Duke Haiti Lab Kreyòl (Creole) Blog

Click here to watch a great discussion of Haiti’s history and current debates about reconstruction by Deborah Jenson, broadcast from Duke last Friday in relation to the “Haiti’s History” conference April 22-23.

Please read the following report on conditions and distribution of aid in Port-au-Prince’s Cite Soleil shantytown after the January 12 earthquake. 

http://inured.org/docs/Voices%20from%20the%20Shanties_INURED2010.pdf

This grows out of the Interuniversity Institute for Research and Development’s ongoing participatory research with young people from Cite Soleil, which I’ve been privileged to be affiliated with since 2008.

UNESCO had created international coordination committees (ICCs) in the past for Cambodia, Aghanistan, and Iraq. It is now proposing an ICC for Haiti, with a mission, according to the Haitian Minister of Culture and Communication Marie-Laurence Jocelyn Lassègue, “to inventory, safeguard and rehabilitate all the assets and remains linked to Haitian heritage.” Inventorying alone could bring a radical adjustment in the international sphere’s comprehension of the historical and artistic treasures of Haitian civilization.

Unesco cites 150 participants on the proposed ICC, including “representatives from UNESCO Member States and organizations including Interpol, Blue Shield, the World Customs Organization, the International Council of Museums (ICOM), International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA), and museums including the Quai Branly (France) and the Smithsonian Institution (United States).”

Where is the money going? Relief Web provides FTS (Financial Tracking Service) for global humanitarian funding, which you can break down for specific countries and emergencies. Research for Haiti provides further digestion of financial flow information.

Relief Web also provides detailed Latest Updates on relief efforts in Haiti, which you can break down by sector, to learn of breaking news in your relief area, such as Health or Education. Relief Web details work Vacancies by Emergency for those seeking recruitment information.

Kr: Sa vle di nou kab genyen kèk pasyans nan lopital nou an. M konnen Chapel se sèl lopital k ap resevwa pasyans deyò eta Florid.

En: This means we can have some patients in our hospital. I know that Chapel Hill is the only hospital which is receiving patients outside of Florida.

Fr: Cela veut dire que nous pouvons avoir quelques patients dans notre hôpital. Je sais que Chapel Hill est le seule hôpital qui reçois des patients dehors de l’état de Floride.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, February 1, 2010
CONTACT: (202) 690-6343

HHS Activates Additional Components of National Disaster Medical System to Help U.S. Hospitals Treat Survivors of Earthquake in Haiti

As part of the ongoing medical response to the Haiti earthquake, USAID, the agency coordinating the US Government response, announced  today that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has activated additional components of the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS)  to help U.S. hospitals provide care to critically ill survivors.

"Medical evacuations have only been used in limited instances where patients had medical needs that could not be met in Haiti," said USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah.  "We are committed to working with Haitian people and the Government of Haiti to create long-term care facilities in-country. Continued medical assistance is critical to these efforts. We will continue to work across the whole of the U.S. Government and with  international partners, and NGO partners to ensure the well-being of the Haitian people is the foremost priority.

This activation will allow U.S. hospitals that treat Haitian patients evacuated with life-threatening injuries due to the earthquake, to receive federal reimbursement for the costs they incur. The first NDMS flight could leave Haiti as early as tomorrow.

"States have been tremendous partners in the response effort to the devastating earthquake in Haiti," said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. "This is part of our larger strategy, working with the government of Haiti and our international partners, to help increase the capacity both inside Haiti, as well as in the U.S. and other countries, to help Haitians who need critical medical assistance."

Haitian and American patients will be referred by Haitian hospitals, NGOs, the USNS Comfort, or other facilities if they meet criteria for evacuation.  These evacuations are being reserved for the rare patients with life-threatening conditions that cannot be handled within Haiti or by evacuation to another country.  There must also be a reasonable chance that the patient can survive the flight and the treatment in the U.S.

