The Betty Black Blog

Jamaicans have opened up our hearts and our wallets to help Haiti. Our minds have turned from our own woes with the realisation that, just a stone’s throw away, is a neighbour who makes our problems look insignificant. We text, we write cheques and we drop supplies at ODPEM. But then we watch CNN, etc. and hear about American soldiers on the ground, what the American Red Cross is doing or, once in a while,  mention of Doctors without Borders and a few other international organisations. This is not surprising as it is to be expected that US based news agencies would report news relevant to the US first.

What we really want to know is how have we been helping our neighbours? An old Jamaican proverb states “we likkle but we tallawah!” and this has proven true. I’ve gathered together various news articles relating to Jamaica on the ground in Haiti.

JDF photo

The day after the earthquake our PM,  Leader of the Opposition and the Director General of ODPEM, along with a JDF contingent arrived in Haiti. The JDF contingent remained in Haiti and has been joined by additional JDF personnel as well as soldiers from other Caribbean countries at our base at the Port-au-Prince International Airport. By the first weekend Food for the Poor had landed ten containers of supplies at Cap-Haïtien to the north. On Friday and Saturday our Government was able to airlift out many Jamaicans who had been resident in Haiti using planes which had carried in supplies, soldiers and medical personnel. If you are aware of any Jamaican in Haiti who has not yet been accounted for call ODPEM at 886-1849.

We heard on Friday that the American Armed Forces in charge of the airport were turning back other planes giving preference to their own armed services. This included, among others, a plane carrying the CARICOM Secretary General and several Caribbean Prime Ministers. What many of us did not hear is that this plane also carried Digicel staff and equipment on the way to try and get communications back up. Communications are extremely important in any disaster. Despite the delay they were able to have their network 70% operational by the following Monday. Digicel customers can donate J$25 by texting HELP to 162. LIME customers can text the word HAITI to 444-HELP (444-4357) to donate J$50. From the 20th JPSCo linesmen, on 15 day rotation, have been helping to restore power to some areas.

These articles appeared in the Sunday Observer and the Sunday Gleaner five days after the earthquake giving an account up to that point. That same day the Director General of ODPEM spoke, already thinking of a long term plan and the US Secretary of State stopped off on her way home from Haiti to meet with the PM.

The JDF soldiers have a base established at the airport, Camp Restore Comfort to collect, hold and disburse our donations. They also travel with our medical teams and provide security for the Food for the Poor missions.

Our doctors and other medical personnel have been working in ten day rotation at three facilities in or near Port-au-Prince. People in the medical and health fields who wish to volunteer in Haiti can call the Ministry of Health at 1-888-ONE LOVE (1-888-663-5683), Monday to Friday from 8:30am to 5:00pm.

Here are a few newspaper reports covering our medical personnel there:
The Gleaner – Too Big a Task
The Gleaner -  Thank God for Him
The Observer – J’can Medics Save Lives
The Observer – Amputations Save Haitian Lives
The Observer – Heartbreak and Hope

We even found something to smile about in the middle of tragedy as we followed an appeal by a grandmother to bring home her granddaughter born in Haiti of Jamaican parents. On Sunday last, January 27th, we were happy to hear that the teenager had landed safely in Jamaica. We can also read the detailed account from a Gleaner journalist who had been there  in Part One and Part Two of his article.

Haiti is still recovering and will take, according to the experts, a full ten years to be rebuilt. At this point their most pressing needs are still water, food and medical supplies but down the road they are going to need houses, built properly this time like Jamaican houses. They will need a proper infrastructure which unfortunately they have never had. While we cry for water in the middle of Jamaica’s worst drought in twenty years we need to realise that only 45% of Haiti has ever had any kind of water supply and even that is incredibly polluted. They will need schools and hospitals and they will need orphanages, our hearts bleed to think of how many orphanages they will need.

Food for the Poor was started almost thirty years ago by concerned Christian Jamaicans living in Florida who wanted to help their less fortunate brothers and sisters at home. A few years later they expanded their relief work to the region’s most needy country, Haiti. The organisation now serves 17 countries in the Caribbean and Latin America and has grown to become the largest international relief organisation in the United States. It also has one of the lowest overhead costs (less than 3%) of any Charity in the world. Since the earthquake Food for the Poor has sent 300 containers of supplies. But they have been in Haiti for twenty five years. Before the catastrophe they had completed over 400 projects in Haiti and had another 220 under way.  They currently operate five orphanages through their Angels of Hope programme. They will need to build more. They have built over 8,000 single family homes in Haiti, they will need to build more. More than 95% of these homes, built with expertise from Jamaica and Florida, withstood the quake.

