Discovering Haiti`s travel gems

Transcription

BOSTON HAITIAN REPORTER
bostonhaitian.com
June 2015
FREE
Discovering Haiti’s travel gems
Americans looking to Haiti
as a travel desitination will
find a full range of hotels
and amenities at their
disposal. The Reporter
explores the improved
options as new direct
flights from Boston bring
Haiti to our doorstep.
Full report: Page 2
Kinam Hotel in Pétion-Ville mixes modern
comforts with classic Haitian style and The Musee Orige-Fombrun at Moulin Sur Mer resort in Montrouis is a must-see for anyone who wants to soak in
hospitality. Story, Page 17
both the sun and the rich history of the world’s first Black Republic. Story, Page 13
Ayiti hits ‘The Road’
USA hosts Haiti
at Gillette in July
Sen. Forry visits ‘home’
Haiti will play the USA in the first round of Gold
Cup tournament action at Gillette Stadium on July
10. Above, Mechack Jérôme stars for Haiti. Photo
courtesy USA Today Sports Images. Page 15.
The Massachusetts leader visited Haiti for four
days this month to promote tourism to her parents’ homeland. Above, Sen. Forry is shown with
President Michel Martelly at a reception in Portau-Prince. Page 3.
Stephanie Villedrouin, above left, has become a
persuasive voice in changing the perception of Haiti.
The Minister for Tourism and Creative Arts visited
Boston last month to promote travel as JetBlue
launches new direct flight from Boston. Page 2.
Page 2 Boston Haitian ReporteR
June 2015
BostonHaitian.com
Minister Stephanie Villedrouin:
Putting Haiti Back on the Tourism Map
By Bill Forry
Editor
Stephanie Villedrouin,
Haiti’s dynamic Minister
for Tourism and Creative
Industries, made a stop
in Boston this month to
spread the good news
about Haiti’s burgeoning
travel and hospitality
trade. Already buoyed
by an 11 percent increase
in tourist visits over the
last year (2013-2014),
Minister Villedrouin
carried more good news
to Haitian-American
community leaders and
media, many of whom
turned out to a Brockton country club for an
evening presentation on
June 3.
“We are on the right
path and all stars are
aligned for Haiti to be
successful in the tourism
field,” Mrs. Villedrouin
told the Reporter in an
interview. “We’ve got a
lot more diaspora coming
back to Haiti and new
people intrigued about
Haiti.”
Villedrouin was joined
in her visit by a team
of Haitian hoteliers,
including Charles Fombrun, owner of the popular
Moulin Sur Mer Beach
Resort in Montrouis
and Christian Fombrun,
Food and Beverages Director for Kinam Hotel
on Pétion-Ville. Also on
hand for the Haiti Road
Show was Ioulia Iaroch
of Decameron Hotels
and Resorts, a large
international company
that specializes in highend, all-inclusive beach
resorts. They have purchased the Indigo Resort,
also in Haiti’s Montrouis
region. Decameron has
just launched an $8
million project aimed at
making significant upgrades to the beachfront
property, which will reopen in November 2015
as the Royal Decameron
Indigo.
All three hoteliers
showcased their individual properties, but
also struck a harmonious
chord: Haiti is not only
open for business and
pilgrims, but for leisure
travelers looking for a
convenient, affordable
and family-friendly vacation option from the
United States. HaitianAmericans, it is clear,
are the big demographic
that the ministry and the
industry hope to lure.
This summer presents
itself as a key test of that
market, with Boston
coming online as a new—
and potentially important gateway for US
travelers. With JetBlue
launching twice-a-week
direct flights between
BostonLogan and Portau-Prince, the tourism
sector is keen to reach out
to a potential new pot of
travelers who could find
a non-stop flight to Haiti
and its top-flight hotels
and beaches a new alternative in the Caribbean.
Danny Levy of Massport-BostonLogan, Charles Fombrun of Mulin Sur Mer beach resort, Minister Stephanie Villdrouin, State
Senator Linda Dorcena Forry, Mrs. Pascale Hilaire of Haiti’s Tourism Ministry, Ioulia Iaroch of Royal Decameron Indigo resort,
Christian Fombrun of Kinam Hotel. Photo by Beausejour Antoine
Minister Stephanie Villedrouin with Senator Linda
Dorcena Forry, who greeted the minister at the
Senate’s Reading Room at the Massachusetts State
House. Photo courtesy Haiti Tourism Ministry
The JetBlue gateway
from Boston was one of
the reasons behind Villedrouin’s personal visit.
“I think JetBlue is
going to be more aggressive in the air connectivity market, serving new
emerging markets as
the Boston market,” said
Villedrouin. “Because
of the number of people
originally from Haiti
in Boston, I do believe
there is this demand.
It’s a seasonal flight
for four months and
I’m confident with this
road show and all these
people, they become my
ambassadors.
“It’s in our hands to
make it happen, it’s in
our hands to make it
work. The message is not
just on my shoulders, it’s
on the shoulders of everyone who loves Haiti and
wants Haiti to be successful through tourism,
to visitors and that’s the
only way that we can pick
up sustainable development for the country,”
said Villedrouin.
In addition to the new
investment by Royal
Decameron, there are
several other milestone
moments for Haiti’s
travel sector that Villedrouin and other speak-
Patrick Lucien with Minster Villedrouin. ers highlighted in their
presentation and in interviews:
• The opening of
the first-ever Marriott
branded hotel (highlighted in this month’s Reporter), which was built
by Digicel owner Denis
O’Brien. The $48 million
hotel, which has opened
softly to strong reviews
in recent months, brings
a new option for business
travelers and is located
in the Turgeau neighborhood of Port-au-Prince.
(See page 4.)
• The imminent arrival of the Caribbeanwide music and cultural
Photo by Beausejour Antoine
exposition Carifesta,
which will be staged in
Haiti for the first time
ever in August 2015.
The nine-day celebration
of Caribbean culture is
expected to bring with
it a flurry of new, firsttime visitors from the
Caribbean and beyond.
It will be staged in Portau-Prince, Cap-Haitien,
Les Cayes, and Jacmel
from Aug. 21-30.
• A new Hilton hotel
will be built beginning
next year close to the
airport in Port-au-Prince
and two new hotels are
planned for Cap Haitien,
Villedrouin explained.
“Definitely next year
will increase more because of the Decameron
coming in and the fact
that we are listed in
15 tourism operator
brochures,” said Villedrouin, who cited her
department’s persistent
work in promoting Haiti
at international trade
shows over the last three
years. “I’m proud to say it
because it’s taking existing facilities, enhancing
it, investing in it and
partnering with real tour
operators. This project is
putting us back on the
tourism map,”
BostonHaitian.com
June 2015
Boston Haitian Reporter
Page 3
Forry travels to Haiti to promote travel, Boston flights
By Lauren Dezenski
Reporter Staff
State Sen. Linda
Dorcena Forry returned
to Haiti for the first time
since she was a child last
week. Forry and her husband, Reporter publisher
and editor Bill Forry,
traveled on JetBlue’s
inaugural direct flight
to Haiti from Boston
last Wednesday after the
senator participated in a
ribbon cutting to mark
the new service.
Following the fourhour and 15-minute
flight, Haitian-American
Dorcena Forry made a
whirlwind series of appearances that included
meetings with Haitian
Tourism Minister Stephanie Villedrouin, whom
Forry hosted in Boston
two weeks ago, to discuss boosting tourism
trade between the two
countries.
“Haiti is a beautiful
country. I’m not just
saying that because I
am Haitian-American,”
Forry said on Monday
after returning to her
home in Dorchester. “The
tourism opportunity is
quite incredible.”
She spoke to an audience of 150 people at a
reception at the Marriott
Port-au-Prince, the very
first Marriott hotel in
Haiti which just opened.
The $48 million hotel had
its grand opening the
next night, at which Forry was a featured guest.
She also met briefly with
Haitian President Michel
Martelly and Prime Minister Evans Paul at an
opening reception for a
new restaurant that has
just been open to service
Haiti’s National Museum
(MAPUNAH), which is a
major tourist attraction
in Port-au-Prince.
“He’s finishing off his
term in the fall,” Dorcena
Forry said of Martelly.
“I talked to him briefly
in terms of the Haitian
diaspora, the need for
investment, and how
the diaspora community
wants to invest in Haiti.”
While in Haiti, the
senator from South Boston and Dorchester also
ran into an old friend—
Pierre Imbert, the former director of Catholic
Charities’ Haitian MultiService Center and others from Massachusetts,
and was reminded of
the strong connections
between the commonwealth and Haiti.
“The connection between Massachuetts and
Haiti is really deep and
goes back to the 1800s
with US Sen. Charles
Sumner,” Dorcena Forry
State Senator Linda Dorcena Forry, JetBlue’s Haiti General Manager Elsy Viala, Minster of Tourism
Stephanie Villedrouin, JetBlue’s Manager of Sales and Marketing for Latin America and the Caribbean
Elsa Espana, and Sandra Cazir, vice-consul of Haitit’s Boston consulate. Photo by Bill Forry
said. “There’s even a road
named after him in Haiti.
He sought to have the
US recognize the newly
independent country.”
