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Connecticut Church's Trip to Haiti Reveals Optimism and Joy Amid Persistent Poverty

Libby Heller doesn’t speak Creole, but she had no trouble communicating with a young Haitian girl on the other side of a soccer field. Heller was one of a group of 18 parishioners from St. George Roman Catholic Church who traveled to Port-au-Prince in mid-January to learn about the country and to meet the college student the parish is supporting through its outreach ministry. The first morning they were there, Heller saw the girl, 3 or 4 years old, whose family lives on a rooftop across the field, and started playing Simon Says with her. “Every morning, it was like 6:30 and she would always be awake,” Heller said. One would make a move; the other would copy it. One would dance; so would the other. At one point, the girl ran into her house and came out with a backpack. Heller went and got hers. “She thought it would be so cool that I had a backpack and so did she,” Heller said. “In her mind’s eye, it was like, ‘I have the pleasure of going to school.’” Claire Nicholls, St. George’s director of youth ministry, has been bringing the parish’s teenagers to Haiti every summer but three since 2003. (Since the cholera epidemic following a devastating 2010 earthquake, they’ve alternated with trips to Italy, but there will be two trips with juniors and seniors this year.) Nicholls “instantly became passionate about the cause” of Haiti after hearing a speaker in 2000, she said. “Three years ago, we decided that we should get the adults of the parish involved,” she said. “It’s life-changing.” This year’s group landed in Port-au-Prince on Jan. 11, the same day President Donald Trump made his scatological comment about Haiti and other poor countries. “We had children in an orphanage ask if we liked Trump,” said Eileen Jenetopulos. They asked Erin Nicholls, Claire’s daughter, who speaks Creole, to “come up with a word for ‘embarrassing,’” Jenetopulos said. The Rev. Stephen Sledesky, pastor of St. George, said, “The people realize that as Americans we’re not all like what they see in the news. They see Americans coming down to Haiti and they see the compassion that we bring.” Click here to continue reading. SOURCE: New Haven Register - Ed Stannard

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Haiti President Says Many Aid Organizations Hid Misconduct

Haiti's president said on Friday that sexual misconduct by staff of British charity Oxfam was only the tip of an "iceberg" and called for investigations into Doctors Without Borders and other aid organizations which came to the country after its 2010 earthquake.

"The Oxfam case is the visible part of the iceberg," President Jovenel Moise said in a phone interview with Reuters on Friday. "It is not only Oxfam, there are other NGOs (non-governmental organizations) in the same situation, but they hide the information internally."

The scandal has already shaken the aid sector, with Britain and the European Union reviewing Oxfam’s funding.

Oxfam, one of the world's biggest disaster relief charities, apologized this week for unspecified sexual misconduct uncovered in a 2011 internal investigation. It has neither confirmed nor denied a recent Times of London report that some of its staff paid for sex with prostitutes.

"There should be an investigation into other organizations that have been working here since 2010," said Moise. "For example, Doctors Without Borders had to repatriate about 17 people for misconduct which was not explained," he added.

It was not clear what cases Moise was referring to.

Geneva-based Doctors Without Borders, known as Medecins Sans Frontieres in non-English speaking countries, is looking into Moise's comments and welcomes scrutiny on the aid sector, said spokeswoman Analia Lorenzo. She added that the organization had zero tolerance of sexual misconduct.

On Wednesday, Doctors Without Borders, which sends medical staff around the world to regions stricken with war and disease, said it had dealt with 24 cases of sexual harassment or abuse among its 40,000 staff last year, and dismissed 19 people as a result. It did not provide details of where the harassment or abuse took place, who was dismissed or whether the complaints were also registered with local law enforcement.

'MISTAKES'

Roland Van Hauwermeiren, the former Oxfam official at the center of the sex abuse scandal, said on Thursday he made mistakes by having a sexual relationship with the sister of a recipient of aid when working in Haiti but denied paying for sex with prostitutes or abusing minors.

In an open letter to a broadcaster in his native Belgium, he said he feared that Oxfam, other aid workers and those they help would suffer from false accusations.

"We call on the Belgian and UK government to assume their responsibility, and we call on the whole international community to help make sure those guilty of such misconduct are punished, whether they are Belgian or of another nationality," Moise said. "The dignity of the Haitian people has been trampled on."

Haitian Justice Minister Heidi Fortune told Reuters on Wednesday he had asked Belgium for help in starting legal action against Van Hauwermeiren. He did not say which laws he believed were broken.

Belgium's Justice Ministry said on Thursday it had received no such request and prosecutors said they were not aware of any investigation into Van Hauwermeiren. Belgium does not extradite its citizens to countries outside the European Union.

Prostitution is a crime in Haiti, but it was not clear what other crimes the Oxfam officials may have committed.