Nothing is too small so please help the people of Haiti by donating to Food for the Poor or other recognised charity.

The Digicel sponsored “Rise Again” featuring Shaggy, Sean Paul and others is now available for download on iTunes for US$0.99, all of which goes to the Digicel Relief Fund.

The people of Haiti will need the help of their Caribbean neighbours for a very long time,  let’s not forget them again as they have been forgotten for centuries.

Read more about Jamaica at Jamaica-Allspice.com

Young Ian, the teenager at Campion, knew exactly what career he wanted to pursue. He wanted to be in movies, but not in front of the camera. The youngster, with a talent for art and a love of Star Wars, wanted to go into special effects so it was no surprise that, in 1985, he headed off to the California Institute of Art. His mother didn’t like the idea at all, her own father was an artist so she knew too well that there wasn’t much money in it. But a boy must follow his dream.

Once at Art School, Ian found that he was “drawn” to animation rather than motion graphics so he changed direction. Upon graduation he went to work as one of the thousands of keen young artists at the Disney Studio. One of his first jobs was as one of the many assistant artists painting the backgrounds for Mickey’s The Prince and the Pauper in 1990. He continued doing background work and visual effects then character design for a number of Disney’s animated movies: Aladdin, Pocahontas, Tarzan and Disney Television’s Hercules. In 2002 he was given the assignment as Associate Art Director for Treasure Planet, a reworking of Treasure Island set in outer space. The movie was nominated for several awards, including an Oscar.

He was then given the job as Art Director for Chicken Little to be released in 2005. An animated movie has hundreds of artists working on it. Some will do backgrounds, some draw characters, some work on specific sequences. An Art Director’s job is to make sure that dozens of characters, hundreds of scenes and thousands of frames all fit together seamlessly so that when we go to the movies we will see a finished product which looks like it was done by one person from start to finish; a monumental job indeed! Chicken Little was number one at the box office grossing US$40,000,000 its first week-end. In total it has earned over US$314,000,000! Disney was back on top of animated films. And a Jamaican was partially responsible for that!

Disney then went into production of The Princess and the Frog, featuring the first Black Disney Princess, Tiana. As with Chicken Little, voices would be done by famous people. No less a person than Oprah voiced Tiana’s mother. So who would be Art Director for this project? Why not the same person who worked on the previous box office smash? The film was released in December 2009 and grossed US$25,000,000 its first week-end. Only out two months it has already earned US$166,000,000.

Gleaner photo

So thanks to the quiet Ian Gooding, born in St Andrew and schooled at Campion College, Jamaica has shown the world that we’re not only singers and runners, but we certainly know how to draw! His family must be very proud indeed that they encouraged the young Ian to follow his dream because, just like in the Movies, dreams can come true.

Read more about Jamaica at Jamaica-Allspice.com

Remember to help our neighbours by donating to Food for the Poor

The eyes of the world have been turned to Haiti over the past two weeks since unfathomable damage was done by a 7.0 earthquake on 12th January.  We wonder what has made Haiti so poor. Certainly their history before 1804 was the same as the rest of the West Indies. Then we read Sir Hilary Beckles account which has been flying around the Internet. My point is, in my humble way, to tell the rest of the story; for Haiti’s current poverty only started with them being forced to pay restitution to France in order to be recognised as an independent nation and allowed back into world commerce.

The Haitian Revolution of 1791-1804, the one we read about in history books, was only the start of that country’s unstable political climate as there has hardly been twenty years free of unrest in their entire two hundred year history. How can an economy grow against such a backdrop? Below is a very shortened version, in plain list form, of Haiti’s political history.

1791-1804 Inspired by the French Revolution, the slaves and free people of colour demand more rights from France. Bloody war ensues and Haiti eventually declares Independence on 1st January 1804. Dessalines is proclaimed Emperor for life and remaining whites must choose exile or death.

