...Poto Mitan When we look at Haiti we see a nation of disenfranchised people living in absolute poverty. But within this world of already disenfranchised people there is a group with an even lower standard of living, women. Women in Haiti are not treated as equals, they are exploited and paid much less than men while also shouldering the responsibility of keeping a family together. Although men are an important aspect in any culture, Haitian women are the absolute backbone of the society. Poto Mitan follows women through their daily lives trying to give people on the outside a glimpse of this very difficult way of life. A good majority of this film deals with working conditions in factories that employ a large portion of Haitian women. In one such example we are shown a toilet that is used by over 100 people daily and is hardly ever maintained. The working conditions are absolutely horrid and if any code exists, it is not enforced. According to women in the factories the water they are given to drink is so disgusting they will not drink it or they will be sick. Cleaner water is available but employers do not see their employees, especially women employees, as equal. So then why? Why do these women continue to work these jobs? They have no choice. Most Haitians are in debt to other Haitians or businesses and on $2.64 a day it is for most people impossible to get ahead. They must work to keep a roof over their heads and food for their family, and even food is sometimes a luxury...
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...in Society On January 12, 2010 the search for survivors from the devastating earthquake in Haiti began. A current estimate suggests that upwards of 200,000 people may have perished, and efforts now turn to the approximately 3 million Haitians affected by the quake. They are in need of everything from medical care to housing, but most importantly food. Despite the outpouring of both monetary and other aid internationally, getting help to those in need has proven difficult [ (Ignarri, 2010) ]. Whenever natural disasters strikes, there follows an outpouring of humanity. We have a deeply evolved psychological need to help people who are suffering, especially when heart-rending images enter our home. The tear-streaked face of an orphaned child or the look of desperation in a father's eyes as he searches through rubble for his family touch our hearts. We are shaped by Darwinian natural selection to be empathetic. Most people never think about the reasons such behaviors have arisen in humans. In fact, there is often such a simplistic view of Darwin's theory that many people argue such generosity toward others, especially strangers, is impossible [ (Cornwell, 2010) ]. The days immediately following the hurricane or quake or other calamity, reporters warn of a generalized “fear” that desperate survivors may turn to violence and looting. Then, sure enough, reporters tell stories of violence and looting. Some are eye witness accounts by credible observers. Most are not. The thing is...
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...GENDER ASSESSMENT USAID/HAITI June, 2006 This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared by DevTech Systems, Inc. GENDER ASSESSMENT FOR USAID/HAITI COUNTRY STRATEGY STATEMENT Author: Alexis Gardella DISCLAIMER The author’s views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government. 2 Gender Assessment USAID/Haiti TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Acknowledgements Acronyms Executive Summary 5 6 7 1. GENDER DIFFERENTIATED DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS 1.1 Demographics 1.2 Maternal Mortality 1.3 Fertility 1.4 Contraceptive Use 1.5 HIV Infection 1.6 Education 1.7 Economic Growth 1.8 Labor 1.9 Agriculture and Rural Income 1.10 Rural and Urban Poverty 1.11 Environmental Degradation 9 10 11 12 2. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF GENDER IN HAITIAN SOCIETY 2.1 Status of Haitian Women 2.2 Haitian Social Structure: Rural 2.2.1 Community Level 2.2.2 Inter-Household Level 2.2.3 Intra-Household relations 2.2.4 Economic Division of Labor 2.3 Economic System 2.4 Urban Society 13 3. ONGOING USAID ACTIVITIES IN TERMS OF GENDER FACTORS OR GENDER-BASED CONSTRAINTS 3.1 Sustainable Increased Income for the Poor (521-001) 3.2 Healthier Families of Desired Size (521-003) 3.3 Increased Human Capacity (521-004) 3.4 Genuinely Inclusive Democratic Governance Attained (521-005) 3.5 Streamlined Government (521-006) 3.6 Tropical Storm Recovery Program...
