Haiti Beyond Disaster: Planting Seeds of Change

A discussion about Haiti's Mouvman Peyizan Papay (Papaye Peasant Movement, MPP) and the Seeds for Haiti campaign, with special guests Joanne Veillard and Bastien Jean-Baptiste, Haitian-American New Yorkers who visited Haiti's Central Plateau with a Seeds for Haiti delegation January 7-11, then survived the earthquake in Port-au-Prince.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010
6:30pm-8:30pm

Free and open to the public
(in English with whisper translation to Spanish available; vea anuncio en español abajo)
at the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute, Buzzer #11
339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012 (corner of Bleecker St)
6 train to Bleecker or F/V/B/D trains to Broadway/Lafayette

The “Seeds for Haiti” program, launched by Bassin Zim Education and Development Fund in late 2008, seeks to support the MPP and its more than 50,000 members in the Central Plateau region who are working to build food security and economic self-sufficiency through collectively-organized sustainable agriculture.

Event information: http://grassrootssolidarity.blogspot.com/2010/02/haiti-beyond-disaster-planting-seeds-of.html
or write to grassrootssolidaritynyc@gmail.com (in English or Spanish)
Seeds for Haiti: http://seedsforhaiti.org
MPP: http://mpphaiti.org/

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Haití Más Allá del Desastre: Sembrando las Semillas del Cambio

Una charla sobre el Mouvman Peyizan Papay (Movimiento Campesino Papay, MPP) de Haití y la campaña Semillas para Haití, con invitados especiales Joanne Veillard y Bastien Jean-Baptiste, neoyorquinos haitiano-americanos quienes visitaron a la Mesa Central de Haití con una delegación de Semillas para Haití del 7 al 11 de enero, y sobrevivieron el terremoto en Puerto Príncipe.

Miércoles, 17 de marzo, 2010
6:30pm-8:30pm

Gratis y abierto al público
(en inglés con traducción simultanea al español disponible)
en el A.J. Muste Memorial Institute, Timbre #11
339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012 (esquina de Bleecker St)
tren 6 a Bleecker o trenes F/V/B/D a Broadway/Lafayette

El programa “Semillas para Haití”, lanzado por Bassin Zim Education and Development Fund a finales de 2008, busca apoyar al MPP y sus más de 50,000 integrantes en la región Mesa Central quienes trabajan para obtener seguridad alimentaria y autosuficiencia económica mediante agricultura sostenible organizada colectivamente.

Información sobre el evento: http://grassrootssolidarity.blogspot.com/2010/02/haiti-beyond-disaster-planting-seeds-of.html
o escribir al grassrootssolidaritynyc@gmail.com (en inglés o español)
Semillas para Haiti (Seeds for Haiti): http://seedsforhaiti.org
Movimiento Campesino Papay (MPP): http://mpphaiti.org/

"Haitian Communities Need to Be Involved in the Distribution"

Margaret Trost Interviewed by David L. Wilson
MRZine, February 6, 2010

The U.S.-led international operation to distribute food, water, and medical supplies in Port-au-Prince after earthquake of January 12 has drawn a good deal of criticism. In contrast, for the past 10 years the Ste. Claire parish in the Petite Place Cazeau (Ti Plas Kazo) neighborhood at the city's northern edge has operated a very successful food program, started by the late Father Gérard Jean-Juste. This week I asked Margaret Trost, founder and director of the California-based What If? Foundation, to describe by email her experiences with this program in the past and in the current crisis. -- DLW [...]

Read the full interview:
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2010/wilson060210.html

Helping Haiti: Our Dollars Aren't Enough

by David L. Wilson

On January 14, two days after the Port-au-Prince earthquake, I finally got a chance to look over my email, courtesy of a small Haitian NGO in a quiet, relatively undamaged neighborhood in the south of the city. After reading and answering personal messages, I noticed that a lot of my mail consisted of appeals for earthquake relief. Some messages were from people asking me to recommend ways to donate to grassroots Haitian groups.

