Winnipeg Haiti Solidarity Group

Jeb Sprague book launch: "Paramilitarism and the Assault on Democracy in Haiti", Sunday Sept. 16

Wed 8 Aug 2012, 7:22pm

 

McNally Robinson, Sunday Sep 16 2012 4:00 pm, Winnipeg, Grant Park in the Atrium

 

Speaking & signing Paramilitarism and the Assault on Democracy in Haiti (Monthly Review Press).

In this path-breaking book, Jeb Sprague investigates the contemporary role of right-wing paramilitarism in undermining the democratic aspirations of the Haitian people. Through interviews, declassified government documents, and other sources, Sprague traces connections between paramilitaries and their elite financial and political backers, in Haiti, the United States and the Dominican Republic.

Jeb Sprague is a PhD candidate in Sociology at the University of California at Santa Barbara. He received a Project Censored Award in 2008 for an article (coauthored with Haitian journalist Wadner Pierre) from Port-au-Prince, and has written for the Inter Press Service, TeleSUR, Al Jazeera, Z Magazine, NACLA, Haiti Liberté, Haiti Progrès among numerous journals. This is his first book.

This event is presented in association with the Canada Haiti Action Network.

 

Paul Farmer's speech gives eye-opening first-hand perspective of a doctor in Haiti

Fri 1 Apr 2011, 3:14pm

Dr. Paul Farmer presented a speech at the 2011 Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship. He speaks of treating gravely ill earthquake survivors and experiencing the aftershocks himself. It paints images of the trauma and chaos as well as the opportunity to help "part of a wall had fallen on his legs; it took him an hour to free himself, but he was soon up and helping others in the neighborhood". This is a useful read for anyone considering volunteering in Haiti or an area in trauma. Full story found here :  http://www.pih.org/blog/entry/paul-farmers-speech-from-the-2011-skoll-world-fourm/                                                                                                                                                        

Virginia Tech students lend a helping hand to Haiti

Wed 30 Mar 2011, 5:41pm

Through Partners In Health and the Virginia Tech Bridges to Prosperity team, the community of Ti Peligre, Haiti was given a footbridge to help in travel across a local river.

Read the full story here:

 

http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/17199/a-bridge-to-prosperity-tech-students-help-haiti/p1

For further updates on projects like these, check out Partners In Health's Twitter at

http://www.twitter.com/PIH

 

 

Al-Jazeera piece on the Haitian elections

Thu 10 Feb 2011, 10:32am

Excellent Al Jazeera segment on the Haitian elections with Jose Miguel Insulza, the director general of the Organisation of American States; Harry Fouche, an economist and the former consul general of Haiti in New York; and Mark Weisbrot, the co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, DC.

Social postponed

Tue 11 May 2010, 8:33am

Our fundraising social, that was to be held on May 15th, has been postponed to a later date. Please stay tuned for more information!

Upcoming events

Tue 4 May 2010, 8:00pm

Critical Perspectives on Haiti Panel Discussion
Admission: Free, Donations to help cover costs accepted.
Friday May 7th at the Bulman Centre, University of Winnipeg at 7pm, with panelists:

  • Scott Weinstein, RN from Montreal, who served for two months in Haiti, including 5 weeks volunteering at the public General Hospital in Port-au-Prince after the earthquake.
  • Bruce Guenther is Food, Disaster, and Material Resources Coordinator for Mennonite Central Committee, who will be reporting back after spending 6 weeks in Haiti. He will return to Manitoba on May 6th.
  • Stuart Hammond of Haiti Solidarity BC, participated in a two week delegation to Haiti that returned to Canada four days prior to the earthquake.
  • Bob Henry of the Manitoba-Cuba Solidarity Committee will speak about the relationship between Cuba and Haiti, focusing on the crucial contributions Cuba has made towards Haiti since the earthquake.

A shorter noon-hour presentation with Scott Weinstein and Stuart Hammond will take place at the Millennium Library, Anhang Room on Friday May 7, 12:10pm-1pm

Haiti Solidarity Fundraising Social
Saturday, May 15 at the Orioles Community Centre, 448 Burnell Ave.
Featuring DJ Universal Sound.
9pm-2am
Tickets: $10 Contact Ralph at 996-2611 or Jord at 283-7295.

11 February 2010: Haiti Relief Fundraiser

Mon 1 Feb 2010, 7:43am

The West End Cultural Centre with the Winnipeg-Haiti Solidarity Group present a
Haiti Relief Fundraiser, Thursday February 11th.

Performers include:

The Weakerthans' John K Samson
Ruth Moody & Nicky Mehta of The Wailin' Jennys
and Daniel ROA
at the West End Cultural Centre, 586 Ellice Av at Sherbrook.