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...Haiti under Francois Duvalier In its 200 year history, Haiti has suffered thirty-two coups. Since its independence from France in 1804, national authority has continually been disputed by factions of the army, the elite class, and the growing commercial class which is made up of immigrant businessmen. The instability of government and society has impacted all aspects of Haitian life: environmental, agricultural, economic, health, and society. Haiti, once called “the Pearl of the Antilles” for its beautiful forests and pristine landscape, enters once again another dictatorship lead by Francois Duvalier also known as “Papa Doc.” The Duvalier regime is said to be one of the worst administration in Haiti, killing more than 2,000 Haitians and driven...
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...Domestic Violence in the News William Sammons Rasmussen College Author Note This research is being submitted on May 16, 2011, for Carolyn M. Riley’s J200/CCJ2685 Section 06 Domestic Violence course at Rasmussen College by William Sammons. Domestic Violence in the News Florida authorities searched for a 33 year old man after his wife and five children were found dead in their Naples home. Authorities were unable to locate Mesac Damas, who possibly left the country and may be in Haiti. This story made national headlines back in 2009 nine and in my opinion is one of the most horrible example of domestic and child abuse in history. “After the arrest in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Mesac Damas confessed to the massacre of his wife and five children, and asked to be executed right away so he could be buried with them on Saturday (Kotz, P., 2009)”. From a police perspective this has all the situations that would be a police officer’s complete night mare. Being involved in the goulash crime scene all the way down to the apprehension of Damas. Although the case is pretty cut and dry for the prosecutor’s office to throw the book at him I am sure that proving he is mentally capable of standing trial will be certainly an issue in its self. “Guerline Damas, who was the wife that was slain, is her husband along with the five children had reported domestic violence several times since 2000, had been urged by friends and family to leave him and intended to before her death they were together...
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...also to bring the tools to save modern medicine to those people who need them the most. And he believes that everybody deserves health care and living in a decent condition. In the book Kidder’s spectacular account views how a person can make a huge difference in saving global health problems through distinctly understanding of the interaction of politics, social systems, wealth and diseases. This book takes us from Harvard to Haiti, Peru, Cuba, and Russia. And Farmer changes people’s perspectives through his dedication to the philosophy that “the only real nation is humanity.” The main characters are Paul Famer, Tracy Kidder, Ophelia Dahl, and Jim Yong Kim. I will discuss their roles later on. Additionally, social determinants of health, diseases, and health systems are the topics that we’ve covered in class that relates to this book. Paul Famer has important aspects to his character. First, He believes he can do anything even if it seemed impossible he can overcome odds to save the poor of the world. Second, he believes he can sacrifice his family time to help the poor. “I can’t sleep. There’s always somebody not getting treatment. I can’t stand that.” (pg.24; Famer.)Third, his purpose is to do the work that he does. Lastly, he has no time to be angry with the world for not doing...
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...Haiti Quake of 2010 On January 12th, 2010, Tuesday afternoon, a fierce earthquake struck Port-au-Prince, Haiti causing a crowded hospital to collapse, leveled countless dwellings, and brought even more suffering to a nation that was already the poorest and most disaster-prone in its hemisphere. Haiti has also gone through multiple previous natural disasters. When Haiti was a French colony, French historian recorded many earthquakes. In Port-au-Prince in the year 1757, one earthquake was so big that only one stonework building hadn’t collapsed. In 1770, the whole city of Port-au-Prince collapsed due to an earthquake according to Moreau de Saint-Mery. North of Haiti, Dominican Republic, and the Sans-Souci Palace, other towns were demolished from an earthquake on May of 1842. An earthquake with a magnitude of 8.0 hit the Dominican Republic and made Haiti shake on August of 1946, producing a killer tsunami that took the lives of 1,790 people and injured others. The Haiti earthquake of January 2010 consisted a magnitude of 7.0, that occurred local approximately sixteen miles from Port-au-Prince with 8.1 miles as its depth. Occuring on blind thrust faults connected with the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault system. There is no evidence of surface rupture. Recorded in Port-au-Prince on the Modified Mercalli scale, there was intense shaking connected with intensity IX. The earthquake was a result of a rupture of the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault that was locked for 250 years...
