Haiti
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Haiti: History, Culture & Economy
July 31, 2010 by A'Keiba Burrell
Haiti (pronounced /ˈheɪti/; French Haïti, pronounced: [a.iti]; