Medical Students Registering at UNIFA - Sept 2011

On September 26, 2011 the Medical School of UNIFA (the University of the Aristide Foundation)  officially reopened its doors to a new class of future Haitian doctors.  Seven years after the school’s forced closure in 2004,  and four months after the return of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to Haiti, medical education resumed at UNIFA.

Over the summer of 2011, the Faculty of Medicine (pictured below) was repaired and refurbished after sustaining mild damage in the 2010 quake.

UNIFA MEDICAL SCHOOL

In late August, recruitment of students began.  A week-long registration period brought thousands of young applicants to UNIFA and the Aristide Foundation where initial registration was held.  Nine hundred students whose grades and scores on the Baccalaureate exam met the minimum requirement went on to take an entrance exam.

Sitting for the Medical School Exam

Exam Results Posted at UNIFA

From the 900 applicants,  126 students who received the highest test scores were selected.

UNIFA was founded in 2001 in response to the desperate need for more doctors and health professionals in Haiti.  A fundamental part of its mission was and is to begin to break down long traditions of exclusion of the poor majority in Haiti from access to higher education.   Even before the earthquake there were very few spots in medical schools in Haiti (private or public).  Gaining entrance to Medical School was nearly impossible for students without connections or financial means.    The earthquake destroyed or severely damaged 80% of the institutions of higher education, most are still struggling to resume full functioning.   All of this made the reopening of UNIFA a priority.   Today UNIFA still aims to  combat social exclusion by recruiting students from families who have historically been unable to access higher education, from all ten departments of Haiti, and with a commitment to equal gender representation.    Without financial support from the public sector, UNIFA can no longer offer Medical education free of charge.  However tuition at UNIFA is just one-third of what private medical school in Haiti charge.

On September 26, 2011 Dr Ginette Lubin the new Dean of the Medical School welcomed the new students to the campus.

Dr. Ginette Lubin welcoming students to UNIFA Sept. 26, 2011

New medical students gathered the UNIFA auditorium September 26, 2011

Classes began the next day.  This fall the students completed a 3-month intensive Spanish language program.  As was the case before 2004, UNIFA’s medical curriculum is based on the curriculum used in Cuba, which has trained thousands of doctors from Latin America.   UniFA’s faculty today consist of a mix of Haitian and Cuban medical and languages specialists.  A select group of UniFA alumni, doctors from the original three classes of medical students who went on to complete their medical studies in Cuba after the 2004 coup d’etat, are assisting in the classrooms.  The long term goal is that some of these young doctors will go on to get pedagogical training and eventually become faculty members at UNIFA.

UNIFA Classroom

After completing the first phase of their language training the new class began the Medical portion of their studies in January 2012.   They are expected to complete their studies in three to four years.

The reopening of UNIFA war financially possible due to two generous donations.  We are deeply grateful to Dr. Paul Farmer and Partners in Health for their steadfast support.  We are also grateful to the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund for the faith and dedication they have shown to the AFD and to UniFA.

We congratulate this first class of medical students for their success in gaining entry to UNIFA.  We salute the sacrifices that they and their families are making to allow them to attend.  We also salute the tremendous hard work of everyone involved, the staff and faculty of UNIFA,  for coming together, rebuilding and reopening in such a short time.

Dr. Ginette Lubin w/ UNIFA faculty members

Roger Noel and Jacques Solon Jean of the Soulaje Lespri Moun Project at the APA Convention in DC

by Leah James

In early August, Roger Noel and Jacques Solon Jean joined me (Leah James) in Washington DC to give a presentation at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association. Our talk focused on the development, implementation, and evaluation of Soulaje Lespri Moun (SLM – Relief for the Spirit), a lay mental health worker project housed by the AFD.  Roger, the project manager, Solon, the project psychologist, and I have worked closely over the past year and a half with a dedicated team of Ajan Sante Mantal (lay mental health workers) to provide coping skills seminars for residents of camps for internally displaced peoples (IDP camps) in Port-au-Prince.  The Ajan have worked in 7 camps, with nearly a thousand residents, providing education about natural disaster safety and common responses to stress and trauma, and teaching relaxation techniques and other coping strategies. Participants in the seminars are given exams, and if they pass, receive certificates. They are then prepared to run their own support groups for other camp residents. This model allow for time- and cost-efficient dissemination of information.   We have also found that for camp residents to re-engage with their own stressful and traumatizing situation with new skills and in a helping role has therapeutic properties in itself.

Roger and Solon working with a group of camp residence at Carradeux

Our presentation was very well-received, and we met many interested and enthusiastic people. Although thirteen thousand people from all over the world attended the conference, Roger and Solon were the only attendees from Haiti and were honored to represent their country and the AFD. They were always surrounded by curious people asking them about their experiences and expertise. In addition to our main presentation, we were also asked to give a conversation hour for Division 56 (the trauma division) of the APA. Roger and Solon had been awarded funding from Division 56 and from the APA’s International Office – we were very thankful for their support and warm reception. We now have many new friends and collaborators, including two Haitian-American doctoral students.

The trip was not entirely business – this was Roger and Solon’s first visit to the US, so we were sure to do plenty of sightseeing as well. We visited the White House, the Washington Monument, the Natural History museum, saw a 3-D showing of Captain America, and ate as many different kinds of food as we could find. Solon’s favorite was burritos, while Roger liked sushi and Ethiopian food.  A successful trip on all accounts!