SOURCE: Reuters - (Reporting by Joseph Guyler Delva; Writing by Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Bill Rigby)

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Fire Ravages Haiti’s Historic Iron Market in Port-au-Prince

Haiti’s capital of Port au Prince suffered a blow to one of its iconic attractions this week as the city’s historic Marché en Fer—popularly known as Hyppolite Market or the Iron Market—was severely damaged in a late-night fire said to have started from nearby burning garbage. The fire raged from late Monday evening through Tuesday morning and destroyed one of the structure’s two large market halls. The intensity of the blaze also caused a partial collapse of the metal structure, according to international and local press reports. Firefighters and citizens worked through midday Tuesday to extinguish the flames. The market hall was one of two that employs more than 900 traders spread across scores of stalls and small retail shops that sell produce, hardware, gifts, art, Vodou paraphernalia and commercial items of nearly every type. The government has not issued an estimate of the merchants’ losses, which are certain to be “considerable” in the words of one observer. The historic structure has long been a draw for both tourists and visitors and local Haitians. Built in France, the main structure was designed as part of railway station bound for Cairo. But that agreement fell through, leading Haitian president Florvil Hyppolite to purchase the structure in 1891. The market was previously struck by fire in 2008 and then leveled by the 2010 earthquake. It was rebuilt in 2011 to match its original specifications. Haiti’s president, Jovenel Moise, visited the site Tuesday. The nation’s leader said on Twitter he was "enormously saddened" by the news of the fire. “I think of all those who have lost their livelihood." SOURCE: Travel Pulse - Brian Major

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Oxfam Government Funding Cut Off After Haiti Scandal

Charity agrees to demand from development department to stop bidding for grants until ‘high standards’ met Oxfam has agreed to withdraw from bidding for government funding until the Department for International Development is satisfied that it can meet the “high standards” expected. In a statement, the international development secretary, Penny Mordaunt, said she had made a set of demands in light of the sexual exploitation scandal in Haiti and had received a formal response from Oxfam agreeing to them. She said that the government “reserves the right to take whatever decisions about present or future funding to Oxfam, and any other organisation, that we deem necessary”. The news comes as the head of Oxfam International, Winnie Byanyima, announced a wide-ranging reform plan – including an independent commission to review Oxfam’s culture and practices – and warned that what happened in Haiti“is a stain on Oxfam that will shame us for years”. The charity, which received £31.7m in taxpayer funding in 2016/17, also announced that it would publish a 2011 internal investigation into staff involved in sexual and other misconduct in Haiti as soon as possible. In the statement sent out on Friday afternoon, Mordaunt said she had demanded that Oxfam make clear how it would handle any forthcoming allegations around safeguarding, whether they be historic or live, that they report staff members involved in incidents to their respective national governments, and that they fully cooperate with the Haitian authorities, including handing over all evidence they hold. She said that Oxfam had confirmed that it had complied with all these points. She added: “Following our discussions, Oxfam has agreed to withdraw from bidding for any new UK government funding until DfID is satisfied that they can meet the high standards we expect of our partners. Click here for more. SOURCE: The Guardian - Nicola Slawson

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Oxfam, Christian Aid, Save the Children, and Red Cross Among Charities Caught in Sex Scandals

Oxfam, Christian Aid, Save the Children, and the Red Cross are some of the major British charities that have admitted to dealing with sexual harassment or abuse scandals as part of a growing net of sexual misconduct cases unraveling in the sector. The Sunday Times reported that more than 120 workers for British charities have been accused of such misconduct in the past year alone. Priti Patel, the former international development secretary, warned that "predatory pedophiles" had been exploiting the sector. Penny Mordaunt, her successor, condemned Oxfam for a lapse in safeguarding after learning of the "horrific behavior" by some staff members who payed for sex with prostitutes in Haiti in 2011, a nation which for years has been the site of much charity work. "I think it's shocking and it doesn't matter how good the safeguarding practices are in an organization, if that organization does not have moral leadership to do the right thing, and where in particular they have evidence of criminal activity to pass that information to the relevant authorities including prosecuting authorities, that's an absolute absence of leadership," she said on the Andrew Marr Show. The vast majority of sexual harassment or abuse cases have been reported by Oxfam, which revealed 87 incidents for the past year. But other leading charities have also been affected. Save the Children admitted to 31 such cases in total; the British Red Cross said that it was dealing with a "small number of cases of harassment reported in the U.K.;" and Christian Aid owned up to two. "In the past 12 months, Christian Aid has investigated two incidents of sexual misconduct, both of which occurred overseas. One investigation led to the dismissal of a staff member, while the other case resulted in disciplinary action (not dismissal)," Christian Aid stated. Oxfam and the use of prostitutes by some of its aid workers made headlines last week, with Haiti's ambassador in London, Bocchit Edmond, criticizing the charity for failing to inform Haiti about the scandal. Mordaunt said that the charity had not initially explained the nature of the events to the Department for International Development. "They (Oxfam) initially said that they were investigating misconduct and when they concluded that report they did not tell us the nature of these events," she said. "They did tell the Charity Commission that there was sexually inappropriate behavior, bullying and harassment of employees but they did not report that to us." Oxfam said it fired four people, while three others resigned, following an internal 2011 investigation, but has denied that minors were involved in the prostitution scandal. It has since announced new measures aimed at preventing and handling sex abuse, BBC News said. Click here to read more. SOURCE: The Christian Post

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Oxfam Staff Paid for ‘Caligula Orgies’ With Haiti Earthquake Survivors

Senior Oxfam staff reportedly paid for “full-on Caligula orgies” with survivors of the devastating 2010 Haitian earthquake. An investigation by The Times of London revealed multiple aid workers paid earthquake survivors for sex, including some who could have been underage. The charity has been accused of covering up the scandal by allowing three men to resign and firing four others for gross misconduct. One of the men who was allowed to resign, former Haiti Director Roland van Hauwermeiren, was given a “phased and dignified exit” for fear of damaging the charity’s reputation. Prostitution is illegal in Haiti and the age of consent is 18, but Oxfam didn’t report any of the incidents to the Haitian authorities because “it was extremely unlikely that any action would be taken.” READ IT AT THE TIMES OF LONDON> SOURCE: The Daily Beast