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...Abstract The purpose of this paper is to focus on the objectives of the American involvement in the occupation of the Caribbean nation of Haiti. Highlighted are the pretenses under which America began their involvement and the subsequent results of the invasion. The economic, political and social effects that the US had on the Haitian community had it’s successes in areas such as the rebuilind of the infrastructure, but were significantly countered with blatant violations in human rights laws and corruption within the government. These areas of failure reject the fundamental basis of what a successful counterinsurgency entails. Although there is much evidence of successes and failures in Haiti, to conclude, a realist argument will be presented in order to provide some answers as to why decisions were made to occupy Haiti under a COIN objective, but withdraw without meeting those objectives. Keywords: cacos, violence, attitudes, counterinsurgency “For our forebears, for our country, Oh God of the valiant! Take our rights and our life under your infinite protection, Oh God of the valiant! For our forebears, for our country.” –Haitian National Anthem Haiti, which is officially the Republic of Haiti, is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. The country's capital is Port-au-Prince. Haitian Creole and French are the...
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...a.html The Capital of Haiti is Port-au-Prince. It gained its independence from France January 1, 1804. The Flag has two equal horizontal bands of blue (top) and red with a centered white rectangle bearing the coat of arms, which contains a palm tree flanked by flags and two cannons above a scroll bearing the motto L'UNION FAIT LA FORCE (Union Makes Strength); the colors are taken from the French Tricolor and represent the union of blacks and mulattoes. The national bird is the Hispaniola trogon (bird). It’s official languages are French and Creole. History. The native Taino Amerindians - who inhabited the island of Hispaniola when it was discovered by Christopher COLUMBUS in 1492 - were virtually annihilated by Spanish settlers within 25 years. In the early 17th century, the French established a presence on Hispaniola. In 1697, Spain ceded to the French the western third of the island, which later became Haiti. The French colony, based on forestry and sugar-related industries, became one of the wealthiest in the Caribbean but only through the heavy importation of African slaves and considerable environmental degradation. In the late 18th century, Haiti's nearly half million slaves revolted under Toussaint L'OUVERTURE. After a prolonged struggle, Haiti became the first black republic to declare independence in 1804. The poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti has been plagued by political violence for most of its history. Economy. Haiti is a free market economy...
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...to serve with people “from all over the United States” (Shaw) that did things differently than maybe he did. Shaw said he was not very distraught about not being around his parents. He said, “I missed my brother, I miss my friends more than my family just because your friends are you friends. They are the people you talk to the most” (Shaw). Making new friends was the hardest thing to do. He described the tent cities that he had to live in for many years in both Panama and Haiti. There was hundreds of tents set up on a long piece of unused land and this is where the men and women ate and slept. Up to 20 people could live in one tent. Showers were limited to one every three days. “You can imagine what it's like with twenty guys all living in one tent and Haiti and Panama are both hot even in the winter and we were doing stuff all day long so it gets pretty nasty,” (Shaw) said Shaw. The food was ok. Soldiers would get up and have a good breakfast but lunch and dinner were not that great. Everybody was hungry so they ate it. The best food they would get was when family would send soldiers food. The simplest things like sunflower seeds or baked goods were the best. The culture shock was incredible just to see how different places like Haiti and Panama were. Shaw became more grateful for everything that he had back at...
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...Haiti Earthquake of 2010– Vulnerabilities and Resiliency On the 12th of January in 2010 at 4.53 pm Haiti was struck by a massive earthquake that is considered as one of the deadliest earthquakes in the western hemisphere in a century (Chinn, 2011). According to The Haiti Earthquake (2013) it killed 220.000 people, injured 250.000 people and left more than a million homeless. The earthquakes’ characteristics: There are several different aspects of Haiti earthquake that amplified its impact. First of all, Haiti is located on the edge of the Caribbean plate that crushes into the Atlantic plate (The Haiti Earthquake, 2013). This area is known for its tectonic activities as the plates are constantly moving and creating friction between them,...