Note: Presentations about SLM have also been accepted at the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS) in Baltimore and the Caribbean Regional Conference of Psychology in the Bahamas, both in November 2011.

Jacques Solon Jean, Roger Noel, and Leah James at the APA Convention in DC

On February 2, 2011 The Aristide Foundation inaugurated a Youth League under the banner: Youth Action, Integration and Cooperation. The purpose of the League is to create a space for debate, intellectual and cultural exchange, and practical training for young people who want to assist in the rebuilding of their country. More than 1,500 people attended the official launch, with 132 representatives coming from each of Haiti’s ten departments. Since February the league has grown by leaps and bounds, holding weekly training seminars and events to mark days of national importance.

On February 23, 2011, 1632 young people were invited to participate in an all day work session to reflect on different areas of future activities including, Psychology, Health, Economics, Communication, Education, Sports, culture, and Justice and Human Rights. After six hours of brainstorming, discussion n and debate each working group presented their conclusions and suggestions for moving forward.

Since February 23, the league has more than doubled in size, mainly through word of mouth. On March 22, another 1700 young people joined, and each week since hundreds of new young people have joined, gathering weekly at the Foundation to listen to speakers on a range of topics. The current membership is over 6,000. Many of these young people are participating in classes organized at the foundation in the following areas: music lessons, driving school, cholera prevention seminars, first aid, and computer courses.

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In addition to weekly meetings, the league sponsors events to mark important national dates. For International Women’s Day the league sponsored a debate on the active participation of women in the economic and political life of the country. On May 1, (agriculture day in Haiti) agronomists, Dejean and Mésidor presented a conference on environmental degradation and reforestation. Participants received seedlings for planting at the end of the conference. On May 18, rather than having an outside speaker, two Youth League members from the Political Science working group presented the history of the Haitian flag.

On May 28, 2011, a delegation of five teachers traveled to Jacmel to offer a training session for 115 new young people who had enrolled in the league in the South East.

Since June 11, leaders of the Youth League, which includes some of the Cuban-trained doctors who are UniFA graduates, and other young professionals have been meeting every two weeks to harmonize the administrative and technical structures of the league while laying the foundations for coordinating efforts in all ten provinces of Haiti.

On July 15, to mark the birthday of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and in response to the resurgence of cholera in the country, the Youth League, led by 60 doctors, many of them UniFA graduates, held a huge cholera prevention seminar, with a mass demonstration hand-washing, followed by a free medical clinic for area residents.

Most of those who have joined the Youth League are between 16 and 25 years old. According to Merry Roche, the Foundation’s coordinator of youth activities, young people are flocking to the Foundation for a variety of reasons. The welcoming atmosphere at the Foundation attracts them, as does the possibility of finding a spot in a practical training session. Many also hope that one day they may be able to study at UniFA (the University of the Aristide Foundation, whose Medical School is scheduled to reopen in September). Most of all they are looking for a way to contribute, a vehicle for channeling their energies into building a better country.   Foundation staff has been impressed at the dedication of the young people who have formed the League. Most have either completed their Rheto or Philo exams (Exams given during the final two years of high school – reaching this academic level in Haiti is already a major accomplishment.) These are young people with high aspirations. They are creative and cooperative and feel great pride in belonging to the youth league. The Foundation has been overwhelmed by both the turnout and the dedication of these young people and is struggling to create programs to meet their aspirations.

It is already clear that UniFA, once it reopens will be able to accommodate only a handful of these young people. The Foundation is exploring the possibility of expanding vocational training programs beyond the computer school, which already operates at the Foundation. We are looking at possibilities in plumbing, carpentry, electricity, silk-screening, administration, accounting, and perhaps most importantly entrepreneurial mentoring to assist groups of young people in the creation of micro enterprises in the above fields.

If youth is the hope of all countries, the youth league of the Aristide Foundation for Democracy is a profound demonstration of Haiti’s potential. More than half of Haiti’s population is below the age of 25. Each year tens of thousands graduate from high school. Baccalaureate exams are taking place right now across Haiti with more than 130,000 students participating. (If they pass the two-year cycle of exams they are qualified to go to University) Yet, there are only places for a handful of these students at Haiti’s Universities and nearly all of Haiti’s Universities have been hit very hard by the quake. There is massive pent up demand for access to post high school education or training – whether University level or vocational. The energy of Haiti’s young people must become the engine that drives Haiti’s recovery. The question facing both the Foundation, UniFA and really the country as a whole is how do we answer their call?

On March 18, 2011, former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his family returned to Haiti after seven years in exile.  He was greeted at the airport by tens of thousands of Haitians who then accompanied him to his house in Tabarre.  In an outpouring of unrestrainable joy, they made his house their own, as you can see from the photos here.

People in the courtyard of Aristide's house surrounding the car as he emerged. Photio Paul Burke

People welcoming Titid and his family at their house in Tabarre, photo Paul Burke

photo Paul Burke

From the airport just after he landed, Aristide addressed the Haitian people in a speech carried live on Haitian radio.  He emphasized the need to move from a politics of exclusion to a one of inclusion of all social classes in the political, economic and social life of the nation.  We reprint here the full text of speech as it was delivered primarily in Creole, with section in English, Spanish, Zulu, Swahili, and French.

