At [Henry Christophe]'s death, Haiti was taken over by General Boyer and civil war ceased. It was Boyer who obtained Haiti's official independence from France for 150 million francs. Unfortunately, Haiti's employment is less than 30 percent and its illiteracy rate is above 50 percent. Though its official language is French, Haiti's most widely spoken language is kreyol. Ninety percent of Haitians are Catholic although 99 percent worship their native religion of voodoo. Despite its tropical resort geography, living conditions in Haiti are comparative to those of many Third World nations. The Haitian economy is almost entirely dependent upon U.S. companies who horde the country's resources and only pay slave wages.
"The change in government is not really a good change for Haiti now," said Roslindale resident Rosemond Cineus. "We have to follow the constitution. This president was elected for five years." "I always sent money, food and clothes," said Jean, whose aunts and uncles live in Port au Prince and Gonaives. "[Since the rebellion] we have to send more money, because everything is more expensive. They're hopeful things will get better, but it's worse in terms of jobs and food is scarce." "We didn't expect [foreign troops]," said [Jacques Victor]. "We wish that in the long run we can have our own troops in there directing them, but for now we work with them."
Jean Lans, a Haitian American who resides in the area, said that it's all very strange to him, as it is to many Haitians. "Haiti requested [Jean-Claude Duvalier]'s extradition from France some time ago but they denied that request," stated Lans. "The French Ambassador to Haiti, Didier Le Bret, was very vocal in talking with the media about the results of the recent election. It is very strange that the Ambassador would speak out long before the government is behind his returning to Haiti." M.P. said that Preval is corrupted and [Jean Bertrand Aristide], who was supposed to be a priest, was corrupt also. Neither one of them has done much for the country except pocketing the money and taking care of their own. "They have taken food out of their own people's mouths," stated M.P. passionately. "With this election, Preval wants his sonin-law to become the new President but the people want "Sweet Mickey" Michael Martelly. They would burn Haiti before allowing someone else to be President." She said it would not be such a bad thing if Duvalier regains power. "Twenty-five years after his exile and where are wre now? When he was in control, they gave him the name 'Dictator' but he was what the country needed."
"I could not believe it," she said. "All I could think about was my mother and two sisters who were in Haiti." Hosted by Koze Ayiti (Conversations in Haiti) and Konbit for Haiti, Pierre and several Haitians gathered in Little Haiti on Saturday to watch the televised Haitian presidential debate at the Konbit for Haiti. The debate was streamed from a restaurant in Petionville, Haiti but was interrupted by multiple power blackouts. Haiti's first-ever publicly broadcast presidential debates were organized in Haiti by KozeAyiti collaborators: Interuniversity Institute of Research and Development (INURED), which is led by Louis Herns Marcelin, an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Miami and Haiti Aid Watchdog.
"Examines Haitian identity in the Dominican popular imagination before the 1937 Haitian massacre and interrogates how the transformation of the Dominican frontier into a border in the first decades of the 20th century changed local meanings of raza or race. As the Dominican border became part of the global economy, Haitian-Dominican relations were commodified; and the division between neighbors and blood kin was remapped." --The Author
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
143 p, Uses U.S. and Haitian interview data, coupled with a broader analysis of Haitian rural conditions and the effects of foreign and domestic policy on their movement, to underscore the need for a comprehensive rural strategy for economic development in Haiti.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
180 p., Can Haiti be put on a path to true reconstruction? Today, what Haiti needs most is a 'New Deal' which could enable it to keep pace towards a sustainable development. The primary issue the country faces on this issue is the divide between the poverty-stricken majority and the rest of the population.
Part of a special journal issue dedicated to strategies for societal renewal in Haiti., Building back a better Haiti will require a radically different approach to education. A combination of improved funding, smart allocation of resources, and use of low-cost modern technology may allow Haiti to leapfrog to significantly higher performance levels.
Discusses the social conditions in Haiti in 1965. Prevalence of violence in the country; Disasters suffered by Haitians; Human rights violations committed by the government.
