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Edwidge Danticat: a butterfly's way

Claes Gabriel: Konpa on Canvas

HME Awards '02: Haitians Standing Tall

Cultural Revolution of 2004: IDENTITY

A Look at Haiti 2003

As we get closer to celebrating two hundred years of independence, individuals and organizations search for the answers that will solve the problems that plague Haiti. A newly formed organization, The Haitian-American Skill Share Foundation (HASSF), has begun to bring together those who could come up with the answers. "Harnessing Haitian-American Skills toward Haiti's Development," a conference sponsored by HASSF, brought together various individuals and groups to begin discussion on how to use Haitian-American skills to rebuild Haiti, and "reverse the brain drain."

During the second century of independence, Haiti lost more than enriching topsoil, life-giving forest, and the most unique culture in the Caribbean. With an ever-growing group that’s leaving everyday, by plane, by ship, and by boat, to the Bahamas, to St. Martin, and to the prisons of Miami, Haiti is loosing dedicated, creative and intelligent minds. Many great writers, entertainers, physicians, lawyers, and others, were exiled or forced to flee the country in the sixties and early seventies. Thousands of would be writers, entertainers, physicians and lawyers, have died in the Atlantic Ocean in the latter part of last century. Today, many of those who survive the treacherous sea journey end up lost in the jails, the ghettos, or lost to the chase of the American dream. A number of these people might have been the brains that could have gotten Haiti out of today's desperate situation.

Although today's Haitian-American family earns, on an average, about $32,000 a year, according to Tatiana Wah of Haitian-American Alliance, there are a number of well-educated and knowledgeable professionals in the dyaspora willing to discuss the future of their country. Judithe Registre, Dina Paul-Parks, Pascal Antoine, Diana Aubourg, and Marx-Vilaire Aristide moderated a very informative conference with a wealth of experts from a variety of organizations: Among them, Dr. Marc Christophe of The Haitian Institute of Washington, DC; Anne H. Hastings, Director of Fonkoze, Haiti's alternative bank for the organized poor; Sandra Duval, PHD, Executive Director of Tezin, Inc., Educational Consulting Services; Dr. Paultre Pierre Desrosiers, International Health Consultant, Tatiana Wah of Haitian-American Alliance; Paul C. Namphy of Haitian-American Engeneering Society (HAES).

With such an immense array of knowledgeable people, The Haitian-American Skill Share Foundation has been organized to bring them together to brainstorm about the future of our nation. There are many unanswered questions about the future of Haiti, but HASSF believes the answers can be found in our midst. In order to survive the next hundred years, the fearless spirit of confidence of our ancestors, against what seems to be insurmountable odds, must be reawakened in our communities.

© EchodHaiti.com, 5/2003