Speech of Jean-Bertrand Aristide just after his arrival in Port-au-Prince, March 18, 2011

Sè m, Frè m, Onè ! Respè !
Otorite ki nan Leta Peyi d Ayiti,
Reprezantan Gouvènman Afrik Du Sud,
Anbasadè Matu ak Sè nou Matshidiso,
Otorite ki nan òganizasyon
Nasyonal kòm entènasyonal,
Sè m ak Frè m
Ki nan kat kwen peyi a ou aletranje,
Mwen kontan salye n nan lonbraj
Ayeropò Toussaint Louverture.

Sè m, Frè m,
Onè ! Respè !
Onè pou ou !
Respè pou Ayiti !
Ala kontan m kontan fè youn avèk
Minouche, Christine, Michaëlle pou
Salye ou e anbrase ou fratènèlman !
Sè m, Frè m,
Si w te ka poze men w sou kè mwen,
Ou ta santi kijan lap bat pi vit, pi plis
Pou di w : Bravo! Mèsi! Bravo! Mèsi!
Bravo pou kouraj ak entèlijans Pèp la !
Mèsi mil fwa pou akèy san parèy sa a !
Bravo pou tout bèl leson Pèp la deja bay !
Mèsi mil mil fwa pou bèl solèy solidarite
Ki pa te janm kouche dèyè mòn egzil sa a.

A warm welcome to :
Ira Kurzban, Dany Glover, Laura Flynn,
James Early, Selma James, widow of
CLR James, Margaret Prescod, Paul Burke.
Greetings to:
Honorable Deputy Maxine Waters,
Randall and Hezel Robinson,
Brian Cancanon, Claude Ribbe.
Peace to:
John Maxwell and the victims of
the disaster in Japan.

Onè ! Respè !
Onè pou ou e respè pou memwa
300.000 viktim tranbleman tè a !
Respè pou memwa tout moun ki
Viktim kolera ou katastwòf politik.
Men nan la men, bradsou bradsa,
Ann trese yon bèl kouwòn onè respè
Pou Rev Pè Gérard Jean-Juste ak
Tout lòt ewo ki sakrifye lavi yo nan
Defann diyite Ayiti ki malad grav.
Sè m, Frè m,
Pèmèt mwen pataje chalè remèsiman an
Ak anpil zanmi ki pa fèt an Ayiti, men
Ki renmen Pèp Ayisyen ak tout kè yo.
An 2004, gen nan yo ki te al chèche n
Nan peyi Afrik Santral pou akonpaye n
Rive nan peyi Jamayik an natandan
Prezidan Tabo Mbeki te chwazi depeche
Pwòp avyon prezidansyèl Lafrik Di Sid
Pou n te retounen nan bra manman Lafrik.
Yon gwo gwo mèsi pou Prezidan Zuma,
Prezidan Mbeki, Prezidan Mandela ak Tout lòt sè n ak frè n k ap viv nan peyi
Afrik Santral, Jamayik ak Afrik di Sid.
Jan m te di l, anvan n kite Afrik di Sid
Nan lang isiZoulou ak lang Swahili :

(IsiZoulou)
Yize iHaiti ikude naAfrika, asisoze sazikhohlwa
izimpande zamasiko ethu. Ngesikathi zonke
sizobatshela abantwana nezizukulu zethu :
Manikumbule lapho okoko bethu bazalelwe khona.
Niqubele ngokubona lendawo eya eAfrika.
Niqonde ngqo ngalo mgwaqo.

(Swahili)
Umoja ni nguvu,
Utengano ni udaifu.
Mtu ni watu.

Sa vle di :
Menm si Ayiti lwen l Afrik,
Nou pap janm bliye rasin kilti nou.
N ap toujou di pitit ak pitit pitit nou yo :
Sonje kote Zansèt nou yo te fèt.
Kontinye gade nan direksyon l Afrik.
Kenbe wout sa a drè, nèt ale.
Linyon fè lafòs, divizyon fè lafeblès.
Ki di youn nan nou di nou tout.
Sè m, Frè m,
Jan nou konnen, rekonesans fè sans.
Pou tout lòt vrè zanmi etranje nou yo
K ap viv nan divès lòt peyi sou latè,
Nou pwofite voye yon mèsi espesyal.
Vrè zanmi etranje ki la avè n jodia
Ak anpil lòt ki prezan nan lespri yo
Se moun ki toujou chèche konprann
Ni mwèl soufrans, ni mwèl diyite
K ap sikile nan langaj Pèp Ayisyen.
Pou m konprann kijan sèvo moun
Ki pale 8 a 10 lang fonksyone,
Mwen anrejistre ond sèvo a ak yon
Aparèy yo rele elektwoansefalogram.
Pou vrè zanmi sa yo konprann kijan
Langaj Pèp Ayisyen chaje ak di plis
Tankou mwèl diyite, mwèl soufrans,
Yo fè ni kè yo ni brenn pa yo mache
Jis yo konn tonbe damou pou Ayiti.

To understand how the human brain processes 8 to 10 languages, I use an EEG machine and record the brain waves. But to understand the Haitian meta-linguistics, true friends of Haiti such as the members of this prestigious delegation, use both their brain and their heart. I think that the bonds linking them to Haiti are deeply rooted in a real love story. What a clear reflection of true love and true friendship! A friend in need is a friend indeed. Thank you so much.
As the brain takes only 100 ms to detect happiness, you may already realize how your presence contributes to make the Haitian people so happy today. In 1804, the Haitian revolution marked the end of slavery. Today, may the Haitian people mark the end of exile and coup d’état while peacefully we must move from social exclusion to social inclusion. Once again, thanks from the bottom of our hearts.