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Trump Administration Moves to Ban Haitians From Applying for Work Visas

The Trump administration is moving to prohibit people from Haiti — which the president allegedly insulted in a meeting last week — from applying for visas for seasonal and farm workers. The Department of Homeland Security has given notice it plans to prohibit people from Haiti, as well as Belize and Samoa, from applying for H-2A and H-2B visas, which are temporary. Those visas allow businesses to bring in workers from other countries. The H-2A visa is for agriculture and the H-2B is for non-agricultural seasonal work in places such as resorts. The notice of which countries are eligible was to be published in the Federal Register on Thursday, but a copy was publicly posted online Wednesday per the usual process. In the notice, DHS said that Haitians applying for the visas "present extremely high rates of refusal" and Haitians who have been granted H-2A and H-2B visas "have demonstrated high levels of fraud and abuse and a high rate of overstaying the terms of their H-2 admission." DHS referred questions about the decision to Citizenship and Immigration Services, which emailed excerpts of DHS’ notice in response. Requests for information on numbers were referred to the State Department Wednesday evening.

Michael Clemens, a senior fellow at the non-partisan Center for Global Development, said the move eliminates the only U.S. work visa that is almost everyone in Haiti can apply to get. The number of Haitians who get the visa is in the hundreds. Click here to read more. SOURCE: NBC News - Suzanne Gamboa

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Haitian-American Pastor Mullery Jean-Pierre Demands Apology from Trump at MLK Celebration in Jerusalem

Speaking at a Martin Luther King Day ceremony in Jerusalem on Monday, the Haitian-born spiritual leader of a Brooklyn church demanded an apology from U.S. President Donald Trump for his recent racist and disparaging alleged comment about Haiti, calling it a dagger to the heart.

Pastor Mullery Jean-Pierre, of Berraca Baptist Church, made the demand in front of 216 predominately Caribbean-American members of Brooklyn congregations, gathered to honor the slain civil rights leader during their week-long pilgrimage to Israel. He used the opportunity to speak truth to power and called on all Jews and Israelis to join him in seeking an apology.

It was on the third day of the trip, Jean-Pierre recounted, that news broke about Trumps alleged remarks, in which he reportedly described immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and Africa as coming from shithole countries.

I am calling on all Haitians, Africans, African-Americans and people of African descent, white American evangelicals who voted for Donald Trump and helped him into office, along with all Jews and Israelis – who I believe should stand by Haiti because Haiti stood by the Jewish nation of Israel by casting the deciding UN vote in 1947 and helped them become the great nation they are today: Please stand with Haiti, Africa and El Salvador, and demand that President Trump apologize for his remarks, he said.

Jean-Pierre, whose multicultural but predominantly Haitian-American church has 1,200 members, was one of a group of four church leaders (comprising the Brooklyn United Churches group) who led their congregations on a week-long tour of Israel, culminating in Jerusalem on Martin Luther King Day.

Another of the ministers, Pastor Gilford Monrose – spiritual leader of Mt. Zion Church of God (7th Day) – opened the ceremony and led the group in prayer in memory of King and other civil rights leaders. We thank you, father, for Martin Luther King. ... We are his children, white and black, Jewish and gentile. We are all part of the legacy he stood for, he said.

Telling the group to join hands, Monrose said that even in the current difficult political climate, it was vital to remember King's message that We dont walk this path alone, and we've got to still do right even when others do wrong. We have to be light in the darkness, we have to be love in the midst of hate, we have to give voice to the voiceless.

We hold hands and bow our head in silence, as we remember Martin Luther King Jr., he continued. Thank you, dear God, for him and for those who stood up so we could stand up. For those who sat down so we could sit down. Thank you for those who protested so we could have rights. Thank you for those who put their lives on the line, and many who gave their lives. Thank you, God, for the blood, sweat and the tears of our fathers and mothers, our sisters and brothers who are long in the grave but whose contribution to the common good continues to live on.

Jean-Pierre told Haaretz he was left speechless when he learned what Trump had allegedly said to describe the country he and most of his congregants had immigrated from. I felt Trump had hit an all-time low and couldnt believe he had stooped to this level. It was a like a dagger in my heart, he said.

His challenge as a leader of the Haitian-American community, he said, was to help his angry congregants not lose faith in their country just because they have lost faith in this president.

Click here to continue reading. SOURCE: Haaretz - Allison Kaplan Sommer

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Haiti Ambassador Invites Trump to Visit Country, Calls his Words 'an Insult to Our Dignity'

Haiti's ambassador to the US said Monday that President Donald Trump's recent comments about Haiti "hurt the country," adding that he hopes the President will visit the nation.

"The words, they did hurt the community, they did hurt the country of Haiti," Paul Altidor told CNN's "New Day." "It hurt because one, it's an insult to our dignity, but more importantly, it's because too much of Haiti is misunderstood."

Referring to immigrants from African countries during an Oval Office meeting last week, Trump asked lawmakers, "Why do we want all these people from shithole countries coming here?" a source briefed on the meeting told CNN.