Dorcena Forry also
met with US Embassy
officials to discuss current US-Haiti relations,
including the ongoing
controversy regarding
the expulsion of Haitians
and people of Haitian
descent from the Dominican Republic; along with
the upcoming national
and local elections in Haiti this fall. She also appeared on Haitian radio
and television including
an hour long appearance
on “Le Point,” Haiti’s
most popular morning
show, which is televised
live nationally (similar to
America’s Today Show).
She discussed her career
in politics and the tourism trade between the
US and Haiti.
While many unfamiliar with the country
may think only of Haiti’s
devastating earthquake
in 2010, Forry said there
is much more to the
country. Foreign travel
to Haiti increased by
11 percent last year,
according to figures released by the Haitian
Ministry for Tourism
and Creative Arts. The
ministry projects that
the figure will climb
again next year, with
new hotels and beach resorts coming online. The
JetBlue direct flights are
seasonal for now— JuneSeptember— but Forry
and others are pushing
for a year-round link
from Boston to Port-auPrince.
“I want people to recognize that Haiti is a place
to vacation. I want people
to think of Haiti. Think
of it as a place to take
friends and family and
enjoy yourself.”
That is not to say there
is not much more work to
be done, she admits.
“It’s also about helping
communities. You can
vacation, but you can
also volunteer,” Dorcena
Forry said. “There is still
work left to be done— for
oral health with dentists
from the states, building
housing or helping with
schools and education.”
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June 2015
BostonHaitian.com
Marriott staff is the real attraction at Haiti’s newest hotel
By Bill Forry
Editor
There’s a lot to love
about the newest hotel
to open in Haiti.
The Marriott Port-auPrince is sophisticated
and yet firmly connected
to roots culture, with
handcrafted Vévé flags
and Croix-des-Bouquets
crafted ironwork that
adorn the public spaces
and guest rooms. Even
the drink menus at the
swanky La Sirene Bar
and Restaurant—now
a choice meeting spot in
the capital city— accentuate Ayiti.
Of course, there are
many other assets that
will make this venture
a success. Marriott’s affordable rates — starting
around $125 a night—
are competitive and
benefit from a top-flight
reservation system with
a huge pool of clients
devoted to the Marriott brand. Its central
location puts business
travelers and tourists
in close proximity to
government offices, as
well as Champ de Mars,
museums and other
downtown attractions.
It boasts a beautiful pool
and outdoor terrace and
well-appointed guest
suites that would be the
envy of any American
city. And, critically, it’s
typically just a quick 15
minute ride to and from
the airport.
But the key to the Marriott’s success in Haiti, it
is already very clear, will
be the people who work
there. Will they rise to
challenge and create a
hotel experience that
Haitian-Americans, expats and visitors from
around the globe will
find appealing enough to
return to? Judging from
two recent stays here by
the Reporter, the answer
is an unequivocal ‘yes.’
Denis O’Brien, the
Haiti Tourism
Edwidge Solage
Digicel founder who is
the chief financier of the
Marriott project (which
is the largest single
private piece of direct
investment in the country today), said that the
buzz he is hearing from
Haitian people is all very
positive. And that’s what
counts most in his book.
“It’s a credit to Marriott,” O’Brien told the
Reporter in a May interview. “I love the ethos of
Marriott, because they
take all comers. You’re
judged on your ability
and not where you were
born. The fact that they
recruited diaspora Haitians, but also Haitians
from a very poor environment.”
A case in point is Manoushka Pressoir, who
works at the Marriott
as a housekeeper. She
was living in a nearby
tent city when the hotel
began its arduous process of hiring Haitian
locals. A mother of a 14
year-old son, Pressoir
has struggled to survive
after losing everything
in the 2010 earthquake.
Last year, her son came
to her with surprising
news: “Mommy, come
see, a bunch of white
guys are here and want
to talk to you.”
The white guys turned
out to be a team from
Marriott led by gen-
Above: Sharon Sylhomme is a Haitian-American who left a job in Florida to become the finance director
for the new Marriott; right: hotel manager Peter Antinoph with Donna Karan, who attended the opening reception of the hotel on June 18; left: star employee Manoushka Pressoir.
eral manager Peter Antinoph, a 48 year-old
veteran hotelier who
left the Champs-Elysee
Marriott — the brand’s
Parish flagship— to take
on the Haiti project. A
cancer survivor whose
close encounter with
mortality a few years ago
changed his professional
trajectory, Antinoph was
looking for the right
place to have a personal
impact.
The Haiti project is
right in his wheelhouse.
After weeks of driving
past a tent city on his
way to the new hotel
each day, Peter made it
a point to visit, and not
just to pass out water or
bread. He was intent on
hiring Haitians. Pressoir
signed on that day—
and despite having no
hospitality experience
until her training last
year— has thrived at
the Marriott. Antinoph
now considers Pressoir
his star employee.
She’s emblematic of
the Marriott ethos that
O’Brien referenced—
and which Antinoph
drills into his team: “The
whole key behind this
hotel and what we tell
all our staff since day
one is diversity— we
don’t care about your
religion, color, sexuality— we only care that
you do a good job, and
smile at the guests and
you’re happy.”
Antinoph is ably assisted by a team that
(Continued next page)
O’Brien’s vision, money spurred Marriott’s new hotel
By Bill Forry
Editor
The Marriott Portau-Prince, which officially opened its doors
last week after a “soft”
opening period of three
months, is far more
than just a symbol of
Haiti’s post-earthquake
recovery. It’s a living,
breathing, job-creating
economic engine in a
neighborhood of Portau-Prince that sorely
needs exactly that: jobs,
vitality and the promise
of further development
to come.
Truth be told, were
it not for the adjacent
Digicel corporate headquarters, the 12-story
Marriott might have
found a home elsewhere
in Haiti’s capital. Or it
may not have happened
at all.
It is situated next to
Digicel’s high-rise for
good reason. For starters, Digicel’s founder
Denis O’Brien was the
man who agreed to
pump $48 million into
the hotel’s creation.
Marriott, of course, is
the other key partner,
having invested a
considerable sum in
fortune and time to
manage their first Haitian hotel.
But it was O’Brien
who, at the urging of
former US President
Bill Clinton, made the
leap of faith to commit
the dollars and manpower for the project
two years ago. And it is
O’Brien who sought to
build the hotel in Turgeau, a neighborhood
not currently known as
a magnet for tourists.
On a recent visit
to Haiti, O’Brien explained to the Reporter
that the idea of siting
the Marriott here was
no accident.
“There’s no point
building where everyone else is building,”
explained O’Brien.
“Why would you do
that? You’ve got to go
into the more difficult
areas. When we built in
Jamaica, for example,
against the advice of
everybody, we moved
uptown to the roughest,
most underprivileged
part of Kingston, right
down at the port. We
decided if we are going
to make a big investment we need to make
sure it’s going to be very
impactful. It’s the same
thing here really.”
“When President
Clinton spoke to us
about the opportunity
to build a hotel here —
and then the Marriott
people were here in the
same meeting, we just
said within a half-andhour, ‘Yeah, let’s go and
do it.’ But we wanted to
make sure the hotel was
a Haitian hotel with all
the best of Haitian artisan work because probably the greatest artists
in all of the Caribbean
and maybe even all of
Central, Latin Americas are the Haitians,
in my mind. Nobody
knows exactly where
that creative talent and
beauty and skill came
from but it’s certainly
that is extraordinary.”
O’Brien stayed at the
Marriott himself the
night before our interview. He was impressed
with the room and the
service, but moreover,
he was delighted to
see a sight that he was
urgently hoping for: “I
arrived there last night
and nearly all of the
clinetle is Haitian. In
the public areas, people
having dinner with
their families. That’s
the real test of the hotel.
People feel comfortable
going there.”
“I’m more interested
in the feedback of Haitians. The feedback
has been really good.
My own staff, we’re
in the next building
and I wanted my own
staff to enjoy it, so we
gave everybody a $25
voucher to go over and
have lunch. I’m not
interested in owning a
hotel that’s for the elite.
It’s for all customers.”
Tourism, O’Brien believes, is the key to
building Haiti’s economy in addition to
agriculture and light
manufacturing. The
tourism sector, he says,
is on the verge of a
breakthrough year.
“There’s plenty of
good hotels and what’s
happening now is that
everyone is investing
heavily in their hotels
and that’s helping the
economy here in terms
of construction point
of view. When tourists
come here, they stay at
very good hotels and
the best restaurants in
the whole of the Caribbean are here in Port
au Prince.
“Now, these people
can come in on a cruise
liner in large volume,
but also people who
want to create their
own holiday and stay
in artisan hotels across
the country and visit
parts of this country
that absolutely are of
extraordinary beauty.
We also felt that foreign direct investment
point of view, having a
branded US hotel was
a major plus.
“So if you take tourism – I think Haiti is
becoming on the most
interesting places to
visit,” said O’Brien, who
said there’s a reason
that he has “spent more
time in Haiti than all
my other businesses
put together by a factor
of ten.”
“I’m really interested
in Haiti, maybe because
I just see-- despite everything-- the potential
for Haiti is just unbelievable if we could just
grasp it,” said O’Brien.
BostonHaitian.com
June 2015
Jean Appolon dancers
promote culture in Boston
and Port-au-Prince
By Charlie Dorf
Special to the Reporter
Angaje, a full-length
dance production from
contemporary Haitian
dance group Jean Appolon Expressions (JAE),
explored the struggle
against homophobia
in Haitian culture as
well as the power of
Haitian folklore in the
struggle for justice last
Saturday at Seven Hills
Park in Somerville.