Un saludo muy caloroso y un abrazo fraternal a nuestros hermanos y hermanas de Cuba, especialmente los médicos que se han entregado sin cansancio en la lucha en contra del cólera? Quién sabe cuantas víctimas del cólera ya hubieran muerto, si no fuera por su asistencia médico?
Rechazando la propaganda y acercándose cada día más a los enfermos, Uds cristalizan una fuente de vida y un tejido de solidaridad humana. ! Ojalá que la luz de este testimonio guíe los pasos de tantos hombres hacia un mundo mejor ! A Uds todos, gracias, muchíssimas gracias!

Sè m, Frè m,
Si w te ka panche tèt ou sou kè mwen,
Ou ta tande aklè kijan li ap chante
Yon melodi konsolasyon pou Ayiti.
Ayiti manman nou ki bezwen respire
Oksijèn diyite pou lawont pa toufe l.
Tank mwen kontan pou wè nou tout,
Se tank dlo soufrans nou yo ap koule
Tankou yon larivyè doulè nan tout kòm.
Tank mwen kontan pou wè nou tout,
Se tank larivyè doulè viktim yo anvi
Dechire kè m pou l vin ponpe nan je m.
Si mwen menm ki fenk retounen lakay,
Se konsa m santi m, ou pa bezwen di m
Kijan manjezon doulè sa a rèd pou ou.
Depi tranbleman tè goudougoudou a,
Si m te ka transfòme chanm kè m an
Chanm kay, tout viktim tap jyenn kay
Pou sispann dòmi nan lari, nan labou,
Anba tant chire kole pyese moso prela ,
Moso dra, moso katon IMILYASYON.
Wi, imilyasyon yon Ayisyen,
Se imilyasyon tout Ayisyen.
Lè diyite you Ayisyen blese,
Se nou tout Ayisyen ki senyen.
San nou se san Tousen Louvèti,
Nou pa ka trayi san nou. Non !
San nou se san Tousen Louvèti,
Nou pa ka trayi san nou. Non !
Sè m, Frè m,
Jodi a, akouchman retou a fèt
Anba lonbray Tousen Louvèti.
Lè yo te kidnape l pou egzile l
Nan mwa jen 1802, li te deja di :
Rasin libète yo anpil e yo plante fon.
Koupe pye libète sa a se youn, men
Rive elimine tout rasin yo, se jamè.
Ochan pou Jeni sa a ki te leve lonè
Tout pitit zantray Manman Lafrik !
Ochan pou tout rasin libète ki fleri
Anba dekonm pou n te ka retounen.

Jodi a, anba lonbray Tousen Louvèti,
Nou kontan vin kanpe ak tout jèn yo,
Nou menm nouvèl jenerayon ki vle :
Edikasyon nan diyite ,san esklizyon.
Nou gen rezon paske
Si n pa sove diyite nou,
Diyite n ap sove kite n.
Wi, nou gen rezon paske
Pwoblèm nan se esklizyon,
Solisyon an se enklizyon.
Esklizyon Fanmi Lavalas
Se esklizyon majorite a.
Esklizyon majorite a egal
Koupe egzakteman branch
Ke nou tout chita sou li a.
Pwoblèm nan se esklizyon,
Solisyon an, se enklizyon
Tout Ayisyen san patipri
Paske tout moun se moun.
Donk,vòt tout moun konte.
An 1804, apre lendepandans,
Te gen 20 medsen ak 2 dantis
Pou 400.000 moun nan peyi a.
Jodia, pa menm gen 2 doktè
Pou chak 11.000 Ayisyen.
Sa a, sa a se youn nan rezilta
Mòd edikasyon esklizyon an.
Pou lonè Papa Jan Jak Desalin,
Nou vin pote ti konkou pa n.
Si balon edikasyon an santre
Sou teren diyite, fòk wè pa wè,
Nou mete esklizyon awoutsay.
E lè sa a nouvèl jenerasyon an
Pra l kòmanse benefisye nan
Richès k ap dòmi nan zantray
Peyi d Ayiti nou an, kidonk :
Lò, kwiv, iranyòm, boksit,
Ajan, poutzolan, mab elatriye.
Kabonat kalsyòm ki nan Payan,
Miragwan, depase $ 23 milya.

Rezèv petwòl la, san dout,
Pi plis anpil pase sa nou kwè.
Dayè nou menm menm Ayisyen,
Nou se pi gwo, pi gwo richès la.

