23824: (news) Lucien: Haiti Summit: Fonkoze and Parterns in Health (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Jean-Patrick Lucien <jeanpatrick.lucien@gmail.com>

Dear colleagues,

On Sunday, the first full day of our global anti-poverty summit, the
participants and facilitators began forming impressions of how Haiti
compares to their own countries. We thought we'd share those with you.

>From the Dominican Republic:

"Now I finally understand why so many Haitians are fleeing to the Dominican
Republic. There is nothing for them here. I thought I was coming to a
country – but this cannot even be called a country."

>From Bolivia:

"In Haiti, the people are much poorer than the people who live in my
country. Here you have to pay for education – I was shocked by that. In
Bolivia, everywhere you go there's a little school, provided by the state."

>From Cameroon:

"Compared to Cameroon, I was very surprised. The absence of roads; the loss
of hope which I tend to see. People are so discouraged, demoralized. Zanmi
Lansante and Fonkoze are bringing back that spirit of self-awareness."

>From Bangladesh:

"The most important basic difference is that Bangladesh has a government,
and there is no governance system in Haiti. That makes a whole lot of
difference. The four basic characteristics of a state are government, land,
population and sovereignty. I think Haiti lacks two major characteristics:
government and sovereignty."

>From Davis, California, USA:

"Haiti and Northern California are both marginal in terms of their capacity
to produce food. What Northern California has done is turn a near-desert
into some of the most productive agricultural land in the world. Haiti has
taken marginal agricultural land and turned it into a desert. The
northwestern part of Haiti is a desert already."

>From Indianapolis, Indiana, USA:

"What strikes me the most about Haitians and their situation is that if they
do not rely on themselves, there is nothing else for them. A sense of
entitlement would not cross their minds. There's a New Testament verse that
says, 'Don't worry about tomorrow. Worry about today, and tomorrow will take
care of itself.' In the United States it's easy to worry about tomorrow,
because surviving today doesn't enter into the equation. In Haiti, the
worries of today forcibly capture your attention."

Best regards,


Ethan Casey


Zanmi Lasante/Fonkoze summit publicity

http://www.fonkoze.org/summit.htm