Remarkable New Documentary on Ecological Restoration and Permaculture in Haiti
"One Day, Everything Will Be Free" is the title of a remarkable new feature-length documentary on an ecological restoration and permaculture community in Haiti. The film is still in final editing, but you can see an inspiring preview and get more information at onedayeverythingwillbefree.com. The movie explores the challenges, motivations, and broader implications of Sadhana Forest Haiti, an unlikely reforestation community organized around an alternative, cashless economy in an area of Haiti devastated by soil erosion and social immobility. The director, Joseph Redwood-Martinez, emailed me the following: After living and working with this community for an extended period, I put together this video as ...
New 100K Jobs for Haiti Newsletter — February 2013
Download the latest newsletter here: 100kJobs4HaitiNewsletterFeb2013
In-Depth Reporting from Haiti Brings More Disturbing News
As one of the co-founders of the Sustainable Haiti Coalition, I've been feeling guilty lately about how little time I'm able to spend on sustaining our initiatives in Haiti. The demands of the local situation, especially after Hurricane Sandy, and following several financially-disastrous years for many of us, have diminished the hope of leading a group of students on a study tour of Northern Haiti, and many other projects have fallen by the wayside. There are some bright spots: we've supported the Partners Worldwide 100,000 Jobs initiative, which is gaining ground. MTB Ayiti, working with Travelcology, have pulled off the mountain ...
Haiti’s first ever pro-am mountain bike race viewed as a success
This event took place over January 30 to February 2, 2013; you can read more about it and view a video here. The Coalition was instrumental in working with Travelcology in the early stages of this event. Please visit this page to keep in touch with the organizing team for the 2014 event. -----PRESS RELEASE------ Partnering with the Ministry of Tourism, MTB Ayiti promotes Haiti as the hottest new destination for adventure travel. Port-au-Prince, January 28.- Mountain Bike Ayiti (MTBAyiti) presented by Pepsi Max, the first ever pro-am mountain bike stage race in Haiti, will take riders from Port-au-Prince to Marigot through some of ...
Solar Power Advances in Haiti
Solar Power Advances in Haiti December 9, 2012: NRG Energy, Inc. has announced the completion of its “The Sun Lights the Way” project in Haiti. The program entailed the installation of solar electric systems at 20 schools, a fish farm and a drip irrigation system supporting agricultural production throughout Haiti’s Central Plateau region, through collaboration with a non-profit organization called Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF). This project helps to improve the quality of education for more than 6,000 Haitian students by providing the electricity needed to power lights, communication systems, laptop computers and other school equipment in remote areas of the country. ...
3rd Annual Haiti Track at Movement Day 2012 NYC September 27th-28th
3rd Annual Haiti Track at Movement Day 2012 ~ TWO DAY TRACK “Redeveloping Haiti: Partnering for Strategic Impact” Hilton NY Hotel Thursday, September 27th 12:45pm-3:45pm and Friday, September 28th 8:00am-4:00pm We recently received the following very special letter from our friend Marie-Yolaine Eusebe from Community2Community:
New Features Extend Coalition Web Site’s Functionality
We're introducing a couple of new features designed to facilitate communication amongst Coalition members. The first is "Community-Submitted News," which allows you to easily submit items for publication to the site. You don't need to register or log in to do this; just go to the submission page and enter your content. (For more details, see this post, which was created using this feature.) In addition, we're adding a Community Portal — see this page for more details. This is still under development, so don't expect much content — yet. But we invite you to add your content, including projects, interests, ...
New Web Site Feature Allows Members to Post News
Now there's a simple way to submit your news items for publication to the site. You don't need to register or log in to create an item like this. Instead, just use the form at Community-Submitted News to post your news items. We'll make sure everything is okay before they're posted to the front page like this.
Follow up to the 2012 Sustainable Haiti Conference
We had a pretty extraordinary time in Miami at the end of April, reconnecting with old friends and making new ones, impressed by the level of development occurring both in Haiti and in the Diaspora community (though of course it is still barely scratching the surface of both the challenge and the opportunity) and determined to make a difference on our return.
Join us for the Sustainable Haiti Conference April 23-25 in Miami
This year's Sustainable Haiti Conference promises to be an extraordinarily useful gathering of people and organizations — with tangible plans, access to investment funding, and innovative solutions to the challenges of rebuilding Haiti. This 3rd annual conference will take place from April 23rd- April 25th, 2012 at the Miami Beach Convention Center. We'll be hosting a session on April 25, on Coalition Building for Sustainable Enterprise Development, and we invite you to join us for this — and take advantage of the resources, contacts, and opportunities present at the Conference, which is now a regular part of John Rosser's remarkable Sustainatopia ...
100,000 Jobs in Haiti Newsletter Just Released
100,000 Jobs in Haiti — February 2012 Newsletter PDF Version: 100KJobsNewsletter
100,000 Jobs for Haiti Site Launched
http://www.100kjobshaiti.org/ The Coalition is happy to support this initiative and host the web site for the 100,000 Jobs for Haiti project created by Partners Worldwide, in association with Peace Dividend Trust (creator of Building Markets, which lists more than 3500 "vetted" Haitian businesses) and Fonkoze, Haiti's leading microlender.
Sustainable Haiti Coalition Webinar scheduled for 2 p.m. EST on Tuesday, September 28, 2010.
Stay tuned for more details. Right now we anticipate using DimDim, with a PowerPoint presentation and a conference call-in number for discussion.
