocktails that may have nothing to do with the hunger and extreme poverty that befall Haiti.
Any primary dialogue about Haiti after the elections, considering it as a post conflict territory, should have taken into consideration, the misery on the ground. Haiti has gone through enough political dialogs while the economic dialogue remains dormant. We must learn to love our neighbor as ourselves. Haiti can no longer be ruled within the context of exclusion, we must materialize the moto: "L’union fait la force" to rebuild it.
I will continue to do what I can for the few that I can, until the dream of the Haitian people is finally realized, until we move from the culture of mud and dust and build the skyscrapers of a Haiti, peaceful and prosperous.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
The Caribbean and the Food Crisis. What solution?
The Caribbean prides itself in its tourism ,promoting stretches of white sand beaches , lush and push resorts and spa. So we prepare a paradise for our guests , but hell for our people. This constitutes the general interest of Caribbean governments while neglecting the most powerful employment industry of the region, agriculture . Contrary to what many people might think, the tourism sector does not provide jobs to more people than agriculture in the Caribbean. There are more people who earn a living doing their subsistence farming, and send their children to school. Yet governments remain oblivious to that fact. This is why the region has become a fancy economic field with a serious lack of touch with the kind of economic policy that would help to alleviate poverty through sustainable action. Everybody seems to just laying back waiting for the next guest to bring a bread. What a vision! Who?
Everyday we hear about people surviving with less than $1 a day in Haiti or elsewhere in the region.This is not fiction, it is fact and this is not fancy either, it has to do with real suffering, real children going to bed hungry and parents who feel like giving up because they see no way out. They see no way out because the way they have has been neglected by their government, their agriculture and the education of their children. We must not forget that more than one third of all those who live on less than $1 a day live and work in rural areas. Some of them are subsistence farmers or those who sell days of work to earn a meal.
I was born and raised in Haiti in a family with land enough to hire a few workers per month. I grew up seeing my father waking early every morning to reach his farm at 6 o'clock each day except Sundays. He is a man with undivided focus on farming and does it with all his might, yet he has nothing much to show for it at this point of his life and he is in his sixties. I recently encouraged him to abandon the practice because it does not make much sense giving your life to something that will only transform your sweat and blood into frustration. I have never seen the intervention of any government official to help in any way with the production of rice ,banana, corn and many other crops that are produced in my home community which is Thomonde. The paesants are left on their own to work the ground primitive style, Carry their goods on their heads primitive style, and sell it for nothing because the purchasing power of their communities are minimal to the smallest m. The "Republic of Port-au-Prince" is the best point where the peasants could at least gain some returns from their hard labor. But their is no proper road to transport the goods there. Those who manage to make it by the time they reach depends on the kind of product they they loose everything due to the deplorable condition of roads.
Now that we see rising food crisis around the world, the Caribbean nations should not be among the first to feel it based on the amount of water, and Arab land they possess. Haiti has nearly 10 millions people, with 80% unemployed or under employed. Why? Because the number one employer of the country is not really a priority for our government. Any government who cares about the need of the people, particularly in Haiti will first conduct the necessary research on how to strenghten the agricultural sector. If you come talking about tourism and foreign investment I know you are out of touch because .The read to tourism and foreign investment in Haiti will definitely be the organisation of our agriculture and a proper reform in our education system.
You cannot be eager to receive people in your house if it is not in order. The first place order is needed is in the belly of the people. As of now there is absolutely no order in the belly of the people ,they are HUNGRY. Any politics that seek to change Haiti and look at the peasants with disdain will pay a heavy price. Any ruling elite that think they can go ahead making profit while they sink deeper in despair and hunger is making a big mistake. Because the younger generation no longer believe you have the will to help them. So they will exercise the will to come to port-au-prince and fight. They will fight every body who is in the position to help make change ,but remain quiet.
