Secretary Clinton on Haiti's Independence Day

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
December 30, 2010

STATEMENT BY SECRETARY CLINTON

Republic of Haiti’s Independence Day

On behalf of President Obama and the people of United States, I join with the people of the Republic of Haiti to honor the 207th anniversary of your independence this January 1.

When Haiti cast off the bonds of slavery and declared its freedom from France in 1804, it made history, setting a precedent for independence in Latin America and creating the first post-colonial black-led nation in the world. Today, we see the courage of that struggle – from the leadership of Jean Jacques Dessalines and Toussaint L’Ouverture to the strength and unity of the Haitian people – reflected in Haiti’s response to the devastating earthquake of January 12, 2010. In the wake of a disaster that took the lives of more than 200,000 people, Haitians and volunteers from more than 140 nations came together overnight to pull survivors from the rubble and administer critical care and assistance. I witnessed this testament to our common humanity first hand in the days immediately following the earthquake, and I have seen it grow throughout the year as countries around the world continue to help Haiti recover and rebuild.

Despite all Haiti has endured, Haitians have shown an unflagging strength, will, and passion to forge ahead and build a more prosperous nation. The people and government of the United States stand firmly with the people of Haiti, and we are committed to helping ensure that your voice determines the way forward for your nation and government. We will continue deepening the partnership and friendship between our nations to achieve a brighter future for all our people.

I wish all Haitians a happy Independence Day and New Year. I look forward to working with you to make 2011 a year filled with peace and progress.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)

Haiti frees U.S. aid worker accused of kidnapping

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - An American aid worker has been released from a prison in Haiti more than two weeks after being jailed on allegations he kidnapped a 15-month-old boy from a hospital, a Haitian prosecutor said on Thursday.The boy's father had accused Paul Waggoner of stealing the baby boy, who was admitted to a hospital where Waggoner was a worker. 

The court was shown evidence the baby had died in hospital.Waggoner, who co-founded the aid group Materials Management Relief Corps after the quake, was freed on Wednesday when a judge granted a request from his lawyer, Enock-Gene Genelus, the prosecutor in the case, told Reuters.Genelus said the judge had not issued a final ruling.

 However, Waggoner's release suggested he will likely be cleared of the charges.

A judge opened an investigation to determine whether the baby had been kidnapped or died at a hospital in the aftermath of Haiti's devastating January 12 earthquake, which killed more than 250,000 people and prompted one of the world's biggest international relief operations.

Tens of thousands of aid workers are in Haiti, the Western Hemisphere's poorest state where some 1.3 million earthquake survivors remain homeless and a cholera epidemic has killed more than 2,700 since mid-October.

In a statement posted on its website, the group said it presented an affidavit from a doctor who had treated the child that stated the boy died at a community hospital in February and the father had been shown the body.

"We are so glad this is finally over," said Paul Sebring, the aid group's other co-founder.

Waggoner suggested he might be ending his personal involvement in aid efforts on the ground in Haiti but urged relief workers to continue.

"I could have continued working in Haiti and would've been happy," he said.

"I love Haiti and fear this incident will stop many aid workers from coming to help."

(West Australian: Reporting by Joseph Guyler Delva; Writing by Kevin Gray; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Countdown to Haiti...

Well hello everyone, I wanted to tell everyone why I'm traveling to Haiti and why Haiti is so dear to my heart.  I was born in Florida to Haitian parents, and I was raised in Haiti as a child, my first language was even creole, Haiti's native language.  When the earthquake January 12, 2010,  happened the first thing I did  was make sure my family, who still reside in Haiti today were okay. This earthquake was bigger than life, so I wanted to give back my time and efforts to help out Haiti. Last spring I started a fundraiser in Oregon where I played college football.  We collected over 24,000 pounds of donations in the form of clothing, medical supplies and food!  I traveled to Haiti to deliver the goods, to visit my family and to volunteer my time. 

When I got invited to join the CFL trip to Haiti, I was ecstatic.  I later found out that none of the other players' have ever been to Haiti. I'm looking forward to showing them Haiti, and to help them get their feet wet. This trip is creating awareness of the devastation, and I couldn't ask for more.  Hopefully the guys will continue to help or even create their own foundations supporting Haiti.