1806 Dessalines is assassinated. The Country is divided in two: A Kingdom in the North, ruled by Henri I, and a Republic in the South, governed by Pétion.

1821 Boyer succeeds Pétion, reunifies the country and, after Santo Domingo declares independence from Spain, invades that country and frees their slaves. In 1824 thousands of free blacks from the USA immigrate but, because of the poverty, most return to the USA.

1825 King Charles X of France sends a fleet to recapture Haiti. Boyer agrees to a Treaty whereby France will recognise Haiti’s independence in exchange for “restitution” of F150,000,000 (reduced to F90,000,000 in 1838).

1843 Boyer is ousted. Several more coups follow and by 1892 foreigners start to get involved again.

1892 The German government “suppresses” the current president, Firmin.

1912 Haitian Syrians form a plot and the Presidential Palace is destroyed.

1914 At the start of World War I, British, United States and German Troops each enter Haiti to “protect” their citizens from each other. The USA enacts the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, giving themselves the right to intervene to stabilise the economy of Caribbean and Central American Countries.

1915-1937 The United States occupies Haiti. During this time there are several elected presidents. During their occupation, the US enforces a border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic and captures all disputed land in the border zone.

1937 Trujillo, the dictator of Dominican Republic, reinforces his borders by massacring all Haitians living on the Dominican Republic side of the border. He further establishes a form of Apartheid called Antihaitianismo against his neighbours.

1949 Lescot, elected president in 1941, tries to change the constitution to allow himself to be re-elected. A coup follows in 1950 and Magloire comes to power.

1956 Magloire is forced to resign by a general strike and there is civil unrest.

1957 Dr François Duvalier, the popular main opposer of Magliore, is elected president. Despite encouraging a black renaissance of professionals and literati, Papa Doc is best known for his creation of the “volunteer militia” the infamous Tonton Macoutes, who roamed the country killing everyone who disagreed with government policy. He proclaims himself President for Life. There is a huge “brain drain” from the country.

1971 Papa Doc is succeeded by his son, Jean-Claude, Bebé Doc.

1986 Bebé Doc is ousted and flees the country. General Namphy heads the National Governing Council.

1987 A new Constitution is overwhelmingly approved by popular support but elections are aborted when the army and Tonton Macoutes slaughter hundreds of citizens.

1990 Aristede is elected president. A year later he gets a no confidence vote from deputies and senate. He encourages his supporters to kill his critics. He is overthrown. Nerette is named Provisional President but chaos rules for the next three years.

1994 The US negotiates the departure of military leaders and reinstates Aristede to complete his term. He disbands the army and establishes a civilian police force.

1996 Rene Preval, former Prime Minister under Aristede, is elected President.

And that, in abridged form, is the history of Haiti up until 12th January 2010. In two hundred and six years of independence Haiti has suffered twenty-three coups and four invasions. Most of Haiti’s rulers have been despotic with the habit of robbing the public purse. Each generation of successful Haitians, mindful of history, have taken what money they have earned out of the country and generation after generation, rich and poor, educated and illiterate, have fled in fear of their lives. Do we wonder why Haiti is as poor and as hopeless as it now is?

Wikipedia Notes and References

Please Help Haiti by donating to Food for the Poor

Similar but Different

We would expect that two countries close both in geography and culture would have similar foods. It is therefore no surprise that neighbouring Jamaica and Haiti have similar cuisine. There are many indigenous fruit, vegetables and native animals in common. Canoes of the early Tainos plied back and forth between the two Islands. The history of European colonists and East African slaves is a common one. War in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries between the English, headquartered at Port Royal and the French, later based in Port-au-Prince, also affected food as soldiers and their retinues carried recipes from one country to the other.

But, as we all know, similar does not necessarily mean the same. There are still French influences in Haitian food to this day, particularly their puddings and breads, and their food does not have the strong Eastern flavours which we got from East Indian and Chinese indentured labourers.

Similar

Diri et Pois Colles

1 cup red kidney beans
¼-½ cup salt pork, diced
2 tbsp oil
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1 green Scotch Bonnet pepper, chopped
1 tsp cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups rice

Cook the beans in lightly salted water until tender, drain and set aside both the beans and the cooking liquid.

Fry the salt pork until crisp (use oil if necessary). Add the onion, garlic and green pepper and sauté lightly. Stir in the drained beans and sauté for a minute or two more.