Sè m, Frè m,
Pandan 7 an, nou kominike a distans.
Jodia, nou la pou ansanm ansanm,
Nou simen lapè toupatou, tout tan,
Tout kote pou tout fòm vyolans kaba.
Nou menm Ayisyen ki renmen lapè,
Nou kondane tout kalite fòm vyolans
Pou edikasyon jenès la ka debouche
Sou lapè nan tèt ak lapè nan vant.
Sè m, Frè m,
Pandan 7 an, nou kominike a distans.
Jodia, nou la, nou la ansanm, kòtakòt.
Nou la, lakay, paske lakay se lakay.
Nou la ak nou tout ki la pou nou al la :
La kote mizè, grangou, chomaj,
Ensekirite, kidnaping, koripsyon,
Dwòg, vyolans, trayizon, enjistis,
Rasis, esklizyon ak esklavaj modèn
Pap toujou kanpe la pou fè n delala.
Ayiti nou an malad grav anpil.
Soti 29 Fevriye 2004 rive jodia,
Maladi a malerezman vin pi grav.
Men, byen mal pa vle di lanmò :
Pi gwo espwa Ayiti, se Ayisyen.
Pi gwo remèd Ayiti, se lanmou.
Apre 7 ane egzil sa yo, nou deklare
7 fwa 77 fwa 7 fwa se Mèm Amou.
Mèm Amou pou ou ki isit an Ayiti.
Mèm Amou pou ou ki aletranje.
Si jodia nou youn retrouve n
Nan bra lòt, isit, isit la menm,
Se gras a ou ke m renmen amò.

Jeunesse de mon Pays,
Vous, Jeunes Héros et Héroïnes d’Haïti,
Vous, amoureux, amoureuses de la liberté,
Soyons tous présents au rendez-vous
De la Première République Noire,
Tapie sous le poids de ces 25.000.000
De tonnes métriques de décombres.
Si l’éclosion du crocus dépend des rayons du soleil,
L’éclosion d’Haïti dépend du soleil de notre amour.
Haïti nous unit à cette terre comme le pétiole relie le limbe à la tige.
Tige de liberté conquise, combattue, battue mais jamais abattue.
Tige de liberté dont la nervure principale symbolise notre dignité.
Tige de liberté dont la sève est et demeure l’amour par excellence.
Si l’éclosion du crocus dépend des rayons du soleil,
L’éclosion d’Haïti dépend du soleil de notre amour.
Haïti, Haïti, plus je m’éloigne de toi, moins je respire.
Haïti, Haïti, je t’aime et je t’aimerai toujours. Toujours!

Sè m, Frè m,
Lè w tande deklarasyon damou sa a,
Se bò sèvo goch ou ki kapte pawòl la,
Pandan bò sèvo dwat la kapte emosyon
Ak mizik ke pawòl la pote pou ou a.
Kidonk, chak pati nan kò a gen wòl li.
Wòl pa m se sèvi ou nan lanmou.
Wòl pa w se viv pou Ayiti pa mouri.
Wòl bon patriyòt se renmen peyi l.
Bon tan, move tan:
SE MEM AMOU !
An egzil ou lakay :
SE MEM AMOU !
Avè w pou toujou :
SE MEM AMOU !

On the roof at Arsitide's house March 18, 2011, photo Paul Burke

photo 1997©Jennifer Cheek Pantaléon

By Jean-Bertrand Aristide

Haiti’s devastating earthquake in January last year destroyed up to 5,000 schools and 80% of the country’s already weak university infrastructure. The primary school in Port-au-Prince that I attended as a small boy collapsed with more than 200 students inside. The weight of the state nursing school killed 150 future nurses. The state medical school was levelled. The exact number of students, teachers, professors, librarians, researchers, academics and administrators lost during those 65 seconds that irrevocably changed Haiti will never be known. But what we do know is that it cannot end there.

On February 23, the newly formed Youth League met for second day under the banner of Youth-Action-Integration-Cooperation.   Over 1000 young people attended and spent the day working together to shape and define the future of the organization.   An opening ceremony  in the Auditorium of the Foundation began with a spiritual invocation, sung by  Jean Marie Claude Germain, the current minister of the environment, accompanied by Kolonb Dor (the musical troupe of the Aristide Foundation), followed by the national anthem preformed by Kolonb Dor.

Minister  Jean Marie Claude Germain, then gave a keynote speech on climate change and the future of the earth.  Professor Wladimir N. Constant spoke on the leadership of the young.

The young people assembled then broke up into working groups, and spent the rest of the day brainstorming ideas for potential activities the Youth League might undertake.    The  Ad-hoc committee of the Youth League  which planned the days event organized breakout sessions in 10 areas of action: Pyschology,  Justice & Human Rights, Culture, Communications, Political Science, Environment & Agriculture, Health,  Educations, Sports, Cooperation and Integration. At the close of the day,  each of the ten work groups  formed a committee of 15 young people to lay out a plan of action over the next three months for the Youth League in each of the 10 sectors.  A visiting delegation of students from California attended the event and offered their solidarity and support for the new Youth League.

Press Release in French:

Jèn/Aksyon/Entegrasyon/Koperasyon (JAEK)

Auditorium Fondation Aristide

23 Février 2011

La cérémonie a débuté par une prière rythmique avec comme texte de fond *DIEU TOUT-PUISSANT* chanté par l’artiste Ing. Jean Marie Claude Germain, actuel Ministre de l’Environnement et accompagné de la chorale Colombe d’Or de la Fondation Aristide.

Suivant l’ordre du jour, une jeune artiste solo membre de la chorale Colombe d’Or Mademoiselle Elmate Révolte a fait trembler l’auditoire en interprétant l’hymne national.

Il était prévu d’organiser la séance de formation en deux étapes : Une première étape pour exposer les thèmes faisant l’objet de la séance de formation.

1.- Rechauffement de la planète TERRE par l’Ing. Jean Marie Claude Germain.

2.- Leadership de la jeunesse par le Professeur Wladimir N. Constant.

La deuxième étape consistait à regrouper les jeunes en atelier. Le comité central Had Hoc formé de jeunes a pu organiser 10 ateliers en les identifiant par Secteur d’activité ou discipline. Il s’ágit :

1.- Secteur d’activité/Psychologie

2.- Secteur d’activité/Justice et Droits Humains

3.- Secteur d’activité/Culture

4.- Secteur d’activité/ Communication

5.- Secteur d’activité/ Science Politique

6.- Secteur d’activité/ Emvironnement et Agriculture

7.- Secteur d’activité/ Sports

8.- Secteur d’activité/ Education

9.- Secteur d’activité/ Santé

10.- Secteur d’activité/ Coopération et Intégration

En guise de résolution après les dicussions en atelier, 10 comités Had Hoc de 15 membres sont formés pour gérer pendant les 3 prochains mois qui suivent les destinés de la ligue de la jeunesse par secteur d’activité ou discipline.

On Wednesday February 3, more than seven hundred young people gathered at the Aristide Foundation for Democracy to launch the Aristide-Lavalas Youth league  (Ligue de la Jeunesse Aristido-Lavalasse).  The goal of the Youth League is to bring young people together to vitalize Haiti’s democracy and to initiate service projects to help their communities in the fields of education and health.

Each department of Haiti was represented by a delegation of 10-12 young people all of whom made the long trip to Port-au-Prince because they want to contribute to the building of a participatory democracy in Haiti.   Early in the morning of Feb 2, these departmental youth delegations met for a four-hour discussion/ workshop in the conference room of the AFD to share perspectives, brainstorm ideas, and create an orientation for the new organization.  Pyschologist Wladimir Constant facilitated this dialogue titled, “The Leadership of the Young.”

Toussaint Hilaire, director of the AFD addresses the youth delegates

For the second stage of the event the delegations came downstairs, and onto the stage of the auditorium, where they were welcomed with thunderous applause by over 700 other young people from the department of the West (Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas), who gathered in the auditorium to welcome the national delegates and to officially launch this Youth League.

Much of the organizing to launch the Youth League was done by young UNIFA graduates together with the leadership of the Foundation.   These young doctors who began their medical training at UniFA before the 2004 coup d’etat, and then finished their training in Cuba, are now back in Haiti and have been central to all the AFD’s efforts to assist in the wake of the earthquake.   This initiative also builds on the Foundation’s efforts over the past year to empower young people to be at the forefront of service in wake of the quake (though mobile clinics staffed by young doctors, mobile schools staffed by young high school and college graduates, and our youth-led mental health project Soulaje Lespri Moun, and the the reopening of UNIFA ).

Youth Delegates on the stage at the AFD, Feb. 2, 2011

The launching of this youth league represents the determination of all the young people who have came together on February 3, to offer their energy, creativity, and vitality towards a new Haiti.

Rose Yvica Roche Volcy and Yves Merry Stuart Roche were the MC’s for the ceremony in the auditorium.   Hancy Pierre Louis, professor of economics and former Vice Governor of the Central Bank, gave a presentation on Haiti’s economy.

Hancy Pierre Louis addressing the Youth League

Wladimir Constant, spoke again on the centrality of youth leadership, and Toussaint Hilaire, the Director of the Arsitide Foundation spoke about the importance of youth gaining confidence in themselves through service to the country and offered perspectives on the kinds of civic and service projects the Youth League might undertake, such as literacy programs for adults, and educational projects for children who are not in school.

Joseph Marc Anderson, a youth representative then spoke on behalf of the league and presented its charter to those present.

A cultural presentation by Kolonb Dor, the youth troupe of the Aristide Foundation followed.

We look forward to seeing this new organization evolve and flourish.  Only Haitians can rebuild Haiti.

Published on the Huffington Post January 24, 2011, Commentary by AFD board menber, Laura Flynn

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-flynn/not-even-the-past_b_813172.html

In Haiti, Reliving Duvalier, Waiting for Aristide
January 25, 2011

In the 1980s, when the armed forces of Jean-Claude Duvalier’s regime set about exterminating “Haiti’s Creole pigs”, they would come to Haiti’s rural villages, seize all of the “pigs”, pile them up, one on top of the other, in large pits and set fire to them, burning them alive.

A Haitian friend recounted this story to me this week. It was an image that she could not get out of her head since Jean-Claude Duvalier returned to Haiti. Because that’s what it was like for her, to watch Duvalier be greeted like a dignitary at the Port-au-Prince airport, and then escorted to his hotel by UN military forces — like being burned alive.

In 1968, when my friend was 3 years old, members of Duvalier’s Tonton Macoutes came to her home at 3 o’clock in the afternoon as her extended family shared a meal in the courtyard of their house in the Port-au-Prince neighborhood of Martissant. The Macoutes dragged her father and two of her uncles away. They then went to two other houses on her block, and took away all the men from those families as well. Her father and the other men in the neighborhood were members of MOP, the mass political party of Haitian populist leader Daniel Fignolé, which Duvalier wiped out, along with all other forces of opposition in the country.

None of the men taken from Martissant that day were ever seen again. They disappeared, perhaps perishing in the Duvaliers’ infamous prison, Fort Dimanche, after enduring torture, beatings, and starvation. The families could not even hold public funerals, and they never recovered the bodies of their loved ones. With the help of a sympathetic nun, my friend’s mother did manage a clandestine a mass for her husband, and later she consecrated an unmarked, empty tomb for him in Haiti’s National Cemetery. To this day, she visits that empty tomb on All Spirits Day each year to honor the husband she lost over 40 years ago.

