Haiti still has enormous beauty to offer

Tell people you are planning on Haiti. Tell them, and wait for the raised eyebrows, the skewed glances, the incredulous questions. Anyone who says that Haiti tourism is a thriving industry is a liar. It's not much of a secret – pick up your nearest Caribbean travel guide. See if it lists Haiti. Sure, it"ll have Haiti's neighbor to the east, the ever growing Dominican Republic, but Haiti? Probably not. They would have you believe that no one wants to visit the island. Haiti has a reputation, after all.
A reputation for danger and instability. And while the turbulent history of Haiti doesn't lend itself well to apologists, the country itself has long been given a bad rap. While crime, environmental problems and urban decay definitely have a home here, it's neither more or less sketchy than many places in the world. And if anyone tries to talk you out of visiting Haiti, politely ignore them, as Haiti culture makes the island one of the most complex and fascinating locations in all of the Caribbean.
In fact, Haiti tourism was a bustling industry just 25 years ago. The untamed scenery and exotic locale were legendary, attracting movie stars and business moguls from all over the world. Notoriety came in the form of Haiti's national religion of voodoo, but it was soon replaced by a different, more ominous marking – dictatorships, drug trafficking, widespread poverty and violence, all of which seriously wounded Haiti tourism. And despite the return of democracy to the island in the 21st century, the island is still in the process of recovery.
But that is neither here nor there, as the island still has enormous beauty to offer. Factor in that the government and people of Haiti are trying their best to restore the island into a tourist haven, and you have all the makings for a sublime trip to an island rediscovering itself.  The palm trees and gingerbread houses of Jacmel make the city one of the most beautiful locations in all of the Caribbean. The fading white of the buildings and voodoo artwork give the city an exoticism that reminds one of why this used to be one of the top tourist spots in the entire Caribbean.
The vibrant Haiti culture is most alive in its religion, music and food. Though the official religion of the country is Catholicism, a throwback to when the French ran the island, it is their continuing practice of voodoo that gives the culture of Haiti its exotic appeal. Though the French tried in vain to keep control of the island, Haiti became the second nation in the Americas (after the United States) to achieve independence. The most prominent remainder from French culture is the food, which borrows equally from creole, traditional African dishes and the spices of Latin America. The music of Haiti is significantly different from the rest of the Caribbean – kampa and zouk are the most popular forms here, and have more in common with jazz than the island beats found in places such as Cuba and Trinidad.
Despite the messy history of Haiti, the country is indeed becoming more tourist-friendly. Fear mongering and trumped-up State Department warnings are the only reminders of what Haiti used to be. Luckily, the people of Haiti are more concerned with what the island is turning into: one of the best kept secrets and one of the great examples of political and economic renewal in all of the world.

      WWW.destination360.com

Tide football player of Alabama University visit Haiti

Barrett Jones organized a group of 13 students to go to Haiti during spring break. The three Tide football players included Barrett Jones, Harrison Jones and Hardie Buck. 
Rex and Leslie Jones along with their sons (Barrett 20, Harrison 18 and Walker 16) led the group.

Leslie Jones shared the information:

"Barrett Jones, Harrison Jones and Walker Jones invited some of their high school friends also, so it was 24 students and 11 adults.

"Leigh and Sarah Gilmore, who run Cross Country and Track, were in the group along with Lissa Handley Tyson, Bear Bryant's great-granddaughter.  Barrett knows these people through Campus Crusade and FCA.

"The trip was through Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, TN.  Bellevue has partnered with SMI Haiti to send groups to Haiti on a regular basis.  SMI is a ministry that has been active in Haiti for 14 years.  Go to SMIHaiti.org for more info on the organization. Frank Williams, the President of SMI Haiti, met the group in Haiti and stayed with them the whole time.

"The group stayed at a SMI mission house in Guitton which is about 1.5 hrs from Port au Prince.  They worked with a school and orphanage in St. Ard about 15 minutes from Guitton.

SMI and Bellevue Baptist are building a new school in St Ard to replace one that was damaged in the earthquake.  Right now the students are meeting in a tent.
The team painted classrooms and bars on windows.  

"One of Barrett's favorite accomplishments was that they built a basketball court.  They put together the goals, installed them and painted lines on a concrete slab.  There was a huge basketball game, USA vs Haiti, the last day.  The whole school was dismissed to watch. USA won by a lot even though the Haitians were very athletic. 

