Live From Haiti: Baby Doc Returns

Port-au-Prince—Tonight, former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier retuned from exile in France. His arrival was unannounced. There is already reports here of his supporters and detractors taking to the streets to burn tires and perhaps riot.

Mr. Duvalier was the dictator of Haiti from 1971 to 1986 when a popular uprising forced him from power and into exile. He fled to France where he has since lived in relative wealth from the money he stole from the national treasuries during his rein.

His sudden return comes amidst a period of political instability and chaos here in Haiti. The recent elections marked by fraud and irregularities has left in place a political vacuum that some suspect Mr. Duvalier means to take advantage of. President René Préval, the current president of Haiti, and fairly unpopular, has had his term of office extended while the Organization of American States (OAS) worked to review the election results. The OAS has since recommended that Preval’s favored candidate, Jude Celestin, be disqualified, while the other contenders, Michel Martelly (a.k.a. Sweet Micky) and Mirlande Manigat be allowed to continue into a run-off election.

 There is now speculation, including with this reporter, that Mr. Duvalier plans to take advantage of this delicate timing to stage a return to power, possibly by a coup d'état. Mr. Duvalier still commands large numbers of supporters around the country who would be delighted to see him in power once again. It is unclear what kind of support he commands with the nation’s police and military forces, organizations whose support would be essential to any successful coup.

The streets are currently quite here in Delmas 75. However, there are reports of his supporters burning tires in Cité Soleil, the sprawling slum here in Port-au-Prince (and purportedly the most dangerous place in the western hemisphere). Other slums are also said to be mobilizing. Only daylight will reveal what Mr. Duvalier’s intentions actually are.

Live From Haiti – Arrival

Port-au-Prince—We descended through the clouds in the 737 and suddenly the coastline of Haiti appeared. It was déjà vu all over again. In June of last year I had gone to Haiti to see for myself the aftermath of the terrible earthquake that had obliterated the island-nation. Now, I was looking down again at the land that Graham Greene, the famous English author, had once called the “Nightmare Republic.”

I was apprehensive about what I might find (or not find, for that matter). Back in June I was shocked by how slow progress was in the reconstruction efforts. People languished in squalid refugee camps while nations and aid organizations congratulated themselves on how great a job they were doing. Billions of dollars promised to Haiti was never delivered. The Haitian government continued its long tradition of corruption and robbery. People continued to suffer.

The scenes that I glimpsed today did not give me great reason for hope, unfortunately. Port-au-Prince still looked much like I remembered it: an apocalyptic landscape of tents and rubble. Obviously, the money that the international community promised Haiti still has not arrived—or, if it had, it has not found its way to the people who need it the most here.

Ironically, I had come back to cover a story I thought would offer a glimmer of hope in an otherwise horrendously tragic story. This is a story of a group of 42 New York City EMTs, paramedics, and civilian volunteers who have come to Haiti to train the Gwoup Aiyisen pou Ijans (GIA—Haitian Emergency Group)—an all-Haitian outfit of 128 first emergency responders.

These EMTs, all volunteers and working under an umbrella of different organizations, will spend the next four weeks helping their Haitian counterparts to establish Haiti’s first operational emergency medical service. They will try to succeed where larger organizations, with far more resources, have failed. We shall soon see if they can pull it off.

From January 10th to the 17th, I will be traveling with these EMTs and documenting their efforts in training their GIA counterparts. I will also be here for such momentous events as the anniversary of the earthquake.

Meanwhile, stay tuned for real-time blogging, dispatches, photos, and video from field.

Back to Haiti

Jonathan Denby, 2010. All rights reserved..

Dear Friends,

In June of this year I traveled to Haiti to see for myself the devastation of the earthquake as well as the status of the reconstruction efforts. Although I was shocked by the extent of the damage, I was more shocked at how little rebuilding was taking place. After all the promises made, photo ops taken, and hands shaken amongst the nations of the international community, Haiti still lay in complete ruins—its people languishing in wretched refugee camps and wandering in an apocalyptic landscape.

Almost a year has gone by and still there is little sign of progress. Over a million people in Port-au-Prince alone continue to live in decrepit tents with little prospect of finding better shelter any time soon. A cholera epidemic has struck, claiming thousands of lives and threatening tens-of-thousands more. And a presidential election marked by fraud threatens to ignite political unrest while leaving Haitians without any viable government.