A source familiar with the meeting later told CNN's Jake Tapper the President did not refer to Haiti as a "shithole" but Trump did ask why the US needs more Haitians and pushed to "take them out" of an immigration deal.

Trump denied the Haiti remarks on Friday.

"Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said 'take them out.' Made up by Dems. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians," Trump tweeted. "Probably should record future meetings - unfortunately, no trust!"

But in the wake of the comment, several countries, including Haiti, have summoned top US diplomats to answer for Trump's remarks.

Altidor extended an invitation to the President to visit his country, but added that it "doesn't excuse an apology for what was said" and that "such words shouldn't be coming out of anybody's mouth, let alone the President of the United States."

"I'm personally asking the President, come to our community," Altidor continued. "The President, as a candidate, went to Little Haiti. He told the community that he's going to be their champion. This is his opportunity."

In November, the Trump administration announced that it will end the Temporary Protected Status designation for Haiti by July 2019, potentially forcing tens of thousands of Haitian immigrants to either leave the US or live in the US illegally.

Altidor called the decision "ill-informed."

Click here to watch.

SOURCE: CNN - Maegan Vasquez, Sophie Tatum and Caroline Kenny

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Sean Penn Pens Op-Ed on Trump's Crude Immigration Comments: Donald Trump Is "An Enemy of Compassion, An Enemy of the State"

Penn is a two-time Academy Award-winning actor and the founder of J/P Haitian Relief Organization. Within days of the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010, 29 American volunteers and I became quickly embedded with the 82nd Airborne Division of the U.S. Army. Alongside our military mentors, our hands and souls touched the bodies of the dying and the dead. Our doctors tended the injured. Our educators moved swiftly to establish schools and normalcy for the youth, many of whom had been abruptly orphaned in the disaster that killed as many as 300,000 Haitians. President Barack Obama deployed about 22,000 U.S. service men and women to Haiti, on one of the most extraordinary missions of support in humanitarian history. No other country in the world offered the generosity of support to the Haitian people that ours did — with our church groups and other NGOs, the money and supplies sent by average citizens. Perhaps most moving for those 30 of us was the extraordinary humanity, respect and commitment offered Haiti by our soldiers. On this pale blue dot Earth that we call home, the Haitian people are our neighbors, to whom our support is both the policy of a great America as it is a sacred duty. While nothing could bring back those hundreds of thousands of lives and little could console their families, from day one there was not a broken street I could look upon from the ground without thinking, This can be fixed. Or rather, I can fix this. But soon, I came to realize: Only the Haitians themselves could fix this. Our true sacred duty was to understand the support they may need in their effort. This was made crystal clear in the second month after my arrival, when Lieutenant General Ken Keen took me off the ground in a military chopper to survey the damage from above. It was devastating. My months of day-to-day optimism evaporated. For the first time, it all looked hopeless, reminiscent of the images from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But by the time we returned to the landing zone, I had processed from my two months of observation and learning that not only were we not alone in this effort, but we had leaders with both vision and belief that would not die. They were not military leaders or NGO leaders or U.N. leaders or, in most cases, even Haitian leaders in governance. Rather, they were Haitian people themselves. With their inspiration and leadership, as well as their understanding of their land and culture, they led us to create a new kind of effort — a genuine embracement of our position of empowering the Haitian people to rebuild their own country. Our little rough-and-tumble group of 30 international volunteers soon became an army of 200 full-time Haitian staff and thousands of day workers. While I am credited with founding the organization J/P HRO, in reality it was built by these Haitian people, mostly young men and women, of their pride, love of family and acute intelligence. They cleared tens of thousands of tons of rubble from the streets. They reopened neighborhoods to commerce. They facilitated the healing return of its inhabitants from displacement camps. They rebuilt and retrofitted houses and infrastructure, all the while teaching and learning job skills. The organization’s doctors opened medical clinics, which brought in international investment, both private and public. Today, the recovery is decades ahead of my wild imagination’s most optimistic projection. The Haitian people offered us a front-row seat to miracles. And they continue to be ready to bring more, combating the continuing plagues of poverty and environmental degradation. Today is the eighth anniversary of that awful day in 2010. I still smell the blood and death that greeted us in that humid air upon arrival and through our first months in the country. I still see the tears and hear the primal screams of mothers, fathers, sons and daughters who lost family so horribly, so shockingly. But most of all, it is the lessons of resilience and human excellence that they can continue to teach us, as they continue to offer their own country and families that as Americans we must continue to embrace and empower. Click here to finish reading. SOURCE: TIME - Sean Penn

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WATCH: Maryland Pastor Maurice Watson Addresses Trump's 'S***hole Countries' Remark With VP Pence in Attendance

A Maryland pastor spent his Sunday sermon addressing President Donald Trump's comments about immigrants from Haiti and Africa that reportedly contained profane language.

The Rev. Maurice Watson got a standing ovation during his sermon at the Metropolitan Baptist Church in Largo, Maryland. It was a topic undoubtedly addressed in many churches on the day before the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, but on Sunday, Watson had Vice President Mike Pence sitting in his congregation.

Watson said the vice president’s office called him earlier to let him know about Pence’s visit.

“I felt I needed to speak up, and I would have spoken up regardless to whether the vice president came or not,” Watson said. “It wasn't about his being there. This was about trying to be a responsible pastor to speak up for God's people.”

