Blood flows along the street in the aftermath of an earthquake in Port-au-Prince January 13, 2010. Reuters

Haitians left homeless in the aftermath of Tuesday’s earthquake rest at a park in Port-au-Prince January 13, 2010. Reuters

The body of an earthquake victim is covered with the Haitian flag beside other casualties after an earthquake in Port-au-Prince January 13, 2010. Reuters

An injured women and her baby are seen at a makeshift field hospital on January 13, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Getty People wander the streets in front of the remains of a boarding school in the downtown area January 13, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Getty People look for food in a destroyed supermarket January 13, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Getty Destroyed buildings are seen after a major earthquake hit the capital Port-au-Prince January 13, 2010. Reuters An injured man is prepared for air transport at the Port-au-Prince International airport on January 13, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Peacekeepers carry a survivor from the rubble of the headquarters of the United Nations (UN) Stabilization Mission in Haiti after a major earthquake struck in Port-au-Prince in this January 13, 2010 video grab. Reuters A girl lies trapped between her bed and the roof of her house January 13, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Getty Body of a man lies in the streets on January 13, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Getty Body of a woman lies near the presidential palace January 13, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Getty A casualty is identified with a makeshift toe tag on January 13, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Getty A man holds a severely injured woman, while waiting for assistance in the town of Canape Vert January 13, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Getty A dead victim is seen inside the boot of a car after an earthquake in Port-au-Prince January 13, 2010. Reuters Injured people are prepared for air transport at the Port-au-Prince International airport on January 13, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Getty Residents camp outside their houses for fear of a recurrence after a major earthquake hit the capital Port-au-Prince January 13, 2010. Reuters People walk in Delmas street after an earthquake in Port-au-Prince January 13, 2010. Reuters

(EDITORS NOTE: Image contains graphic content) Bodies lie in the street January 14, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Getty
Two of the dead lie in the rubble of a destroyed building January 14, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Getty
In this handout image provided by the United Nations, thousands of dead lie in front of the morgue at the general hospital on January 14, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Getty
A man looks for a body among hundreds of earthquake victims at the morgue in Port-au-Prince, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010. AP
A man retrieves the body of a relative from a pile outside the general hospital in this United Nations handout taken and released on January 14, 2010. Reuters
Workers load some of the thousands of bodies that lie in the General Hospital downtown to transport them to a common grave in Port au Prince, Haiti, January 14, 2009. Reuters
Residents walk at an open camp area where they are staying January 14, 2010. Reuters
Residents walk at a destroyed area of Port-au-Prince, January 14, 2010. Reuters
People walk down a street in this United Nations handout taken and released on January 14, 2010. Reuters
Residents take food from the destroyed Caribbean supermarket in Port-au-Prince January 14, 2010. Reuters
Residents of Miami Beach and surrounding neighborhoods deliver goods to a truck being loaded in South Beach to be delivered to the nation of Haiti January 14, 2010 in Miami Beach, Florida. Getty
The bodies of children lie near where they were killed in the rubble of their home destroyed by the massive earthquake on January 14, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Getty
Residents fight for food as a police officer watches them after a major earthquake hit the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince January 14, 2010. Reuters<
The body of a person is trapped in the rubble of a home destroyed by the massive earthquake on January 14, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Getty
The body of a person is trapped in the rubble of a home destroyed by the massive earthquake on January 14, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Getty
A woman looks for a body among hundreds earthquake victims outside the morgue in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010. AP
People carry the body of a person pulled out of the rubble caused by the massive earthquake on January 14, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Getty
People carry the body of a person pulled out of the rubble caused by the massive earthquake on January 14, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Gett
People check on the identification of a body that was pulled out of the rubble caused by the massive earthquake on January 14, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Getty
The body of Emanuela Aminise waits to be placed in a coffin after she was killed in the massive earthquake on January 14, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Getty
People work on carrying the body of a person pulled out of the rubble caused by the massive earthquake on January 14, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Getty
The bodies of those killed by the massive earthquake lie on the side of a road on January 14, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Getty
People look on as others search for survivors under a church destroyed by the massive earthquake on January 14, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Getty
A mother and two children sleep on a bunk after receiving treatment at a medical clinic at a MINUSTAH (United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti) logistics base after an earthquake in Port-au- Prince, in this United Nations handout taken January 13, 2010. Reuters
A girl sits on a bunk after receiving treatment at a medical clinic at a MINUSTAH (United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti) logistics base after an earthquake in Port-au- Prince, in this United Nations handout taken January 13, 2010.  Reuters
DigitalGlobe’s Crisis Event Service is actively collecting imagery of Haiti in response to the recent earthquakes. With the power of the DigitalGlobe satellite constellation, we will have 23 collection opportunities of the earthquake damage over the next two weeks. In an effort to help the humanitarian efforts underway in Haiti, we are offering free access to both pre- and post-earthquake imagery until January 28, 2010 with our ImageConnect plug-in for GIS software. Sign up for your free access now:http://dgl.us.neolane.net/res/dgl/survey/CES_H.jsp