I was moved to see how many people were eager to help, and I certainly knew how desperately Haiti needed help. Although I was in no position then to make up a list of recommendations, by the next day my colleague Jane Guskin had posted some good information. I strongly encourage people to donate to these and many other Haiti-based organizations.

At same time, I got a funny feeling reading all these notes and appeals. I found myself wondering if people would think that their dollars were enough, that making a donation meant they didn't need to do any more to help. Because if that was the case, I thought it would almost be better not to contribute to the relief effort.

Read the full article on Monthly Review's MRZine:
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2010/wilson300110.html

Immigration Resources for Haitians (TPS)

The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) has compiled a list of legal resources for Haitians considering Temporary Protected Status (TPS), including upcoming legal clinics for Haitians seeking TPS (both in NYC and upstate), nonprofit immigration legal service organizations and community-based organizations providing social services. The list is on the NYIC website at http://thenyic.org// - the direct link is http://thenyic.org/templates/documentFinder.asp?did=1150

Haitian TPS Hotline: The Legal Aid Society has a TPS Hotline for Haitian nationals. Call: 1-888-284-2772. You can find out about upcoming TPS clinics and to obtain free comprehensive advice and referrals from the Legal Aid Society’s Immigration Law Unit.

PLEASE pass along this information to others and encourage anyone seeking or considering TPS to make use of the listed resources. Do not allow yourself or your friends or family to be scammed or "helped" by unqualified or unscrupulous people.

Alternative Relief Efforts and Support for Haiti's Grassroots Movements

Following are some links to alternative quake relief efforts and ways to support Haiti's grassroots movements in recovering from the disaster. If you would like to recommend other links, please submit them as comments to this post.

Call for Solidarity and Funds for the Working People of Haiti! Donate now to Batay Ouvriye- Haitian Worker and Peasant’s Organization
http://miamiautonomyandsolidarity.wordpress.com/

Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees, Lakou New York, and MUDHA (Movement of Dominican Haitian Women) are organizing an immediate delivery of first aid relief:
For more info: http://haitireliefnyc.wordpress.com/http://www.blogger.com/com/http://haitireliefnyc.wordpress.com/
To donate online: https://npo.networkforgood.org/Donate/Donate.aspx?npoSubscriptionId=4382 (designate "IFCO/Haiti Relief")

Bassin Zim Education & Development Fund works with partners in Haiti including KOSMIKA (a farmers cooperative), ASTRAL (a food transportation co-op) and the Peasant Movement of Papaye (MPP): http://www.seedsforhaiti.org/

Lambi Fund of Haiti assists the popular, democratic movement in Haiti by supporting projects that are non-violent, non-partisan, community-based, promote the advancement of women, use education and training for empowerment, and promote the overall democratic movement: http://www.lambifund.org/

Grassroots International Earthquake Emergency Response Fund for Haiti:
http://www.grassrootsonline.org/news/press-releases/grassroots-international-establishes-earthquake-emergency-relief-fund-haiti

Haiti Emergency Relief Fund c/o East Bay Sanctuary Covenant:
http://www.haitiaction.net/About/HERF/1_12_10.html

Help Haiti: Drop the Debt:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/haiti_drop_the_debt/?1338

Solidarity Camp Myriam Merlet, Anne Marie Coriolan & Magali Marcelin was set up at Jemaní on the Haiti/Dominican Republic border to help mobilize and transfer resources and open channels of communications directly with Haitian women and serve as a resource center for international solidarity efforts: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=262277316594

Haiti: Links to Alternative News and Analysis

Following are some links to alternative news sources on Haiti. If you would like to recommend other sources, please submit them as comments to this post.