Accredited hospitals, usually over 100 beds in size and located in large U.S. metropolitan areas, are encouraged to enter into a voluntary agreement with NDMS.  Hospitals agree to commit a number of their acute care beds, subject to availability, for NDMS patients.  Because this is a completely voluntary program, hospitals may, upon activation of the system, provide more or fewer beds than the number committed in the agreement.  Hospitals that admit NDMS patients are guaranteed reimbursement at 110% of Medicare rates by the federal government.

HHS has been working with the government of Haiti and international partners to provide life-saving care to survivors of the earthquake.  HHS previously activated the field medical care component of NDMS which has enabled approximately 270 health and medical personnel to deploy to Haiti as part of Disaster Medical Assistance Teams.  These teams have seen more than 23,000 patients, performed 98 surgeries, and delivered 28 babies since they began providing care in Haiti on January 17 and continue to provide life-saving medical care on the ground.

In addition, public health experts from HHS Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are participating on teams conducting rapid assessments of ongoing surveillance of health conditions in Haiti to help prevent and contain additional health threats to the people of Haiti following the earthquake.

The Haitian government now has its situation reports, official communiqués, reference documents, and a list of functioning medical centers under the “Documents” page of this site, as well as a wealth of other materials. Crucial for linkage of relief efforts to the recovery of the Haitian state apparatus. www.aidg.org is helping to launch the site.

http://haitiseisme2010.gouv.ht/

Fò nou raple kesyon souverennte alimentè a an Ayiti. Kouman eske tou zefò soulajman e rekonstriksyon pral afekte agrikiltè yo? Peyizan yo bezwen wout, yo bezwen aksè ladwane, yo dwe transpote prodwi yo pou vann sou mache entenasyonal yo. Si Ayiti “tounen restavek nan zafè manje,” si “vant Ayiti sou kont vwazen,” ayisyen yo ap kontinye kite tè a pou rete nan kondisyon danjerè yo an vil.

Nou ka li yon blog agwonòm nan sit sa a:

http://www.alterpresse.org/spip.php?article7073

“Sou zafè souverennte alimantè

Ayiti te yon peyi souvren nan zafè manje. Peyizan ayisyen te toujou pwodui manje ki nouri tout popilasyon an. Peyi a te menm konn voye vann manje ak anpil lòt pwodui agrikòl nan peyi etranje.

Ayiti te konn voye vann pwodui òganik, pwodui ki bon pou lasante. Jounen jodia, peyi a tounen restavèk nèt nan zafè manje. Nou achte 80 pousan diri nou manje nan peyi etranje, alòske nou genyen kapasite pou pwodui ase diri pou nouri tèt nou epi pou jwenn dekwa pou nou ta voye vann nan peyi etranje.

Vant nou depann jodia de manje pèpè tankou zèl kòdenn, zèl poul, poul pouri, pwason pèpè ak tout lòt kalite pwodui pèpè k ap ravaje sante nou.

Jounen jodya, nou pèdi abitid alimantè nou ki te fè idantite nou kòm pèp. Gen ayisyen ki pa vle manje diri peyi ankò. Peyizan pa vle manje mayi moulen lakay yo ankò. Konbit pa fèt ak gwo chodyè mayi moulen ankò. Olye nou manje tchaka, chanmchanm, doukounou, akra, anpanan, tonmtonm, tayo mazoubèl, tayo djannankou, lam veritab, labapen, yanm, patat, manyòk, bannann etsetera, nou pito manje pen, espageti, makaroni. Olye nou fè manje ak diten, fèy bazilik, nou tonbe nan aksan, nan magi, nan switi k ap pote tout kalite vye maladi nan kò nou.

Jounen jodia, vant nou sou kont vwazen. Se vwazen ki vann nou yon milyon ze chak jou, 84 000 poul blanch chak jou. Se li ki vann nou sitwon, kokoye ak tout lòt kalite pwodwi.”