"Earlier in the week, there was a huge  USA vs Haiti soccer game with their high school players and members of the mission team.  Most of the guys on the trip were great high school athletes and thought they would be pretty competitive.  Barrett gave a great pre-game speech and told his team, "We didn't come to Haiti to lose!" USA lost 5-2.  Barrett and Harrison scored the only goals.  The team felt pretty good about it until they learned that it was the sophomore soccer team not the varsity that they had played.  Haitians are very good soccer players.

"The team also went to a small village north of Guitton in the mountains to visit a school.  A lot of these kids had never seen Americans.  The team passed out candy, toys and a bag with enough rice and beans to feed 14 people.  The kids were so grateful and happy!

"Another day, the team fed the kids a big plate of rice and beans at the school in St Ard.  The Haitian children were so careful not to drop one bite and if they didn't finish, they carefully took it home with them.

"It was a great trip, and no one on the mission team was ready to leave!"

RETRO OF SATURDAY

                              A.K.I.K.O. BY THE GODDESS OF HAITIAN MUSIC

Emeline Michel is widely known as "The reigning queen of Haitian music, the new goddess of Creole music"

Her first experience in music was singing gospel music at her local church.

She is a very captivating performer, versatile vocalist, accomplished dancer, songwriter and producer

Short documentary about Francois Duvalier Papa Doc

François Duvalier was the president of Haiti from 1957 until his death. Trained as a physician and known to his people as "Papa Doc," Duvalier ruled his country as no other Haitian chief executive had, using violence and phony elections to hold down any opposition.

Early life

François Duvalier was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on April 14, 1907. His family belonged to the middle class. His grandfather had been a tailor, and his father was a school-teacher and municipal court judge. Duvalier believed that his people's African traditions should be preserved and protected from the influence of European countries. He was one of the founders of the Haitian intellectual Griot movement of the 1930s, whose members celebrated their African roots and even the practice of voodoo (a religion involving communication with spirits) as important elements of Haitian culture. Duvalier graduated in 1934 from the Haitian National University Medical School. In 1939 he married Simone Ovide, a nurse, and they had three daughters and a son.
Duvalier was active in sanitary programs initiated in Haiti by the U.S. army during World War II (1939–45) to prevent yaws, a contagious tropical disease. In 1944–45 he studied at the University of Michigan. After returning to Haiti, he became minister of health and labor in the government of President Dumarsais Estimé, who had once taught Duvalier in high school. After opposing the takeover of the government by Paul Magloire in 1950, Duvalier returned to the practice of medicine, especially the campaigns to prevent yaws and other diseases. In 1954 he abandoned medicine and went into hiding in the Haitian countryside. In 1956 the Magloire government forgave all of its political opponents. Duvalier immediately emerged from hiding and declared his candidacy for the next elections.

Rise to power

Duvalier had a solid base of support in the countryside, and his campaign was similar to those of the other candidates in that they all promised to rebuild the country and give it a new start. Duvalier, however, made various deals with one or more of the other candidates, won the army over to his side, and finally defeated Louis Déjoie, his main opponent, in what turned out to be the quietest and most honest election in Haiti's history.
In spite of this favorable start, Duvalier's government was burdened with many problems. The defeated candidates refused to cooperate with him and, from hiding, encouraged acts of violence and disobedience against the new president. After Fidel Castro (1927–) came to power in Cuba, that country began to harbor Haitian refugees who had escaped the increasingly harsh conditions of the Duvalier government. In addition, General Rafael Trujillo (1891–1961), dictator (military ruler) of the Dominican Republic and enemy of Castro, feared a Cuban invasion through Haiti, and this concern led to Dominican interference in Haitian affairs.

Abuse of power

It was during this period that Duvalier created an organization directly responsible to him, the Tontons Macoutes (also known as "Bogeymen"), the Haitian version of a secret police. Through the late 1950s to the middle 1960s this force continued to grow and was responsible for terrorizing and assassinating anyone thought to be an opponent of Duvalier. In the 1961 elections Duvalier altered the ballots to have his name placed at the top. Afterward he announced that his victory gave him another six years in office. In the words of the New York Times of May 13, 1961, "Latin America has witnessed many fraudulent (fake) elections … but none will have been more outrageous than the one which has just taken place in Haiti."
After the 1961 elections the American government made it clear that the United States disputed the truth of the results and that Duvalier's legal term should end in 1963. During 1962 the American Agency for International Development (AID) mission was withdrawn from Haiti, and by April 1963 an American fleet moved into position close to Port-au-Prince. On May 15, to show its disapproval of Duvalier's continued presence, the United States suspended diplomatic relations with Haiti, refusing to engage it in discussions of international matters. At the same time, relations between Haiti and the Dominican Republic were getting worse, and Duvalier's main enemy, Dominican President Juan Bosch, was threatening to invade Haiti.