Add  four cups of the water in which the beans were cooked. Bring to a boil, add cumin and salt and pepper if necessary. Add the rice and cook until rice is tender, 20-25 minutes.

Griot (Grillots)

½ cup scallions, chopped
½ Scotch Bonnet pepper, chopped
1 tsp thyme
Salt & pepper to taste
1 cup Seville (sour) orange juice
3 lb pork shoulder, cubed

Mix first five ingredients together. Pour over pork in a glass or ceramic container, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Drain pork and place in heavy pot. Add enough water to barely cover and cook for about 45 minutes.

Drain, then fry in hot oil until golden brown. Serve with Ti-Malis Sauce

Ti-Malis Sauce

1 cup onion, finely chopped
1 cup lime juice
3 Tbsp butter
2 Scotch Bonnet peppers, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup tomatoes, chopped

Marinate the onions in lime juice for about 30 minutes. Drain the onions, reserving lime juice.

In a heavy skillet, melt the butter over medium heat, add the onions and sauté lightly. Stir in the peppers, garlic and tomatoes. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes

Turn off the heat and add the reserved lime juice. Cool to room temperature before serving.

Different

Diri Jon-Jon (Riz Djon Djon)

2 cups rice
1 cup dried black mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 sprig thyme
4 Tbsp butter
Salt & pepper to taste

Remove the stems from the mushrooms and soak each in a cup of hot water for approximately ½ hour.

Sauté rice and garlic in butter. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add mushroom caps and water in which they were soaked. Discard mushroom stems and add water in which they were soaked.
Simmer for about 20 minutes.

Accra

1lb malanga (coco yam)
1 cup fresh black eyed peas (not dried)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 stalk scallion, chopped
½ onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ green pepper, chopped
1 Scotch Bonnet pepper, chopped
1 egg beaten
1 tbsp flour, approx.
½ tsp baking powder
Oil for deep frying

Grate the malanga. Process black eyed peas, ½ cup water and seasoning in blender until about the same consistency as the grated malanga.

In a bowl, mix the malanga with the black eye pea mixture. Add the beaten egg then the flour and baking powder to make a very thick batter.

Heat the oil until very hot. Drop the mixture by tablespoons into the hot oil. Turn when dark golden brown.

Remove from pan and drain on paper towels.

Bon Appétit!

Please help our neighbours in distress by donating to Food for the Poor or your favourite Charity

The telethon will be broadcast here (if I’ve done the codes right)

Hope for Haiti Now

Call Toll Free International: 773-360-0205
United States and Canada:     877-99-HAITI

Food for the Poor

Food for the Poor Canada

Doctors without Borders

American Red Cross

Oxfam UK

International Red Cross

UNICEF

J$670, US$7.70, E5.35, Y699. That is the weekly income of the average Haitian. We bandy about the phrase “Poorest Country in the Western Hemisphere” as we would “the Tallest Building” or “the Longest River” without really stopping to think what it means. We tend to transfer ideas to things we know and most of are subconsciously placing mental images of Haiti in a Jamaican context so let’s work with that.

A typical view of Port-au-Prince -ROB

Take a trip on the Mandela Highway and have a look at those shacks along the side. Think of downtown Kingston then surround that on all sides with the shacks as far as the eye can seen. Think of Coronation Market sitting in the middle of the Riverton Dump. Think of sewerage flowing in the gutters. Go downtown and drive the length of Princess Street and back again. Try to turn your car around. Think of going to work everyday in a car with iron pipes welded to the bumpers for protection in traffic. Think of locking up your business and fleeing before dark in fear of your life, for at night gangs of youths, armed with the leftover grenade launchers and flamethrowers of Duvalier’s Tonton Macoutes, roam the streets. Think of returning home to your comfortable suburban home and starting the generator and the water tank…every day. That is the life of “the One Thousand,” the privileged families of Haiti who have a car, a generator, a water tank and the hope of living past 60. The rest of the population go home to one of those shacks without the hope of even hanging curtains at the window or buying a bed from Courts much less eating a decent meal. They sleep five to a room, with luck they have a blanket to sleep on. With luck someone five or ten houses away has a phone.