__________
Most heavily damaged structures appear to be those constructed of masonry and concrete which are less flexible than structures made of resilient steel, wood-framing and fabric (tents) which appear to have survived or suffered much less damage. Structures built of concrete masonry units (CMU), if unreinforced with steel mesh or bars, are especially vulnerable to shaking. CMU is portable, cheap, fire-proof and easy to construct by low-skilled labor, thus commonly used in low-cost buildings. A common strucutral system is to use CMU as supporting walls, with cast-concrete floor and roof plates — collapse of the walls leads to lethal pancaking of the concrete plates.

Images from Google Earth with 13 January 2010 KML overlay

Port au Prince, Haiti, Stadium Used as Aid Facility

Sports Field Aid Facility, Crowds in Plaza Away from Buildings

Collapsed Governmental Headquarters

Collapsed Cathedral

Collapsed Buildings, Crowds Milling

(EDITOR’S NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT) Dead bodies from this week’s devastating earthquake lie in a pit January 16, 2010 in Titanyen, Haiti. Officials, overwhelmed by the thousands of dead from the 7.0-strong earthquake on January 12 earthquake, have resorted to burying the corpses without ceremony in hastily-dug pits in a rural area outside of Port au Prince. Getty

(EDITOR’S NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT) Dead bodies from this week’s devastating earthquake lie in a pile January 16, 2010 in Titanyen, Haiti. Getty

(EDITOR’S NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT) A truck dumps rubble into a pit full of the dead from this week’s devastating earthquake January 16, 2010 in Titanyen, Haiti. Getty

(EDITOR’S NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT) Dead bodies from this week’s devastating earthquake lie in a pit January 16, 2010 in Titanyen, Haiti. Getty

(EDITOR’S NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT) Dead bodies from this week’s devastating earthquake lie in a pile January 16, 2010 in Titanyen, Haiti. Getty

Haitians rush to pick up water being dropped from a Navy helicopter as help continues to arrive for victims of the massive earthquake January 16, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Planeloads of rescuers and relief supplies headed to Haiti as governments and aid agencies launched a massive relief operation after a powerful earthquake that may have killed thousands. Many buildings were reduced to rubble by the 7.0-strong quake on January 12. Getty

U.S. citizens, Haitian-American citizens and Haitians with U.S. visas sit onboard of a U.S. Hercules plane as they are evacuated in Port-au-Prince January 16, 2010. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton assured Haiti’s quake-ravaged people on Saturday the United States would work with their government to ensure the country emerges “stronger and better” after this week’s disaster. Reuters

Note: First two photos below from April, 2009

A U.S. Navy SH-60 Seahawk helicopter, with Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20), delivers pallets of medical supplies to a medical community service project site in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, April 9, 2009, during exercise Continuing Promise 2009. Continuing Promise is a four-month humanitarian and civic assistance mission that providing medical and other services to seven countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Nashaunda Tilghman/Released) Date Posted: 6/2/2009

Aerial shot of Killick, Haiti, taken April 11, 2009, chosen as one of the community service project sites during exercise Continuing Promise 2009. Continuing Promise is a four-month humanitarian and civic assistance mission that providing medical and other services to seven countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Landon Stephenson/Released) Date Posted: 6/2/2009

Photo below from September 2008

Roads washed out due to recent hurricanes in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, are shown Sept. 13, 2008. The amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) has been diverted from its deployment in support of the humanitarian assistance mission Continuing Promise 2008 to conduct hurricane relief operations in Haiti coordinated by the U.S. Agency for International Development. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Joshua Adam Nuzzo/Released) Date Posted: 9/16/2008

[Above and three below] Images of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Jan 15, 2010. Department of Defense assets have been dispatched to Haiti to assist with humanitarian assistance and disaster relief after a magnitude 7 earthquake hit the country on Jan. 12, 2010. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. James L. Harper Jr./Released) Date Posted: 1/16/2010

