"Orphans"in Haiti often have parents. When a Haitian parent can't sell his rice or his coffee or his sewn clothes cheaper than what is imported, he starves, his family starves and he sends his kids away to maybe fare better.
Earthquakes are catastrophes that require immediate attention, but the ongoing catastrophe of unfair trade, subsidized farming/food dumping, environmental dumping in developing countries and sweat shops are problems that deserved our attention long before poverty (and not just natural disasters) made these children orphans.
1/31/2010
1/28/2010
HAITI LIVES! HAITI LEBT!
!!!!!!!!SAVE THE DATE!!!!!!!!! Fundraiser in Berlin to benefit The Clermont Center for Homeless Children and all the orphans of Jacmel, Haiti.
Hosted by: Maybrit Illner, ZDF Political Talk Show Host
When: Sunday, February 7th at 18:00
Where: BABYLON (Rosa Luxemburg Str. 30, Berlin-Mitte)
What: A celebration of Haitian culture.
--Film from Haiti's only film institute, Cineinstitute
--German actors (Muriel Baumeister, Hans Werner Meyer, Tyron Ricketts and others) read Haitian literature (Edwidge Danticat, Jacques Roumain, Michele Voltaire Marcelin) and perform traditional Haitian storytelling like Krik? Krak!
--Gayle Tufts gives a sneak preview of her upcoming show at Admiral Palast
--Raffle (win a weekend at a spa resort, tickets to Deutsches Theater, a facial from Ole and many other goodies). . .
Donation/Entrance: 25 Euros
Photo: Flickr
1/24/2010
1/19/2010
A Diaspora of Children
(1/22)UNICEF warned today against adoptions of Haitian children at the moment to prevent child trafficking. They have reported 15 children missing from hospitals, presumably taken.
When I first mentioned to some Germans that my parents were from Haiti they crinkled their eyebrows, registered the information that I'm American and asked, "Hawaii?"
Some confirmed, wrongly, "Tahiti?"
Or, if they recalled later what I'd told them they might ask, "Your parents were from Jamaica, right?"
It's hard to imagine that Haiti had such little meaning in people's minds only a week ago and now they can find it on the map with no hesitation whatsoever. "Right there," some might tell you now, pointing close to the common German tourist destination, "next to The Dominican Republic."
This is not a criticism of Germans, there were Americans who didn't know where or what Haiti was before one hurricane after the next ravaged the country. It is simply an observation of what is present for people and what changes that presence in people's minds.
Skeptical people say that the world will forget about Haiti in a few months, when other bigger stories make headlines. I know this is partially true. But I also know that there will be little reminders of Haiti everywhere; the thousands of orphaned children who will be flown far away to grow up somewhere else.
On the one hand, these children being adopted so swiftly often leaves me feeling grateful. These timoun (little people) won't have to endure even more suffering. They’ll have a chance at a life that would never have been possible if they’d been left in Haiti.
On the other hand, I’m also saddened by the loss of so many of Haiti's children to the Diaspora. If a country's future is its children, who will Haiti become when so many of its children have left it?
Already 380,000 children were living in Haiti's orphanages before the earthquake, according to UNICEF. And I can only imagine what those figures look like now. Many orphans will stay, but relaxing adoption regulations as a result of the earthquake will transport Haitian children to countries far from their birthplace. And, their children, will, perhaps, know nothing of Haiti.
And when I say know, I mean hearing Creole. I mean eating rice and beans and griot. I mean that certain way your mother or your Tante (auntie, not necessarily relation) sucks on her tongue when you’re being fresh. I mean hearing every gran moun (old person) humming or whistling, “Ayiti Cheri.”
As I watch Haiti's children being adopted in countries all around the world, I wonder, will they one day look back? Will they remember Haiti?
One thing is for sure, when one of those children grows up in Amsterdam or Pittsburgh or Berlin and says "My parents adopted me from Haiti," people will remember where that place is.
When I first mentioned to some Germans that my parents were from Haiti they crinkled their eyebrows, registered the information that I'm American and asked, "Hawaii?"
Some confirmed, wrongly, "Tahiti?"
Or, if they recalled later what I'd told them they might ask, "Your parents were from Jamaica, right?"
It's hard to imagine that Haiti had such little meaning in people's minds only a week ago and now they can find it on the map with no hesitation whatsoever. "Right there," some might tell you now, pointing close to the common German tourist destination, "next to The Dominican Republic."