Haiti Smashed, Diaspora Shaken, Deportations Frozen
Michelle Chen, Racewire Blog (1/13/10)
http://www.racewire.org/archives/2010/01/haiti_smashed_diaspora_shaken_deportations_frozen.html

The Right Testicle of Hell: History of a Haitian Holocaust
Greg Palast (1/17/10)
http://www.gregpalast.com/the-right-testicle-of-hell-history-of-a-haitian-holocaust/

'New Haiti,' Same Corporate Interests
Isabel MacDonald, The Nation (1/29/10)
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100215/macdonald

There's Real Hope From Haiti -- And It's Not What You'd Expect
Johann Hari, Huffington Post (2/4/10)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johann-hari/theres-real-hope-from-hai_b_450326.html

What You're Not Hearing about Haiti (But Should Be)
Carl Lindskoog, Common Dreams (1/14/10)
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/01/14-2

Our role in Haiti's plight
Peter Hallward, UK Guardian (1/13/10)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/13/our-role-in-haitis-plight

Ten Things the US Can and Should Do for Haiti
Bill Quigley, posted at naomiklein.org (1/14/10)
http://www.naomiklein.org/articles/2010/01/ten-things-us-can-and-should-do-haiti

Too Little Too Late for Haiti? Six Sobering Points
Bill Quigley, Huffington Post (1/15/10)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-quigley/too-little-too-late-for-h_b_425390.html

Haitian Earthquake: Made in the USA - Why the Blood Is on Our Hands
Ted Rall, Common Dreams (1/14/10)
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/01/14-13

Haiti needs water, not occupation
Mark Weisbrot, UK Guardian (1/20/10)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/jan/20/haiti-water-us-occupation

No 'hope for Haiti' without justice
Mark LeVine, Al Jazeera English (1/19/10)
http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/01/20101196265844450.html

Day Three in Port-au-Prince: "A difficult situation"

by David L. Wilson

PORT-AU-PRINCE — Wednesday night, January 13, the second night after a giant earthquake shattered this city, was filled with strange sounds.

At one point a hundred or more people rushed along the Avenue Henri Christophe in front of the Hotel Oloffson in the southwestern part of the city. They were shouting in Creole: "Dlo! dlo!" ("Water! Water!") and claiming, improbably, that a tsunami was coming from the hills to the southeast. Later a vehicle stopped at the intersection by the hotel so a man could make an announcement over a booming loudspeaker. Apparently he was looking for volunteers for something; a few young men climbed on to the back of his vehicle. All I understood was the phrase "gen yon sitiyasyon difisil," repeated over and over—literally, "there's a difficult situation."

Read the full article at:
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2010/wilson210110.html

Day 2 in Port-au-Prince: "Young Men with Crowbars"

by David L. Wilson

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jan. 15 -- I finally saw uniformed Haitian police on the street here at about 9 am two days ago, on Wednesday, more than 16 hours after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake destroyed much of the Haitian capital.

I'd gone out with photojournalist Tequila Minsky to survey damaged neighborhoods and the wrecked National Palace, and we'd just gone a few blocks back towards our hotel when Tequila spotted the agents. Four were sitting on chairs in front of a small building; another seemed to be getting something out of a patrol car.

Read the full article on Monthly Review's MRZine:
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2010/wilson180110.html

Singing and Praying at Night in Port-au-Prince

by David L. Wilson
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jan. 13 -- Several hundred people had gathered to sing, clap, and pray in an intersection here by 9 o'clock last night, a little more than four hours after an earthquake had devastated much of the Haitian capital. Another group was singing a block away, on the other side of the Hotel Oloffson, where I was camping out.

Read the full article here:
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2010/wilson140110.html

For more coverage, go to:
Day 2 in Port-au-Prince: ‘Young Men with Crowbars'

Day Three in Port-au-Prince: ‘A difficult situation’

Day 4 in Port-au-Prince: On the Veranda
Days 5 and 6 in Port-au-Prince: Escape From Katrina

Helping Haiti: Our Dollars Aren't Enough