In January, I will be returning to Haiti and into this new tumultuous and uncertain environment. I will be there for the anniversary of the earthquake and for the run-off election on the 16th. And although I will be covering these momentous stories, amid a time of great tragedy, my primary focus will be on a story of hope.

I will be traveling with a group of 42 New York EMTs, paramedics, and aid workers who will be training the Gwoup Aiyisen pou Ijans (Haitian Emergency Group)—an all-Haitian outfit of 128 first responders who are working to become Haiti’s first emergency medical service.

Other journalists and I will be documenting the story of these EMTs and their efforts to establish a crack, all-Haitian emergency medical unit. We will be with them at their training compounds, as well as out in the field facing all sorts of challenges, including cholera.

Hopefully, at the end of the day, with their training and resources, the GAI will go on to expand and save thousands of lives.

If you are an editor of a publication—online or offline—and find this story appealing, please contact me through the form on the Contact page or at jon@jonathandenby.com

If you are a member of the public, please stay tuned for dispatches, photos, and videos that I will be uploading from Haiti on a daily basis.

I have included their press release below.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Denby

Freelance Journalist

www.JonathanDenby.com

Jon@JonathanDenby.com

---------PRESS RELEASE----------

DECEMBER 12, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Ede A Ap Vini! Help is coming!

Beginning in early January a group of 42 New York City EMTs, paramedics, and civilian volunteers will depart for Haiti for four one-week deployments to begin training the Gwoup Aiyisen pou Ijans (Haitian Emergency Group)—an all-Haitian outfit of 128 first responders who are working to become Haiti’s first operational emergency medical service.

In January 2010, an estimated 250,000 Haitians lost their lives during a 7.0 earthquake that leveled the capital, Port-au-Prince. After this disaster and a subsequent hurricane, Haiti is now struggling to contain a cholera epidemic amid mounting political unrest following the November 28 election. Though a large number of international aid organizations are there to help, Haiti will forever be dependent on foreign powers in the face of endemic poverty and natural disaster without its own emergency response system.

Six days after the earthquake, a group of 104 NYC medical professionals flew to Haiti with the Bedford-Stuyvesant Volunteer Ambulance Corps/Haitian Physicians Abroad (AMHE). Working alongside Haitian medical personnel and volunteers, they reestablished 24-hour emergency care in Port-Au-Prince’s General Hospital. Out of that effort, two organizations emerged in an ongoing alliance to support civilian-based relief activities: Lend a Hand and Foot (LAHAF), and the Banshee Association.

These groups are now working together to give Haitians the tools and training to help, heal, and save themselves.

For the January 2011 deployment—organized by those who went after the

2010 quake—the aim is simple: to support and train the GAI in their efforts to become the first operational Haitian EMS service. Through this, the alliance aims to establish a sustainable response mechanism to the devastation caused by both natural disasters and Haiti’s critical lack of national emergency relief infrastructure. Many of the volunteers in the NYC group are Haitians themselves, several of whom have family still in the beleaguered nation.

The alliance includes members of the New York City Fire Department’s Emergency Medical Services, EMTs and paramedics from Transcare, Seniorcare, New York Presbyterian Hospital, and the Miami Dade Ambulance Service. Every volunteer is responsible for his or her airfare and gear, while the rest—training supplies, housing, and food—is provided by LAHAF, or through donations. Over the course of the deployments, this alliance will leave behind a 128-member indigenous Haitian emergency medical service—the first of its kind to help Haiti help herself.

If you have any questions please contact:

Kate Hanselman

Communications Department Leader

L.A.H.A.F.-Banshee Press Bureau

bansheepressbureau@gmail.com

978.621.2592

G.A.I., Gwoup Aiyisen pou Ijans (Haitian Emergency Group) is an all-Haitian outfit of 128 first responders looking to become Haiti’s first organized EMS system.

L.A.H.A.F., Lend a Hand and Foot is a Haitian-American group operating a long term volunteer conduit and placement program for Haiti.

The New York City Banshee Association is an EMS fraternal organization fighting for New York City’s EMTs and Paramedics, which is facilitating the recruitment, training and deployment of emergency medical professionals to Haiti.