Here is a list of projects, which amount to over $1.6B, that were approved at the IHRC board meeting on 17 August 2010.
Read the rest of IHRC Announces Over $1. 6 Billion in New Project Proposals »
Download PDF Version: ProgressReportontheCoalition29AugFinal
The Coalition was founded in March 2010 at the Sustainable Haiti conference in Miami. Over the recent months, we have been actively engaged establishing in growing the Coalition and creating the conditions to build its infrastructure and ensure success. This report speaks to current members, individuals and organizations who’ve signed up to be informed of the work of the SHC and is further addressed to the nearly 60 attendees at our UN Global Compact Leaders Summit Haiti Side Event in June, and to many of the attendees at the Kylti Cultural Economy Forum at the Haitian Embassy in Washington on August 20-21. And finally, it is addressed to the Haitian, American, and Haitian-American communities at large.
Read the rest of Sustainable Haiti Coalition: Progress Report August 2010 »
Kylti is a new Diaspora-led organization with a mission to sustain and advance Haitian arts and culture. At the Haiti Cultural Economy Forum in Washington, DC this past weekend, founder Marcel Wah and several other outstanding speakers laid out a vision of “remaking the landscape, retaining the spirit” as a strategy for the rebirth of Haiti through her arts and culture.
Read the rest of Haiti’s Emerging Cultural Economy »
The Coalition was founded in March 2010 at the Sustainable Haiti conference in Miami. Over the recent months, we have been actively engaged establishing in growing the Coalition and creating the conditions to build it’s infrastructure and ensure success. This report speaks to current members, individuals and organizations who’ve sign up to be informed of the work of the SHC and is further addressed to the nearly 60 attendees at our UN Global Compact Leaders Summit Haiti Side Event in June. And finally, it is addressed to the Haitian, American, and Haitian-American communities at large.
Read the rest of Sustainable Haiti Coalition: Progress Report August 2010 »
The Sustainable Haiti Coalition is increasingly being invited to play a broader role in the planning and implementation of initiatives supporting the sustainable redevelopment of Haiti. Consequently we have been discussing a number of such initiatives with our closest members and supporters. These range from playing a role in the development of a sustainable building industry in Haiti, to the creation of a network of business incubators to foster entrepreneurship and innovation throughout Haiti, to assisting in the reconstruction of the higher education sector, to planning new infrastructure and new communities, to marketing carbon credits as a way of funding the reforestation of Haiti.
Read the rest of Our Projects, and the Project Approval Process »
An article by Ivy Mungcal on August 6, 2010 asks, “WHAT IS THE TRUTH ABOUT CANADA’S AID TO HAITI?” She quotes Roger Annis, a coordinator of the Canada Haiti Action Network, from an article published on Haiti Liberte entitled “Canada’s Failed Aid to Haiti.”
The challenge of rebuilding Haiti, already the most impoverished country in the Americas [1], after the earthquake is an enormous one, but it is also one that offers enormous opportunities to envision a new and more sustainable future. To the extent that it is possible to make a decisive break with the failed policies of the past, the opportunity for both public and private investment to flow into the sustainable redevelopment of Haiti is a significant one. Already a number of initiatives are being proposed, and in some cases acted on, even in the absence of an overall coordinated vision.
The Aid Business in Haiti
By Ton Vriens
(Translation of an article about Haiti for the Dutch magazine De Groene Amsterdammer, issue March 30, 2010)
Two months of international aid has turned Port-au-Prince into occupied territory. Military helicopters thumping overhead with gunners in the door opening – Apocalypse Now – navy vessels anchored in the bay. An American force of 22,000 troops, now being reduced to 11,000 in addition to a UN-army of 11,000, is mobilized to secure the aid operation. A ba okipasyon! – down with the occupation! – reads the graffiti all over town.
Read the rest of The Aid Business in Haiti – a dispatch from Ton Vriens »
An immediate thank you to all those who were on the conference call on Sunday evening.
The comments were pertinent, helpful, and insightful. Participants represented more than 30 groups and viewpoints (see list here), and we’ll be following up as appropriate with individuals regarding their specific interests and suggestions. Here are some key points:
- We have posted the call recording here, and will suggest an action plan and ways to work together and stay in touch. If you were not able to join, listening to the recording is a way to get connected to a broad range of initiatives that are bringing sustainable development to Haiti and can no doubt use additional support.
- Whether or not you were able to participate, please keep your materials coming. In writing up a summary of the call, we welcome additional information on your interests, your plans, and your opinions and concerns, which can be posted as comments to this item.
Based on the discussion, the Sustainable Leadership Forum and the Working Group for a Sustainable Future for Haiti also welcome specific partnering proposals that we can work on together.
For information on joining the call see Guidelines and Agenda for the Sustainable Haiti Call and Haiti – A Way Forward.
The following groups and individuals have indicated an interest in collaborating or joining the conversation: Read the rest of Individuals and Organizations Joining the Call for a More Sustainable Haiti »
On Wednesday, along with close to a thousand people, I attended the UNA-Haiti conference at the UN, and the follow-on conversation at the Turkish Mission. The stated aim of the conference was to foster partnerships to allow the re-building of Haiti “against all odds.” “Controlled chaos” is the way one person described it. For the most part the audience was willing to let the moderators and the panelists get their views out, but as soon as there was an opportunity for public comment, a number of individuals expressed impassioned views.
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