The people are colourful but the city is grey -ROB

With luck they don’t have to walk too far to the stand pipe where their luck will run out as the water coming from that standpipe will ensure that 90% of them get sick. When they do get sick they have a 40% chance of basic health care. Think of the Kingston Public Hospital. Now suppose that was Andrew’s Memorial or Medical Associates; in other words, that that was the best care available. But think of KPH with half the personnel and equipment that is has. Before they die, at roughly 60 years old, they would likely have had malaria, typhoid, meningitis or tuberculosis, or all of the above. They might die from those or possibly cholera or AIDS. They will have twice as many babies as the average Jamaican but those babies will be five times more likely to die.

What looks like a garbage dump is the Market -ROB

My husband visited Haiti several times when he was Group Security Director for a large Caribbean group. When he came home after his first trip he said to me “Think of Jamaica in comparison to Switzerland; Haiti makes Jamaica look like Switzerland.” There are millions of people poorer than the most destitute Jamaican. And for every Jamaican, no matter how poor, there is always hope that one day, they or their child will live in Norbrook and drive a Lexus. There is no hope in Haiti. Years, decades, centuries of being oppressed by their rulers have taken every shred of hope from them. The only hope left is that one night they can sneak across the border to the Dominican Republic or take off in a waterlogged boat and survive long enough to reach Jamaica or Cuba or, even better, Florida. Subsequent governments have bled the country and its people dry then gloated, for right in the middle of the thousands of shanties they have built a beautiful park and an exact replica of the U. S.’s White House, complete to cupola and fence!

An aerial photo of the Haiti/ Dom Rep border

The geography of Haiti is awful for over the last seventy years the hillsides have been denuded by charcoal burners. When flying over, the border between Dom. Rep. and Haiti is as obvious as on a map: green on one side and brown on the other.  The city has a miasma of dust over it at all times. The one room shacks which house 95% of the population are made from poor quality concrete block held together with weak mortar, sometimes made with gutter water or even sea water. There is no steel. More substantial buildings will use some steel, but nothing close to what is required under Jamaican building codes. In the poorest Jamaican shanty-town, the residents will often plant fruit trees or some greenery, even a row of “flowers” in discarded paint tins or cheese pans.

The permanent cloud of dust and disease which covers Port-au-Prince -ROB

There is none of that there. It is all dry and grey. It is also hot for, as we know, it is vegetation which helps to keep us cool and clean the air. When the temperature falls to 65°F in Kingston or 50° in Miami, it is still 90° in Port-au-Prince.

Satelitte photo of Port-au-Prince before January 12th

This was reality in Haiti and it’s capital, Port-au-Prince, BEFORE 12th January, 2010.

To Help Haiti, please read our Post from January 15th

Since Wednesday morning we have all been waiting for help to reach ravaged Haiti. Unfortunately, we live in a world that has become used to writing a letter then pressing “send” and our letter to our Aunt in China arrives. We sit at our computers and do in an hour what once took a week. We text and email information across the world. Our hearts cry out for our neighbours and we want to help them NOW. Where is the help, where is the water, the medical care, the search and rescue teams? Why are supplies sitting at the airport?

Here’s the thing. Within six hours most of the world knew what had happened. We knew sooner for that earthquake was felt here as a 5.3! Within the hour we heard the full news. The next morning JDF Coast Guard vessels set out. ODPEM went into high gear. Food for the Poor started loading containers. Now stop and think. There are roughly 195 countries in the world. Let’s presume half of them reacted as we did. That is almost 100 independent, sovereign nations setting out for Haiti plus hundreds of relief organisations. Let’s presume they all tried to make contact. No one could get through to the Haitian government, the United Nations Office or their own missions or offices there. They would all have individually realised the potential and set off anyway. Three Food for the Poor offices most likely spoke to each other and a dozen Red Cross missions probably did the same. But the Salvation Army in Jamaica would not have contacted the Cuban Government or the US Air Force. They all likely presumed that, once they arrived in Haiti the government or the UN forces would be ready to organise everyone. One can imagine how stunned they were when they approached Port-au-Prince and the reality became apparent. It was ten times worse than anyone could have imagined. The Presidential Palace and Parliamentary buildings were destroyed, the UN Headquarters was a pile of rubble, the Cathedral was gone. There was neither state or church nor international body to organise them. Within minutes they would have discovered that the airport was cut off and the port destroyed. They would most likely have discussed the situation among themselves and each would have radioed their headquarters for further instructions. If the head of ODPEM or a US Army general had been on the ground they might automatically have taken charge but that was not the case.

