By Carol J. Williams, Times Staff Writer
July 25, 2007

PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI — Shoeless boys with angry eyes and empty stomachs no longer loiter outside the green iron gates of the National Palace.

The odd jobs of oppression have disappeared. In the unfamiliar atmosphere of peace, there are no more orders to bash heads or crush dissent that once earned the ragtag enforcers a plate of rice and beans or a tube of glue to sniff.

A year into his second tenure as president, Rene Preval has broken ranks with two centuries of despots and demagogues.

Preval has eschewed the politics of brutality and confrontation, quietly achieving what only a year ago seemed unimaginable: fragile unity among this country’s fractious classes.

Allies and adversaries alike credit the reclusive president with creating a breathing space for addressing the poverty and environmental devastation that have made Haiti the most wretched place in the Western Hemisphere. Preval has taken small steps to crack down on crime and corruption, and improve Haiti’s infrastructure and food supply. But he largely holds fast to the strategy he used in defeating more than 30 rivals in the presidential race last year: Make no promises, raise no expectations.

Observers say Preval’s low-key approach may be what Haiti has needed, but they worry what will happen if his shaky health takes a turn for the worse or if the country’s 8 million people start to lose patience with his go-slow approach.

Preval loathes the limelight, evading ceremony and exuding moody impatience with meetings, limiting them to what aides insist are essential contacts to begin moving mountains of corruption, injustice, squalor and 70% unemployment.

He seldom leaves the palace, where visitors find him padding between his office and apartment in polo shirts and sandals. When he must go out, he travels in a modest motorcade without the customary sirens and outsize entourage.

A loner chafing in the midst of liveried staff and a protective contingent of U.N. soldiers, the president has been known to sneak out for a nocturnal stroll, incognito in the poorly lighted parks surrounding the palace.

His private life, by contrast, is more of an open book, at least in the gossipy circles of the business and political elite. The bourgeoisie in the elegant villas of Petionville were atwitter six months ago when Preval installed a new paramour at the palace, driving out his estranged-then-reconciled second wife, Geri.

A once-legendary consumer of the island’s famed Barbancourt rum, Preval has lately cut down in favor of an occasional whiskey and decidedly fewer Marlboros. Some attribute the reining in of his excesses to a cancer scare over the winter, when doctors found signs suggesting a recurrence of the disease. He makes regular visits to Cuba for treatment, grouses about the side effects of his medications, but looks to be weathering the demands of office as well as can be expected of a 64-year-old long advised to make lifestyle changes.

Colleagues panic at the thought that the prostate cancer that was diagnosed and treated six years ago could recur and force him from office.

More……

For more information, contact:
Haitian Heritage Museum
Phone: (305) 371-5988 or 786 399-1451
hhmeveline@bellsouth.net
http://www.haitianheritagemuseum.org/
Location: Miami, Fl

In a report in December, former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan recommended that the 8,800-strong mission be extended for one year when its mandate expired February 15, a view backed by the Friends of Haiti, whose members include the United States, Canada, Brazil, France and Britain.

But China, which has no diplomatic relations with Haiti, pushed for a six-month mandate.

Diplomats in Haiti have said China wanted the shorter mandate because of Haiti’s support for Taiwan’s bid to join the United Nations. Haiti is one of a handful of countries that has diplomatic ties with Taiwan. China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949, but Beijing still claims sovereignty over the island.

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(Courtesy photo)

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Lynne Crandall | for NOISE

At first glance, Kiel Tilley might seem like a typical college student: good-looking, athletic-build, studying biology and chemistry at MSU to become a teacher. But when the 22-year-old talks about his trips to install water filtration systems in Haiti, you see that the warmth of the people and the poverty of the tiny island haunt him.

In 2004, Tilley went on an eight-day trip to Haiti with a Howell-based group called Rain Catchers that has become a yearly commitment.

