ARISTIDE GIVEN NEW PASSPORT TO HAITI

I would hope that the US is not going to prop him back up to be the leader in Haiti. He was thrown out by the people before.

HANDOUTS TO HAITI IS NOT THE ANSWER

Handouts not the answer, says Haitian filmmaker
BILLIONS of dollars in aid for Haiti will be wasted if the international community does not dramatically change its approach to the devastated Caribbean nation, a former minister for culture says.

Award-winning filmmaker Raoul Peck said the world's ''strictly humanitarian approach'' focusing on food handouts in the aftermath of the January earthquake had caused a ''victimisation'' of Haiti's people and did not consider how to empower them and create a sustainable future.

''That doesn't really help the country recover in terms of economical growth,'' he said.

Peck, who was culture minister briefly in the mid-1990s before returning to filmmaking, has worked on international development projects, won a lifetime achievement award from Human Rights Watch and was awarded an Order of Arts and Literature in France.

His visit to Sydney coincides with screenings of his powerful Haitian political allegory Moloch Tropical, selected for the Sydney Film Festival's $60,000 official competition, yesterday and today at the State Theatre. His socio-political films, such as Lumumba (2000), have won widespread acclaim.

The quake left more than 250,000 dead and 1.5 million homeless and Peck said if done properly, rebuilding Haiti was an opportunity for positive change.

But instead of bringing in ''massive aid in terms of rice and oil'' or care packages, giving its people money would have been better, he said.

''We have had experiences before where for each camp of 600 people, you could give the money to a group of 30 women and they organise the camp.They cook, they serve warm meals and make sure that everything goes well … Then you would have brought the economical flow in shape again.''

If aid continued to be just humanitarian - rather than for developing a sustainable future - the billions of dollars being spent would weaken Haiti and have been wasted, he said.

''Unless we are able to reverse the kind of thinking [on aid], we're going to spend the whole $10 or $11 billions on nothing … Haiti will have very little left to show for it.

''As long as you keep [only] feeding people, you're not giving them work, you're not giving them changes to rebuild their life.''

Haiti should be able to put forward its own plan, he said. ''But one should not be naive: it's also about power … and the normal, accepted view that you go the Third World so that you get to decide what's going on.''

Peck acknowledged the situation was very difficult and complex and the government was overwhelmed, but said improvements were taking too long. ''We are almost in the middle of the rainy season and still the majority of the people who were under tents [after the quake] are still living under tents.''

Moloch Tropical, which Peck directed, produced and co-wrote, focuses on the end times of a fictional Haitian president and his inner circle in a regime marked by corruption, torture and thuggery, sexual misconduct and other abuses, as well as self-delusion. The themes were drawn from past Haitian regimes, Peck said, but he depicted a ''democratically elected'' president to make the point that such elements were also present in legitimately elected governments.

''It's a phenomenon that's not only [to do] with Haiti … those are things happening today in our democracies.''

SCIENTOLOGISTS TO SET UP AN ORPHANAGE IN HAITI

Scientologists flown to Haiti by John Travolta to help in the relief effort plan to set up a permanent base in the stricken country once the aid operation is complete.

The first group of Scientologists arrived in Haiti two weeks ago, and were boosted last week by the arrival of actor John Travolta in his Boeing 707 . The Scientologists, who are carrying out an operation called The Volunteer Ministry Disaster Relief for Haiti, have already begun plans to build an orphanage in the country.

Members of the group have volunteered to work in the hospitals, using healing techniques that reportedly include touching certain parts of the body or telling patients to stare at the wall.

Pat Harney, a spokesperson for the organization, told The Times: "I have no doubt that in some form or other there will be a church of Scientology here."

The first group of Scientologists arrived in Haiti two weeks ago, and were boosted last week by the arrival of actor John Travolta in his Boeing 707 with food, medical equipment, and baby food,doctors and volunteer ministers.

An Oxfam spokeswoman was quoted as saying: "I didn't know touching could cure gangrene", while other people questioned how Travolta was able to gain landing permission while many other aid flights were turned away from the airport.

AUSTRALIANS WAIT FOR PERMISSION TO JOIN HAITI RECOVERY EFFORT

FIVE air traffic controllers sent by Australia to assist the emergency effort in Haiti have been stranded in Miami for two weeks after failing to get approval to enter the earthquake-ravaged country.