We need to remember that there was no communications between Haiti and the rest of the world. Someone in Haiti Tweeting their friend in the US is not an official communication. The air traffic control system was down so, once the airport was full, there was no way of stopping other planes from coming in. We don’t realise that Port-au-Prince International Airport has only one runway, not only one functioning but only one in existence. We think in our own terms, it would take dozens of planes to clog one of our airports (or hundreds to clog Miami or Toronto) so we presume there were dozens there. Four or five would be enough in a one runway airport. With no air traffic control, our planes which took off, including three private charters, would have had no way of knowing they could not land until they were close enough to actually see the situation; the same would apply for the hundreds coming from other countries. Ships already there would have radioed other ships to report the situation with the port but the ships still approaching would hardly have turned round and gone home. Within hours, but not faster than the speed of CNN, they would have realised how totally cut off they were from everything and that both the Government and the UN Post were destroyed, in fact at this point 300 UN personnel are still missing.  Some would have set off on foot to see the situation, some would have set up close to the airport. Food for the Poor landed ten containers of supplies at Cap Haitien in the north on Thursday and is working there.

Living in an instant world we often forget that things take time. Food for the Poor, ODPEM and other relief agencies are always ready to roll. Search and rescue and medical teams take longer. It takes at least a day or two to gather people from their regular jobs and send them on the way. Doctors cannot walk out on their regular patients to jump on a plane as much as they might want to.

Someone on Facebook suggested that heavy equipment should have been the first in to clear the way for the relief supplies and medical teams. Under no circumstances would this have worked. There had been a major earthquake, there were still dozens of aftershocks. Just the movement of bulldozers would have brought down some of the damaged buildings, not to mention the possibility of crushing people trapped under the rubble in the streets. This is why search and rescue teams take hours to move a few feet, the greatest danger being to cause more damage. Even when the big cargo helicopters came in they couldn’t work as, when they tried to land, they disturbed half fallen buildings. Major clearing cannot be done until the status changes from search and rescue to search and recover which, as heart wrenching as it might sound, is literally only hours away. Only then can roads be cleared and relief supplies start to roll out at the pace we would all like to see. At least there are tons of supplies already there and hundreds of tons more on the way.

Similarly, the hospital ship, USNS Comfort does not sit in the US Navy Yard ready to roll, the cost would be mind-boggling. The doctors, nurses, etc. who staff it all have regular hospital jobs and have to organise things so that the sick and injured at home will be taken care of. Three days to have it ready to leave out is unbelievably fast in real time. It’s also a ship, not a supersonic jet, so it takes time to get to Haiti. Hospital ships coming from Europe have even further to travel.

Port-au-Prince at this point is a huge pile of rubble. Even by constantly watching TV images it takes a vivid imagination to understand what the reality must be. There are more people in Haiti’s capital than in all of Jamaica. Houses were densely packed, miles and miles of slums, therefore the rubble must cover everywhere. At this point the only way to get out aid is by small helicopters which don’t carry much but which also don’t have the potential to do further damage.

Gleaner Image

If you’ve ever done volunteer work or helped at a school barbeque you will have an idea of how long it takes to serve a dozen people. To help the three million in Port-au-Prince and the others throughout the country within forty-eight hours it would take 20,000 people with unlimited resources working full time without sleep. Unfortunately, though we weep to see it, it takes time to help nine million people. Precious time which, five days after the earthquake, has already run out.

An Overview

Everyone in Jamaica, the Caribbean and indeed the entire world desperately wants to help the people of Haiti, the outpouring of aid is amazing. But before you donate there are three very important things to bear in mind.

1) There are ALWAYS evil people wanting to take advantage of our sympathy and generosity; be very, very careful before you start donating. Go to the well established charities or special funds started by well known corporate entities. Above all, do not respond to random emails purporting to come from individuals in need. Be careful also when doing an online search for information, you may well click on what looks like a site with information and end up downloading spyware! Seek your information from the websites of  established media houses.

