Haitian Farm Workers are Victims of a Deadly Car Accident
A group of Haitian migrant farmers were involved in a deadly accident recently. The school bus transporting the farmers crashed with a truck early last Saturday morning as they were traveling from Georgia to Belle Glade, Florida. The tragedy left five dead and twenty five hospitalized in Wakulla County in Florida. Only the fire gutted frame remained of the school bus carrying the Haitian migrant farmers. The Truck was destroyed as well. All of their legal documents and other property were lost in the accident and they are in great need of support. The United Haitian Students of Florida, Inc. is asking for support and donations for the victims. As of now, the Haitian Cultural Club in Tallahassee has been helping with translation and other needs.
Solar Cooking Pilot Project in Haiti
In 2015, together with Solar Electric Light Fund and Solar Household Energy (SHE), we at One Earth Designs started a project in Tilori, Haiti – a small rural community on the Dominican Republic border. The project’s goal was to bring 25 SolSource solar stoves to Tilori and teach residents how to use them to replace traditional cooking methods.
Tilori, with a population of fewer than 5,000 people, sits on the border of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. It was selected for this pilot project because its inhabitants are the principal users of the forest of Sabana Clara–a remnant mix of pine and broadleaf forest. Biodiversity like Sabana Clara’s plays an important role in the restoration of Haiti’s degraded ecosystems.
Haiti suffers from severe deforestation and consequent land erosion. The country has less than 4% forest cover (World Bank); the lack of cover is due in large part to the cutting of trees for cooking fuel. Women in particular suffer from both the environmental and economic effects of woodstove cooking; for example, respiratory illnesses caused by household air pollution, the financial burden of fuel expenditures, and income and educational opportunities lost to long hours spent collecting cooking fuel.
The United States placed Haiti on the blacklist of countries that practice human trafficking for the year 2015, a year when Michel Martelly and Evans Paul were in power.
A news release from the AFP specified that Haiti was included on the blacklist of countries not doing enough to fight against human trafficking and kept Venezuela in this category as well.
However, specified the Agency, this measure refers to the year 2015, when the former president Michel Martelly was in power.
Cuba, which was removed from the "blacklist" last year, was placed in a category called "Special Observation" because the State Department estimates that it is making" considerable efforts "to eliminate forced labor and sexual exploitation throughout the island.
" When we speak about trafficking, we are speaking about the slavery, modern slavery, which still affects 20 million victims forced to go through a hell which no human being should undergo," declared Secretary of State John Kerry, during a press conference to present the report.
U. S. President Barack Obama has 90 days from last Thursday to decide to apply penalties against the countries on the "blacklist," such as freezing non-humanitarian and non-commercial help or denying them loans from multilateral institutions.
Haiti can today be the object of penalties for negligence going back to 2015, when Michel Martelly and Evans Paul were respectively in power as President and Prime Minister.
Some teachers were caught cheating to help students taking the baccalaureate exam (BAC). (Story by the Nouveliste)
A network of teachers committed to affect the results of the baccalaureate exam in favor of certain candidates was dismantled in Gonaïves on June 28th. Among these swindlers were graders, exam proctors and supervisors. The news was confirmed by educational authorities during a partial update on the progress of the examinations.
Those involved used an app called What’s App to share the answers on the tests. This group includes more than 150 pupils of the Artibonite region. This initiative was created in 2014 by Emmanio Joseph Elysée, a physics teacher from Gonaïves. The network was discovered after Rose-Carline Louissaint, a student taking the baccalaureate exam, was caught using her smartphone
The local head of the Departmental of Education, Ecol Renoit, chastised the attitude of these ill-intentioned teachers. He stated that they are only contributing to the collapse of the Haitian education system. "It is sad to see teachers encouraging mediocrity," regretted Renoit.
The creator of the network admitted that he regretted his dishonest act. He added that he was helped by several other colleagues.
During the first two days of the exam, about ten candidates were eliminated for using cell phones. These pupils were banned from taking the exam for two years. As for the guilty teachers, their educator’s licenses will be revoked.
Tourism: "Saut d’Eau" is a site that should be visited at least once in a lifetime, declared the Huffington Post
The newspaper invited its readers to live the experience of an initiatory and spiritual journey in 50 sacred places. Among them is Saut d’Eau, in Haiti.
It should be remembered that Saut d’Eau is a place for Catholic and Vaudoo followers. Over the years, this waterfall has become more and more of a tourist destination where thousands of visitors come every year.
Haiti at the White House
The images of Haitian artists singing and celebrating Haitian culture at the White House, the seat of the American Presidency, have been for almost a week, ubiquitous on social media. Every photo, every video clip, starts an avalanche of comments where pride competes with patriotism. But how were these ambassadors of Haitian culture, armed simply with their art, their eloquence and their instruments, able to assault this impenetrable renowned fortress?
The credit for this initiative goes to the Haitian Embassy in Washington D.C. which, this year, had formulated the wish that the festivities dedicated to celebrating Caribbean cultural heritage move away from the usual façade symbolism, but instead offer a window on the arts, the ideas and the food of the region. This event also allowed young people from Generation Y (Millennials) to share their vision for the future with the audience.