Haiti

Abraham Lincoln, before signing the Emancipation Proclamation, struck a deal with the landowner of Ile-à-Vache, a vacant island near the southern coast of Haiti. He contracted to send former slaves there to avoid racial uprisings on U.S. soil. The plan failed and Lincoln's decision has been debated by historians, trying to define his presidential character in the context of it. A perfect storm of disease, greed, and mistrust between government and private individuals brewed destructive forces, foiling a well-intentioned effort to deal with the aftermath of abolition in the U.S.

The ship traveling to Ile-à-Vache suffered an outbreak of smallpox en route. The 4,500 infected settlers were isolated, awaiting a second-supply ship that never arrived. This failure caused conflict to erupt between the landowner, his patrons, and agents of the U.S. government. The 500 unaffected settlers became stranded on Ile-à-Vache, and in rebellion ran the landowner off. Lincoln was forced to return the settlers to the U.S.

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As a part of Canape Vert's revitalization initiative, CASEC or Boards of Directors of the Communal Section of Turgeau's 6th section initiated a project called Kanapevè Leve Kanpe. CASEC collaborated with Cordaid for this project. The project aims at building communities that are sustainable and it also aims at providing a decent life to Canape Vert residents.

Earlier during the week starting 19th of May, 2013, 3 contracts were signed. These three contracts were signed for community infrastructure works. The infrastructure work will account for a total of 5,48,150 gourdes. These 3 contracts for the realization of the Kanapevè Leve Kanpe project were signed with 3 Associations of Villa Rosa, Canape Vert.

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Carrefour is a residential commune that is located in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince. Spread over an area of just above 60 square miles, Carrefour was founded on May 1st in the year 1813. The region celebrated its bicentennial year a few days ago. With a population of close to 400,000, the community of Carrefour houses people who share similarities in a lot of things, especially interests, possessions, resources and income.

While there is not too many things that Carrefour famous for, there is however one thing that puts this region on the map and in the news. It was the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit Haiti in January 2010. While this kind of an earthquake would not have made too much of an impact in some developed regions, over 40% of the buildings in Carrefour were destroyed. One of the buildings that had the heaviest impact was the city hospital.

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Haiti has a lot of popular cities and municipalities, one of which is the town of Arcahaie in the Arrondissement of Arcahaie. This town is one of the two that make up the entire arrondissement, while Cabaret is the other municipality. It houses more than 106,500 people and is a recognized town.

Arcahaie nan awondisman Arcahaie. Vil sa a se youn nan de a ki fè moute awondisman an tout antye, Cabaret se lòt minisipalite a. Plis pase 106.500 moun Ap Viv ladan-Li.

Arcahaie's popularity is mainly attributed to its historical heritage, as a lot of significant incidents in the past occurred here. One of them is the memorable 1803 Congress, wherein the unity if Haiti's black people and mulattos was signified. It can be recalled that the country's founding father, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, replaced the French flag with a blue and red flag after tearing it apart during the Congress. It was the first time in three years of revolution that Haiti's unity had been symbolized.

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On May 18, 2013, the Haitian National Flag will celebrate 210 years of independence from French foreign oppression. The history of the flag dates back to 1803 when--in a defiant move--revolutionary leader, Jean Jacques Dessalines, desecrated the French flag. He removed the white-center panel of the tri-color and created the first national Black Republic flag.

The lore of the Haitian National Flag is rich in symbolism. The most popular meaning of the blue-and-red horizontal panels is representation of skin tones: blue for black and red for white. When Alexandre Petion became the next leader of Haiti, he added a unifying element, the nation's first coat-of-arms. Situated within a small, white square, fusing blue-and-red side-by-side panels, a tableau reveals the history of slavery, the fight to end it, and its ultimate abolishment.

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Jacmel is a small town located in the southern part of Haiti and founded in 1698. Being such a historic town, the town has a number of buildings that has a lot of historic value and significance. Jacmel was one of the regions of Haiti that suffered immensely during the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Since the region holds a lot of historic importance, efforts have been taken to restore as well as build new buildings in the area.

Three significant buildings are being constructed in Jacmel at the moment - a Convention Center, the new communal market and an Administrative Complex. On May 3rd, 2013, the President, Michel Martelly, paid a visit to Jacmel to check on progress of these constructions. The construction of these buildings are estimated to be over $3 million and is being funded by the Interamerican Development Bank.

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Haiti Prime Minister (PM) Laurent Lamothe, in anticipation of upcoming national and local elections in May 2013, made an unannounced appearance in the neighborhood of Canapé-Vert. Director General Eberwein of Economic and Social Assistance, along with PM's General Secretary, Francoeur, were also present. The Martelly propaganda machine is telling the news media a first-hand look at the problems of the underclass is necessary to discover practical and viable solutions to them.

PM Lamothe met with Canapé-Vert residents after his walkabout. He related to them what the government's plans are to improve their living standards: 500 dwellings, damaged by the 2010 earthquake, will be repaired, and an outdoor plaza will be built with arena-sized TV screens installed. And a sanitation system to decontaminate water coming from polluted sources is being planned to stop cholera from attacking the population.

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Former United States President and United Nations envoy to Haiti, Bill Clinton, recently led a group of representatives of the Agricultural Investment Delegation, while on a visit to Haiti, to the Smallholder Farmers Alliance's (SFA) tree nursery in Gonaïves. There, the foundation, started by and named for President Clinton, awarded a grant to the SFA cooperative of $150,000 USD with the aim of supporting the efforts of the organization to facilitate growth, manage and improve its nursery operations and give it sustainability.

The endowment follows the impetus of the bigger initiative launched by Clinton, Richard Branson and Mohammed Yunus to reforest Haiti as it further calls for an equal number of trees to be planted and maintained. The Gonaïves nursery is in a central place of focus for this project, being in the very region where the planned ten thousand hectares of land to be donated to agriculture is located.

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An 8x2 mile island treasure chest, sitting prettily off the south-west peninsula of Haiti, might become an important part of the revitalization of the tourism industry in the country. Île à Vache, home to one of the largest mangrove forests in Haiti as well as anywhere from 10,000 to 15,000 locals, is a veritable tourist boon with up to 20 deserted beaches just begging for a catchy slogan.

Indeed, the rebranding has already begun as the tourism leaders have described it as the 'last true treasure island' of the Caribbean; a truly evocative moniker that harkens back to a swashbuckling past sure to attract many. In its proposal, the Ministry of Tourism hopes to give the island a modernizing make-over that will highlight its natural beauty but also facilitate tourism that is self-sustaining. It includes plans for electric shuttles instead of cars, and a community farm to be run by locals.

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Not unlike other members of the government, Haitian President Michel Martelly has been busy conducting tours, his latest seeing him visit Côtes-de-Fer where inaugurations abounded. The first inauguration was at a Canadian Government sponsored police station where the Director General of the National Police of Haiti (PNH), Godson Orelus, other Government and Parliament members, and Henri Paul Normandin, Canadian Ambassador to Haiti were in attendance. Another inauguration involved the recently built bridge over the Côtes-de-Fer River. This new construction will act as the entrance to the city at the Boulevard named after the Haitian President's father, Gérard Martelly.

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