[Above and two below] Images of Toussaint L?Ouverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Jan 15, 2010. Department of Defense assets have been dispatched to Haiti to assist with humanitarian assistance and disaster relief after a magnitude 7 earthquake hit the country on Jan. 12, 2010. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. James L. Harper Jr./Released) Date Posted: 1/16/2010

Shown here Jan. 15, 2010, is an aerial view of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, following a magnitude-7 earthquake that hit the city Jan. 12, 2010. Department of Defense assets have been deployed to assist in the Haiti relief effort. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. James L. Harper Jr./Released) Date Posted: 1/16/2010

Shown here Jan. 15, 2010, is an aerial view of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, following a magnitude-7 earthquake that hit the city Jan. 12, 2010. Department of Defense assets have been deployed to assist in the Haiti relief effort. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. James L. Harper Jr./Released) Date Posted: 1/16/2010

Shown here Jan. 15, 2010, is an aerial view of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, following a magnitude-7 earthquake that hit the city Jan. 12, 2010. Department of Defense assets have been deployed to assist in the Haiti relief effort. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. James L. Harper Jr./Released) Date Posted: 1/16/2010

Shown here Jan. 14, 2010, is an aerial view from a U.S. Air Force RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle of earthquake victims gathering in a soccer field in Haiti. Aerial images are providing U.S. military planners situational awareness as they coordinate U.S. military support to the Haiti relief effort. (DoD photo courtesy of U.S. Southern Command/Released) Date Posted: 1/15/2010

Haiti 7

A C-130 transport plane carrying supplies flies past the tower on board the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier enroute to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, January 15, 2010. Reuters

[Above and below] Bodies of earthquake victims lie outside the morgue in Port-au-Prince, Friday, Jan. 15, 2010. AP

People line up to receive aid arrived from the Dominican Republic in Port-au-Prince, Friday, Jan. 15, 2010. AP

In this handout image provided by the United Nations, bodies are stacked along the road after the earthquake on January 15, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Getty

http://www.digitalglobe.com/index.php/27/Sample+Imagery+Gallery

http://www.digitalglobe.com/downloads/featured_images/haiti_port_au_prince_airport_qb_jan15_2010_dg.jpg

Haiti Earthquake Satellite Photos and Maps

http://www.disasterscharter.org/web/charter/activation_details?p_r_p_1415474252_assetId=ACT-287

http://sertit.u-strasbg.fr/SITE_RMS/2010/01_rms_haiti_2010/01_rms_haiti_2010.html

http://unosat.web.cern.ch/unosat/asp/prod_free.asp?id=52

Damage evaluation map based on satellite data over the Port-au-Prince area of Haiti, following a 7.0 magnitude earthquake and several aftershocks that hit the Caribbean nation on 12 January. Map based on data from CNES’s SPOT-5, JAXA’s ALOS and the U.S.-based GeoEye-1 satellites; processed by SERTIT.



26 January 2010

A man watches as a bulldozer digs a mass grave in preparation for the arrival of fresh corpses caused by the Haiti earthquake in Titayen January 25, 2010. Tens of thousands of bodies have already been buried at this site at Titayen, north of the capital. Reuters
The arm of one of a person that was killed in Haiti’s earthquake sits partially covered at a mass grave in Titanyen , Haiti, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010. Tens of thousands of victims of Haiti’s massive earthquake are buried here, in several mass grave sites
The arm of one of a person that was killed in Haiti’s earthquake sits partially covered at a mass grave in Titanyen , Haiti, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010. Tens of thousands of victims of Haiti’s massive earthquake are buried here, in several mass grave sites. AP The arm of one of a person that was killed in Haiti’s earthquake sits partially covered at a mass grave in Titanyen , Haiti, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010. Tens of thousands of victims of Haiti’s massive earthquake are buried here, in several mass grave sites. AP
A man and his son lead their donkeys past mass graves where the bodies of victims of last week’s devastating earthquake are buried in mass graves near the town of Titanyen January 19, 2010 just outside Port-au-Prince, Haiti. With more than one hundred thousand people feared dead, authorities are burying victims in mass graves located around the city. Getty
The arm of one of a person that was killed in Haiti’s earthquake sits partially covered at a mass grave in Titanyen , Haiti, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010. Tens of thousands of victims of Haiti’s massive earthquake are buried here, in several mass grave sites. AP

20 January 2010. Add additional new pits under construction.

19 January 2010. Add new pits under construction.

18 January 2010

This shows a site near Titanyen, Haiti, with several mass burial pits for earthquake victims. There are reportedly a number of other sites.