The performance, part
of the Somerville Arts
Council’s 3rd annual
Dancing in the Streets
Festival, premiered in
March at the Boston
Center for the Arts.
The title Angaje,
meaning engaged or
committed with the
implication of political engagement, also
references a strand of
protest music based in
the traditional rhythms
of Vodou. Set to the music of Haitian musical
icon Toto Bissainthe,
it serves as a meditation on the realities of
the social, economic,
and political injustices
in Haiti following the
earthquake in January
2010.
Among other forms
of social oppression,
violence against homosexuals in Haiti is a
major issue addressed
in Angaje, as young
Haitian men are beaten
and sometimes killed
by anti-gay protesters.
This is an issue JAE has
had first-hand experience with: in previous
years, two men who
were attending the
Jean Appolon Summer
Dance Institute in Portau-Prince were beaten
so severely they were
incapable of completing
the program.
The company was
founded by Artistic
Director Jean Appolon
and Executive Director
Stephanie Scherpf in
2011 with the goal of
preserving and advancing Haitian folkloric
dance while at the same
time providing opportunities to develop young
Haitian performers,
both in Haiti and in
Boston. Appolon, a
successful choreographer, teacher, and recent inductee into the
Haitian Roundtable
1804 List of Haitian
American Changemakers in the US, routinely
conducts drop-in AfroHaitian and modern
dance classes on Saturdays and Sundays at
The Dance Complex in
Cambridge.
This coming weekend, however, will be
the last classes held
until September, as Appolon, along with JAE
dancers Eboni Baptiste
and Isabelle Morse, will
be heading to Haiti to
run the Jean Appolon
Summer Dance Institute. The program, held
at the Hotel Oloffson in
Port-au-Prince, is held
from June 24th to July
27th and is open to all
students ages 12 and
older. Following auditions, sixty students are
selected to participate
in the Institute at no
cost. The daily curriculum includes yoga, modern dance techniques,
and traditional Haitian
dance.
For the first two
weeks of the Institute, Colette Coenraets,
Founder and Director of
Brussels’ largest dance
school Choreart, will
be teaching ballet as a
guest artist. The Institute’s final performance
will take place on July
27th at the Hotel at 6
p.m. Apollon has held
the Institute each summer, with the exception
of 2011, since 2006.
In the fall, JAE will
shift its focus from
Haiti back to Boston
with their newly-announced Teen Program
for students between
the ages of 13 and 19.
They will be offering a
five-day teen intensive
program from August
31 to September 4 at
the Boston Center for
the Arts Black Box The-
Page 5
atre and a twice-weekly
after-school program
beginning September
15th and running until
December at the Dance
Complex.
In addition to these
programs, JAE’s fall
calendar includes performances by Daniel
Bernard Roumain and
Lenelle Moïse, with
choreography by Apollon, at the BCA Black
Box Theatre on September 3 and 4. The
company will be holding auditions at the
Black Box Theatre on
September 5.
Marriott staff is the real
attraction at Haiti’s newest hotel
(Continued from page 4) come to visit her in her
includes Haitian-American executives who have
been brought in to help
launch the hotel and
train the rookies.
Edwidge Solage left for
Africa and later France
at age 12. Most recently,
she had worked her way
up to a top administrative job at the Marriott
Harbour Beach in Florida. When the Port-auPrince opportunity came
up, Solage lept at the
chance to “come home.”
“I am very happy to be
part of this adventure.
Being here is not so different than we imagine.
These challenges exist
everywhere,” said Solage. “Haiti, its poverty
and its problems were
just more exposed since
the quake. “
At just 31, Sharon Sylhomme is the Marriott
PAP’s director of finance.
Raised in Florida to Haitian emigrant parents,
Sharon’s folks at first
discouraged her from
moving to Haiti. But
when she visited Portau-Prince last year to
inspect the property, she
knew she had to do it.
Now, her parents have
new role.
“They have changed
their opinion,” said Sylhomme. “What I like
about my job is to help
people to grow, to develop their skills. The
employees are so proud
and happy to give the
maximum. I hope that in
two years somebody can
do it here in my place!”
Aside from the 200plus employees, Antinoph’s spirits are also
lifted by the feel of the
hotel. There are security
gates outside— as there
are in most Haitian institutions. But the hotel
is frequented not only
by foreigners, but by
Haitians, many of whom
are eager to taste the
food and drink, lounge by
the pool and enjoy their
city’s latest and greatest
addition.
“The community is
starting to feel the effect
of having this nice big
brother in the neighborhood, because we’re
not exclusive. It’s our
nature. It’s who we
are,” explains Antinoph.
“We’re not a private club,
we’re a hotel and we’re
here for everyone to use.”
We kick off our
Farmers' Market
season on Tuesday
July 7th from
11:30am - 1:30pm!
*Urgent Care will be closed all day on July 4th.
June 2015
BostonHaitian.com
Documentary seeks to tell history of US Occupation of Haiti
By Alain Martin
Monsieur Bonhomme, 105 years-old, a small
microphone clipped beneath the collar of his shirt,
sits facing our cameras and lights.
He listens to me bombard him with questions
about the United States Occupation of Haiti
nearly a century ago; it is for our then untitled
documentary. But old age has taken a toll on his
hearing and his mind is not up the grueling task
of plucking up days from long bygone decades.
But I’m desperate, so I press on. He remembers
there was talk of the Cacos in those days, the
armed peasants that resisted the US Occupation.
He did not, however, remember anything about
their leader, Charlemagne Peralte. He vaguely
remembers the Corvee, the system of forced
labor imposed by the Americans to build up the
country’s infrastructure; he relays how the police
was rounding up people throughout the country
to send them to work.
Mr. Bonhomme dies a month after our interview.
My film crew and I then find ourselves in Portau-Prince, interviewing Fritz Valescot, a historian
and radio broadcaster. The left shoulder of his
shirt is a little wet from the pouring rain. He worries that the quality of our sound will be ruined.
We assure him of the opposite and he begins to
muse ruefully of the generation of his parents
and grandparents, most of whom are gone, and
with them the memories of the devastating U.S
Occupation.
He bemoans Haiti’s youth who knows little of
their history, Haiti’s occupation included. It is
then that it struck me: the title of our film ought
to be the Forgotten Occupation. It is a fitting title
for a world that has all but forgotten that the
United States once occupied Haiti for 19 years.
The 100th anniversary of the United States Ma-
W.T. Waller commanded the US Marines who invaded and occupied Haiti in 1915. A Virginian,
Waller boasted, “I know the nigger and I know
how to handle him.” Upon arriving in Haiti, he was
tasked with putting down the first Cacos rebellion
Image courtesy Alain Martin
rines Corps invasion of Haiti is fast approaching.
Our documentary is being made to commemorate
that anniversary and to preserve the memory of
that period in the collective minds of the island.
There has been, since the 2010 earthquake, an
increased focus on Haiti.
Television pundits, internet bloggers, newspaper op-eds, casual observers, all hypnotized themselves into being mystified about the perpetual
instability that plagues Haiti, all concluded that
it is a cursed nation, and then all speculating on
the causes of its ever growing poverty and all
spewing out solutions on how it can be fixed.
Hardly any one of them ever mentioned Haiti’s
occupied past. For them, Haiti’s chronic problems
exist in a vacuum, independent and unrelated to
any history that preceded it. This is one of the
reasons we are making this film, to help change
the perception on where Haiti’s current sociopolitical problems are rooted.
The Forgotten Occupation spans the two decade
U.S Occupation of Haiti; it’s narrative takes into
account the seizure of Haiti’s national bank by
the Americans who then turned it over to the
National Citibank of New York, constituting a
strong undermining of the country’s finances and
its ability to invest in its own infrastructure. The
film too sheds light on the vast amounts of land
taken forcibly from the peasants who inhabited
them for generations, devastating the local economies, for the sake of turning Haiti into a major
export economy.
The Occupation imposed itself by way of martial law, harassing and jailing journalists who
were critical of it and violently stomped out any
resistance. By the time it ended in 1934, it had
left behind a trail of violence, torture and forced
labor. An upwards of 15,000 were killed.
The occupation, as the film makes clear, continues to haunt Haiti today.
It is our hope that the project can deepen the
dialogue that will continue to be held around Haiti
as elections approach, and that we the filmmakers
are able to provide much needed insight about
the current conditions of the country.
Alain Martin is the writer and director of the
upcoming documentary, the Forgotten Occupation, due out later this year. For more information on the film, visit the following websites:
theforgottenoccupation.com and facebook.com/
occupationforgotten.
Eighty-Six international experts
join Cholera victims’ fight for justice
by Rodline Louijeune & Mark Phillips
Haiti’s cholera victims have taken another
important step toward justice with respect to the
deadly epidemic caused by the United Nations
(UN). On May 27, the victims filed their legal brief
in an appeal of an earlier court decision dismissing
their claims against the UN. On June 3, eightysix organizations and experts filed an additional
six briefs supporting the victims’ appeal.
