21658: (Hermantin)Sun-Sentinel-Cash from U.S. keeps Haitians afloat (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Cash from U.S. keeps Haitians afloat



By Sandra Hernandez
Staff writer

May 2, 2004

Port-au-Prince, HAITI · Walking through her near-empty three-room apartment,
Yanique Edmond is waiting as she does every month for help. But today she
feels a greater sense of urgency.

"I don't know what I would do without the money [they] send," Edmond said,
referring to the $300 she gets monthly from family members living in
Pembroke Pines. "I suppose we would lay down and starve."

Edmond, 32, is among thousands of Haitians who are weathering the current
political and economic crisis with the help of family members overseas.

Haitian immigrants living in the United States send an estimated $800
million annually to relatives in this Caribbean nation of 8 million. About
45 percent of those remittances come from Florida, according to a study by
Manuel Orozco of Georgetown University in Washington. The bulk of Florida's
Haitian community resides in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

That money has been a lifeline to many following the violence and chaos that
began in February when armed rebels in Gonaïves launched an anti-government
rebellion that led to President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's departure.

Police and many government officials abandoned their posts as the rebels
rolled through Haiti's cities, forcing many businesses to shut down and
pushing an already fragile economy to the breaking point. As the rebellion
gained steam, looters ransacked homes, government offices, businesses and
humanitarian-aid facilities.

The majority of Haitians, who were already struggling to live on wages that
averaged about $1 a day, have faced even greater challenges in meeting the
most basic needs -- food, clean water, shelter, health care -- in recent
weeks.

Remittances from the United States are helping them keep their heads above
water.

"The Haitian diaspora has sent an increase in money over the past month in
response to the necessity of people there," said Orozco, referring to the
wide distribution of Haitian exiles in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Edmond's relatives in the United States, including her sister and
brother-in-law, are among the many who reacted to the crisis by sending both
money and food.

"I feel like in times of emergencies like this I must help them," said
Edmond's brother-in-law Bertin Semelfort, who moved from Haiti to Pembroke
Pines in 1987. "I know things are tough right now so I try and send some
extra money and rice too."

In addition to helping Edmond, Semelfort also provides for his cousins and
siblings in Haiti. Sending such items as beans, rice and cooking oil is a
common practice for many Haitians, according to money-transfer companies
here.

"Clients pay for the food overseas and then we deliver it here," said Jean
Joseph Labossiere, director of Uni Transfer in Port-au-Prince. The company
is one of the largest licensed remittance firms in Haiti.

"During the crisis things were tough, but we managed to get money and food
stock such as beans, rice, milk delivered," he said.

The company shut down for a few days after its Port-au-Prince headquarters
was destroyed by fire. But employees resumed deliveries in the capital city
by March 2. Its warehouse wasn't affected by the looting.

The remittances keep many Haitians from joining the swelling ranks of the
poor who live in slums where running water, decent shelter and public safety
don't exist.

"Without the money we couldn't pay for this apartment, for water or even
food. We would have nothing," said Edmond, who shares her apartment in
Port-au-Prince's Delmas neighborhood with a cousin and sister.

Still, the cash flow into Haiti hasn't been enough to save others whose
U.S.-based families aren't able to send as often or help as much as needed.

For Barazi, a 34-year-old Haitian man who declined to give his full name,
money from his brother in Miami is the only means he has to repay a $25 loan
he took last month to buy rice, beans and oil to feed his wife and
2-year-old son.

"I've been waiting for two hours," said Barazi, as he sat in a sparsely
furnished money transfer office. "I even had to borrow money this morning to
call my brother and ask him for help.

"I'm in a very serious situation, and bad things could happen to me if I
can't pay back the money. But I had to borrow the money because there is no
work in Haiti. I couldn't let my child go hungry."

Many relatives in South Florida say they are doing as much as possible but
struggle to balance the needs of their families here with those of relatives
in Haiti.

"I try and send as much as I can, but I have eight children here and things
are tough," said Zachee Saint Jean, who moved from Port-au-Prince to Fort
Lauderdale a decade ago. "Last month all I could send was a 110-pound bag of
rice, and that cost me $32."

Still, the help is critical, say experts. "I would say that for every 100
Haitians living here, nearly 90 percent have a relative that sends at least
$50 a month," said Uni Transfer's Labossiere.

Sandra Hernandez can be reached at smhernandez@sun-sentinel.com or
954-356-4514.


Copyright © 2004, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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