This is not a criticism of Germans, there were Americans who didn't know where or what Haiti was before one hurricane after the next ravaged the country. It is simply an observation of what is present for people and what changes that presence in people's minds.
Skeptical people say that the world will forget about Haiti in a few months, when other bigger stories make headlines. I know this is partially true. But I also know that there will be little reminders of Haiti everywhere; the thousands of orphaned children who will be flown far away to grow up somewhere else.
On the one hand, these children being adopted so swiftly often leaves me feeling grateful. These timoun (little people) won't have to endure even more suffering. They’ll have a chance at a life that would never have been possible if they’d been left in Haiti.
On the other hand, I’m also saddened by the loss of so many of Haiti's children to the Diaspora. If a country's future is its children, who will Haiti become when so many of its children have left it?
Already 380,000 children were living in Haiti's orphanages before the earthquake, according to UNICEF. And I can only imagine what those figures look like now. Many orphans will stay, but relaxing adoption regulations as a result of the earthquake will transport Haitian children to countries far from their birthplace. And, their children, will, perhaps, know nothing of Haiti.
And when I say know, I mean hearing Creole. I mean eating rice and beans and griot. I mean that certain way your mother or your Tante (auntie, not necessarily relation) sucks on her tongue when you’re being fresh. I mean hearing every gran moun (old person) humming or whistling, “Ayiti Cheri.”
As I watch Haiti's children being adopted in countries all around the world, I wonder, will they one day look back? Will they remember Haiti?
One thing is for sure, when one of those children grows up in Amsterdam or Pittsburgh or Berlin and says "My parents adopted me from Haiti," people will remember where that place is.
1/18/2010
The Relativity of Truth
“I have been told that much US media coverage paints Haiti as a tinderbox ready to explode. I’m told that lead stories in major media are of looting, violence and chaos. There could be nothing further from the truth.
“I have traveled the entire city daily since my arrival. The extent of damages is absolutely staggering. At every step, at every bend is one horrific tragedy after another; homes, businesses, schools and churches leveled to nothing. Inside every mountain of rubble there are people, most dead at this point. The smell is overwhelming. On every street are people — survivors — who have lost everything they have: homes, parents, children, friends.
“NOT ONCE have we witnessed a single act of aggression or violence. To the contrary, we have witnessed neighbors helping neighbors and friends helping friends and strangers. We’ve seen neighbors digging in rubble with their bare hands to find survivors. We’ve seen traditional healers treating the injured; we’ve seen dignified ceremonies for mass burials and residents patiently waiting under boiling sun with nothing but their few remaining belongings. A crippled city of two million awaits help, medicine, food and water. Most haven’t received any.
“Haiti can be proud of its survivors. Their dignity and decency in the face of this tragedy is itself staggering.”
David Belle, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, January 17th, 2010 (Cine Institute)
“I have traveled the entire city daily since my arrival. The extent of damages is absolutely staggering. At every step, at every bend is one horrific tragedy after another; homes, businesses, schools and churches leveled to nothing. Inside every mountain of rubble there are people, most dead at this point. The smell is overwhelming. On every street are people — survivors — who have lost everything they have: homes, parents, children, friends.
“NOT ONCE have we witnessed a single act of aggression or violence. To the contrary, we have witnessed neighbors helping neighbors and friends helping friends and strangers. We’ve seen neighbors digging in rubble with their bare hands to find survivors. We’ve seen traditional healers treating the injured; we’ve seen dignified ceremonies for mass burials and residents patiently waiting under boiling sun with nothing but their few remaining belongings. A crippled city of two million awaits help, medicine, food and water. Most haven’t received any.
“Haiti can be proud of its survivors. Their dignity and decency in the face of this tragedy is itself staggering.”
David Belle, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, January 17th, 2010 (Cine Institute)
1/16/2010
Meet some of the boys. . . (from Foundation Brochure)
Thank you to those of you who have already contributed to the center!
FYI: The foundation incurs no administrative overhead costs. All donations go directly to the care of the children.
1/15/2010
Sleeping Beneath the Stars of Mercy
After days of watching heart wrenching footage of the earthquake in Haiti and having no contact with the boys and staff at The Clermont Center we were beginning to think the worst. But today we finally received some good news. The boys and staff are safe. There is substantial damage to the house (pictured above intact), so like many Haitians who have survived the earthquake, they have spent the last few nights sleeping outside in the yard. They still have some food and water from my mother's Christmas visit but obtaining food, water and supplies will be difficult due to the devastating damage done to Jacmel's infrastructure. Most of the city of Jacmel lies in rubble.