Since the victims’ claims for remedies were
first filed against the UN in 2011, the UN has
steadfastly refused to acknowledge any forum in
which the claims can be heard. The UN summarily rejected the claims filed within its own system,
and refuses to accept the jurisdiction of any court
outside its system. This latest appeal represents a
bold attempt to break down the barrier to justice
that the UN has tried to build around itself.
The victims’ brief was filed by lawyers at the
Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH)
in South Boston. It explained that the UN received
immunity in exchange for its promise to allow
people harmed by its operations to seek remedies
through its own claims process. The brief argued
that the UN should not be allowed to enjoy immunity in U.S. courts when it refuses to honor
that. This latest appeal is designed to force the
UN to own up to its responsibility, and be held to
the same standards of respect for human rights
and for the rule of law that it claims to espouse.
The victims’ appeal received a massive show of
support when the six amicus curiæ (“friend of the
court”) briefs were filed in the case, co-authored
and signed by eighty-six leading international
BOSTON HAITIAN
REPORTER
“An Exploration of the Haitian-American Experience”
A publication of Boston Neighborhood News Inc.
150 Mt. Vernon St., Suite 120 , Dorchester, MA 02125
Worldwide at www.bostonhaitian.com
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William P. Forry, Publisher/Editor
Edward W. Forry, Associate Publisher
Charlot Lucien, Contributing Editor
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E-mail: [email protected]
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scholars, former UN officers, human rights organizations, and lawyers. The briefs represent the
broad network of support, which stands behind the
victims of cholera in Haiti, and intend to show the
court that the victims have both legal and moral
rights on their side. Together, the briefs provide
a chorus of independent and authoritative voices,
which demand justice for the victims. Renowned
European law scholars, experts and practitioners
in international law, and twenty-four human
rights organizations, spanning from across the
globe, have put these briefs before the court.
Eleven Haitian-American organizations jointly
filed one of the briefs highlighting that although
the UN mission in Haiti claims to exist to promote
human rights and accountability, its behavior in
the wake of the cholera outbreak conflicts with
these principles. The brief condemns the UN’s
failure to “abide by the same rule-of-law principles
that it espouses as central to its mission in Haiti.”
These Haitian-American organizations represent
a broad array of interests from across the United
States, brought together to unite in this common
cause for justice. By providing a strong Haitian
context to the case, it is hoped that the US court
will hear the immense and continued suffering
brought to Haiti by the UN’s unlawful actions,
and that it will be brought to light that the issues
before the court are not abstract concepts, and
cannot be considered in a vacuum.
A brief filed by six former senior UN officials
explains that the UN’s unjust response to its
cholera epidemic has created an accountability
crisis that threatens the organization’s legitimacy,
credibility, and ability to fulfill its mission. “The
UN calls the Haiti cholera victims’ fight for justice
a threat” said Stephen Lewis, a former Deputy
Director of UNICEF and current Co-Director of
AIDS Free World, who signed the brief. “But the
UN can make this lawsuit disappear by establishing a claims commission. The real threat to the
UN here is its misguided refusal to comply with
its own principles.”
Six prominent professors of U.S. Constitutional
Law signed a brief explaining how the application
of absolute immunity in this case, without any
justification, violates the plaintiffs’ Constitutional
rights to access to the courts. One of these experts,
Erwin Chemerinsky, the Dean of the University
of California Irvine School of Law, stated: “Access to the courts is a fundamental aspect of due
process of law. This case is about whether those
who suffered and died as a result of the cholera
epidemic in Haiti have a right to be heard in a
court of law. It is essential that the courts uphold
and vindicate this basic liberty.”
These briefs join a host of people and organiza-
tions that have called for the UN to be accountable for its cholera in Haiti, including UN human
rights experts, members of the U.S. Congress,
editorial boards, and legal groups. The UN, for
its part, does not seriously contest that it brought
cholera to Haiti or that it has a responsibility to
the victims. Instead, it maintains that no court
can force it to comply with its obligations, because
of its treaty-based immunity. The UN also claims
that it is doing everything it can to fight the epidemic. The organization’s cholera response plan,
first announced in 2012, is 9% funded.
This latest appeal is the most recent development in the victims’ long struggle for justice
against the UN. Their fight began in 2011, when
five thousand people who were infected or who lost
family members to the disease filed complaints
directly to the UN, with the help of the Bureau
des Avocats Internationaux (BAI) and IJDH. After
fifteen months waiting in silence, the UN simply
dismissed the complaints in 2013 as “not receivable.” Since that time, advocates from IJDH and
BAI have been petitioning on a number of fronts,
including bringing litigation in US courts, for the
victims to have their claims resolved.
Concerns about UN impunity in Haiti expanded
further last week, when a UN report emerged
examining sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) in
UN peacekeeping missions across the globe. Haiti
was noted as one of four peacekeeping missions
where SEA occurs systemically. In particular, the
report reveals a prevalence of “transactional sex”
in Haiti, in which peacekeepers procure sex from
victims in exchange for goods, often to provide
for basic necessities. The report cites interviews
with 231 people in Haiti who reported having had
transactional sex with UN peacekeepers. Despite
a zero-tolerance policy for sexual exploitation and
abuse within the UN, the report notes that victims
have nowhere to seek remedies. Just as with the
victims of cholera, the victims of SEA have scant
avenues to receive remedies or assistance, which
leaves them out in the cold and grants the perpetrators with impunity for their crimes.
Now that all of the victims’ supporting briefs
have been filed in the cholera appeal, it remains
to be seen whether the Second Circuit Court will
enforce any limits on UN impunity. The court
should render a decision within six months to a
year. In the meantime, BAI and IJDH continue to
work through their broad network of supporters
and partners to put pressure on the UN.
Rodline Louijeune is a student at Boston College
Law School. Mark Phillips is a recent graduate of
McGill University’s Faculty of Law. Both are Ella
Baker Legal Fellows at the Institute for Justice &
Democracy in Haiti (IJDH).
BostonHaitian.com
June 2015
Page 7
Frederick Douglass: From Ireland to Haiti,
building bonds across the oceans
By Charlot Lucien
Contributing Editor
A nine-foot-tall statue of abolitionist Frederick Douglass the
first such tribute to
Douglass in Europe
— visited Boston last
week and was on display at the Museum
of African American
History on Beacon Hill
at an event aimed at
building awareness for
the monument and its
ties to Boston, Ireland
and Haiti.
The sculpture, created by renowned AngloIrish sculptor Andrew
Edward, is impressive
in its majestic size and
its features—domionated by the passionate
and resolute facial
expression of a then
27 year-old Douglass
depicted in the piece.
Author and activist
Dan Mullan, who is
currently touring the
US to promote both the
statue and the connection between Douglass
and one of the most
revered Irish statesman and abolitionist,
Daniel O’Connell (
1775-1847), was on
hand at the June 13
event.
The sculpture was
the result of extensive
research and consultation with various
parties, including officials in Ireland. The
long coat is a reference to a typical attire
of President Lincoln
whose collaboration
with Douglas ultimately contributed to the
Emancipation Act of
1865. The large cape
soaring in space represents both the cape
traditionally worn by
Irish freedom flghter
Daniel O’Connell and
suggests the US flag.
The extended right
hand pointing to the
horizon is a tribute to
Barack Obama who
arguably might be to
the 21st century what
Douglass was to the
19th century: the most
prominent black leader
of his era.
Over a life span of
77 years, Douglass
worked closely with the
most prominent statesmen and champions of
their nations: Daniel
O’Connell in Ireland
in the late 1840s, Abraham Lincoln throughout the 1850s and 60s
and renowned Haitian
anthropologist and
Statesman Antenor
Firmin in the early
1890s. Douglass is
permanently linked to
both Ireland and Haiti,
although his visits to
these former European
colonies took place
decades apart. In 18451846, Douglass visited
Ireland for a speaking
tour at the age of 27. He
was a visitor to Haiti
from 1889 to 1891,
beginning at the age
of 71 for what can be
labeled as both a prestigious function but
controversial mission:
As a black ambassador
to facilitate the sale of
a portion of the world’s
first black republic.
Currently residing
in Paris, Mullan is the
author of the 1997 book
“Eyewitness Bloody
Sunday” later adapted
into a movie, depicting
the fatal confrontation of which he was
an involved witness
at 15. The confrontation between British paratroopers and
Irish demonstrators
in Northern Ireland
in April 1972 resulted
in 13 fatalities. The
massacre of civilians
sparked an expansive
investigation that led
to the Tony Blair’s
government to finally
acknowledge responsibility for the atrocity.
Over the years, Mullan
has built an interest
in advocating for civil
right causes in various
countries in Africa,
Europe and Haiti. He
is the co-founder of the
Frederick Douglass
Ireland Project and a
member of the FrenchHaitian Reparations
Initiative.
A guest of the Museum of African American History and the
National Center for
Race Amity, Mullan’s
lecture “Douglass and
O’Connell: Two Men
Yearn for Freedom,”
was preceded by a segment of the public television documentary
“An American Story:
Race Amity and the
Other Tradition” featuring Douglass’s first
trip to Ireland where he
met O’Connell and was
triumphantly received by abolitionists
in Dublin, Belfast and
Cork. The documentary is scheduled to be
released in 2016, according to its director
Dr. William Smith of
the Race Amity Center.