Watson said there are members of his church who are from Africa and Haiti. The president was accused of using “s---hole” to describe African countries during an immigration meeting with a bipartisan group of six senators. The president, in the meeting, also reportedly questioned the need to admit more Haitians to the U.S.

The pastor called the reported comments “dehumanizing” but he said he wasn’t directing his sermon specifically at the vice president.

“I did not look at him while speaking,” Watson said. “I wanted to keep my focus on speaking to my people, because it wasn't a personal attack. I wasn't trying to personally go after the vice president.”

On Monday, the White House confirmed Pence attended the service but did not characterize his reaction to the sermon.

“Yes, the VP attended the service yesterday with the Second Lady and Secretary Perdue,” according to a statement from an official with the vice president’s office. “He was welcomed by the Pastor and the congregation received him with open arms. The VP and Second Lady went from church to lay a wreath at the MLK monument.”

Watson said under similar circumstances, he would do the same sermon again.

“If I had to do it 100 times again, I would do it, because it is right,” he said.

SOURCE: NBC 4 Washington - Tracee Wilkins https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FMetropolitanBaptistChurch%2Fvideos%2F10156987649898306%2F&show_text=0&width=560

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This is How Ignorant You Have to Be to Call Haiti a 'S***hole'

The president had no respect for Haiti. He could see as well as anyone following the news that the country was a basket case — racked by political unrest, filthy, incapable of handling its own affairs. There was no doubt his opinion of the black republic was informed by his blatant racism, which included praising members of the Ku Klux Klan. He had criticized his predecessors’ foreign wars while running for office. But in the White House, he realized he was willing to flex the country’s muscles abroad, as long as the mission fit his motto: “America first.”

Taking Haiti was a U.S. priority, he decided. The United States would invade.

That president was Woodrow Wilson. The year was 1915. And if that was the beginning of a story you’ve never heard before, you aren’t alone.

Since news broke that Wilson’s unwitting heir, President Donald Trump, called Haiti - along with El Salvador and seemingly all 54 nations in Africa — “s---hole countries,” the president’s defenders made it clear not only that they do not know Haiti’s history but also that they’re unaware of their own. As soon as they heard his comments, Trump’s partisans went defensive, claiming that while Trump might have been rude, he was right.

Fox News regular Tomi Lahren tweeted: “If they aren’t s---hole countries, why don’t their citizens stay there?”

“Trump should ‘vehemently condemn’ the Haitian government for running a shithole country,” wrote Will Chamberlain, one of the organizers of last year’s inaugural “DeploraBall.”

Some on the right particularly applauded a segment on CNN in which National Review editor Rich Lowry asked political commentator Joan Walsh whether she would “rather live in Norway or Haiti.” It was a reference to Trump’s reported wish that the United States ring in more Nordic immigrants instead of those from Latin America or Africa. Walsh refused to answer, noting she’d never visited either country. Tucker Carlson accused her of dishonesty. “Those places are dangerous, they’re dirty, they’re corrupt and they’re poor,” the Fox News host said, with an indignation Wilson would have admired. “Why can’t you say that?”

Trump’s supporters on cable news appear to believe that they, and he, are brave tellers of unvarnished truths others are too timid or politically correct to say out loud. (Never mind that Trump is a notorious, if not pathological, liar — or that, hours later, he tried weakly to walk back the “s---hole” remark after his favorite TV show told him to.)

But in reality, they don’t know many truths at all. To rail against poverty in countries such as Haiti and argue that it’s some naturally occurring, objective reality ignores why that poverty exists and what the United States’s role has been in creating it. And ignoring that means not only making bad and hateful decisions today but risks repeating the errors of the past.

—

Haiti was founded Jan. 1, 1804, by people of African descent who were tired of being slaves. They fought and won a revolution against France, ultimately defeating an expeditionary force of Napoleon Bonaparte’s army, then the most powerful in the world.

France fought so hard to keep the colony because it was basically the Saudi Arabia of coffee and sugar at the time, providing the majority of both commodities consumed in Europe. The money it generated fueled the entire French empire. But it was made with blood. The slave regime necessary to produce those crops was so deadly that 1 in 10 enslaved Africans kidnapped and brought to the island died each year. As historian Laurent Dubois has noted, the French decided that it was cheaper to bring in new slaves than to keep the ones they had alive.

As soon as Haiti was free, the world’s most powerful empires did everything they could to undermine it. France refused to acknowledge the new nation existed. In the United States — then the only other independent country in the Americas — President Thomas Jefferson, a slaveholder, was uninterested in seeing a free black nation succeed nearby. The slaveholding powers refused to set up official trade with Haiti, forcing the country into predatory relationships. Haiti’s independence remained a cautionary tale U.S. slavers used to counter abolitionists until the Civil War.

France finally offered much-needed diplomatic recognition in 1825, at gunpoint. King Charles X demanded the Haitian government pay restitution of 150 million gold francs — billions of dollars in today’s money — to French landowners still angry about the loss of their land and the Haitians’ own bodies in the war. If they didn’t pay, he would invade.

Haiti’s leaders agreed. They spent the next decades raiding their own coffers and redirecting customs revenue to paying France for the independence they had already won, ravaging the economy. By the 1880s, Haiti had paid what France had wanted. But now it owed huge sums to foreign banks, from which it had borrowed heavily to make ends meet. In the early 20th century, much of that debt belonged to banks in the United States. Americans had also established extensive business interests in Haiti, exporting sugar and other commodities.