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...the children together, although I was devastating at that time. The lesson I learned was to keep all source of supplies available in case of a major storm. The earthquake in Haiti: Children and Families were affected by an earthquake that destroyed homes and lives. The earthquake was devastating that cause the children to become separated from their relatives. The children also became vulnerable. This brought a chaos to families as well as emotionally and socially stress. At this time, ten thousands of Haitian children were homeless, traumatized, disoriented and distressed. From the time when the disaster, the IRC emergency response team, has reunited more than a thousand of biological family together. They also trained volunteers, educated people on good health as well as disease prevention. The practices included effective hand-washing and hygienic food preparation. There was also increase violence among women and girls. Therefore, counseling was provided as well as psychosocial care, medical care. As today, the IRC closed its program, but there is follow-up. In my opinion, I am impressed with how the united states responded to this catastrophe. I think this is a positive way to reach out to others that is in needs. The IRC make a difference in the Haiti children lives as well as the families during this natural disaster. ...
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...Haitian Culture ORIGINS OF CULTURE The Republic of Haiti is a Caribbean country that shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic. It is approximately 500 miles from Key West, Florida. It was first settled by the Spanish in the late 1400s, during the era of Columbus. After the entrance of Europeans, Hispaniola's indigenous population endured near-extinction, in what is perhaps the worst case of depopulation in the Americas. A generally believed hypothesis indicates the high mortality of this colony in part to Old World diseases to which the native people had no immunity due to a lack of exposure to the European diseases. A small number of Taínos, the natives to the island, were able to stay alive and set up villages elsewhere. Spanish attentiveness in Hispaniola began to diminish in the 1520s, as more profitable gold and silver deposits were found in Mexico and South America. It was the decreasing interest in Hispaniola that allowed the French to create a colony in the early 1600s. French buccaneers created a settlement on the island of Tortuga in 1625, and were soon united with like-minded English and Dutch privateers and pirates, who formed a anarchistic international community that survived by marauding Spanish ships and hunting wild cattle. Before the Seven Years' War (1756–63), the economy of Hispaniola slowly expanded, with sugar and coffee becoming important export crops. After the war the colony underwent rapid expansion. In 1767, it exported 72 million...
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...Managing Haiti’s post-earthquake waste: paving the way to address public health issues for natural disasters Abstract Haiti’s January 2010 earthquake left in its wake large piles of debris and waste materials. These wastes posed a risk to public health and obstructed reconstruction efforts. Determining the best way to manage disaster waste is high priority in natural disasters, yet it has often been managed in an ad-hoc manner during the early recovery phase. Large-scale disasters such as Haiti’s earthquake provide valuable lessons for addressing public health issues faced in the wake of earthquakes. This paper will discuss the Haiti situation, the challenges encountered for public health and the possible strategies that can be used for effective waste management. Waste Management Strategies that could pave the way for safe and effective waste management for future natural disasters - earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, and floods. Introduction “Disasters and conflicts can generate large quantities of solid and liquid waste that threaten public health, hinder reconstruction and impact the environment”. [1] This waste generated by the disaster poses a serious public health risk for the population and for emergency response teams. In the wake of earthquakes, these risks come from a number of areas; direct contact with disposed accumulated waste in the streets, medical waste, hazardous wastes from chemicals, pesticides, oils and...
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...economy suffers with the potential depletion of their national wealth. However, the damage of corruption on society is most damaging of all. Country corruption and unethical behavior diminishes trust in the government, politics, and leadership of their country. This in turn creates the potential for more unethical behavior and corruption in that society. Overall, the environment of that country suffers and only creates a domino effect of more unethical behavior and corruption across the spectrum. Haiti has been ranked as one of the most corrupt country in the World by Transparency International. Once a tourist’s attraction, Haiti was one of the most beautiful mountainous countries of the Caribbean Islands now it is pledge by corruption and a government that lacks moral and integrity. It was the world's first black-led republic and the first Caribbean state to achieve independence. But it has suffered from decades of poverty, environmental degradation, violence, instability and dictatorship which have left it as the poorest nation in the Americas. The Haitian government has been plagued with corruption from the beginning of its existence. The main source of corruption in this...
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