Mullan’s presentation included a moving
and powerful segment
on Haiti. His traditional view of Haiti,
through the lenses of
poverty, disaster and
political instability was
shattered after reading
Frederick Douglass’s
eloquent speech on
Haiti at the Chicago
Fair of 1893 in which
he discussed the first
black republic in the
world —and the second
republic in the Western
Hemisphere after the
US. Mullan became
intrigued about Haitian hero and leader
Toussaint Louverture
following a quote by
Douglas:
“His high character,
his valor, his wisdom,
and his unflinching
fidelity to the cause
of liberty are an in-
heritance of which
his people should be
proud,” Douglass said.
“His lot, however, is not
singular. Men are often
loved least by those
they have served best.”
Mullan, now a member of the French Reparation Initiatives, is on
a mission not only to
promote the concept of
reparations, which according to his thinking
should involve not only
France, but also other
nations which collaborated to impose a blockage on Haiti to prevent
the spread of black
rebellion in the US and
Europe. This collaboration locked Haiti’s
economy out of the international trade and
forced its government
to agree to the payment of 150,000,000
francs over 122 years
(1825-1947), estimated
to about 21 billion
dollars in today’s currency as payment to
French settlers victims
of Haiti’s independence
wars. While it appears
to be a long shot by
many there have been
recent precedents with
countries such as Italy
paying some 5 billion to
Libya for it 21 years of
occupation.
Douglass’s contributions to abolition took
an international turn
with his appointment
later as the first black
US minister and consul
general to Haiti. This
episode of his historical
journey offers further
evidence of the complex
choices he had to make
in his life: to criticize
or to defend Abraham
Lincoln? To reclaim
part of Haiti as a colony
for emancipated American citizens or to help
protect the sovereignty
of the first black republic against imperialist
tendencies?
In his autobiography
first published in 1845
and updated in his
later days in 1892 (Life
and Times of Frederick
Douglass: From Slave
to Diplomat) he devotes
a good chunk of the last
chapter to explaining
his mission in Haiti
and fending off attacks
from the New York
white media accusing
him of being “soft on
the black republic”
and failing to force the
Haitian government
of Florvil Hyppolite to
sell the Mole St Nicolas
as a naval base. The
critiques came even
as Douglass had the
presence Rear Admiral
Gherardi’s American
flagship in the bay of
Port-au-Prince to help
assert his request.
Many scholars and
historians (See: Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban
Rhodes Island College,
Philip & Eric Foner)
have concluded that
Douglass’s fateful encounter with Haiti’s
most prominent intellectual, anthropologist
and minister of Foreign
Affairs Anténor Firmin
(The Equality of the
Human Race, University of Illinois Press)
was instrumental in
preventing the conclusion of the “sale,” which
would have made Haiti’s Mole Saint Nicolas
what is today known as
the Guantanamo Bay
base in Cuba.
Mullan’s lecture in
the prestigious African
Meeting House room
that had in the past
welcomed white abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison
or black abolitionists
like Douglass could
have benefited from
the presence of certain African-American
leaders and a stronger
Haitian-American representation given the
Douglass focus. There
were three Haitians attending, including staff
from Senator Linda
Dorcena Forry, of Haitian descent, married
to publisher Bill Forry,
of Irish descent. With
additional marketing
and outreach, the upcoming release of the
full documentary “An
American Story: Race
Amity and The Other
Tradition” in 2016
might offer greater
opportunities to bring
more communities together. It is particularly relevant, in light
of the current racial
climate in the US after
the tensions in Ferguson, New York, Boston
and other cities.
The considerations
made also leave space
for further explorations
in the number of areas:
the idea of reparations
entertained by Mullan
is certainly one for a
larger debate. More
locally, the historical
connections between
Massachusetts and
Haiti are another area
of interest. Both Boston and Haiti can claim
and reclaim powerful
such ties through their
most revered citizens
such as John Brown,
Charles Summer, Martin Luther King (all
with streets named
after them in Haiti),
Frederick Douglass or
Toussaint Louverture
with the later gaining renewed interest
after last year’s talks
in various academic
and official circles in
Boston of an overdue
memorialization of his
charismatic persona.
The statue of Douglass,
after showing in Boston
and Nantucket, will be
headed to the Rocky
Mountain in Colorado. For more on the
statue, visit Center for
Race Amity, Wheelock
College at douglassocnnellmemorial.org.
Charlot Lucien is
a contributing editor
to the Boston Haitian
Reporter.
YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO A
FUNDRAISING PARTY
IN SUPPORT OF
COALITION DES ROCHE-A-BATELAIS POUR L’EXPANSION LOCALE
Saturday, June 27, 2015
7:00pm-11:00pm
SANT BELVI HALL
6 Frontenac Street
Dorchester, MA 02124
FEATURING
- Bruyere Guerrier
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GUEST SPEAKERS:
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PERFORMANCES BY:
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FOOD BY:
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Donation: $25/person
Proceeds of this event will benefit the Children
education program and the creation of
a community Radio station in Roche-à-Bateau.
INFO:
Oswald Neptune
617-749-2225
June 2015
BostonHaitian.com
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June 2015
Page 9
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June 2015
Page 11
June 2015
BostonHaitian.com
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June 2015
Page 13
Photos by Bill Forry
An excursion from Moulin Sur Mer to the nearby island of Gonave is a must-do experience for visitors. Seaside beauty, with a side of history,
make Moulin Sur Mer a special destination
By Bill Forry
Editor
The bustle of the capital and the nightlife of
Pétion-Ville is a large
part of the allure of
Haiti for many visitors.
But no visit to the Pearl
of the Antilles would
be complete without a
trip to Haiti’s beaches.
Thankfully, some of
the country’s finest
beachfront amenities
are only about one hour
and twenty minutes
away— on one of the
nation’s best roadways, Owner and manager Charles Fombrun showed off
National Route 1.
his property to Sen. Linda Dorcena Forry during
There are several a recent visit.
good beach accommodation options in the complex is perfectly ball is a popular activity
Montrouis region, just situated on a cove facing here and the numbers
beyond the historic Ile de Gonave, Haiti’s swell in the daytime as
county of Archaie and largest offshore island, college-aged kids (many
along the route to Saint which looms (on a clear of them visiting from
Marc. Here, there are day) on the horizon. the US on missions)
both public and private The resort has every- spend a few hours of
stretches of beaches and thing a family would downtime frolicking in
most are accessible for require for a beach the waves. Often, they
day visits for a fee rang- visit: Rooms and casual are joined by Haitian
ing between $5 and $40. restaurants and bars friends who play soccer
But the smart trav- that are just feet from in the sand and share a
eler will forego a round- the waves; kayak and cold Prestige or Rhum
trip day excursion and jet ski rentals and the Punch after the game.
Rooms are comfortcommit at least one invitation to join daily
night— and better yet excursion trips to the able, but not lavish— so
a whole weekend— to nearby mountains or no worries here if you
an overnight stay. In a boat trip to Gonave; track a sand-covered
that instance, there’s there are sports courts zapat or a wet bathing
no better place than (including basketball suit into your poolMoulin Sur Mer, which and tennis) and even a side suite. Indeed, the
accommodations suit
is situated on a sprawl- small petting zoo.
Of course, the focus their purpose exactly:
ing 18th century sugar
here is the water and Air conditioning, soft
cane plantation.
The 68-room hotel the sand. Beach volley- beds, refrigerators and
The cove at Moulin Sur Mer.
a well-equipped bathroom. But make no
mistake: This is a place
to rest and unwind during the intervals when
you’re not on the beach
or at one of Moulin Sur
Mer’s other amenities.
If you go, carve out at
least one hour— perhaps two if you walk it—
to visit the resort’s most
unique offerings: the
Musee Orige-Fombrun,
a carefully researched
and beautifully executed museum that
captures the full range
of this old plantation’s
complex history. Situated in a once-destroyed
mill building, the late
George Fombrun— who
The Musee Orige-Fombrun helps visitors understand the complex history of the sugar plantation that
was once housed there.
also built the resort
and its surroundings—
went to great lengths
to find artifacts from
the colonial and revolutionary period to help
visitors understand the
place.
An expert guide is on
hand to walk individual visitors and small
groups through the
beautifully designed
exhibits in the Spanishrevival building. Outside, the remnants of
an original aqueduct
are visible— and still
power a large millstone
that was once used to
grind the cane. At the
entryway, a replica of
the iconic Neg Mawon
is prominently situated,
an early indication that
the story of this place
is mainly about the
generations of African
slaves who toiled and
then rebelled triumphantly.
The grounds of the
Musee Orige-Fombrun
are well-maintained
and guarded, a reflection of the personal
pride of the Fombrun
clan that still owns the
land— and the historic
treasures held within.
But, this is far from a
stuffy, academic experience. A long bar —
loaded with top shelf
Barbancourt and cold
beer— awaits thirsty
guests after their 10
minute walk from the
beach. Konpa groups—
think T-Vice and even
Michel Martelly (before
his current gig)— are
regular performers in
the outdoor courtyard.
(Hint: T-Vice will play
a big show there on
August 1 for those
planning their visit this
summer.)