The United States, meanwhile, was looking to expand. Starting in 1898, we began using our military to secure new territory and markets overseas. By 1914, we had annexed the Philippines, Hawaii, Guam and other islands in the Pacific. In the Caribbean, we had Puerto Rico and a permanent base in Cuba at Guantanamo Bay. The Marine Corps had also helped carve out a new Central American country, Panama, in exchange for rights to dig a canal providing a trade route to Asia — and the United States invaded Nicaragua, Honduras, Mexico and elsewhere.

Haiti was next. Haiti’s politics, roiled by the economic turmoil caused by the debt, were in a tailspin. Presidents were repeatedly assassinated and governments overthrown. The banks demanded payment; U.S. businessmen wanted more security and control. Newspapers had been paving the way for U.S. public opinion — a New York Times dispatch in 1912 declared, “Haitians acknowledge the failure of a ‘Black Republic’ and look forward to coming into the Union.”

In late 1914, U.S. Marines came ashore in Port-au-Prince, marched into the national reserve and carried out all the gold. It was hauled back to the National City Bank in New York - known as Citibank today. Months later, declaring his concern that European powers, especially Germany, might gain a foothold in the Caribbean (even though they were all busy with World War I), Wilson ordered an invasion, then a full occupation.

Click here for more.

SOURCE: The Washington Post - Jonathan Katz, a freelance journalist, is the author of “The Big Truck That Went By: How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster.” He is the director of the media and journalism initiative at Duke University’s John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute.

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In Open Letter, Haitian-American Diplomats say Trump’s Disparaging Comments Caused ‘Heartbreak and Despair’

Editor’s Note: This post contains explicit language. A group of Haitian-American diplomats working for the State Department have written an open letter expressing their frustration with comments by President Donald Trump that the United States should limit the number of immigrants accepted from Haiti and “shithole countries” in Africa. The diplomats, who are foreign service officers with Haitian ancestry working for the United States, say in the letter that they are “dismayed to hear about alleged comments denigrating areas of the world with large diasporas in the United States.” A member of the group told the NewsHour that they want to remain anonymous because they continue to serve in positions abroad. “January 12th marked the 8th anniversary of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that shook Haiti, taking more than 200,000 innocent lives,” the letter said. “As American diplomats of Haitian heritage, we woke up to heartbreak and despair from reports of disparaging remarks emanating from the administration we serve, as we mourned family members lost on that fateful day.” While careful not to directly criticize Trump, the letter makes it clear that the diplomats, like many Haitians working in other fields, were deeply hurt by the president’s statements. Trump has denied making the comments, tweeting that he “never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country.” However, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Friday that he heard the president make “hate-filled, vile and racist” statements to lawmakers. “He said, ‘Haitians, do we need more Haitians?’” Durbin said. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuyQOAuErtc?rel=0&showinfo=0] Haitian Ambassador Paul Altidor sat down with Judy Woodruff to discuss the historical relationship between Haiti and the U.S. Moments after news of the comments spread Thursday, a handful of diplomats with Haitian ancestry working for the U.S. began messaging each other about how they could respond to the controversy. The group worked on the letter for two days and released it to PBS NewsHour on Saturday. “Haitian-Americans, like Salvadoran and Nigerian Americans, are one of many immigrant groups that make up our country’s mosaic,” the letter said. “We are beneficiaries of the American dream, first generation Haitian Americans who have carved out a unique space within the melting pot as college graduates and homeowners, neighbors and taxpayers. We repay our debt of gratitude to America through public service and when we joined the Foreign Service, we pledged an oath to uphold the constitution and will continue to do so, on behalf of the American people.” The letter went on to say that Haitian Americans who work as “doctors, taxi drivers, lawyers, nurses, teachers and more” are also part of “a diverse American diplomatic corps.” “Our diversity strengthens our ability to interact and negotiate with foreign counterparts who see themselves in us,” the letter said. “It highlights the wonder of America, the belief that anyone can arrive on our shores, work hard and live the American dream and one day represent our country across the world. Our families are evidence of that, and our foreign counterparts recognize it when they meet American diplomats with last names strikingly similar to their own.” Read the full text of the letter below. In Memory of Those We Lost January 12th marked the 8th anniversary of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that shook Haiti, taking more than 200,000 innocent lives. As American diplomats of Haitian heritage, we woke up to heartbreak and despair from reports of disparaging remarks emanating from the administration we serve, as we mourned family members lost on that fateful day. We were dismayed to hear about alleged comments denigrating areas of the world with large diasporas in the United States. Haitian-Americans, like Salvadoran and Nigerian Americans, are one of many immigrant groups that make up our country’s mosaic. Nearly one million Haitian-Americans contribute to the fabric of America. Haitian immigrants contribute to American society as doctors, taxi drivers, lawyers, nurses, teachers and more. Immigrants have made it possible for us to live up to the true promise of America– a country that welcomes individuals of all backgrounds, incorporates them into our society, and allows them and their children to contribute to the building of our great nation. We have witnessed the power of a diverse American diplomatic corps. Our diversity strengthens our ability to interact and negotiate with foreign counterparts who see themselves in us. It encapsulates how the United States aims to lead by example, providing proof that we embrace people of all races and creeds. It highlights the wonder of America, the belief that anyone can arrive on our shores, work hard and live the American dream and one day represent our country across the world. Our families are evidence of that, and our foreign counterparts recognize it when they meet American diplomats with last names strikingly similar to their own. We are beneficiaries of the American dream, first generation Haitian Americans who have carved out a unique space within the melting pot as college graduates and homeowners, neighbors and taxpayers. We repay our debt of gratitude to America through public service and when we joined the Foreign Service, we pledged an oath to uphold the constitution and will continue to do so, on behalf of the American people. This honor would never have been bestowed upon us without great leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King. Such opportunities also would not be feasible without the sacrifices of our parents, Haitians, who like many other immigrants dating back to Plymouth Rock, came to the United States searching for freedom, dignity and economic opportunity. The story of Haitians, Salvadorans and Nigerians who left their homes and families behind to start a new life on these shores is the story of America. There is no America without immigrants, both old and new. SOURCE: PBS NewsHour - Yamiche Alcindor