The controllers from the air force's surveillance and response group left Australia on January 27, 15 days after the earthquake, but arrived too late to enter Haiti with the initial influx of disaster-relief workers.

The Defence Force said yesterday that the controllers had been ''training and liaising'' with US counterparts in Miami while they awaited permission to enter Haiti.

''Immediate emergency aid was required in the initial aftermath of the earthquake, which is why some countries were able to enter Haiti quickly,'' a Defence Force spokesman said. ''Since the emergency phase has concluded, regular diplomatic processes have recommenced, with which participating nations are expected to abide.''

The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, announced the deployment of the controllers on January 23, as the United Nations said the emergency phase of the relief effort was ending.

Australia has pledged $15 million in aid to Haiti, including $10 million for immediate humanitarian needs such as food, water and sanitation.

HAITI JAILS RELIGIOUS GROUP FOR TAKING KIDS WITHOUT PAPERS

I am so thankful that Haiti has cracked down on people taking kids out of Haiti through the back door. Ten Americans were arrested on the border of Santo Domingo in a bus with 33 young Haitians ranging from the age of 2 months to 12 years. In their pockets were flyer's of a house with a swimming pool and promises of a life in the US.

They said there was an orphanage in Santo Domingo that they were taking them to when they had only rented hotel rooms.The religious organization was a part of the Southern Baptist Convention. The group said they had permission from a pastor , but the pastor is in the United States.

There are new guidelines in Haiti and it might take up to two years before all the children are put in a registry. This is to prevent child trafficking . And to find some of the kid's parents. The parents thought that their kids were going to a boarding school. One of the kids was crying and said that she was not an orphan.
Are there any people of color in Idaho ?

I hope that the UN will do a background investigation on these people and the Homeland Security will also. I don't believe they will let them go until they do a complete investigation. Some reports said that they would be made an example of.

THERE IS A CALL TO STOP NEW ADOPTIONS IN HAITI

Three leading British charities, Save The Children, World Vision, and the British Red Cross want an immediate moratorium following last week's quake in Haiti, until efforts have been made to trace and reunite them with their families.

Countries have fast tracked the adoption process to allow hundreds of Haitian children to be settled with new families.

France's Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner said the country "must not be accused of kidnapping" and processing being sped up for children who were already in the process of being adopted.

There was a case in 2007 where six members of a French Aid Charity were convicted of trying to traffic to France 103 Chadian children who they said they were refugees from the war in Dafur.

MIRACLE BABY FOUND IN RUBBLE IN HAITI

A 23 day-old baby named Elizabeth was found in Haiti today. French rescuers found her in a hollow beneath the ruins of a house in Jacmel. She was in a healthy condition and taken to an American field hospital.

RED CROSS IS ASKING FOR 110 MIL FOR SURVIVORS OF EARTHQUAKE

The Red Cross wants to focus on water-related diseases and other funds to help over the three years.The Haitians will need long time care. Longer assistance includes reconstruction of homes and community infrastructure.

CHARITY NAVIGATOR RATES NON-PROFITS

Before you give to your non-profit. Check it out. For instance, some of the religious and non-profits in Haiti have been there for over thirty years and none of the volunteers have tried to run for public office or try to improve infrastructure.

They ask for money everyday over the airways and get millions of dollars and I have seen nothing they have done but give the kids a couple of bowls of mush everyday. The US has given Haiti over 2 trillion dollars and none of if has helped the local people.

Since there is no government, the non-profits got the money. A professor at Columbia University stated on NPR that none of the money that was raised for Rwanda ever reached the masses. He went to Rwanda and he also went to the organization raising the money and they said that the money went to advertising, and the goal was to make countries aware and hope that they would give.

I think they should all be kicked out and organizations that will make a difference should be there.

CUBA ALLOWING US TO USE AIRSPACE FOR HAITI

The United States has been granted rare permission to use Cuban airspace for aid and evacuation flights in the wake of Haiti's devastating earthquake.

The White House said in a statement today that they have coordinated with the Cuban government for authorization to fly medical evacuation flights from the US Naval Station Guantanamo Bay to Miami Florida, through Cuban airspace, cutting 90 minutes off one-way flight time.

This agreement puts aside decades of Cold War animosity between Washington and Cuba in order to help the injured and 300,000 Haitians made homeless by the 7.0 quake. Guantanamo is being used to give Haiti evacuees medical treatment.

There are an estimated 45,000 Americans in Haiti, some of whom were injured in the disaster.