The common wisdom, repeated endlessly in the international press since Duvalier’s return, is that Baby Doc’s regime was less repressive than his father’s. But my friend’s mother does not remember it that way. Left to raise six children on her own, she lived for nearly 20 years –until the fall of Baby Doc in 1986 — in constant terror that she or her children would be targeted again. Each day, the children rushed straight home from school and didn’t leave the house again. Each summer as soon as school ended, she packed them off to the countryside to breathe a sigh of relief.

Under Baby Doc the most spectacular violence, the murdering of whole families, mass purges of the military, and especially violence targeting Haiti’s wealthy families, abated. But the intimate terror the Duvalier regime exercised over every aspect of daily life continued. In Martissant, as in most Port-au-Prince neighborhoods, there were active members of the Macoutes in every other home. With almost unlimited power, they spied on and policed their neighbors, attacking, arresting, even killing people for such infractions as wearing an Afro, not wearing shoes, or leaving a light on after dark. Since the Macoutes were not formally paid, and since the economy was in a free fall, they enacted daily violence and extortion on the population to survive.

The children of those taken in Martissant that day in 1968 never forgot what happened to their fathers. As soon as they were old enough — just kids really, 12, 13 years old — they found themselves drawn into, and then propelling forward, a movement for change. Each Sunday morning, a chain of young people from Martissant set off across the city, jen pase pran jen, young people gathering more young people, until they numbered in the hundreds, arriving at doors of St. Jean Bosco in La Saline where a young priest was saying out loud what they had been saying in their hearts all their lives: Fok sa Chanje. This must change. These young people, joined by thousands of others in church and grassroots organizations across the country, ignited a movement that after long struggle and many lost lives, finally overthrew a 30-year dictatorship.

For the veterans of this struggle to have to watch Jean-Claude Duvalier return a free man to the scene of his crimes now — on the heels of the one-year anniversary of the earthquake, after losing 300,000 countrymen; while a cholera epidemic rages, having already taken 4000 lives; while a UN military mission occupies the country, at a cost of over $500 million a year, while the UN cannot even raise a third of that to fight the cholera that its troops brought to the country in the first place; while more than a million people live in the streets of Port-au-Prince under nothing more than shredded tarps; after an “election” that was an insult to democracy (excluding Fanmi Lavalas Haiti’s largest political party, drawing less that 25 percent of eligible voters, and riddled with fraud and irregularities even for the limited voting that did take place); and while Haiti’s twice democratically-elected former President, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is in forced exile in South Africa — under these circumstances watching Duvalier return was excruciating.

The fact that Duvalier himself appears ill, and rather feeble is no great comfort. The fact that he was questioned by prosecutors on Tuesday and then released back to his luxury hotel, while far better than nothing, is still not reassuring. The presence of Jodel Chamblain, the founder of the notorious death squad FRAPH, which terrorized Haiti from 1991-1994, at Duvalier’s side as he went to court, was flat out terrifying. The traumatizing symbolism of Duvalier’s return at Haiti’s weakest hour, is an insult to the dead and an assault on the living.

If the response of Haitians to Duvalier’s return has so far has been muted, it is in part because people are still in shock. This has been a week of intense resurgent memory, private at first, but more and more communal, as people gather to recount and retell, as parents share new details with their children, as the radio waves fill with the voices of survivors. By week’s end the flood of memory was transformed into the first half dozen of what will likely be a flood of formal legal complaints against Duvalier for torture, forced exile, rape, and murder.

All week rumors flew that Aristide was on his way — will come Tuesday or Thursday or next week — this offset some of the anger. Last Thursday, the teledyol (rumor) had it that CNN was reporting Aristide had purchased a one-way ticket home. Hearing this, willing it to be true, some Haitians, began making painful concessions in their heads. One former parishioner of St. Jean Bosco put it this way: “OK, Duvalier, he’s old, he’s dying, we’ll stomach him, if that’s what it takes to bring Aristide back.”

On Sunday The Miami Herald ran a full-page letter (Sunday, January 23, 2011) sponsored by the Haiti Action Committee in California, echoing the call of Haitians for the return of Jean-Bertrand Aristide from exile. The statement is signed by politicians, activists, and other prominent figures, including Dr. Paul Farmer, founder of Partners in Health, Danny Glover, actor and activist, and Reverend Jesse Jackson.

What does the U.S. government say?

Regarding Duvalier:

“this is a matter for the Government of Haiti and the people of Haiti.” (from State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley)

Regarding Aristide:

“today Haiti needs to focus on its future, not its past” (Crowley again).

In case there were lingering doubt about who is preventing Aristide’s return.

The U.S. government is always quick to urge others to forget the past. But memory is long, bodies bear scars, the murdered father gives birth to the life long militant, and the coup d’etat of 2004 is not even the past. As long as Aristide is in exile that coup remains an open wound. The divisions the State Department is so concerned Aristide will somehow seed, are there in plain view for everyone to see. Have and Have not. Moun Anba Tant, Moun Nan Kay. The people living under tents, the people who have homes. The earthquake, and especially the disastrous international response, seem only to be further entrenching the chasm between rich and poor. Aristide didn’t create this chasm, nor can his return transform it in a day. But his presence would be a sign of hope to Haiti’s poor who’ve had precious little of that in the last year.

