Ladies and Gentlemen, Meysedam:

If you will only ever read one of my blogs, then I hope this is the one. It is not often that I see something that makes my blood boil, but below you will find an email that turned my stomach with disgust and anger.

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Friday, April 13, I will speak on a panel at the US Institute of Peace regarding Haiti’s transitioning economy with Haiti’s Ambassador to the United States, His Excellency Raymond Joseph, and Haiti Economic Officer, Elizabeth Jaffee from the US Deptar Read more »

Say what you will about Chavez and his band of socialist rebel-rousers, but whether it’s handing out fuel subsidies to London or, oh who are we kidding, handing out fuel subsidies to whoever will take them, the Venezuelan government does like to hand out some serious donations. Read more »

arcade fireBelow is an interesting article on a band called Arcade Fire, who we have known about for some time. What we did not know is how involved they have been with Haiti. The band had recently contacted Partners in Health, an important NGO based in Haiti which has pioneered treatment for Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS in low resource settings, to see how they could be involved. Read more »

Last week I received a letter from a relatively large, international NGO. The letter, which was quite hefty, contained a pamphlet describing the work that the NGO was currently doing, a letter from the organization, a monthly newsletter and finally a donation card with a self addressed envelope. The first question that went through my mind was “how much did all of this cost?”

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Peace Corps Volunteers rapidly learn the difficulties of making a simple phone call. As late as 2000, this usually meant going to the local chapter of the state-owned telephone monopoly known as Teleco. Provided that the station worked, and it would often be down for months, one would walk in and call an operator in Port au Prince. The operator would then patch you through collect or you could punch in a phone card. Sounds simple but the process could take the better part of an afternoon in some rural locations. The cost for making a simple call could be sky high.

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Greetings, it is my honor to inform you about the 10th Annual National Haitian Student Conference. This event will be taking place on March 2 - 4, 2007 at Pennsylvania State University. This event is being hosted by the Pennsylvania Haitian Student Association, a statewide organization dedicated to the empowerment of Haitian/Haitian-American students as well as the development of the Haitian community in Pennsylvania. Read more »

Hi,I just wanted to get the word out about an amazing event that my organization, Dwa Fanm, is putting on in conjunction with V-Day. Read more »

Today, Google Alerts sent me an article published by Workers World entitled "UN Occupation of Haiti Intensifies". Usually, I would not open such an email, because who is Workers World? But the headline grabbed me, two words inparticular: occupation intensifies. Read more »

Last Saturday morning, the sun shone through my apartment window and
fell upon a bookcase where I keep a bottle of Barbancourt Rhum. The
bottle is tagged with classic Hispaniola price tags, florescent orange
stickers--prices both in Haitian Dollars and in Dominican Pesos, 60 and
350 respectively. Although empty, it is a cherished keepsake
reminiscent of better days spent swilling rhum ak koka at the
rattan-adorned Oloffson Hotel in Port-au-Prince... Read more »