James,

Write on brother!

Best,

Leland

 

 

Lisa et al,
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/517494/imf_to_haiti_freeze_public_wages
In a later post Ilene asks if it is ever going to be enough?
As the article in the nation points out much of the “help” that is delivered to Haiti and other relief efforts elsewhere it’s the strings that are attached to the aid that makes it temporary solution rather than permanent.
JH

From: Leland Torrence <[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: The listserv where the buildings do the talking <[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 19 Jan 2010 07:56:38 -0500
To: <[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: [BP] Haiti

Lisa,
One pig used to be a sign of prosperity in the countryside. In the mid seventies, when I was just getting to know the country, I was working for an ethnomusicologist who had recorded in Haiti since the 50’s and liked his Barboncourt Rhum.  After we had put him to bed, we decided he might need some company.  We went to the local Mambo and told her of our plan, and were able to rent a pig for the night.  Of course the pig escaped the room in the wee hours of the room and caused quite a ruckus. We were ejected from the hotel, as the owners would not let rooms to men who slept with pigs.  It was the joke of the town for days, much laughter in the market.  
It takes so little to make so many happy, and one signature to destroy all the pigs in Haiti, and make so many suffer.
Thank you everyone for sending checks.  I have found so many that I did not know had connections.
Best,
Leland
 

From: The listserv where the buildings do the talking [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Lisa Sasser
Sent: Monday, January 18, 2010 1:51 PM
To: [log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [BP] Haiti

Jim and all,

Among the vile things that have been done to Haiti is the extermination of the native pig population forced by the US government in the 1980s over fears that African Swine Fever if present in Haiti could spread to the US.  This drove huge numbers of people off the land and into the cities.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-smiley/capitalist-pigs_b_425990.html

Lisa

S. Elizabeth (Lisa) Sasser, AIA, LEED Green Associate
106 Horace Greeley Road, Amherst, New Hampshire 03031
P: 603-672-6057 | F: 603-672-1896 | M: 603-930-4508 | E: [log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]
Website: www.quid-tum.com  <http://www.quid-tum.com/>


On Mon, Jan 18, 2010 at 12:09 PM, JIM HICKS <[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Ken - Leland
I've been to Haiti a few times right after Baby Doc left the country to set up a tiffany factory. Didn't continue cuz I didn't want to be a party to slave labor (all arguments aside).
I know a bit of the history but for the latest short history check out two sites.
http://www.fair.org/blog/ Steve Rendall 'Heartless, Patronizing Haiti Pundits'.
And listen to Fair's blog Countersin for last Friday which highlights the history of Haiti. http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=5
One fact is that Haiti is in the shape that its in almost exclusively cuz of U.S. Foreign policies.
Haiti was forced to pay (By the U.S>) reparations to France for a century for income lost from not having slaves in Haiti from 1804. Our founding fathers while patting themselves on the back for overthrowing the English and praising France for their 'democracy' was boycotting Haiti & helping to hunt down the revolutionaries. The US has had its boot on Haiti’s neck for 200 years.
--
Jim Hicks
Quality Restoration Works, LLC
917-575-8545

> From: Leland Torrence <[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]>
> Reply-To: The listserv where the buildings do the talking

> <[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Mon, 18 Jan 2010 11:46:25 -0500


> To: [log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [BP] Haiti
>
> ][<en,
>
> During Nepoleon's occupation, Haiti provided 80% of all produced goods
> outside France.  The island was wasted long ago.  The statistic often quoted
> back in 1975 was that 11% of the arable land washed into the sea each year.
> Deforestation has been a problem for a long time, but the silting in the
> perimeter waters prevents sun light from encouraging growth of flora and
> hence fishing has to be done well away from the land. Further, most Haitians
> preferred method for cooking is to make coal from cutting down trees. There
> are still some magnificent Mapu trees and the like in less populated areas,
> and one can imagine what the island was like when the only inhabitants were
> Arawaks.  From an economics standpoint, the island has a potential work
> force of millions.  I have never understood why the US cannot put a business
> plan in place to rebuild this nation.  There is a history of marine
> occupation, and dumping money in the wrong hands.  An book that is essential
> reading for the understanding of Haiti is Written in Blood.
>
> I am trying to get a presentation up on YouTube, and will let you know
> later.
>
> Best,
>
> Leland
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: The listserv where the buildings do the talking
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Gabriel
> Orgrease
> Sent: Monday, January 18, 2010 5:56 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [BP] Haiti
>
> Leland,
>
> I was aware that you have had an involvement w/ the people of Haiti. I
> did not know to what extent. Thank you.

>>
>> The current devastation is difficult to watch, but is more a horrible
>> continuation of bad luck and neglect.
>>
> What I have gathered is that besides deforestation, and over fishing,
> and movement from rural to urban density, and corrupt governments that
> France demanded a cost for Haitian independence that in today's dollars
> would amount to $20 B and that they were not able to pay it off until
> 1946. That they paid it off at all is amazing to me. There is obviously
> an immediate need, but what I find bothersome is the tendency for
> neglect to set back into place after the urgency of the immediate need
> passes.
>
> ][<en
>
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