On this specific trip, we are volunteering with Oxfam, volunteering at the tent sites and we are traveling to a little village in the mountain's that hasn't gotten much relief.  We will be staying with my family at their home in Port au Prince. 

No one can imagine the pain and suffering Haitian's are enduring, still today. If I could ask for anything, it would be that us as American's and Canadian's would continue to be thankful everyday for what we have, the education and healthcare that we have access to,  and even something as simple as clean water. 

Huddle For Haiti

Yvenson Bernard has his itinerary in hand, his bags are packed, and he is ready to get to Haiti! He will depart from Florida to Port au Prince on January 8, 2010 for the anniversary of the earthquake which devastated the country he grew up in. He will spend over a week volunteering with organizations such as Oxfam. The trip will be covered by media via TSN.

The devastating earthquake the slammed Haiti last January was chosen top news event of the year by Postmedia Network editors and canada.com.

But it only narrowly beat out second-place votes for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and the Vancouver Winter Olympics, taking four votes out of 10 media organizations, compared to three apiece for the spill and the sporting spectacle.

The Haiti disaster, said senior Postmedia editor Neil Haesler, "may resonate deep, deep into 2011 and beyond. Canada's involvement, from donations, to aid, to (former governor-general) Michaelle Jean, gave it the push to the top for me."

Calgary Herald managing editor Monica Zurowski named the Olympics as story of the year. "This was an event that united the country like nothing before. It was a celebration of being Canadian and Canadians embraced this."

"The BP spill (in the Gulf of Mexico) had the horror of an uncontrollable disaster, fire, death, corruption, callous disregard by top players . . . " noted Gerry Klein, Forum pages editor of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. "It also captured the world's attention longer than any other story for the year."


Read more: http://www.canada.com/news/Postmedia+editors+pick+Haiti+quake+news+story/4030175/story.html#ixzz19Rgzo2Cp

The damaged... a year in pictures

A street vendor tries to keep the crowd from stealing her goods in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Jan. 24. Desperation rose in the Haitian capital following the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake.

A Haitian man carries a coffin on his head in Port-au-Prince on Jan. 29 against a backdrop of damaged buildings. A magnitude-7 earthquake on Jan. 12 killed as many as 200,000 people.

Haitian group Supremacy to perform at Haiti benefit concert

Supremacy is a Haitian singing group located in South Florida. They are excited to perform at the Haiti Benefit concert May 14, 2011! It will be an amazing addition to the concert to incorporate Haitian music and culture for this wonderful cause!

Elections in Haiti

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Seeking to defuse the violent protests that have shut down this country for two days, Haiti’s electoral council promised Thursday to rapidly review the widely mistrusted preliminary results from the presidential election last month.

Enlarge This Image

Damon Winter/The New York Times

Fires still burned and streets remained barricaded in Port-au-Prince on Thursday after Wednesday's violent protests.

Related in Opinion

• Editorial: Haiti’s Clouded Election(December 10, 2010)

Even before the council’s midday announcement, a cool, steady rain and a popular candidate’s exhortation for calm had dampened the demonstrations that rocked Haiti on Wednesday. But the country remained shuttered and volatile, with fires still burning, streets barricaded and violent skirmishes between political camps still flaring.

Acknowledging that Haitian voters had expressed their “manifest dissatisfaction,” the electoral council invited the three top vote-getters, along with national and international election observers, to participate in an audit of the vote tally sheets.

But the three candidates, each of whom had questioned the results, were not quick to embrace the invitation. Michel Martelly, a singer whose partisans have dominated the street protests, said through a spokesman that he did not want to participate in an audit or file a legal challenge unless the election board’s leaders stepped down.

“You don’t report a theft to the thief,” said the spokesman, Damien Merlo.

The candidates’ skepticism did not bode well for an easy resolution of the electoral crisis that has paralyzed Haiti or for a return to what passes for normal life in a country still recovering from a devastating earthquake and grappling with a raging cholera epidemic.