Photos of the bodies and pits:

http://cryptome.org/info/haiti-quake/haiti-quake-04.htm

Before Quake

<


Source CNN Video, 16 January 2010
<
Image from about January 17, 2010
Some of the first pits have been covered in this later image from about January 17, 2010.
Pits here appeared to have been dug and covered, some interrrupting the road, another to the side,
from about January 17, 2010.
After Quake 18 January 2010
Before Quake



Pits shown here, from about 17 January 2010, are being covered and the burial area enlarged in the image following.


An excavator prepares graves for the bodies of victims of last week’s devastating earthquake near the town of Titanyen January 19, 2010 just outside Port-au-Prince, Haiti. With more than one hundred thousand people feared dead, authorities are burying victims in mass graves located around the city.
The bodies of victims of last week’s devastating earthquake are pushed by a bulldozer into a mass grave near the town of Titanyen January 19, 2010 just outside Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
The body of a victim of last week’s devastating earthquake is pushed by a bulldozer into a mass grave near the town of Titanyen January 19, 2010 just outside Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Getty
An excavator prepares graves for the bodies of victims of last week’s devastating earthquake near the town of Titanyen January 19, 2010 just outside Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
A dumptruck prepares to dump the bodies of victims of last week’s devastating earthquake into a mass grave near the town of Titanyen January 19, 2010 just outside Port-au-Prince, Haiti. With more than two hundred thousand people feared dead, authorities are burying victims in mass graves located around the city. Getty

By JACQUELINE CHARLES

jcharles@MiamiHerald.com

While a judge is investigating allegations of crimes committed during his 15-year rule, former Duvalier supporters are among the close advisers of President-elect Michel Martelly, The Miami Herald reported Monday. Martelly, formerly a popular singer, has suggested amnesty for Duvalier as well as Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the priest-turned-president who was exiled twice.

Duvalier, 59, who returned to Haiti about four months ago as the poverty-mired Caribbean island nation struggles to recover from a massive 2010 earthquake, shrugs off ties to Martelly.

“I did not send them and they are not there as Duvalieriests,” he said.

The former president is under house arrest, albeit in a comfortable borrowed house in the hills above Port-au-Prince. He has been spotted in fashionable restaurants, and Dr. Nichole Magloire, who spent time in prison under Duvalier, said she left quickly in anger when she saw him at a Petionville restaurant drinking wine, listening to jazz and shaking hands with other diners.

“The phone is ringing all of the time and I’m receiving a lot of visitors,” Duvalier told the Herald, describing a typical day in the life of Haiti’s former president-for-life.

Duvalier, 59, became president at the age of 19 when his father, Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier, died. He was forced out amidst a popular revolt and under pressure from the United States.

The Swiss government announced plans last week to transfer $6.7 million in frozen assets to the government of Haiti. Duvalier is expected to fight that, the Herald said.

—————————————————————————————————————————

COMMENT: HAITIAN-TRUTH.ORG

Why does everyone take cheap shots at Duvalier?

This article ends by suggesting Duvalier will fight release of the money.

This is not, and has never been the case. Immediately after the January, 2010 quake he asked for the money to be released to some accountable group – for use by the Haitian people.

He did not consider Preval’s government an accountable group. After all, Preval has stolen $198,000,000 from Petro Caraibe funds, a fact accepted by the Haitian people. Yet no one attacks Preval.

And Aristide, why aren’t there a few shots at him for the $1.5 billion he has accumulated, one way or another.

Duvalier has been blamed for many things he didn’t do.

Aristide and Preval are never blamed for things they have done, and continue to do.

Is this a message to the lovers of DEMOCRACY??

“The unprecedented relief effort has given way to a sluggish, at best, reconstruction effort,” said Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., sponsor of the legislation calling on President Barack Obama to prepare a report within six months of the bill’s enactment on the status of the aid campaign in Haiti, including the fight to combat an outbreak of cholera.

Some of the blame for the slow progress in Haiti has been put on the lack of coordination among foreign and Haiti relief groups, a destroyed infrastructure, absence of a viable Haitian government and corruption. But another factor, Lee said, is “the lack of urgency on the international community’s part.”