Today’s Moulin Sur
Mer is under the funloving, yet steady hand
of Charles Fombrun,
who divides his time
between the resort and
a busy construction
company in Port-auPrince. Fombrun can
sometimes be found
behind the helm of the
resort’s excursion boat,
which shuttles a dozen
guests out on morning
trips to Gonave and
back. (Unlike other
nearby hotels, Moulin
Sur Mer boasts its very
own marina, making
quick trips by speedboat
or Jet Ski a much more
accessible option for the
guest here). A builder
by trade, Fombrun is
busy planning the next
phase of growth for this
coastal gem. Current
plans call for a sprawling new pool— complete with a swim-up
bar— and a more formal
dining room near the
museum.
These will be nice additions. For now, however, Moulin Sur Mer
beckons with the best
of them along Haiti’s
string of beach resorts.
Weekday rates for
rooms at Moulin Sur
Mer are quite reasonable (starting at $104/
night) and children ages
0-4 stay free of charge.
Most rooms accommodate just couples, and
there are additional fees
for additional guests
and children ages 5-11.
For more information or
to make a reservation go
to moulinsurmer.com.
June 2015
BostonHaitian.com
In the picture: Artist Fritz Duchein (HAAM), Arnie Danielson (Brockton Arts), Joseph Chery (HAAM), Rose-Marie Boardman, Alan Beck, Director of Alumni
Association for William James College.
Jacmel painters featured in Newton exhibition
Forty-two art pieces—
mainly created by youth
from Jacmel— are now
on exhibit at the William Smith College in
Newton through June
29. They are part of
a collaborative that
emerged after the Haiti
earthquake of 2010
involving the Haitian
Artists Assembly of
Massachusetts, the
Haitian Mental Health
Network (HMHN), the
Massachusetts School
of Professional Psychology (today James
WIlliams College) and
Brockton Arts.
This year’s opening
featured two special
initiatives. Thirty-
four of the paintings
came from youth from
Jacmel, age 12 to 18
who learned from the
more mature artists
who have participated
in this project since
2011. Most of their
artworks, from $50
to $75 were sold on
the spot at the May
2nd Haitian Mental
Health Network’s annual conference in
Newton. The artwork of 13
year-old twin sisters
Loudermie and Loudermia Antoine, bought
by the HMHN chair Dr.
Gemima St Louis for
her own twins, stood
out during the opening
reception. During the
reception the college
received a special donation from Rosemarie
Boardman, widow of
the late artist Max
Gabriel, a former cofounder of the Haitian
Artist Assembly who
passed away of heart
failure in 2004. The
donation was brokered
Haitian Artists Assembly of Massachusetts
to carry Max Gabriel’s
dream of opening art
schools for children in
Haiti. His legacy and
his dreams will live
thanks to the support
provided to young artists of Jacmel, Haiti,
through this partner-
Thirteen year-old twin painters Loudermie and Loudermia Antoine of Jacmel
stood out during the opening reception.
ship that has received
strong support from the
HMHN and the college. Max Gabriel was a
cultural icon among
his peers for his work
promoting Haitian cul-
Join us for special Rethink Your Drink activities on June 21st from 10 am - 2 pm
at the Stop & Shop at 1100 Mass Ave.
Building a Healthy Boston
Mayor Martin J. Walsh
www.sugarsmarts.com
Made possible by funding and support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s REACH Obesity and Hypertension Demonstration Project.
ture and an artist himself, having produced
artworks that evoked
sceneries of his native
Haiti and his adopted
state of Massachusetts.
- Charlot Lucien
HAU collects funds
for earthquake victims
in Nepal
Haitian-Americans United Inc. sent a $2013.24
check to the Boston Foundation’s Funds Administration Department, as a gesture of solidarity
with the Nepal earthquake victims. This contribution is the result of a spontaneous collection
effort during HAU’s May heritage month events
(parade and flag day celebrations) where moments
of silence were observed for Nepal and a symbolic
contribution from teen artists of Jacmel, a city
affected by the 2010 Haiti earthquake, The artists currently participate in an art exhibition in
Newton, sponsored by the Haitian Mental Health
Network and the Haitian Artists Assembly of
Massachusetts.
HAU and its partners relied on the know-how
and experience acquired after the 2010 Haiti
earthquake by the Boston Foundation’s Haiti
Fund to effectively administer and allocate the
funds to the most affected people in Nepal.
Illustration of solidarity with artwork given by
Joseph Chery. Young artist Nuriel Degraff, created a Haiti for Nepal sign, which won first prize
for Visual Arts at the annual YOFES Festival
of 2015. With his parents, with Elena, Michel
Degraff his father.
-Charlot Lucien
BostonHaitian.com
June 2015
Page 15
Haitians booted from DR face uncertain future
By EVENS SANON
and DANICA COTO Associated Press
FONBAYA, Haiti —
Saint-Soi Souverin sat
on a bench resting
and thinking about
his plight after being
uprooted from his longtime home on the other
side of the border in the
Dominican Republic,
far from the Haitian
shelter where he is
staying.
Dominican authorities deported the
35-year-old farm worker along with his wife
and four children early
this week, leaving Souverin to ponder what
he will do in Haiti — a
poor country that he left
at age 17 to find work
in the relatively more
prosperous Dominican
Republic.
“I’m not taking this
well,” he told The Associated Press in Spanish
as his small daughter fell asleep on the
shelter’s concrete floor
Thursday. “They sent
me here with two empty
hands. Everything I
own was left behind.”
The Dominican Republic has long had
uneasy relations with
migrant workers like
Souverin and it is becoming decidedly more
unfriendly.
Human rights activists worry that tens of
thousands of people will
face Souverin’s plight in
the coming weeks and
months now that the
Dominican government
is pledging to deport
non-citizens who did not
submit applications to
establish legal residency before Wednesday
night’s deadline. Most
of those affected are
from neighboring Haiti
or of Haitian descent.
An estimated 460,000
Haitian migrants live
in the Dominican Republic, which shares
the Caribbean island
of Hispaniola with Haiti. Officials have said
nearly 290,000 people
had enrolled in the immigration registration
program, but only about
10,000 provided the required documents.
Many people had expected authorities to
immediately start deporting people after the
deadline passed, but
the government said it
would be a slow, developing process.
The repatriations are
not going to be “a witch
hunt,” Interior Minister
Ramon Fadul said. “It
will be a gradual process, as it should be,
without any sudden
surprises.”
But Dominican officials also warned that
people should start
carrying documents
to prove they are legal residents, to avoid
deportation in case
authorities stop them.
Advocates for the
migrants have criticized the registration
plan as discriminatory
regardless of the pace
of deportations.
Dominican military
officials and immigration agents have consistently raided communi-
ties with a high concentration of Haitians and
detained people based
on the way they look,
said Wade McMullen,
managing attorney for
the Robert F. Kennedy
Center for Justice and
Human Rights in Washington.
“The Dominican
Republic is shooting
themselves in the foot,
and it seems to be for
short-term political
gain,” he said in a phone
interview. “Over the
long term, they’re going
to realize that there’s
not only going to be a
significant economic
impact, but that the
human toll is going to
be even greater.”
One of those worrying
about what will happen
is 27-year-old Julio
Mato, a moto-taxi driver
who says he was born in
the Dominican Republic
to a Haitian mother and
a Dominican father.
During an interview
by phone, Mato said
many people he knows
are fearful of being deported, and added that
he doesn’t understand
why the Dominican Republic wants to chase off
Haitians, who mainly
work in low-wage jobs,
often in construction
and agriculture and as
maids and gardeners.
“We live off the Haitians and the Haitians
live off us,” he said.
Fadul expressed surprise at the number of
people who sought to
obtain legal residency,
with dozens complaining they were turned
The United States National soccer team with
host Haiti at Gillette
Stadium on Friday, July
10 at 8:30 p.m. as part
of the Confederation of
North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football Gold
Cup doubleheader. The
game will be preceded
by a match between
Panama and the winner of the playoff series
between French Guiana
and Honduras at 6 p.m.
Since the stadium
opened in 2002, Gillette
Stadium has hosted the
biennial tournament five
times for the 2003, 2005,
2007, 2009, and now the
2015 editions of the Gold
Cup.
Haiti and the US team
faced off in Foxborough
in 2009. The first-round
match ended in heartbreak for Haiti when the
US scored an equalizer in
injury time to make the
final 2-2.
This is the first time
the US team has played
at Gillette since a June
2011 loss in a friendly
against Spain. This is
also the first time the
US team will appear at
the stadium under the
leadership of head coach
Jügen Klinsmann.
The US team’s record
in Gold Cup games at
Gillette is 6-0-2, while
their overall record at the
stadium stands at 9-2-2.
Their record for matches
played in Massachusetts
stands at 16-2-5.
Tickets to all Gold Cup
matches are now available to the general public
starting by visiting www.
GoldCup.org.
To date, 11 of the 12
national teams scheduled to participate have
qualified for this year’s
tournament. Canada,
Costa Rica, Cuba, El
Salvador, Guatemala,
Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico,
Panama, Trinidad &
Tobago and the United
States, in alphabetical order, will compete
for the Confederation
Crown in July.
The final spot will be
decided later this month
through a play-in series
between the fifth-place
finisher of the 2014 UNCAF Central American
Cup (Honduras) and the
2014 Caribbean Football Union Caribbean
Cup (French Guiana).
French Guiana will be
home team for the first
leg on March 25, while
Honduras will host the
return leg on March 29.