2) We see Haitians on Facebook, Twitter, etc. and watch regular news updates so we get a false sense that there is communication. Under normal conditions only a third of the people have cell phones/land lines and only 10% are on the Internet. It appears that most of the telephone service is down, one service appears to be functioning and two or three others (including Digicel) have partial service. We hear that one of nine Internet providers is functioning and four of sixty seven radio stations are broadcasting. The majority of people have no way of communicating and no way of knowing whether friends and family in other parts of the city or the country are alive.

3) The Port Facility at Port au Prince is completely destroyed, ships cannot dock. There are at least ten or twelve aid ships anchored with no way to get the supplies to shore. The airport is in total chaos. Many, many planes went in with relief supplies before any air traffic control was in place. These planes now fill the one-runway airport and tons and tons of supplies sit on the tarmac. The streets, difficult to navigate at the best of times, are blocked with rubble. In other words, there is a great deal of aid already there but the situation is so overwhelming that very little is getting to the people. The anticipated arrival of aircraft carriers with helicopters sometime today will greatly help with distribution of the supplies already on the ground.

That being said it makes sense for us to continue to collect donations but to hold off sending them until we hear through the media that things on the ground are getting more organised. Remember, in most disasters, either the government of the affected area or the UN will normally organise relief. In this case, the government appears to be as much in shock as the rest of the population and the UN representatives have themselves suffered damage and deaths.

This should not cause us to hesitate; for our neighbours, destitute to start with, will need a lot of help for a very long time.

Reach out a Helping Hand

How to Help

Communications

If you are aware of any Jamaicans in Haiti please pass along the information to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at (876) 926-4220. There is hope that two Air Jamaica planes will be able to land at Port au Prince today, depending on the general situation at that airport. These planes are carrying supplies and will bring back any Jamaican nationals who can be located.

Other countries have similar services in place.

The International Red Cross have a website FamilyLinks.ICRC.org where people can try to contact relatives and friends
CNN also has a similar facility at IReport.com

Collecting/Sending Aid

Many, many individuals and organisations are trying to help but there needs to be co-ordination. Our Government has asked that all supplies go through ODPEM,   2-4 Haining Road, Kingston 5 or (876) 906-9674-5, 754-9077-8 or toll free 1-888-991-4262. Donations made to the Jamaica Red Cross, etc. will also be channelled through ODPEM.

Remember what is urgently needed is water, food and medical supplies. The temperature is over 90°F there so blankets can wait!

It is also good to give cash as the relief organisations can direct it towards whatever is most urgent.

Money Donations

Digicel: Text “Help” to 162 to donate J$25. Other Caribbean countries: check your local Digicel office for the number in your country. Text donations take time to get there as they are not collected until you pay your bill then the phone company has to tabulate them and send on the money but it is a very easy way to donate.

NCB:
ODPEM                  a/c #2123873
Food for the Poor a/c #471043885
United Way          a/c #061048596

Scotiabank:
Scotia special fund: Cross Roads a/c #822317
Jamaica Red Cross: Cross Roads a/c #24499

VMBS:  Duke Street a/c #22772867

JNBS:   Duke Street a/c #10937814

International

American Red Cross: text “Haiti” to 90999 to donate US$10

Yele Relief Fund: Text “Yele” to 501501 to donate US$5 to Wyclef Jean’s charity

Food for the Poor

Food for the Poor Canada

Doctors without Borders

American Red Cross

Oxfam UK

International Red Cross

UNICEF

A friend with the Rotary Club has just sent me this link.

Whatever country you are in, contact your local established charities to find out how to help. Not every spontaneous charity is a scam, there are thousands of well intentioned people collecting for Haiti but they quite possibly have reacted, like all of us, to that “heart jerk” and will then have to work out how to get the supplies/money they have collected to Haiti. The established charities already have that system in place. Check out your charity at Charity Navigator.

An imaginable horror has overwhelmed our neighbours, just 250 miles north east of us. Let us hope that the outpouring of love and assistance directed towards Haiti will help to rebuild that country to such an extent that it will no longer be described as the “Poorest Country on the Western Hemisphere.”

Imagine the poorest country village or the most destitute inner city community you have ever seen. Now multiply that by ten and you just begin to imagine what most of Haiti is like. The life expectancy is 60 years; infant mortality is five times ours. There is 70% unemployment and 80% of the population live below the poverty line with the average income equivalent to US$400 per annum.