She said that at an international donors’ conference in March 2010, 58 donors pledged $5.5 billion to support Haiti’s recovery efforts but as of March this year, only 37% of these funds have been disbursed. “This is unacceptable.”

The Haitian government says 316,000 people were killed magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck on Jan. 12, 2010. More than 1 million in a population of less than 10 million were displaced from their homes in the hemisphere’s poorest nation.

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said 680,000 remain in refugee camps. “We owe it to the Haitian people to find out how much of this money has been delivered to Haiti and where that money went,” she said. “We have not always had our act together in Haiti.”

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said much progress has been achieved in the past year, such as increased access to clean water. She said the Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission has approved 86 reconstruction projects accounting for about one-third of the total pledges made by international donors last year.

But she also stressed the need to determine that the aid effort “is not being derailed by waste, duplication or corruption.”

The bill, passed by voice, now goes to the Senate.

The bill is H.R. 1016.

——————————————————————————————————————————-

COMMENT: HAITIAN-TRUTH.ORG

This inquiry, and a couple of others, was really initiated by former Congressman Bob Barr

We were asked to get information from some Haitian sources.

All promised their help.

In two months, not a single person has produced anything.

The Lord helps them that helps themselves..

Haiti expects to be spoon fed.

It has become a beggar nation with a population that does not want to work.

Le Marmeladais et la communauté internationale, dans ce cas de figure, auront gagné-après tant de scandales et de contestations-le pari d’une transition démocratique du pouvoir. Il y aura un concert de louanges et des satisfecit pleuvront même si les partenaires internationaux, comme on le dit dans les allées du pouvoir, savent qu’ils ont contrarié le  ti pas kout , le plan à la Poutine de René Préval.

Cependant, René Préval n’aura pas uniquement droit à des éloges. Son administration, déconstruite et critiquée avec virulence,notamment par Michel Joseph Martelly, risque d’être passée au peigne fin et les éventuels squelettes trouvés seront exposés sur la place publique, loin des placards.

S’agira-t-il,dans cette perspective,d’une chasse aux sorcières, de persécutions politiques ? D’un acte de rupture assez fort pour frapper les consciences dans un pays où ” la nation n’est pas avare de reddition de comptes” ?

On épiloguera longtemps sur ces questions !

Mais certains, à tort ou à raison, évoqueront des dossiers qui traînent et sentent le soufre: Amaral Duclona incarcéré dans l’Hexagone à cause de son implication présumée dans l’assassinat le 31 mai 2005 du consul français Paul Henry Mourral; l’utilisation des 197 millions pour les cyclones de 2008 ;celle des 163 millions prélevés dans les fonds du programme Petrocaribe par le gouvernement après le séisme du 12 janvier 2010 pour effectuer des interventions d’urgence.

Point commun entre ces affaires ? Elles risquent de remonter directement ou indirectement jusqu’au plus haut sommet de l’Etat, selon ce que disent certains observateurs.

S’agissant du rapport sur l’utilisation des 163 millions de Petrocaribe, le président René Préval avait, lors d’une visite du président équatorien, Rafael Correa, patron de l’UNASUR, promis de donner une conférence de presse. Un exercice similaire à celui fait le 21 avril 2010, face aux caméras, pour révéler- en compagnie de Jocelerme Privert entre-temps élu sénateur des Nippes- que 41 244 754 dollars us avaient été décaissés sur les 163 287 848 du programme Petrocaribe.

Plus de six mois après avoir pris cet engagement public, le président René Préval a confié au Nouvelliste avoir délégué la tâche d’explication, de reddition des comptes au Premier ministre Jean-Max Bellerive. Si l’homme de la rue dit n’importe quoi sur ce dossier, il n’y a pas, jusqu’à présent, d’éclaircissement formel.

« On intervient quand il y a dénonciation de corruption », avait indiqué le responsable de l’Unité de lutte contre la corruption (ULCC), Amos Durosier, pour expliquer le mécanisme de saisine de cette institution discrète, effacée et, selon plus d’un, absente dans la lutte contre la corruption.

Si pour les 163 millions de dollars américains l’ULCC n’est pas saisie, l’ex-Premier ministre Michèle Duvivier Pierre-Louis risque de mourir de vieillesse avant la publication de ce rapport d’audit qu’elle a exigé pour établir la vérité sur l’utilisation des 197 millions de dollars.