After arriving on his first trip, Tilley was overwhelmed when dozens of needy village children surrounded him, jumping up and down and asking for hugs and presents. Tilley was so shaken that he retreated for an hour to process the experience.

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Wyclef Jean

Wyclef Jean has done so much to support his Haitian homeland that he’s been officially named a roving ambassador for the impoverished Caribbean nation.

Haitian president Rene Preval made the announcement this week in recognition of Jean’s work in lobbying the American government to pass a trade bill that’s expected to help create textile manufacturing jobs in Haiti, and for creating a foundation to provide relief and aid to needy citizens.

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Traditionally, a few days before Christmas, Haitians would cut pine branches to serve as Christmas trees or  they would go to the market and get freshly cut trees brought from the mountains. They would then decorate them with bright ornaments. At the base of the Christmas tree they would add a fairly large nativity scene which could occupy a large part of  the living room. They depicted a cave manger, with Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, the wise men, and sculptured stable animals complete with hay.
On Christmas Eve, the children would place their shoes, nicely cleaned up and filled with straw, on the porch or under the Christmas tree. Papa Noel (Santa Claus) was expected to remove the straw and put his presents in and around the shoes. Christmas Day was a day of  a lot of eating and drinking and singing and playing with the toys brought by Papa Noel. The children might also play with fireworks which they mostly made themselves from chemicals bought in the store. They consisted of little “bombs” which they set off as noisemakers.  All houses in the neighborhood were open with all lights on until about three o’clock in the morning. Some people went to midnight mass. Others would go out in the neighborhood in groups, caroling. Parents generally gave their children complete freedom on this night and generally did not know or enquire where they went. The older children were in charge. Children of practically all ages were allowed to drink anisette on Christmas Eve. Anisette is a mild alcoholic beverage prepared by soaking “anise” leaves in rum and sweetening it with sugar.
Those who went to midnight mass would go back home to enjoy the meals of the “reveillon.” The word “reveillon” is French for a Christmas or New Year’s Eve supper and comes from the verb meaning ‘to wake up.” The occasion was however more a breakfast than a supper. It began very early in the morning and often lasted nearly till dawn.

Author: Dr. John A. Carroll

Haiti does not get rave reviews as a place you want to visit or vacation. It is too bad because there are about 8 million good people that live here.

On Christmas Eve, 1492, Christopher Columbus “discovered” Haiti. He was looking for gold to take back to the Queen but didn’t find any. He did find a bunch of cool Indians named Arawak who had lived here for a kazillion years. The Indians were just settling down to dinner when Columbus and his men stumbled onto Haiti’s northern shore. Columbus described the Arawak that welcomed him as “docile” and he commented that they would be “good servants”. Over the next fifty years, things did not go well for the Arawak.

In the late 1700’s, the Haitian slaves brought from Africa to work Haiti’s hot and sunny fields, got tired of being buried in the sand up to their chins as a form of torture, and revolted against Napoleon. In 1804, after pummeling the French army, they became the first nation in history to be founded by freed slaves. The United States, of course, did not like this happening so close to home, and France, being bad losers and all, “fined” Haiti for winning the war.

Haiti is about the size of the state of Maryland. It is in the United States front door. A flight from Miami to Port-au-Prince only takes 90 minutes. Haiti is about 90 miles east of Cuba.

Haiti just finished the worst two weeks in its history.

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Spirit Airlines has received approval from the U.S. government to fly to Haiti from Fort Lauderdale, the local low-cost carrier’s president and CEO said Friday.

Spirit plans to start daily flights to Port-au-Prince in April, Ben Baldanza said during an interview with The Miami Herald on Friday.

”By census count there are almost 100,000 Haitians living in Broward,” Baldanza said. “Everyone we’ve spoken with is really excited about us choosing there.”

The Miramar-based carrier is awaiting official approval from the Haitian government, but Baldanza said the government has so far ”warmly welcomed” the carrier to the island.

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