François Duvalier. 
Reproduced by permission of

Archive Photos, Inc.

Even the Organization of the American States (OAS) became involved, sending a fact-finding mission to Haiti. However, Duvalier remained firmly in control, the Dominicans backed down, and Haiti went back to business as usual.

President for life

After the election of 1961 and the continuation of Duvalier's rule in 1963, many observers felt it was only a matter of time before Duvalier moved to have himself installed as permanent Haitian president. On April 1, 1964, that was exactly what happened. The Legislative Chamber, which did whatever Duvalier wanted, rewrote the 1957 constitution, making a point of changing Article 197 so that Duvalier could be declared president for life. A "vote" on the new constitution was held, and on June 22, 1964, Duvalier was officially named president for life.
After that time Haitian political life was a little calmer. Having taken over his country and holding off the United States, the OAS, and the Dominican Republic in the process, Duvalier was in complete control. During the 1960s he survived several damaging hurricanes and numerous attempts to overthrow him. A small, gray-haired man, Duvalier began suffering from heart disease and other health problems. In January 1971 he directed the National Assembly to change the constitution to allow his son, Jean Claude Duvalier (1951–), to succeed him. Duvalier died on April 21, 1971, and his son immediately took over.

For More Information

Read more: François Duvalier Biography - life, family, name, death, history, school, son, information, born, house, time http://www.notablebiographies.com/Du-Fi/Duvalier-Fran-ois.html#ixzz1IKtWwN8F
http://www.notablebiographies.com/Du-Fi/Duvalier-Fran-ois.html

Harmonik/Alison Hinds La Nuit Des Jeunes 2011

Shakira Helps Rebuild Haiti School

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti April 1, 2011, 06:19 am ET

Colombian singer Shakira danced with students in Haiti on Thursday as she celebrated the renovation of a historic Catholic girls school damaged in the country's devastating 2010 earthquake.

With her song "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" playing over loudspeakers, the Grammy-winning, hip-shaking pop star grooved with students from the Elie Dubois high school in downtown Port-au-Prince.

Her Barefoot Foundation, which helps child victims of violence and disasters, and the Inter-American Development Bank each donated $400,000 to restore the high school.

"I'm convinced that the key to a dignified future for Haiti is through education," said Shakira, 34, wearing a black T-shirt and matching jeans.

The nine-classroom, 250-student school was built in 1913, and was the first in Haiti to provide vocational training for girls, officials said. Construction is expected to begin in two months and will take up to 14 months to complete. Organizers have yet to put out bids.

Those involved attribute the cost to the expensive nature of building materials in the capital.

"Everything has to be imported," said Eric Cesal, an architect and program manager for Architecture for Humanity, an aid group that planned the school's restoration.

Youngsters were excited to meet Shakira and hear about their new school.

"It's so nice that we have a star coming and that she's coming to help the school," said Joselourdes Jean-Paul, a 19-year-old student. "With the new school, we're going to learn more and learn better."

From www.NPR.org

Did you know that the lead singer of Arcade Fire is the daughter of Haitian immigrants ???

What an unbelievable gesture!  This band deserves all the accolades they've received this year!
Arcade Fire performed an intimate, surprise show for fans in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti on Tuesday night, on top of raising over $1 million for post-earthquake relief for the devastated country!
Sources claim the band, whose singer, Régine Chassagne, is the daughter of Haitian immigrants, performed their own hits Keep the Car Running, Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains), and Haiti, as well as covers of CreedenceClearwater Revival, The Rolling Stones, and Cyndi Lauper tracks!
Truly amazing!   We're sure this meant the WORLD to not only their fans down there, but the entire community!
You guys should be EXTREMELY proud of all of your efforts!  We certainly
                     perezhilton.com

Régine Chassagne is a Canadian of Haitian ancestry who was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and grew up in St-Lambert, a suburb south of Montreal. Her parents emigrated from Haiti during the dictatorship of Jean-Claude Duvalier, which is alluded to in the Arcade Fire song "Haiti", in which she sings, Mes cousins jamais nés hantent les nuits de Duvalier ("My unborn cousins haunt Duvalier's nights").
                                             Wiki