The Nov. 28 election was marred by problems, and before the polls closed, 12 of 18 candidates demanded it be voided because of what they said was widespread fraud.

In the results released Tuesday night, Mirlande Manigat, a university administrator and former first lady, came in first, while Jude Célestin, the chosen successor of the departing president, René Préval, came in second. Mr. Martelly came in third, missing a runoff election by only a few thousand votes.

Some of Mr. Martelly’s supporters said they would not stop demonstrating until they got what they wanted: “At this point, all we want is for Micky to be president,” said Desly Stacy, 33. .

Colin Granderson, chief of the electoral observation mission jointly run by theOrganization of American States and the Caribbean communities, said the “wafer-thin difference between No. 2 and No. 3” suggested that an audit could change the results.

The deadline for legal challenges to the results was supposed to be Friday, but Mr. Granderson said that the electoral council was essentially contesting the results on behalf of the candidates.

He said the review was unlikely to be a full recount. He said he expected that the candidates, if they agreed to participate, would suggest which tally sheets to review based on the polling stations where they suspected fraud.

Residents of some neighborhoods in this capital city were busy on Thursday sweeping and scrubbing to clean up after Wednesday’s protests, and bulldozers were removing barricades from some main access roads.

But in mid-afternoon, a fresh pool of blood near the central Champ de Mars attested to continuing violence.

By DEBORAH SONTAG

Yvenson Surprises Soldier at Civil War 2010

Yvenson surprised Sergeant Kaitlyn Oare from Albany on December 4, 2010 at Civil War. Because of her service,  he insisted on giving her front row seats to the game, and by front row, we mean on the field! Thank you for serving our country Kaitlyn, we appreciate all you've done!

Thank you to all of the soldiers who have served for our freedom!

Haiti Fundraiser at Bailey's restaurant

These are photos from the Haiti fundraiser Yvenson held at Bailey's restaurant in Oregon last spring. Even Beaver athletes joined the cause! Hundreds of items were auctioned, hot dogs and burgers were grilled, and the fundraiser raised thousands of dollars for Haiti!  

BIG THANKS TO BAILEY'S FOR PUTTING ON THE EVENT!

Yvenson visits Florence Boys & Girls club

Yvenson and Alexis Serna took time out of their evening to make an appearance at an annual Boy & Girls Club of Florence Civil War fundraiser. Yvenson and Alexis joined the children in a game of Civil War dodge ball, and in this game, the Beaver's won.

Yvenson visits Salem elementary school

Yvenson made his way to a Salem elementary school taught by Ms. Megan Nelson. There Yvenson spoke to the class about the situation in Haiti. He also shared photos and stories from his trip to Haiti last spring.  He even gave away a few of his I LOVE HAITI shirts to the students.

Photo thanks to Megan Nelson.

World Vision - Haiti Earthquake Update - Ways You Can Help Haiti

Ways you can help Haiti

World Vision's Progress in Haiti

In the months immediately following Haiti’s devastating quake, partners like you enabled World Vision to care for the wounded and provide life-saving assistance to the displaced. Now we are helping children recover emotionally, equipping families to rebuild their lives, and preparing communities to face future disasters — including the immediate threat of hurricanes.

Prayers and support from partners like you continue to be vital to the success of these ongoing efforts. Thank you for joining us in our commitment to the future of Haiti — and Haiti’s children.

World Vision - Haiti Earthquake Update - Ways You Can Help Haiti

Big things happening

All of our plans for our Haiti Benefit Concert at Oregon State University are coming together incredibly! We are excited to bring the event to life this spring! More info to come!

Other than that, our flights are booked to Haiti! We will be leaving the first of January! Can't wait to get there and get to work!

REMEMBER HAITI: SONJE AYITI!!!!

Yvenson is traveling to Haiti for the 1st Anniversary

Yvenson Bernard has been chosen as one of eight players from the Canadian Football League Players Association to spend 10 days in Haiti during the anniversary of the country’s devastating earthquake, putting a spotlight on reconstruction and rehabilitation projects, including a visit to an Oxfam program.

Check out the Huddle for Haiti Facebook page