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Haitian NFL Players Are Angered, Hurt But Not Surprised By Trump’s Disparaging Remarks About Their Native Country

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The President called the country of their origin a shithole. They know it as a beautiful if beleaguered island from which hard-working, uncomplaining immigrants come to the U.S. to build on the American dream

‘We are some of the strongest people on earth. To win our independence and help other Caribbean islands get their freedom? Dealing with hurricanes and earthquakes. It shows our grit.’

‘There are amazing Haitians in America who are assets to this country, who are helping both countries with hard work and charity.’

‘It hurts to be judged by ignorance.’

‘Why not use your gift to make the world a better place? Where’s the love?’

Ask a Haitian-American NFL player what’s special about his upbringing, and odds are he’ll recall the childhood revelation that distinguished him from his American peers. As the boys who would be pro football players transitioned from soccer to football in childhood, and grew friendships with Americans of all stripes, they began to understand what set their own experiences apart. “I just feel like Haitians don’t really complain,” says Bengals running back Gio Bernard. “My dad never made any excuses,” says Vikings linebacker Emmanuel Lamur. “Haitians appreciate what they do have instead of dwelling on their problems,” says 49ers wide receiver Pierre Garçon. So when it was reported this week the U.S. President described Haiti and African nations as “shithole countries” and privately groused about accepting immigrants from those places, several members of the small but tight-knit community of Haitian NFL players reacted with shock. Why? Why insult a swath of American immigrants, who, in the experience of these athletes and their families, have done nothing but respectfully and painstakingly carve out their own slice of the American pie without complaint? “There are amazing Haitians in America who are assets to this country, who are helping both countries with hard work and charity,” says Garçon, the youngest of four children and the only person in his immediate family born in the United States. One of his three sisters is an accountant, one is an assistant principal at Glade Central High in Belle Glade, Fla., and the third is an elementary school teacher in West Palm Beach, where they grew up. “Haitians, and really all immigrants, have it harder,” Garçon says. “You’re trying to learn the language and do things the way they do it here, play by the rules and be an asset to your country. And you still have people say that about your country and your people? It infuriates you, but you still have to respect the country you’re in and your president.” Reached by phone on Friday, four U.S.-born Haitian-American NFL players and one former player shared their feelings on Trump and the island nation they each embrace as a second home. Minnesota linebacker Emmanuel Lamur, whose Vikings took on the Saints and won in the divisional playoffs on Sunday, said he was saddened by the President’s comments. “My mom and dad and sister came from Haiti,” Lamur says. “They worked so hard to get where they’re at right now. They just wanted an opportunity to be here and provide the best opportunities to their kids. Isn’t that what we all want?” During his childhood, Lamur’s mother was a nurse working two jobs and his father was a sanitation worker in West Palm Beach. Lamur remembers his parents going to work every day at 4 a.m. and making a point of never bemoaning their status. Their twin sons both went on to play pro football, with Sammuel playing two seasons in the Arena Football League and Emmanuel, undrafted, spending four years with the Bengals and the last two seasons in Minnesota. Lamur’s foundation works with the Mission of Grace outside the Haitian capital city of Port-au-Prince to care for orphans, many of them victims of Hurricane Matthew in 2016 or the 2010 earthquake that took the lives of more than 100,000 people. “Staying out of trouble, going to school with my twin brother, we had goals and dreams, and we’re living that,” Lamur says. “We’re trying to make everywhere a better place.” He says he hasn’t spoken to his parents about Trump’s comments but “can’t imagine what they’re feeling.” “I’m proud to be a Haitian and an American,” Lamur says. “This is who God made me to be. Would you say the same thing about Haiti if one of your grandchildren was Haitian? Why not use your gift to make the world a better place? We have many great people in this world of all races and nationalities who have done great things. Where’s the love?” Former NFL offensive lineman Gosder Cherilus, who officially retired last March after nine seasons in the NFL with the Lions, Colts and Buccaneers, says he was unsurprised by the President’s comments given the way he has disparaged even American cities in the past. Click here for more. SOURCE: Sports Illustrated - Robert Klemko

[haitichristiannews]

WATCH: Haitian-American Republican Rep. Mia Love says Trump's 'S---hole Countries' Comment Is Racist, Wants him to Apologize