Leadership is meant to give direction to the people, help them find their way. The Haitian people ,the Caribbean people are resilient people ;you can always expect them to bounce back from a bad situation,but we must fuse exuberance with discipline in order to lead our children to the destiny they deserve. They don't deserve the famine that is been passed to them,their need to be a certain level of generational responsibility. Have some concern for the next generation if you think this one does not deserve better. Haiti will rise again when we remember this lesson that we have learnt in primary school and actualise the lesson that " Haiti is essentially agricol" there we cultivate rice, banana, corn, "pitimi" patat0, zaboca, manioc, and much legumes. We must raise enough cows to provide milk and meat for our people, if we lack the seed let us get some from Africa. Let us get some cows from our mother land, Africa , and give our people some of the power and help them be proud of being Haitian again because ,at home they can not just survive but live.
I long to see visionaries in Haiti , in the Caribbean, not politicians to eludes the people to win elections.
Everyday we hear about people surviving with less than $1 a day in Haiti or elsewhere in the region.This is not fiction, it is fact and this is not fancy either, it has to do with real suffering, real children going to bed hungry and parents who feel like giving up because they see no way out. They see no way out because the way they have has been neglected by their government, their agriculture and the education of their children. We must not forget that more than one third of all those who live on less than $1 a day live and work in rural areas. Some of them are subsistence farmers or those who sell days of work to earn a meal.
I was born and raised in Haiti in a family with land enough to hire a few workers per month. I grew up seeing my father waking early every morning to reach his farm at 6 o'clock each day except Sundays. He is a man with undivided focus on farming and does it with all his might, yet he has nothing much to show for it at this point of his life and he is in his sixties. I recently encouraged him to abandon the practice because it does not make much sense giving your life to something that will only transform your sweat and blood into frustration. I have never seen the intervention of any government official to help in any way with the production of rice ,banana, corn and many other crops that are produced in my home community which is Thomonde. The paesants are left on their own to work the ground primitive style, Carry their goods on their heads primitive style, and sell it for nothing because the purchasing power of their communities are minimal to the smallest m. The "Republic of Port-au-Prince" is the best point where the peasants could at least gain some returns from their hard labor. But their is no proper road to transport the goods there. Those who manage to make it by the time they reach depends on the kind of product they they loose everything due to the deplorable condition of roads.
Now that we see rising food crisis around the world, the Caribbean nations should not be among the first to feel it based on the amount of water, and Arab land they possess. Haiti has nearly 10 millions people, with 80% unemployed or under employed. Why? Because the number one employer of the country is not really a priority for our government. Any government who cares about the need of the people, particularly in Haiti will first conduct the necessary research on how to strenghten the agricultural sector. If you come talking about tourism and foreign investment I know you are out of touch because .The read to tourism and foreign investment in Haiti will definitely be the organisation of our agriculture and a proper reform in our education system.
You cannot be eager to receive people in your house if it is not in order. The first place order is needed is in the belly of the people. As of now there is absolutely no order in the belly of the people ,they are HUNGRY. Any politics that seek to change Haiti and look at the peasants with disdain will pay a heavy price. Any ruling elite that think they can go ahead making profit while they sink deeper in despair and hunger is making a big mistake. Because the younger generation no longer believe you have the will to help them. So they will exercise the will to come to port-au-prince and fight. They will fight every body who is in the position to help make change ,but remain quiet.
Leadership is meant to give direction to the people, help them find their way. The Haitian people ,the Caribbean people are resilient people ;you can always expect them to bounce back from a bad situation,but we must fuse exuberance with discipline in order to lead our children to the destiny they deserve. They don't deserve the famine that is been passed to them,their need to be a certain level of generational responsibility. Have some concern for the next generation if you think this one does not deserve better. Haiti will rise again when we remember this lesson that we have learnt in primary school and actualise the lesson that " Haiti is essentially agricol" there we cultivate rice, banana, corn, "pitimi" patat0, zaboca, manioc, and much legumes. We must raise enough cows to provide milk and meat for our people, if we lack the seed let us get some from Africa. Let us get some cows from our mother land, Africa , and give our people some of the power and help them be proud of being Haitian again because ,at home they can not just survive but live.
I long to see visionaries in Haiti , in the Caribbean, not politicians to eludes the people to win elections.
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