« Le rapport de l’ULCC sur les 197 millions de dollars de Petrocaribe ne sera pas prêt pas avant cinq ou six mois », avait indiqué au journal M. Durosier le 1er septembre 2010. « On a reçu des boîtes et des boîtes de dossiers de différents ministères. Nous avons besoin de temps pour faire notre travail », avait ajouté M. Amos Durosier.

Faiblessse, inféodation, manque de moyens et de ressources, autant d’arguments susceptibles d’être avancés à la charge ou à la décharge de l’ULCC et de la CSC/CA pour excuser leur retard à faire la lumière sur des actes de corruption présumés.

Plus qu’hier, ce gouvernement qui aime le silence a intérêt à prendre les devants pour désamorcer la tentation des exorcistes.Ouvrez les placards !!!

Roberson Alphonse

ralphonse@lenouvelliste.com

GLOBAL FOOD REPORTER—

Instead of squatting over a small street-side fire cooking take-out food, Datilia Roland Doriela spends the day inside her tiny country house. At regular intervals, she crosses herself and says a prayer to God, hoping to persuade Him to put an end to the latest crisis plaguing central Haiti: fear of farming.

More related to this story

• Haitian protesters clash with police, demanding Preval out
• Rising food prices push 44 million into poverty: World Bank
• U.S. has no plans to suspend aid to Haiti, Clinton says

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Haiti then and now

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Timeline: A year of tumult in Haiti

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How you can help in Haiti

The cholera epidemic that sickened more than 150,000 people and killed several thousand more has tapered off inside Haiti’s hospitals. But the effects of it are still playing out in L’Artibonite, the rich agricultural region at the centre of the country known as Haiti’s “rice basket.”

Farmers and the labourers they rely on to harvest rice are refusing to go into the marsh-like paddies because they fear cholera will infect them.

This is causing ripples across the country, from markets in Port-au-Prince, where there is less food available for purchase, to families in Haiti’s northern regions who travel south for farm jobs during harvest but are afraid to risk wading into the fields.

In the Artibonite itself, nearly 90 per cent of respondents to a recent Haitian government survey said they have felt the effects of the link between water and cholera. Meat prices in local markets have tripled because people are afraid to eat fish from the river. Labourers willing to work in the fields are charging a premium, cutting into farmers’ already thin margins.

“A lot of [farm] families are always just on the edge in terms of being able to provide for the family,” said Etienne Peterschmitt, the senior United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization official in Haiti, so any “little additional shock” to family incomes is forcefully felt.

And with a shortage of people willing to harvest the crop, “what you have available now is not enough to feed everyone.”

The farmers’ concerns about their fields are not unfounded. Because sanitation conditions are so poor in the rural region – the fields and canals people rely on for water double as latrines – it was among the first to be stricken by the cholera epidemic.

“People were just terrorized,” Mr. Peterschmitt said. “People were really stressed about doing anything outside of their house, meaning shaking people’s hands, sharing plates, eating food outside, drinking water, washing.”

The list also includes farming, because it is a mucky job in the Artibonite. Rice farmers plod about the paddies in bare feet. Water often splashes in their faces and mouths as they drag rakes beneath the water.

“The only information we had was if we ever put our feet into the water, we’ll catch it and we’ll die,” said Dieufet Louis, a 49-year-old farm manager with seven children whose family has farmed rice for several generations. He was able to entice some labourers back to the field by giving them sneakers to wear, saving 10 per cent of the season’s rice crop. By then, much of the rest had started to rot.

“Our life depends on the rice we harvest. Since we have no other option, we’ll have to start over again,” Mr. Louis said. “We’re kind of starting from scratch. There is no credit system and it’s going to take a long time to get to a point where it’s sustainable.”

Rice growing has a troubled history in Haiti. A flood of cheap rice from the United States during the Clinton presidency nearly wiped out the sector. While imported rice remains cheaper than the locally grown variety, the earthquake recovery delivered a shot in the arm to efforts aimed at regenerating capacity. The realization that agriculture is important and worthy of investment was starting to take root when Hurricane Tomas flooded the area last summer. Then cholera struck.

“It’s difficult to imagine a renaissance of agriculture in Haiti right now,” said Charlot Dioly, a 49-year-old farmer from the community of Grande Saline, one of the first hit with cholera. “It’s going to take longer.”

Mr. Peterschmitt and his team have been doing what they can to help Haiti’s farmers by travelling to remote areas to spread cholera prevention messages. The team explains that cooking food well and washing hands with soap will help to keep people healthy. They also advocate better sanitation in the fields. So far, the message seems to be getting through.

