Miss Haiti hopes to share beauty of her country with the world

The first Miss Haiti in 22 years is not the typical contestant you'd find in a beauty pageant. She is a young lawyer who speaks four languages and is happy to be able to help her country after the horrific earthquake that devastated the Caribbean nation last January.

Sarodj Bertin had a privileged childhood in Puerto Principe until age 9, when her mother, lawyer and opposition leader Mireille Durocher Bertin, was gunned down after announcing the creation of a political party that would compete with that of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in the upcoming elections.

Her father then moved Sarodj and his other children to the neighbouring Dominican Republic, where the 24-year-old beauty, who considered her mother her idol, studied law and worked for the International Alliance for Haiti's Recovery.

Nevertheless, she was obsessed with the Miss Universe pageant. After the earthquake, she entered a contest, won and spent the last few months in Puerto Rico with the director of the Miss Dominican Republic and Miss Haiti franchises, Magali Febles, who took charge of her training for Miss Universe, to be held Aug. 23 in Las Vegas.

In a recent interview at the Miss Universe headquarters in New York, Ms. Bertin spoke with The Associated Press about the importance of her new role, how she expects to help her country and a mishap that would have been the end of the world to any other contestant: Her luggage with her entire Miss Universe wardrobe disappeared on a recent flight to Miami.

AP: What are you going to wear now that you have lost your Miss Universe wardrobe?

Ms. Bertin: The people of Haiti have been extremely supportive. They learned what happened and a few designers came to me and loaned me their gowns, bags, shoes. And I, I feel like the most special person in the world right now because they cared for me.

AP: You are a lawyer, you're studying for a masters, you speak French, Spanish, English and Creole, and you are learning Mandarin. You are not the typical Miss Universe contestant.

Ms. Bertin: The Miss Universe pageant has always been a dream for me, since I was a kid. I used to watch the contest and think, “Why is my country not participating? I want to see Haiti participating.” ... When I finished college, I gave up on the idea. I thought it would never happen. I thought someday ... I could celebrate the contest and send a girl myself. So when they told me that they were going to do it this year ... I trembled, I cried, I screamed.

AP: Some criticized the contest, considering it too frivolous, especially amid such a state of emergency.

Ms. Bertin: Everybody remembers Haiti in moments of crisis. ... I want them to see also the beauty that there is in my country, to be interested in giving opportunities to the young people. ... They should see it as a light, a hope.

AP: How do you think your participation in the contest can help your country?

Ms. Bertin: There are many people who want to help but don't know how and sometimes they need a voice to tell them what are the necessities of the people. I want the people, through me, to be who says what their necessities are.

AP: What are your expectations for the big day?

Ms. Bertin: Obviously, if I win I'm going to be the happiest woman. ... (But) regardless what occurs that night, my objectives are the same: work for my people.




http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/project-jacmel/other-stories/miss-haiti-hopes-to-share-beauty-of-her-country-with-the-world/article1675642/

Haiti struggles to clear quake debris for rebuilding

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH-E9b8Rq5w

Haiti presidential list delayed

Haiti's electoral commission has postponed its ruling on who will be allowed to run in November's presidential elections, leaving the candidacy of hip-hop mogul Wyclef Jean, and other contenders, in limbo.

The decision was supposed to be released on Tuesday, but after a marathon session, the electoral commission decided to postpone until Friday the publication of the final list of approved presidential candidates.

At issue is a disagreement on the country's electoral law which stipulates that candidates must hold a Haitian passport and have five consecutive years of residence in Haiti, among other requirements.

More than 30 contenders are vying to replace Rene Preval, the current president, in the November 28 election and several have been scrutinised by the commission.

Al Jazeera's Sebastian Walker, reporting from the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, said that Jean "is having trouble making it clear that he had been a resident of Haiti for the last five years".

Prior to announcing his intention to run for president, Jean acted as a goodwill ambassador for Haiti, the country where he was born.

The New York-based singer said his role, working for the Haitian government, made international travel and foreign residency necessary parts of his public service.

Jacques Edouard Alexis, a former two-time prime minister and another presidential hopeful, and Leslie Voltaire, a US-educated urban planner and former minister, have also faced scrutiny from the electorial commission.


'Street support'

Some candidates who could be deemed uneligible, including Jean, "have significant support from the streets" and disallowing them to run "could lead to unrest," Al Jazeera's Walker said.

Jean, who left Haiti for the US at age nine, is popular with many Haitians, especially the youth, who see him a national success who never forgot his roots.

Several Haitian youth organisations and Creole music groups have undertaken to support his national campaign as a candidate for the Viv Ansan-m party.

The hip-hop star and three-time Grammy award-winner has, however, been criticised for lacking political experience.

"We await the CEP decision but the laws of the Haitian Constitution must be respected," he said in an email to The Associated Press news agency.

He also told the AP that he had gone into hiding after receiving death threats. Jean said he received a phone call telling him to get out of Haiti and that he was now in a secret location in the Caribbean country.

Preval, the current president, has been widely criticised in Haiti over his handling of the January 12 earth-quake that killed more than 200,000 people and destroyed much of the country's already weak infrastructure.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/08/2010818183714693940.html

Marche an fè - Iron Market

Luck Mervil propose " Vilaj Vilaj" pour soulager les sinistrés du séisme

Haïti: L'artiste canadien d'orgine Haïtienne, Luck Mervil et le Centre d'Etudes et de Coopération internationale (CECI), ont annoncé ce mercredi dans les colonnes des principaux journaux canadiens la mise en chantier d'un projet de construction de logements dénommé Vilaj Vilaj. Ce projet tel que présenté par les initiateurs consiste en la création de villages faits de maisons construites avec des conteneurs usagés destinées aux sans abris du 12 janvier.

