Gonaives - Haiti Observer Blog

This proud celebration of our 210th anniversary or our independence was celebrated in the city of Gonaives. Starting with a Mass held at the Cathedral of Gonaives. Bishop Yves-Marie Péant who presided talked about love and unity.

The religious ceremony was followed by a presentation at the Place d'Armes of Gonaives where President Michel Martelly and several dignitaries were present, including Senator Simon Dieuseul Desra and Deputy Jean Tholbert Alexis.

A gesture that was very appreciated. The Haitian President had invited several former presidents to commemorate the 210th anniversary of Haiti Independence. unfortunately, only two showed up: Jean Claude Duvalier and prosper Avril.

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Haitian President Michel Martelly completed his tour of the Artibonite region of Haiti over November 4th and 5th along with his accompanying advisors, and the Public Works and Transport Secretary of State, Philippe Cinéas. The tour stops included Desdunes, Ennery and Gonvaives, which was declared by the Head of State to be the next host of the Carnival in Haiti.

Haiti's Independence city, Gonaives, will host the 2014 carnival festivities being held between Sunday the 2nd of March 2014 and Tuesday the 4th. President Martelly made the announcement while addressing a crowd of Gonaives residents, who cheered loudly to the news that their city would host the festivities. Rounding out his visit, the President also gave away computer science scholarships to 10 lucky and deserving Gonaives residents.

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Gonaïves lies in the north of Haiti, part of Artibonite Department. With a population of 300,000, it has become recognized as Independence City. It was in Gonaïves Haiti achieved her independence from France in 1804.

A pivotal battle was fought close by Gonaïves in 1802 by General Louverture at Ravine-a-Couleuvres, a French stronghold. Louverture, on his way to help General Vernet defend Gonaïves, collided with French General de Rochambeau in the Battle of Snake Gully. The encounter gave Vernet time to torch Gonaïves before escaping with his army, to prevent French occupation.

Two years later on January 1, 1804, Haiti's first ruler, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, proclaimed Haiti's independence with the Act of Independence read in Place d'Armes at Gonaïves.

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Born in Gonaives on the 19th of June 1934, Haiti's 12th Prime Minister, Gérard Latortue ascended to the seat with much criticism in the wake of his appointment. For, when he was named as Haiti's Prime Minister on March 12, 2004, Latortue had been absent from the country, living on foreign shores for well over a decade.

After studying in Paris at the Institutes of Economic and Social Development, and Political Sciences, Latortue, at 26, returned to his country of birth and began work as a lawyer and later a professor. A year later, after noting that Haitians had no place to study economics, he co-founded a business and economic study institute in the nation's capital.

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Roosevelt Augustin who is the Vice President of The Christian Movement for a New Haiti and is the candidate for Gonaives' Mayor, has been released from jail after one month of his arrest. All the charges against Augustin have been dropped on the basis that his arrest was based on arbitrary grounds. It is being said that his arrest on 26th April, 2013 was initiated after an illegal call by Youri Latortue, which is the advisor to President of Haiti, Michel Martelly.

It was claimed by Latortue that Augustin, who was elected as director of a school operating under the program of Free and Compulsory Education, committed fraud but Augustin, has since the very beginning, claimed that he was innocent. One day after Augustin declared his candidature for the post of Mayor for Gonaives, he was arrested.

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Haitian storyteller Maurice Sixto began life in Gonaïves in 1919. Born into privileged circumstances, son of an engineer, he studied at elite Sainte Louis de Gonzague High School and pursued a legal career at University of Haiti. While there, he fell into journalism working at Le Matin. He then taught English in the Republic of Congo, and was attached to the diplomatic service in Paris.

However, Sixto's greatest contribution to Haiti were his gifts as raconteur. Using his skills as a voice actor, he developed characters to address social ills hounding Haitian culture. One controversial topic of his satires was the unspeakable practice of child slavery, known as restavék. Restavék means servant, unfortunate children who end up as slaves when their families can't care for them. Farmed out to wealthy families to work, they suffer physical, mental, and emotional abuses.

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The Minister of Justice in Haiti, Jean Renel Sanon, confirmed that 29 school principals were arrested in the West and Artibonite Departments, specifically Gonaives. The school principals have been running some of the public and private schools in the region for fraud. It includes school principals of both public and private.

Minis Jistis la, Jean Renel Sanon, konfime ke 29 direktè lekòl yo te arete nan Gonaives. Li gen ladan l direktè lekòl nan piblik ak prive.

Sa Se Pou Dwet Long Siperye!

If this is to be true, do we have any role models left in the country

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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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Former US President Bill Clinton acts as the United Nation's special envoy to Haiti. His duties have taken him on two trips to the country so far this year. First, in January, he came for the 3-year anniversary of the devastating 2013 earthquake, which took place shortly after his tenure started. His latest visit, a two-day event that consisted of site visits and a donation announcement, on March 10 & 11 saw him accompanied by a nearly two-dozen strong delegation of potential investors from the restaurant, perfume and lingerie industries.

During his visit, he spoke about the controversies and misfortune faced by the country, but stressed that Haiti is still replete with 'staggering potential.' It's a sentiment also expressed by Haitian President Michel Martelly who's 'Haiti is open for business' slogan was designed with luring potential investors from around the world in mind. While they are optimistic about foreign investments being the key to rebuilding Haiti, analysts at home and abroad warn that the country's flawed justice system and its archaic banking practices don't instill confidence in investors. Further concerns are the advisories by the U.S. government that warn potential visitors about concerns of health, security and a lack of proper infrastructure.

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