“I’ve seen more people than a few weeks back cultivating rice,” Mr. Peterschmitt said. “It doesn’t mean everybody’s back. It doesn’t mean it’s over.”

The impact of the cholera scare will likely be felt throughout the coming year. Farmers who weren’t able to sell at market over the past few months will plant less this spring. Then when that crop is harvested, they will have less to sell.

Ms. Doriela lost all of her livestock to either drowning or starvation, including 10 goats whose milk she sold to pay for her children’s school fees. No one will buy vegetables from her, nor will they buy the food she cooks on the street. Her family, she said, is down to eating one meal a day.

“We’re making a lot of sacrifices as far as things to eat,” she said. Still, she has no plans to head back to the farm. “I think cholera is still present in the water, in the mud.”

Editor’s Note: Some of these photographs are not suitable for all audiences.

David Gilkey/NPRAn armed man walks through a collapsed burning building on the streets of downtown Port-au-Prince on Jan. 18, 2010. A year later the building is gone, one of the few to have been removed.

David Gilkey/NPRA man wielding a knife checks for looters in the ruins of a shop near downtown Port-au-Prince on Jan. 17, 2010. The collapsed roof has been removed since, and street vendors and shoppers are using the area.

David Gilkey/NPRA Haitian man walks past Our Lady of Assumption Catholic Church, in complete ruins in downtown Port-au-Prince on Jan. 17, 2010. Very little has changed and no demolition has taken place, as seen in this image from Jan. 8, 2011.

David Gilkey/NPRMorgue workers walk through piled bodies at the National Hospital’s central morgue in downtown Port-au-Prince on Jan. 14, 2010. The hospital is now up and running, and the morgue is back to business as usual.

Posted: Friday, May 7, 2010 12:00 am

CASPER — A Casper man whose geodesic dome design was used for a Haitian field hospital wants to use the same concept to develop housing for earthquake refugees.

“They really have a hunger to be able to do this on their own,” Brian Zook said Wednesday from his Casper home. “We are not doing it for them. We are partnering with them. They can choose their own destinies.”

While in the capital of Port-au-Prince, Zook and other volunteers with Wyoming Haiti Relief trained local people to build geodesic domes out of bamboo, cement and other available materials. The first dome, constructed in 2 weeks, now serves as a field hospital for more than 1,800 people living in tents on a soccer field.

Zook designed the domes to serve as inexpensive, hardy shelters in developing nations. He believes they can also provide jobs in the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation.

“I would like to work with local groups of carpenters (and) help them with the dream of building Haitian structures,” he said.

Zook traveled to Haiti in late March along with four other Wyoming volunteers — Cheyenne civil engineer Larry Wright, Evansville oil boss Cliff Sherwood and nurses Joan Anderson and Pat Altringer. They found a Haitian man at the field to serve as carpenter on the dome project. Word of mouth provided additional workers, who were all paid for the job.

“Word of mouth is very effective there,” Zook said. “It goes fast. If you need a skill, local people will talk together and a person will surface.”

Zook, with help from family and friends, built a similar prototype dome in Casper last year. Bringing the concept to Haiti, however, posed unique challenges.

The design of the dome had to be changed to address the stifling Caribbean heat. Zook added a cupola and awnings made of corrugated steel to keep the structure cool.

Finding parts and tools proved difficult. Several hardware stores operate in Port-au-Prince, but each carried only a limited amount of supplies, forcing volunteers to travel to multiple places to buy what they needed.

The group used locally grown bamboo, scavenged rebar and banners as materials for the dome, which replaced a makeshift infirmary constructed out of tarps and wooden poles.

“The people were almost ecstatic,” Zook said. “Here is a place to be in (and) be safe. It was a lot better than tarps on sticks.”

Now that he’s returned to Casper, Zook hopes to establish a formal operation and patent his ideas. He wants to partner with organizations like Wyoming Haiti Relief to create a self-sustaining housing effort, and plans to bring his domes to Zambia this summer.

“Helping people is not a matter of just handing out something to them,” he said. “It’s about giving people an opportunity to change the circumstances in their lives.”

Contact Joshua Wolfson at josh.wolfson@trib.com or 307-266-0582.