Taking place every two
years, the Gold Cup has
established itself as the
region’s most popular national team tournament.
Featuring the Confederation’s best players
from 12 top nations, the
competition routinely
draws capacity crowds
and millions of television
viewers across the region
and around the world.
Season tickets for the
2015 New England Revolution season are on
sale and start at $351
for lower bowl seating,
which allows extraordinary access to the
Revolution at Gillette
Stadium. The 18-game
season ticket package
includes a host of amenities and special access
events with the team.
Call 1-877-GET-REVS
or visit revolutionsoccer.
net for more information
about these plans or any
other ticket option.
For up-to-the-minute
information on the Revolution, visit the team’s
official web site at revolutionsoccer.net, or join
the conversation and
interact with fans on
any of the team’s social
platforms.
Haiti v. USA men’s teams
to face off in Gold Cup
Andre Joseph, 53, who says he was born in the
Dominican Republic and lived there until being
deported the day before, sits inside a school classroom where residents have allowed him and other
deportees to sleep in the village of Fonbaya, Haiti,
Thursday, June 18, 2015. AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
away when the deadline
expired at midnight
Wednesday after standing in line for more than
24 hours.
“I don’t know why in
recent days thousands
of people have come,”
he said, noting that the
registration for legal
residency began a year
ago. “Who has brought
them? Why didn’t they
come before?”
On Friday, a community in the capital of
Santo Domingo known
as “Little Haiti” where
hundreds of Haitian
migrants buy and sell
items was emptier than
usual.
“Those who don’t have
documents already left,”
said Angela Marte, a
Haitian migrant who
said she was able to
enroll in the registration
program.
Even some of those
who did register in the
program have already
been repatriated, according to Hilda Pena,
coordinator of the human rights group Jano
Sikse Border Network.
Authorities have
“ripped up their papers
and rounded them up,”
she said.
The registration program began last June
after legal challenges
delayed its original
launch in 2004. Noncitizens can qualify for
legal residency if they
can prove they have
been in the Dominican
Republic since before
October 2011.
Souverin said he has
lived in the Dominican
Republic for nearly two
decades and obtained
an official document two
years ago with help from
a nonprofit organization
only to have it seized
at the border when he
returned from a quick
trip to Haiti.
He also accused school
officials of seizing the
papers of his Dominican-born children, forcing them to quit school,
echoing a common complaint among migrants.
“I don’t like this one
bit,” he said. “Why do
they treat me this way?’’
The government implemented the registration program amid
international criticism
of a 2013 decision by
the Dominican Supreme
Court that people born
in the Dominican Republic to non-citizens
did not qualify for citizenship under the constitution unless they
had at least one parent
who was a citizen or
legal resident. The ruling rendered thousands
effectively stateless.
Officials said they will
grant citizenship to
some 50,000 people in
this category.
Souverin is now one
of nearly 50 deported
migrants staying at
the shelter in Haiti,
including women who
are breastfeeding their
babies.
He said he doesn’t
know what he is going to
do or how he will provide
for his family.
“I don’t have a house,”
Souverin said. “I lost all
my resources.”
Associated Press writer Evens Sanon reported
this story in Fonbaya,
Haiti, and Danica Coto
reported from San Juan,
Puerto Rico.
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June 2015
BostonHaitian.com
In northern Haiti, conservation efforts focus on coastlines
CARACOL, Haiti—
Only little fish are
pulled from the coastal
waters off Haiti.
In this overfished
area of northern Haiti,
fishermen who want a
catch big enough for
a meal say they must
travel three hours in a
boat to the Dominican
Republic, where they
scour the reefs of a
national park and risk
arrest, beatings or even
death.
“Going over there is
the only way we can
feed our families,” fisherman Wilfrid Desarme
said in Caracol, where
the sandy beach is lined
with small wooden
boats that replaced
similar ones seized or
torched by Dominican
sailors who caught Haitians poaching there
with rusty spear guns
and fine-mesh nets.
Over the decades,
impoverished Haiti has
gained a reputation
as an environmental
wasteland. The country
has only about 2 to 3
percent of its original
forest cover, most of it
lost because trees were
cut down to make charcoal for cooking fuel.
Its waters are severely
overfished, leaving only
small, young fish to
catch. Coral reefs are
clogged with silt washing into the sea from
denuded hills.
Now, Haitian conservationist Jean Wiener
is leading a homegrown
campaign to protect
the country’s northern
coastal areas, including
barrier reefs and threatened mangrove forests
that serve as crucial
spawning grounds and
nurseries for fish and
crustaceans.
Wiener, who studied
biology in the United
States before returning
to Haiti in 1989, saw
his profile rise this year
when he was among
six global activists who
received the prestigious
Goldman Environmental Foundation award.
The $175,000 prize
awarded by an international jury was a big
boost for his nonprofit
organization, which has
six staff members.
In recent years, the
50-year-old activist
has successfully fought
to create the country’s first protected
marine areas, including
Three Bays National Park. The roughly
80,000-hectare (19,700acre) zone carved last
year out of northern
Haiti’s overfished Caracol, Limonade and Fort
Liberte Bays includes
as much as 20 percent
of the country’s remaining mangroves, which
are now illegal to chop
down.
But no one enforces
the legislation Wiener
helped push through
in 2013 to protect the
mangroves, and he
acknowledges there’s
a long way to go before the new protected
marine areas become
more than lines on a
map. Like many sea
sanctuaries around
the globe, Haiti’s new
protected zones are
“paper parks,” without
adequate resources to
enforce restrictions.
“For our marine environment, right now at
least, there’s no law enforcement whatsoever,”
Wiener says.
Still, scientists have
high hopes that the
sprawling Three Bays
park can eventually
help rebuild severely
depleted fish stocks and
make Haiti’s coastal
ecosystems more resilient to a warming
planet with rising seas
and acidifying oceans.
There’s been plenty of
In this May 14, 2015 photo, fish vendors approach fishermen in an attempt to
be the firsts to buy their fresh catch as they come in from a day of fishing at
Caracol Bay near Cap Haitien, Haiti. The country has successfully created
the its first protected marine areas, including Three Bays National Park. The
roughly 80,000-hectare (19,700-acre) zone carved last year out of northern
Haiti’s overfished Caracol, Limonade and Fort Liberte Bays includes as much
as 20 percent of the country’s remaining mangroves, which are now illegal to
chop down. AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery
research showing fishermen eventually haul
in more fish when a patrolled marine reserve
nearby provides a safe
haven for fish to grow.
Haiti’s new park “contains the most extensive and healthiest
coral reefs and other
marine and coastal
habitats in the country,” says Maxene Atis,
conservation coordinator for The Nature
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Conservancy’s central
Caribbean program.
If the government
agrees to provide a few
rangers to patrol Three
Bays, Wiener says his
Foundation for the
Protection of Marine
Biodiversity could secure the funding to pay
their salaries.
The stakes for Haiti’s
environment are especially high in the coastal
areas. Wiener’s group
last year prepared the
first comprehensive report on Haiti’s remaining mangroves and
found destruction was
“extreme” because the
trees were being used
by people dependent
on charcoal for cooking.
To help ease pressures for charcoal and
fuel wood, another nonprofit group called Carbon Roots International
works with dozens of
Haitians at an eightacre property near
Three Bays to manufacture briquettes
made primarily from
sugarcane husks. These
charcoal briquettes are
cheaper than the traditional ones made from
mangrove and other
types of wood and allow
farmers to make money
off their agricultural
waste.
Haiti’s northern coast
suffers from the harvesting of coral offshore
for construction material and soil erosion
that deposits smothering silt along the coastal
shelf. It’s also threatened by effluent from
the slowly expanding
Caracol Industrial Park
that was built after
southern Haiti’s devastating 2010 earthquake
with more than $124
million in U.S. investments and is anchored
by a South Korean
textile company.
In the face of the
diminishing fish populations, Wiener says
he is developing alternative livelihoods for
local fishermen. Right
now he’s looking just
at honey production,
but before the end of
the year he hopes to
introduce seaweed and
oyster production as
options.
For now, Haiti has one
booming fishing sector
left. Near the mouth of
a river in Limonade,
villagers gather by the
hundreds nightly to
hunt translucent “glass
eels,” using scoops fashioned from mosquito
nets. The baby eels,
which look like noodles
with tiny dark eyes,
are not eaten in Haiti,
but sent by brokers to
Asia, where they are
fed a high-protein diet
to speed their growth.
Haiti’s unsustainable
export market for the
globally endangered
eels started in 2012,
kick-started by Korean
businessmen at the
industrial park.
Scientists say that
overfishing of the tiny
eels mirrors that of sea
cucumbers, a lumpy
invertebrate that is
consumed in China as
an aphrodisiac. Starting about a decade ago,
Haitians overfished
and exported that species so quickly in the
country’s waters that
local fishermen say they
haven’t seen it in years.
Despite the many
challenges, Wiener is
optimistic because he
believes most Haitians
share a strong interest
in rebuilding the country’s ravaged environment.
“We can’t be constantly counting on others to
do things for us because
a lot of (non-Haitian)
people don’t have a
vested interest in seeing anything change
whereas we really do,”
he said.
At Caracol’s fishing village, 60-year-old
fisherman Jacqueson
Cadet hopes for an
easier life for his grandchildren.
