#3485: Needs help with customs' problem

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: A. =?iso-8859-1?Q?M=E9dard?= <amedard@gte.net>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I recently received a note (see below) from a friend who has been
attempting to set up a small library for the people of Baudin.  I can't
recall the name of the guy who always helped us with customs (his
business was located not too far east of the airport).  Can anyone else
help this person?

>         I'm afraid I can't say that my project in Baudin is
>         going especially well; the library building is finally finished, the

>         shelves are in place, and the books are in Haiti sitting in customs,
where
>         they have been for almost a full year now. The man in Port-au-Prince
who is
>         struggling with the customs people to get our books released has
been given
>         the run-around countless times now, and more than a few people have
>         indicated to me that the customs people are probably hoping for a
payoff.
>         So if you know anyone in customs...
>

For your interest, a little about the library project:

      This ambitious project, now nearly complete, provides a large
      library which is housed at the main school in Baudin.
      Spear-headed by the friend about which I previously
      mentioned, and with funding from the sale of Haitian art and
      from St.Thomas Aquinas Center,the project taps the
      resources of a  Haitian librarian who works with a network
      of Canadian schools to channel second-hand
      French-Canadian books into Haiti. This partnership has lowered the
      costs for the books. Currently, the 70 x 30 ft. building is ready to
      receive the books, which are held up in Haitian customs. When it
      was partially finished, the building was damaged by hurricane
      Georges, which postponed its completion.

     This library will hold an estimated 12,000 French books, with
     the capacity to hold thousands more.  Once completed,
     it will also serve as a platform for literacy programs and
     teacher training, as well as functioning as an informal
     town hall for meetings and other activities. In the future
     English, Spanish, and Creole texts as well as other
     resources will be added.

     The importance of this project should be apparent, but cannot be
     over-stated. These school-children make do with but two or
     three schoolbooks a year, and one finds them thirsting for
     knowledge. In addition to improving education at the school, the
     plan is to make the library available to the villagers as well,
     opening up subsequent possibilities such as adult literacy
     programs. Overall, it is a tragedy and a crime that anyone
     should hunger for knowledge and learning, and not have
     even a few books to read.

Andrea Belokopitsky-Médard

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Robert Corbett wrote:

> Yes, and I'm more than happy to post the first part.  The second part
> goes on to ask for donations.  If I do one of these I will be inundated
> with hundreds.  it's happened in the past so I avoid them like the plague.
>
> If I can edit out any references to donations, then fine, I'll happily
> post the request for information.
>
> Bob