Geodesic Dome Construction

Design

I decided to build 5/8 geodesic 3V dome. All calculations and design you can see at Desert Domes. I calculated that I can build 12ft diameter dome using 41 1/2″ steel conduit pipes. One horizontal bar will be removed to make and entrance for the door. So, total number of segments was 164. Conduit can be bought at Home Depot or electrical supply shops. It was a few cents cheaper at my local electric supply shop. I used an Excell spreadsheet to do all the calculations. Standard size of conduit is 10 feet and I decided to cut four pieces from each 10 feet pipe. Ideal lengths turned to be 26.05, 30 and 30.64 inches including 1 inch to make space for holes. Feel fee to use the spreadsheet for your projects. Try playing with different values.
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Cutting

After carefully measuring all the lengths, I went to the first phase of my dome building.

For cutting, I used abrasive cutting wheel with bench grinder. It was easy and fast. Keep in mind that the abrasive wheels wear off. So, disk diameter gets smaller. At some point, disk gets so small that you can’t cut whole diameter of the pipe and you need to change the cutting wheel. It took one and a half wheel to cut 164 pipes. I worked with 1/2-inch pipes, but this method might not be suitable for larger diameter pipes because of the size of grinding wheel. Later, I got a metal cutting band saw and electrical conduit is an easy job for it.
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Compressing pipe ends

I needed to compress about one inch at the each end of the pipes. I used a heavy vise and a piece of steel pipe to get more leverage.

This turned out to be the most difficult thing. Both physically and technically. It took me about a week to compress all 164 pieces.

After about 80 pipes, steel washers at the handle of the vise started to grind and it became very difficult to turn the handle. I disassembled the vise, polished the washers and added a little grease to be able to continue. I had to repeat this process once more. It would be much easier if I had a press of some kind. If this was 3/4 inch conduit or bigger, this would be very hard to pull of with just a vise. Also, if you do it this way, with pipe in vertical position, it’s more difficult to align flat parts at the both ends of the pipe.

Pay attention at weld join (see picture). Make sure that it’s positioned at the center of the flat part. Otherwise, it’s possible that pipe wall might break.
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Drilling

Drilling turned up to be a very easy task. Main thing is to get all jigs right. I used a heavy drill press.

First, I drilled one end of each pipe at 1/2 inch from the end of the pipe. I used a simple jig with a nail in a small wooden board and drill press vise. Make sure that each piece is secured before you start to drill. This is a strong machine and it might spin whole workpiece if it gets stuck.

Second, I set up a jig for drilling second hole. Here I used a longer wooden board with a nail at opposite end. First hole in pipe goes on the nail. I used several C-clamps to secure the wooden board and pipe while drilling.
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Assembling

Finally ! I was about to build my dome. It’s simple if you pay attention. Just follow the instructions from Desert Domes.

Of course, I made an error at the beginning. So, I had to pull apart the dome to fix it. At the end result was great.

If you were precise when drilling the holes, assembly should be easy. I used cheap 1/4″ screws, which tend to bend if you press too hard. It’s not a big deal because the structure is very sturdy and can take playa winds with ease.
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Cover

Covering my dome was the biggest unknown. My first idea was to use a parachute. Parachute has two disadvantages. It catches the wind (that’s what it’s made for) and it’s not perfect shade. So, I decided to use plastic silver tarp.

I wanted to have a cover that would fit oval shape of the dome. For that, I needed to figure out how to join pieces of plastic tarp together. Three options are: to sow them, to glue them or to heat weld them. Since I didn’t have a industrial sowing machine, I decided to try welding plastic tarps.

Cover was assembled from one round piece at the top and five sides. In addition, I made two round windows to allow more air inside the dome.
Professional plastic welding equipment is too expensive. So, I decided to improvise. Polyethylene melts at around 120C (250F). Most of cheap heat guns can produce up to 500C (1000F). To join two tarps you need overlap them about 2″ and, while blowing hot air in between the sheet, just when the plastic starts to melt, press them together with a small silicon rubber roller. It needs some practice but after a few hours my girlfriend and me were able to make some relatively strong welds. Joins are not as strong as if you would sow them but that turned to be strong enough for desert winds.

In addition to outer shell, I also cut a round floor and windows. I mounted steel snap buttons around the door and the windows for closing them. That didn’t turn too practical. Stainless steel, snap buttons were too strong for plastic tarp and would rip off when you try to open them.

Grommets turned to be much more useful. I mounted them around the edges of the cover and around the edge of round floor tarp.
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Read the related article posted 03 -20-2010 here on Haitian-Truth.org

http://www.haitian-truth.org/no-truth-in-advertising-more-lies-from-international-community/