“We must make
changes or else we won’t
have any fish or any
fishermen left here,”
Cadet says wistfully,
looking at the lapping
waves. “Nobody wants
fishing to be an old
dream.”
BostonHaitian.com
June 2015
Kinam Hotel blends old and new Haiti
with style in Pétion-Ville
Page 17
Newly-renovated hotel is at the top of its class in Haiti’s capital
By Bill Forry
Reporter Editor
Haiti’s tourism boom
is not just about gleaming new buildings with
international brands
that are new to the market. Those are critical
new pieces to the puzzle
for sure. But the story
of Haiti’s resurgence as
a premeire Caribbean
travel destination is
also found within the
walls of longtime establishments that were
already well-known
and reliable options for
travelers long before it
was popular.
The Kinam Hotel—
situated in the desirable center of PétionVille across from the
landmark Place SaintPierre— is one of the
finest examples of how
new construction and
technology is blending
with traditional Haitian culture and hospitality to appeal to a new
generation of traveler.
The Kinam recently underwent a multi-million
dollar expansion project
that added a new and
improved wing to its
property. The results
— documented here on
this page— put the new
and improved Kinam
at the top of its class in
Haiti’s capital.
The Reporter visited
the Kinam recently for
a one-night visit as part
of a multi-day tour that
coincided with the inaugural launch of direct
service between Boston-Port-au-Prince via
JetBlue airlines. The
Kinam is within about
15 minutes driving distance from the airport
and — critically— offers a free door-to-door
shuttle service, a key
link for travelers who
might otherwise find
it frustrating to secure
ground transport. It’s
an amenity that some
other hotels in the city
lack, but it’s only the
opening salvo in a barrage of finer touches
that makes the Kinam
a top choice for business and leisure travelers. If you are driving
yourself, the Kinam
also features a secure
80-car covered garage
that is adjacent to the
hotel. In any event,
the hotel has full concierge service that can
arrange for transport,
excursions and offer
excellent referrals to
nearby attractions.
The Kinam has been
owned and operated
by the same family for
three generations. It
originated as a nineroom hotel in 1900—
but underwent its first
major expansion in decades later, transforming into a gingerbreadstyle boutique hotel
in 1985. The latest,
modern update has
retained the gingerbread wing— offering
“vintage” rooms that
are still very much in
demand by many tourists.
But the majority of
the rooms are now
housed in the modern
wing, that features a
mix of room configurations, including oversized suites that can
accommodate families
with kitchens— a huge
asset for diaspora and
other travelers visiting
with children. Many
feature balconies overlooking Place SaintPierre and all of them
— even the more moderate-sized rooms— are The Kinam Hotel in Pétion-Ville’s Place Saint-Pierre has become the premeire address in Port-au-Prince’s
spacious, comfortable most notable neighborhood. The hotel is owned by a family with three generations of experience and
and climate-controlled was recently modernized in a dramatic, $26 million expansion project. Photos courtesy Kinam Hotel
(an asset in Port-auPrince’s 90 degree summer days.) All 85 rooms
in the new wing are
equipped with ironingboards, refigerators,
safes, and Ipod docks.
The seven-floor modern wingwhich opened
last year after a $26
million investment— is
accented with a blend
of Haitian artwork
and fabrics that are
One of the Kinam’s new modern rooms.
exclusively fabricated
in Haïti with all interior decoration done
by Haitian artists and
decorators. The lobby
of the new Kinam is a
signature piece of design, with a three story
granite wall fountain
that brings to mind
the natural wonders of
Haitian waterfalls with
a contemporary flair.
“The new Kinam is a
“melting pot” concept
of ideas from different The lobby at the Kinam sparkles with modern The pool at the Kinam is flanked by rooms in the
architects, decorators, touches that originate in Haiti.
classic gingerbread style.
interior designers that,
as a team, have brought tive option for travelers amenity that is hard to
you this amazing ho- to Port-au-Prince.
find at other hotels in
tel,” explains Christian
The Reporter sam- the country at present.
Fombrun, the hotel’s pled a dinner menu that And, since the Kinam
director of food and included variations on shares a common owner
beverage.
Haitian classics, in- with Pétion-Ville’s otjer
“Our idea was to cluding a magnificent standout hotel, Karibe
showcase the diversity pasta djon-djon (mush- (more on that property
and richness of Haitian room) dish modeled in a future edition),
culture and talent,” on the traditional diri the Buteau Hospitality
explained Nathalie An- djon-djon (mushroom Group. As such, Kinam
toine, the owner and rice.) A second restau- guests can arrange for
general manager.
rant that overlooks spa services at Karibe’s
The blend of Haitian the outdoor pool in the excellent Botanik Spa.
customs with interna- adjacent gingerbread
Critically, the Kinam
tional flavors is carried wing is another great has its own array of Senator Linda Dorcena Forry greeted hotel owner
through in the cuisine option— and includes shopping options right and general manager Nathalie Antoine.
at the Kinam as well. a full array of Haitian on property that really
The hotel’s most spec- meals, from griot and add to its luster, espe- for fine art that gives out upending the fine
tacular restaurant is cabrit to bannan pezi cially for busy travelers to Galerie Marassa a traditional elements of
the third floor Le Rond- and pikliz. There is also who might otherwise museum feel.
classic Haiti that many
Point, which offers in- an excellent ground- find it tough to get to
All of these design Americans, including
door and patrio seating level cafe that serves some of Pétion-Ville’s features in the new and many in the diaspora,
that looks out over the Haitian-grown coffes other shops. The Kinam improved Kinam are still long for in their
park across the street. and chocolates, along houses a Kenneth Cole the handiwork of the experience.
The sleek and modern with a mix of baked store with clothing for hotel’s extraordinary
The Kinam Hotel
feel to the restaurant goods.
men and women; it also owner, Nathalie An- is offering a special
is reflected in its menu,
Other notable mod- has a fine eyewear store toine, who along with s u m m e r t i m e r o o m
but not its prices. As ern amenities include and two outstanding her husband Michel, package that includes
with the hotel rooms free Wi-fi, tri-lingual artisan galleries with has executed a work free breakfast, airport
— which include com- conceierge service, two a wide array of gift op- of wonder in Haiti’s shuttle, wi-fi and firstplimentary breakfast in bars—including Tipsy, tions, all of them craft- tourism niche. She has class accommodations
its room packages this which offers a lively ed by Haitian artisans. managed to incorporate starting at just $80
summer(!)— the value happy hour and foot- The prices range from the fine flourishes of per night. For more
for the quality of food ball matches on big a few dollars American a modern hotel— one information, see their
prepared at the Kinam screen TVs— and an for keychains and other that might easily be at website hotelkinam.
makes it a very attrac- in-house gym, another tin-work to thousands home in Miami— with- com
June 2015
Bonne Fete, Beausejour!
BostonHaitian.com
Beausejour Antoine, the popular radio host and photo-journalist, was feted at a birthday
celebration in Randolph last month. Antoine received greetings fro the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts and the Haitian consulate of Massachusetts, including a visit from State
Senator Linda Dorcena Forry and vice-consul Farah Chatelier. The proud father was also
joined by his son, Marc Antoine, pictured at right. Antoine is well-known as the host of Radio
Liberte, 1620AM.
The Best of both ALL Worlds…
Introducing
e
Th
Tropical
Foods
Supermarket
W
NE
• All New
• Almost 3,000 new items
• 27,000 s.f.
• Largest selection of Tropical Produce
• Modern
• Fresh Fish, Deli, & Fresh Bakery
Come shop the store where variety and price matter…
Where you can meet all your family’s need
and find that little something unique…
Where independent & locally owned means you are the boss
Check out the website for details:
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450 Melnea Cass Boulevard
Haitian vice-consul Farah Chatelier with
Beausejour Antoine.
Summer sessions are a great time to catch up on degree
requirements, move ahead in your academic program, or
explore a new interest.
BostonHaitian.com
June 2015
Page 19
TRAVELING TO HAITI HAS NEVER BEEN EASIER
BOS
BOSTON • USA
PAP
PORT-AU-PRINCE • HAITI
MARRIOTT PORT-AU-PRINCE
& JETBLUE SUMMER PROMO
ROOM RATE: $125 including Hotel Fees + $1 for breakfast per person donated to MUCI
(www.muci.asso.ht) which will sponsor the planting of trees ($1 = 1 tree) BOOKING CODE: SUM
MARRIOTT PORT-AU-PRINCE
147 AVE. JEAN PAUL II, TURGEAU,
PORT-AU-PRINCE, HT 6113, HAITI (W.I)
TÉL: +509 2814.2800
[email protected]
WWW.HAITIMARRIOTT.COM
Join our community:
MarriottHaiti
Terms and Conditions: Booking Window: June 17, 2015 – August 29, 2015 for stays between June 17, 2015 and August 31, 2015. Valid for JetBlue Travelers only and flying from Boston to Port-au-Prince.
Boarding Pass to be presented upon check-in to apply. 10% TCA Government Tax applies on room rate. Valid Weekday and Weekends. Limited number of rooms may be available at time of booking. Offer
cannot be combined with any other promotions. Blackout dates may apply. Room rates are per room, per night and subject to availability at the time of reservations.
June 2015
BostonHaitian.com

Discovering Haiti`s travel gems

Transcription

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