Documentary - Battle For Haiti

Caught this interesting documentary from PBS Frontline which looks at Haiti a year after the Earthquake. View here. Corruption is so endemic that I am not sure if elections will have much of an impact. Time will tell. But I have always questioned the aid strategy there. The focus should be on empowering Haitians to build their own economy, to work for themselves, etc...as opposed to relying so heavily on NGO's and the UN.

Also amazed (suppose I shouldn't be surprised) at how fast the World lost interest.

Wyclef Jean survives criticism, works to uplift Haiti

During election seasons, Republicans love to blast liberal, Hollywood actors for spouting off their political beliefs. In reality, it’s quite hypocritical, but that’s another story. Yet, Wyclef Jean and Sean Penn continue to make mincemeat of conservative critics that claim that Hollywood entertainers are dim-witted glamour hounds. Our collective thanks should to these two, who continue to toil away even when there are no cameras around.

Read the rest at The Loop.

Americans caught taking children out of Haiti

from ABC.net

Americans caught taking children out of Haiti
Posted Sun Jan 31, 2010 12:41pm AEDT


Haitian police have arrested 10 United States citizens caught trying to take 33 children out of the earthquake-stricken country in a suspected illicit adoption scheme, authorities say.

Authorities fear traffickers could try to exploit the chaos and turmoil following Haiti's January 12 earthquake quake to engage in illegal adoptions.

But one of the suspects, who says she is leader of an Idaho-based charity called New Life Children's Refuge (NCLR), denies they have done anything wrong.

The five men and five women are in custody in the capital Port-au-Prince after their arrests on Friday night.

They were detained at Malpasse, Haiti's main border crossing with the Dominican Republic, after Haitian police conducted a routine search of their vehicle.

Authorities said the Americans had no documents to prove they had cleared the adoption of the 33 children - aged 2 months to 12 years - and no papers showing the children were made orphans by the quake.

Yves Cristalin, Haiti's social affairs minister, says the incident is "totally illegal".

"No children can leave Haiti without proper authorisation and these people did not have that authorisation," he said.

But Laura Sillsby from the Idaho group NCLR says the group has done nothing wrong.

"We had permission from the Dominican Republic Government to bring the children to an orphanage that we have there," she said.

Now, if anyone knows about the history between the Dominican Republic and Haiti, this should have been the first red flag for you.
The stories are legendary about how the Dominicans try and prevent the people from Haiti from crossing over their border; so, does it seem plausible to you that they would be opening their arms to orphans from Haiti?

Doesn't smell right.

There were more than a few of us putting up flags at seeing all these folks grabbing for these supposedly orphaned children from Haiti. We thought they were moving way too fast; that there hadn't been a serious attempt to determine if they were TRULY orphans, with no family. The calls went up from several corners about slowing down this process. Maybe it's because I've watched too many L&O:SVU episodes. But, somethings in your GUT just look wrong when you see them; you don't exactly have the ' evidence', but you can feel it in your bones that something's ' not quite right' in this situation.

These arrests confirm everything I and others have been feeling in our guts. As others have pointed out, these folks don't even have this supposed proposed orphanage/charity work -UP ON A CHURCH WEBSITE! WHO provided the money for them to go down there? WHERE is the money coming from to transport these children? That should also make you think twice about it. [Edited] Something is wrong here, and not only should the government of Haiti prosecute to the fullest extent of the law - the UNITED STATES JUSTICE DEPARTMENT needs to be all up in this from THIS country's end.


Found this at W.E.E. See You: Here it is - they had a plan and here it is.

More information: Haiti Orphan Appeal: "I am no orphan" says 8 year old transportee

Check out this thread over at W.E.E. See You - folks have been doing more investigating. These folks are SUSPECT.

British Boy Raises $160,000 for Haiti

hat tip- W.E.E. See You



From HuffingtonPost.com:

Charlie Simpson, 7-Year-Old, Raises $160,000 For Haiti

LONDON — A young British schoolboy has raised nearly 100,000 pounds ($160,000) for Haiti's relief effort.

Seven-year-old Charlie Simpson was so upset by the devastating images of Haiti's deadly earthquake that he asked his mother if she could help him set up a sponsored bicycle ride around his local park in west London.

Charlie originally hoped to raise 500 pounds ($800) for UNICEF's Haiti appeal with Sunday's 5-mile (8-kilometer) bike ride, but his Internet page was flooded with donations.

He raised nearly 50,000 pounds in a single day and money is still flooding in after Charlie's story was splashed on the front page of Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper Monday.

His mother Leonora Simpson says she can't believe the public response.

Here is a link to his UNICEF page.



wow.

just WOW.

Give To Haiti Relief

Donate what you can through any of the following: Some Among the Best Rated

AmeriCares

Habitat for Humanity

Unicef

Doctors Without Borders

Mercy Corps

Red Cross

Direct Relief International

World Food Program

Oxfam

International Rescue Committee

Save The Children

Operation USA


To Check Quality or Legitimacy of a Major Relief Charity You Can Visit the Following Websites:

Charity Navigator

BBB Charity Reviews

Charity Watch (American Institute of Philanthropy's Top Rated List)

Haiti, Bush, Obama And The CBC

Even George W. Bush recognizes that Obama's response to the Haiti earthquake isn't political.

However, as I write in my weekly column for The Loop, there is one group that has been looking out for Haiti for a long time...

The travesty in Haiti and the ill-conceived, thoughtless comments by both Rush Limbaugh and the Rev. Pat Robertson has actually served to ignite serious questions about Haiti and the nature of American foreign policy. No, Haitian's did not make a pact with the Devil to rid themselves of the French. Neither is Obama using the Haitian earthquake to score political points as Rush foolishly points out. George W. Bush did not use the 2004 tsunami for political points and neither is Obama.

Unfortunately, after the media moves on to the next cycle and Americans return their attention to American Idol, members of the Congressional Black Caucus will be among the few still looking after Haiti's long-term interest.

Read the rest at The Loop.

First Lady Michelle Obama on the crisis in Haiti

Donate to Haiti Earthquake Relief Efforts

See the latest on the Haiti Disaster.

Comments from Pres. Obama

Donate what you can through any of the following: Some Among the Best Rated

AmeriCares

Habitat for Humanity

Unicef

Doctors Without Borders

Mercy Corps

Red Cross

Direct Relief International

World Food Program

Oxfam

International Rescue Committee

Save The Children

Operation USA


To Check Quality or Legitimacy of a Major Relief Charity You Can Visit the Following Websites:

Charity Navigator

BBB Charity Reviews

Charity Watch (American Institute of Philanthropy's Top Rated List)