Neuf (9) villages pouvant accueillir 5000 sinistrés seront contruits dans le cadre de ce projet qui durera cinq années, dont le coût est estimé à 25 millions de dollars. De ce montant, le CECI avait récolté 11 millions de dollars dans les premières semaines ayant suivi la catastrophe du 12 janvier dernier, apprend-on de Radio-Canada.

Ces maisons qui pourront abriter une famille moyenne de 5 à 7 personnes seront à l'abri de toutes les intempéries imaginables. « Ni ouragan, ni inondation, ni tremblement de terre ne viendront à bout des constructions que nous élaborons », a déclaré Luck Mervil au CNW/Telbec.

Les maisons Vilaj Vilaj seront dotées de panneaux solaires ainsi que des systèmes de récupération d'eaux usées et de pluie. Les concepteurs du projet se sont fixés comme objectifs principaux de respecter et de renforcer l'aménagement paysager naturel des espaces où seront érigés les villages.

Selon les informations données par les initiateurs du projet Vilaj Vilaj, Les travaux de construction démarreront dans la région du Cap, à la fin du mois de septembre, avec la construction d'un premier village auquel s'ajouteront trois autres villages l'année suivante. Et ainsi de suite jusqu'à atteindre neuf villages au cours des cinq prochaines années.

Ce projet Vilaj Vilaj conçu au Québec (Canada), est un témoignage de la volonté de Luck Mervil d'apporter sa contribution au processus de reconstruction de son pays natal. « Vilaj Vilaj c'est une piste de solution de remplacement, une nouvelle approche à la façon traditionnelle d'oeuvrer à l'avancement humain. Nous avons réuni des équipes, des partenaires et des collaborateurs incroyables autour de ce projet. Tout est mis en oeuvre pour faire de ce premier Vilaj un modèle à suivre », confie Luck Mervil, qui s'est démis de ses fonctions de porte parole du CECI et déposé sa guitare pour s'investir à fond dans cette nouvelle aventure.

Luck Mervil propose " Vilaj Vilaj pour soulager les sinistrés du séisme

Green homes Haiti-bound

When Charles Fox visited Haiti in June – just six months after a devastating earthquake – he was struck by Haitians’ belief that they would rise from the rubble a stronger country.

Fox, founder of a new local company called Pacific Green Innovations, shares this conviction. He wants to help Haitians build a better – and greener – nation than ever before.

Fox and his Portland startup company have hatched a plan to construct up to 10,000 low-cost homes in Haiti during the next year, using all-recyclable panels and employing thousands of Haitians.

The homes, costing only $5,000 to $7,000 each, will be fireproof, waterproof and earthquake-resistant. Each home will take about four hours for a four-person crew to build.

Pacific Green Innovations was formed in October of 2009 as a sustainable technology company. It didn’t take the company long to discover SwissCell, a modular prefabricated panel introduced by German-owned Consido AG of Switzerland.

SwissCell panels are made almost entirely of paper, strengthened by a honeycomb-style core and recyclable resin. Panels can be used to create homes, countertops, doors, or work sheds. The machine that makes the panels can produce enough for 20 houses a day.

Fox initially wanted to introduce SwissCell to the U.S. market, but turned to Haiti after the earthquake struck in January.

When his company breaks ground in Haiti next month, it will oversee the construction of 20 houses per day by an all-Haitian crew. During the 12-month building process, the project should employ nearly 6,000 Haitian laborers.

After multiple trips to Haiti, and after consulting with the Haitian government and former President Clinton’s William J. Clinton Foundation, Fox and Pacific Green tailored the project to Haitians’ requirements.

Porches, central to Haitian interaction, are a vital part of the floor plan. Most of the homes also will feature three bedrooms, at the request of Haitian families.

Land for the new homes has been secured through purchase, donations, and government set-asides. More than 1 million Haitians are still displaced, and the hurricane season is in full swing, so Fox hopes to start building quickly.

He plans to visit Haiti at least monthly to oversee the project and working conditions. He’ll devote more attention to introducing SwissCell into the U.S. market once the Haiti project is up and running.

One-tree house

The housing project will use minimal imports, saving time, energy and money. That also leaves Haitian ports free for much-needed humanitarian aid. The company will simply relocate a little glue, paper and two semi-portable panel machines to Haiti. Pacific Green is working to procure an all-natural glue made in North Carolina, but hopes to eventually find all the supplies it needs from Haiti.

If a standard U.S. home was constructed of SwissCell panels, the paper used in the house and foundation would equal the raw material from a single tree, earning the product its nickname, “one-tree house.”

One tree could easily produce two or three Haitian homes.

SwissCell homes have a high insulating value, although the Haitian homes will not be insulated because ventilation and airflow are more important in Haiti.

If the honeycombs in the panels were filled with insulation by the panel machines, the houses would have an R-78 insulating value, double that of contemporary U.S. homes.

SwissCell-based homes also are free of toxins, Fox notes, recalling the formaldehyde-ridden trailers supplied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that sickened many Hurricane Katrina survivors following the 2005 storm.

Pacific Green also is researching ways to recycle the earthquake rubble currently littering Haiti.


Funding the project

With the initial 1,000 homes estimated to cost $9 million, Pacific Green plans to fund the project in a variety of ways. One local plan is to create a nonprofit and collect donations in conjunction with the “Beaverton Cares” Campaign.

By Kelsey Thalhofer
http://www.oregoncitynewsonline.com/sustainable/story.php?story_id=128137994096195900