“Build back better,” Bill Clinton said last year. A house built on impunity and exclusion will fall again. The rubble must be cleared first. Let Duvalier face justice for his crimes. Stop trying to hobble together a government from an election that everyone knows was a sham. Let all parties participate; let the Haitian people vote freely. And let Aristide come home again

On January 7, 2011 the Aristide Foundation organized a clinic for 400 people who were injured or lost limbs as a result of the earthquake.  Over 5,000 people are estimated to have lost a limb as a result of injuries sustained during the earthquake.  The group gathered in the auditorium of the Aristide Foundation on the morning of the 7th.  Each person then received a consultation with a doctor.  Four orthopedists, two surgeons, and 15 general medical doctors (most of whom are former UniFA students, trained in Cuba) offered their services for the day.

After the consultation, crutches, wheel chairs, walker and canes for the elderly, were distributed free of charge to those in need of them.  Most of the equipment we distributed came from a gift facilitated by Haiti Emergency Relief Fund, we thank them for enabling us to some help to those in need.

This event was the first in a series of events planned this week to mark the anniversary of the quake through service to the survivors.

A creole language version of the Foundation’s press release is below.

Klinik Mobil Pou Andikape.

Moun ki rive sove anba dekonb

Tranbleman Tè 12 Janvye 2010.

Oditoryòm Fondasyon Aristide

Vandredi 7 Janvye 2011.

Sa fè yon (1) lane depi Lanati frape pye l byen fò nan Depatman Lwès ak Sidès peyi Dayiti. Kòm nou pat pare pou sa ebyen, 300.000 sitwayen ayisyen pèdi lavi yo nan pasaj Tranbleman Tè a. Anpil nan nou menm ki rive chape anba dekonb pèdi yon pati nan kò nou tankou :

Bra koupe

Pye koupe

Tèt manke moso

Zye kreve

Gwo blesi grav nan kò

Elatriye,…..

AFD Director Toussaint Hilaire, Dr. Jessie Pierre-Louis, and Dr. Mxon Guerrier welcome the crowd

Avan 12 Janvye 2010, estatistik te déjà relve genyen 800.000 Andikape nan tout peyi a. Aprè 12 Janvye 2010 nonb lan vin ogmante. Laprès deklare ke yo rive konte ant 4 a 5 Mil Andikape : Moun pye koupe, Bra koupe, elatriye,…. Kidonk, peyi a genyen yon nouvèl jenerasyon Andikape.

Ki lavni pou 5 Mil nouvo Andikape yo ?

Malgre yo rive chape anba dekonb men, mak yo pote nan kò yo rete yon gwo andikap pou yo jere pou tout rès vi yo sou latè. Kijan pou sosyete a ankadre yo ? Kijan pou yo konsidere tèt yo kòm moun san konplèks, san gwo tèt chaje ? Li pa fasil. Wi, li pa fasil piske nap viv nan yon sosyete ki poko genyen nivo pou bay tout respè ak moun ki genyen yon andikap kèlkonk.

Si nou fè yon ti bak nan listwa sosyal peyi dayiti na konprann kòman sosyete a te konn diskrimine moun ki andikape. Lè nou pale de andikape nou vle di tout tip andikap: Moun ki pèdi Bra, oswa moun ki pèdi pye, oswa moun ki genyen pwoblèm mantal,….Lè moun nan kategori andikape nou site la yo te konn ap sikile nan lari ebyen yo te konn anmède yo anpil, yo te konn rele chalbari dèyè yo nan tout lari. Sosyete a pat ko prè pou konprann ke yon andikape se yon moun ki genyen tout dwa epi ki genyen wol li ka jwe pou kontinye viv kòm yon moun nòmal. Genyen andikape nan lemond ki fè anpil gwo mirak syantifik pou ede limanite fè plis pwogrè. Genyen anpil gwo Atis andikape. Lakay nou annayiti yo egziste tou. Pou sa, Fondasyon Aristide double aktivite sosyal li te konn òganize pou bay plis ankadreman a moun ki pi nesesite yo.

Pou make premye anivèsè Tranbleman Tè 12 Janvye 2010 la epi rann yon Omaj a 5 Mil nouvo andikape yo Konsèy Administrasyon Fondasyon Aristide mete ansanm ak Direksyon medikal la nan òganize Vandredi ki te 7 Janvye 2011 yon Klinik Mobil pou Andikape. Direksyon medikal la te envite 400 andikape : Bra koupe, Pye koupe vin patisipe pou ka resevwa evalyasyon medikal, pou resevwa Beki, Ròkè, chèz roulant, Baton pou Granmoun,… Direksyon medikal la te jwenn konkou 4 Otopedis, 2 Chirijyen ak 15 Medsen jeneralis ki vin pote kole avèk li pou ankadre 400 andikape yo.

Nou pwofite sikonstans sa a pou remèsye piblikman Oganizasyon entènasyonal ERF nan KALIFONI peyi Etazini pou bann materyèl medikal li te voye pou Fondasyon Aristide. Se gras ak sipò sa yo tankou : Beki, Ròkè, Chèz roulant ki ede nou bay chak andikape selon bezwen yo yon materyel ..

Direktè Toussaint Hilaire.