Republican Rep. Mia Love has condemned Donald Trump’s comments describing Haiti and African nations as “s–thole countries,” calling the president’s words racist. Love, a Utah lawmaker who is the first Haitian-American to serve in the Capitol, said Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union that she “can’t defend the indefensible” when it comes to Trump’s reported comments. “You have to understand that there are countries that struggle out there but … their people are good people and they’re part of us,” said Love, the daughter of Haitian immigrants. Asked if she thought Trump’s remarks dismissing Haiti, El Salvador and African nations as “s–thole countries” were racist, the congresswoman replied that they were. “I think they were, yes. I think they were unfortunate,” she said. “I wasn’t in the room. I know the comments were made. I don’t know in which context they were made.” “I’m looking forward to finding out what happened, but more importantly, I’m looking forward to fixing the problem,” she added. “We have to hold ourselves to a higher standard.” Trump has faced widespread backlash over his comments, which came Thursday during a bipartisan immigration meeting with lawmakers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfG_4V7kJrk The White House initially did not deny that the president made the remarks, but as criticism mounted from members of Congress, Trump claimed Friday that he didn’t use the vulgar language. “The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used,” Trump tweeted. “What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made — a big setback for DACA!” Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat who attended the meeting along with other lawmakers, said Friday that he heard Trump repeatedly refer to African countries as “s–tholes” in the meeting. As the lawmakers discussed immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras and Haiti, who have temporary protected status in the U.S., Durbin said the president interrupted to say: “Haitians? Do we need more Haitians?” “And then he went on when we started to describe the immigration from Africa that was being protected in this bipartisan measure,” Durbin continued. “That’s when he used these vile and vulgar comments, calling the nations they come from ‘s–tholes.’ The exact word used by the president, not just once, but repeatedly.” Durbin said Monday that he stands by his account of Trump’s comments and doesn’t regret telling the public about what he heard, WGN TV reported. GOP Sen. David Perdue, who also attended the meeting, denied Trump used the term “s–thole countries” to refer to Africa, Haiti and El Salvador. Appearing on ABC’s This Week on Sunday, Perdue said reports on Trump’s comments were a “gross misrepresentation.” (Perdue had already said Friday that he could not remember whether Trump used the vulgar language.) Love, for her part, said the president should apologize. Click here for more. SOURCE: People - Tierney McAfee

[haitichristiannews]

Airbnb Promotes Listings in Haiti, El Salvador, and Africa in Response to Trump's Derogatory Comments About Countries

Brand Is Running Ads on News Websites Including the Washington Post

Airbnb has responded to President Trump's controversial "sh*thole" comments last week about Haiti, El Salvador and Africa with an online ad promoting listings in those areas. The company committed to a six-figure digital buy for the ad, which reads "We've heard there's been some expletive-filled interest in these beautiful destinations." It's running on news websites including the Washington Post and CNN. Meanwhile, the company's CEO and head of community Brian Chesky has been higlighting rentals in the destinations on Twitter. According to Airbnb, Haiti, El Salvador, and Africa are home to more than 116,000 Airbnb listings and Airbnb hosts in these countries earned a total of $170 million in 2017. SOURCE: Creativity Online - Alexandra Jardine

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Sen. Rand Paul says President Trump Cares ‘Deeply’ About Haiti, Financed Medical Mission Trip in 2014

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that charges of bigotry against President Donald Trump remain unfounded because the president previously financed a 2014 medical mission to Haiti.

Paul said on Meet the Press, “I think it’s unfair to sort of paint him, ‘oh well, he’s a racist,’ when I know for a fact that he cares very deeply about the people of Haiti because he helped finance a trip where they would get vision back for 200 people in Haiti.” President Trump stoked controversy recently as he reportedly called Haiti and other African countries “shithole countries.” Trump allegedly said, “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” The president reportedly then added that America should have more people from Norway and other similar countries come to the United States. The 45th president repeatedly rebuked reporters on Sunday after they asked him if he was a bigot. “No. I’m not a racist,” he replied. “I’m the least racist person you have ever interviewed. That I can tell you.” Sen. Paul and a team of other doctors from the John A. Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah performed over 100 surgeries over three days in Salama, Guatemala. In Guatemala, Paul contrasted politics and medicine, saying, “It’s a lot different in the sense that here we see a problem and fix it.” Reporters, including Breitbart News’s Matthew Boyle, as well as NBC’s Meet the Press, the Washington Post, and National Review attended the trip to Guatemala. Breitbart News wrote from Antigua, Guatemala in August 2014, “Paul raised tens of thousands of dollars through various donors, including real estate magnate Donald Trump, to help cover the Moran Eye Center’s trip costs,” which included a $10,000 donation from Donald Trump. Sen. Paul’s communications team confirmed to Breitbart News that Sen. Paul solicited a donation from Trump for the Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah to fund the trip to Haiti and Guatemala. Sergio Gor, Paul’s communications director, told Breitbart News, “It wasn’t to the Rand PaulFoundation, it wasn’t to Rand Paul, it wasn’t to any of his victory committees—it was directly to the University of Utah.” “Well, of course,” Gor confirmed to Breitbart News when asked whether Sen. Paul helped solicit the donation. “It’s not a secret. And he [Paul] admires him [Trump] for it. But it has nothing to do with his political positions. His charity giving was honorable. No one questions that. In fact, it’s been under reported.” SOURCE: Breitbart - Sean Moran