If you would like to make a donation that will go directly to rebuilding The Clermont Center for Homeless Boys/Centre des Jeunes Fondation J.A. Clermont, please click the donate button below.
Thank you for your prayers and support! Vielen Dank.
1/14/2010
Faces of Jacmel
Here are some (not all) of the boys at The Clermont Center in Jacmel, Haiti, taken a few years ago with my mother (far right). Their parents either couldn't afford to keep them, died (some from AIDS) or simply disappeared. Most of the boys, some now in their late teens, have spent the greater part of their childhoods at The Clermont Center.
I have been trying to reach the center for several hours but there is no phone connection available. In the mean time, I’m left with only devastating television images of Jacmel that are pretty worrisome.
I shudder to think what the center looks like, but, instead, I sought out this photo of the very intact life that the center has provided the boys for so many years. I pray that the center is still there, but if it is gone, this image of that time in their lives remains: the sun glowing over the mountains of palm and banana trees, the warm and reliable presence of the staff, their new “parents” surrounding them and, what I love most, the plane on the left side, hinting of mobility, of escape or adventure, or simply, the object of every little boy’s dreams.
1/13/2010
Helping Haiti
As many of you know, my mother runs a center for homeless boys in Jacmel, Haiti, my father's hometown. My mother's hometown, Port-au-Prince, lies in rubble. The only phone call that she was able to make successfully brought news that her cousin's house is no longer standing.
We are still awaiting news from The Clermont Center and we're hardly comforted by the devastating scenes of leveled buildings, half buried people and an eerie absence of a casualty or mortality count.
But I, and I encourage those of you who would like to help, am trying not to dwell on the over abundance of negativity, which runs in a loop whenever mainstream news sources focus on Haiti: "one of the poorest countries in the world, people eat mud cakes, there was no infrastructure to begin with, hurricanes have already left the country crippled". . .alright already.
Let's move forward. Let's move something.
For starters, you can help (whether it's donating money or supplies or time)
All major international relief organizations such as UNICEF, OXFAM, WorldVision are places that will be contributing to the relief effort. But remember also Doctors Without Borders, The Clermont Center for Homeless Adolescents and Yele. (Yele is crashing because of so many visits to the site, but you can text YELE to 501501 to make a $5 donation)
"Men anpil chay pa lou." Many hands make the load lighter.
We are still awaiting news from The Clermont Center and we're hardly comforted by the devastating scenes of leveled buildings, half buried people and an eerie absence of a casualty or mortality count.
But I, and I encourage those of you who would like to help, am trying not to dwell on the over abundance of negativity, which runs in a loop whenever mainstream news sources focus on Haiti: "one of the poorest countries in the world, people eat mud cakes, there was no infrastructure to begin with, hurricanes have already left the country crippled". . .alright already.
Let's move forward. Let's move something.
For starters, you can help (whether it's donating money or supplies or time)
All major international relief organizations such as UNICEF, OXFAM, WorldVision are places that will be contributing to the relief effort. But remember also Doctors Without Borders, The Clermont Center for Homeless Adolescents and Yele. (Yele is crashing because of so many visits to the site, but you can text YELE to 501501 to make a $5 donation)
"Men anpil chay pa lou." Many hands make the load lighter.
1/04/2010
Bush Girl Alert: WANTED: Foreigner with Hat
Berliners beware! The wanted culprit of a bloody knife attack on a police officer last night was described as an "Ausländer mit Mütze."
For you foreigners who probably don't speak German that translates as, foreigner with hat.
Um, a hat-wearing Swede went after a police officer with a knife? Pardon? What did you say, probably not a Swede? Oh, then maybe a Dane? No, they don't count as "Ausländer"?
Oh, ok, got it. You mean a Turk or an Arab. Right. None of them have German passports. And it's not like people of Turkish or Arab descent are ever born here. Best to stay clear about who is German and who is (always) a foreigner.
Now, hmm, what do we tell the artist to sketch under WANTED?
For you foreigners who probably don't speak German that translates as, foreigner with hat.
Um, a hat-wearing Swede went after a police officer with a knife? Pardon? What did you say, probably not a Swede? Oh, then maybe a Dane? No, they don't count as "Ausländer"?
Oh, ok, got it. You mean a Turk or an Arab. Right. None of them have German passports. And it's not like people of Turkish or Arab descent are ever born here. Best to stay clear about who is German and who is (always) a foreigner.
Now, hmm, what do we tell the artist to sketch under WANTED?
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