This is our neighbour, just 250 miles north, which was devastated yesterday. That little tremor we felt here was just the outer band of the strongest earthquake to hit the region in roughly 200 years. We look with horror at images from CNN, BBC and other international media. In the poorest country of this hemisphere, they build their houses from concrete for there is little wood in Haiti; forests have long been decimated by charcoal burners trying to eke out a living.  But has anyone noticed, while looking at the scenes of devastation, that there is no steel? The poor quality blocks and concrete fell harder than bricks and mortar did in Jamaica 100 years ago. But we have all the wealth in the world compared to our destitute neighbour. There, it is estimated that the 7.0 earthquake did the sort of damage that might be caused by a 10.0 elsewhere!

Almost 24 hours after, aid is just starting to trickle in.  Roads, where they did exist, are blocked. We hear that there are more buildings fallen than standing. Even the UN and other foreign missions cannot account for many staff members. Thousands are dead including Port au Prince’s Archbishop. We see the Presidential Palace, built by rapacious rulers from the blood of their citizens, in ruin. Hospitals, barely functioning at the best of times, also lie in ruin. There are no relief centres as schools and churches, which would normally be designated as shelters, no longer exist. The general populace try to pull the wounded from the ruins, but being untrained, they too become victims.

Food for the Poor have an unbelievably network in this part of the world. When we have a hurricane or other disaster here or in South Florida, their trucks are always first on the scene. This amazing charity maintains a network in Haiti. Please go to their website and give what you can as soon as you can. ODPEM is also sending supplies, the first JDF vessel has already left. If you wish to help call ODPEM at 906-9674 or 754-907.

Our neighbours need our help.

So the Holidays are over. The leftovers, though for many of us not as much as usual, are all gone. There’s nothing left but a pathetic looking ham bone. If you’re Jamaican you know exactly where that bone is going and it definitely is not in the garbage!

Traditionally eaten on New Year’s Day, Gungo Peas Soup is a highly nutritious follow up to the over indulgence of the Christmas Season. Gungo Peas, Cajanus cajan, are also called Pigeon Peas or Congo Peas. They are popular all over the Caribbean from Trinidad and Tobago to Barbados to Puerto Rico and, of course, Jamaica. Gungo peas have been cultivated for millennia; supposedly travelling from the Indian sub-continent to East Africa and then to the West Indies. A true legume, the gungo bush can sometimes grow up to ten feet tall and different varieties will bear annually or biannually. The plants generally live for three to five years but are often rooted out after two years as the yield falls off. The plants are then shredded and tilled back into the soil as, like all legumes, they are an excellent green manure and will enrich the poorest soil. They are also very drought tolerant and will grow in the driest areas. They are an excellent source of protein, amino acids, vitamins and minerals and in the herbal medicine of some cultures, tea made from the leaves is used to treat swelling of internal organs and some cancers. Though dried peas are available throughout the year, in Jamaica, gungo usually bears in December and January and fresh green gungo are a must for Christmas Dinner rice and peas and of course: Ham Bone Soup Ham bone ½-1 lb pigstail or salt pork (optional) 1 qt (4 cups) fresh green gungo (or 3 tins green gungo) 2 tsp allspice berries or 1 tsp ground allspice 2 sprigs thyme 3 stalks scallion, chopped 1 med onion, chopped Salt & black pepper to taste 1 whole unbroken green Scotch Bonnet pepper 2 cups coconut milk (or 1 tin) 1 lb yellow yam, peeled and cut into chunks Flour for dumplings If bone is large, saw into 2 or 3 pieces, the bone from a picnic ham can usually be left in one piece. If the meat remaining on the bone appears to be less than 2 cups add pig’s tail or salt pork and use less salt. Place all ingredients except coconut, yam and dumplings in a 5-6 quart pot and cover with water to about 2 inches from the top. Bring to boil then cover and lower heat and simmer for about 1 hour until peas are tender (20 minutes in pressure cooker). Take out pepper and discard. Remove bone and cut off meat. Return meat to pot along with yam and dumplings, adding more water if necessary,  and cook for a further 30 minutes (10 minutes in pressure cooker). Add coconut milk and adjust seasoning. Return to stove and simmer for a further 5-10 minutes. Happy New Year!

For more about Jamaica visit Jamaica-Allspice.com