Haiti

Dressed in white shirts with blue designs, carrying white signs with red writing, the participants of the World Day of Peace street march struck a patriotic chord while pushing their cause. Made up of members from the youth organization 'Miroir' the march took place through the Petit-Goâve streets, and was organized to bring calm back to the city.

Up to the day of the march, the Petit-Goâve community had experienced 10 days of demonstrations against the local authorities. The tension-filled days led to the appeals on signs for the end of the discord, with some bearing messages pleaded for no violence and an end to tire burning. Still, amidst this peaceful march National Road #2 was blocked, a young boy sustained an arm wound, and gunshots were heard at 11:00 a.m.

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From September 4 to September 6, 2014, the Ministry of Agriculture organized and hosted a workshop along with Natural Resources and Rural Development, through the Office of the Secretary of State for Agricultural Recovery, Joseph Vernet, to facilitate talks that could bring forth a program that would give support to the yam value chain. The workshop, held in Torbeck, was financed by the Swiss Cooperation in Haiti.

There have been some areas of improvement in Haiti where yam farming is concerned. The sector has been endowed by the Swiss Development Cooperation from 2015 to 2020. Also, since the past 5 years, the product grew significantly from 344,500 metric tonnes in 2010 to 500,000 metric tonnes last year. This 45% increase was seen in the National Yam Productions areas that cover approximately 30,000 hectares in Grande Anse, spots in Pilate, Piacenza and the Valley of Jacmel.

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The situation at the St. Joseph's Home for Boys is not a feel-good orphan story. In fact, it is one of the worst types of orphan stories one may hear as the group's founder, Michael Karl Geilenfeld, was arrested on Friday, September 5, on allegations of abuse.

Geilenfeld, an American, was taken into custody to face interrogation on suspicion of charges of criminal conspiracy and indecent assault. The spectacle created as he was detained at the orphanage in Delmas was not made worse by any resistance from the 62-yearl-old man. In fact, he might have been expecting it as the allegations of abuse were levelled against him months ago, leading to the removal of the children from the orphanage early in the year.

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Christopher Columbus landed in a section of Haiti, populated by the Tainos, called Marien. Today, that mountainous district 150 miles to the north of Haiti's capital is called Jean Rabel. Part of Haiti's North West Department, the county of Jean Rabel can be found in the Mole Saint Nicolas district and contains many subdivisions.

The locale offers the delight of virgin territory to the visitor, having been largely unvisited by foreigners as no direct flight can take you to the remote, but aesthetically pleasing place. Even the number of inhabitants (shakily established at around 125,000 by information from an under-informed census), don't offer much by way of number, but some think this an advantage. Aside from the area remaining relatively unindustrialized, and so still full of Haitian flora and fauna, the relative remoteness has made the inhabitants extremely self-sufficient.

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With its utilization of drip irrigation, a technique ideally suited to the terrain in Haiti, the newest program of MH4H has created what is a garden off which all other gardens should, probably, be fashioned. Harvesting Hope, as it is called, is used to teach the necessary vegetable growing techniques to families who aspire to feed themselves as well as sell their wares at their local markets.

The prototype garden can be found on the Savanette campus of MH4H. The model has been so successful at producing food, the organizers have started planting other gardens with various families within the community that surrounds the campus.

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Mgr. Alphonse presided over mass celebrating Petit Goave's patron saint's feast day, Our Lady of the Assumption. In attendance were clergymen, politicians, Lower Chamber members, President Thimoleon, and Petit Goâve Mayor Jules.

Alphonse said the occasion was a time to determine how to move forward in the transformation process of building ". . . a more just and harmonious society." With that sentiment resonating in the hearts and minds of the attendees, all repaired to the Fort Royal Hotel for more pronouncements and presentations.

At the reception Jules gave thanks to the Haitian government for funding several construction projects in Petit Goâve, particularly for its poorer denizens. She pointed especially to the Petit Goâve port, a generator of a steady stream of income.

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The Mayor of Port-au-Prince Mr. Joseph Richard Pierre Duplan, led Project Management 16/6 members as well as the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in kicking off the foundation-laying ceremony for the building of a Community Complex in Canapé-Vert on Thursday. Canapé-Vert will be the 5th community complex after the ones in Nérette, Envy, Morne Hercule and Morne Lazare. Morne Lazare is however still under construction.

This construction is aimed at making a room available to the four community platform representatives that will enable them to converge and fulfill the many duties that have everything to do with their roles as leaders for the good of the community at large and at the same time making sure that they are performing well independently.

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A new kind of vacation format is becoming popular the world over, volunteer vacations. These vacations are spent on service projects in all parts of the globe, and on a wide spectrum of service activities. No matter your age or marital status, a volunteer opportunity exists just right for your interests and abilities.

Some examples of volunteer vacations include helping park rangers on national parks projects; volunteering at an orphanage, or for children with special needs; teaching English as a second language; a museum conservation project; administering to injured animals at a zoo.

Experience is not as important as enthusiasm, a cooperative spirit, and a sense of adventure. And the most satisfying experiences will come from projects aligning with your interests, skills, and endurance level. You can opt to choose a project in a metropolitan area, or a more rural setting in an emerging nation.

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The UN and government of Norway (GON) made a two-day visit to review South Coast Initiative (SCI) projects. South Department (SD) Delegate, Serge Chery, took UN Resident Coordinator in Haiti, Peter De Clercq, and the GON's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Representative, Trygve Bendiksby, on a tour of several project sites:

• Road infrastructure rehabilitation
• Roche a Bateau Electrical Cooperative facilities
• Port Salut Fish Market
• Saint Louis du Sud Millionaire River mitigation project
• Aquin Nature Interpretation Center

De Clercq acknowledged the Haitian government's initiative on the SCI, made possible by the technical support of the UN working in SD, in addition to the financial support of GON, the World Bank, the Inter-American Bank Development, and the European Union. He complimented SCI supporting the Haitian government's investment in the SD's infrastructure with six projects:

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The World Environment Day was celebrated in Haiti with the theme, "lima an apchanje, nou pa kakanpe l men noukaralantikous li. M angaje m!". The president of Haiti Michel Martelly had been busy participating in various activities, among them the inauguration of the first Centre for Nature Interpretation in Aquin. He also launched the planting of around 5 million seedlings in the southern region. He was accompanied by Jean Francois Thomas, Minister of the Environment, the Mayor of the Commune of Aquin,Gilles Rivard, Departmental Delegate of South, Serge Chéry, Ambassador of Canada in Port-au-Prince,Ms. Sophie de Caen who is the Director of Program United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),CalixteBossé, of Deputy Fritz-GéraldBourjolly (Aquin / St-Louis du Sud) and representatives of the local organizations.

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