100% of funds raised are being donated to Zanmi Lasante/Partners in Health. Being the largest NGO in Haiti to
provide comprehensive primary health care regardless of ability to pay, the right of free access to health care for the poor majority in Haiti has been a cornerstone of their operation since their inception in 1985. ZL/PiH uses a community based model, training and hiring Haitians to deliver preferential health care to the poor, meaning the money donated from this fundraiser will stay in Haiti.

Donations to Partners In Health will be collected throughout the event and charitable tax receipts will be issued for donations over $10.

You can learn more about Partners In Health here: http://www.standwithhaiti.org/haiti

7:15 doors ~ 8:00 pm show
Tickets are $15 in advance and will be available on Feb 2nd through
Ticketmaster, Mondragon, the WECC, and the Winnipeg-Haiti Solidarity Group.

Le West End Cultural Centre avec le Winnipeg-Haiti Solidarity Group présentent
Le Prélèvement de fond pour le soulagement d'Haïti, jeudi, le 11 février.

Les artistes inclus:

John K Samson du groupe The Weakerthans'
Ruth Moody & Nicky Mehta de The Wailin' Jennys
et Daniel ROA

100% des fonds prélèvés vont être donné à Zanmi Lasante/Partners in Health. Cette organisation est la plus grosse ONG en Haïti qui contribue aux soins primaires de santé compréhensif. Le droit d'acces gratuit aux soins de santé pour la majorité des peuples qui est pauvre et qui vie en Haïti est une pierre angulaire de leur opérations depuis leur inception en 1985. ZL/PIH utilise la communauté pour employer et entraîner les Haïtiennes de façon qu'ils peuvent offrir les soins de santé tout en donnant préférence aux pauvres. En autres mots, les dons reçuent vont rester en Haïti.

Les dons offerts au Partner in Health vont être receuillis durant l'évènement et les reçu d'impot de bienfaisance vont être émis pour les montants au dessus de $10

Pour apprendre plus à propos de Partners in Health, visiter: http://www.standwithhaiti.org/haiti

19:15 - Les portes seront ouvertes 20:00 - la musique débutera
Les billets sont $15 en avance et vont être disponible dès le 2 fevrier au Mondragon, Ticketmaster, WECC, et le Winnipeg Haiti Solidarity Group.

Disturbing news on the militarization of aid in Haiti

Wed 20 Jan 2010, 10:09am

Some disturbing stories have been coming out of Haiti around the militarization of aid. The Canada-Haiti Action Network has released a statement of concern.

“There is an exaggerated focus on unlawfulness,” says one the group’s representatives in Toronto, Niraj Joshi. “Taking food and water from destroyed stores does not constitute looting,” she said. “It is an instinct of human survival, caused by the failure of the international relief effort to provide timely and effective assistance.”

Canada has announced it's sending 1,000 troops to Haiti, including counterinsurgency forces who've just returned from Afghanistan. The Al-Jazeera video below shows some of the effects of the militarization of US aid on the ground.

Catastrophic earthquake hits Haiti

Wed 13 Jan 2010, 2:54pm

Haiti was hit by a devastating 7.0 Richter scale earthquake yesterday, leaving thousands of buildings damaged or destroyed, including the National Palace and the UN mission's headquarters, and potentially thousands dead.

On DemocracyNow! today they talked extensively about the developing crisis.

Rights Action is one credible NGO in Haiti accepting donations. For more information on this contact Grahame Russell, info@rightsaction.org, 860-352-2448.

Haitians speak once again at the polls, this time with silence

Mon 20 Apr 2009, 10:16am

It was a no-show at the polls on Sunday as Haitians mounted a successful boycott of elections of candidates to the country's senate. The boycott was called for in response to the disqualification of all candidates from the Fanmi Lavalas party, the most popular party in the country, by Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council (CEP). The CEP refused to discuss participation rates, but the Agence Haitienne de Presse said that senator Jean Hector Anacacis estimated participation to be between 1 and 3%, and the Associated Press reported that “armed U.N. soldiers, observers and journalists far outnumbered a trickle of voters in Haiti's capital.”

 

Last month, a Haitian court decided that the election must include the disqualified Fanmi Lavalas candidates, but the CEP ignored the decision. The disqualification is widely believed to be politically motivated. Many other potential candidates, such as Ronald Dauphin, have been held as political prisoners for years without trial.

 

Candidates who came out of the Lavalas political movement have decisively won every presidential election since free and fair elections were first held in 1990. Haitian elites and the international community have responded to these governments, chosen by the country's poor majority to defend its interests, with economic embargoes and political coup d'états.

 

Since 2000 Canada has contributed significantly to these attempts. They announced this week they're continuing the embargo, after telling the UN earlier this month that there is “no alternative” to continuing with existing policy, even after the RCMP admitted that its training mission of the Haitian National Police, the most lauded facet of the Canadian mission, has failed.

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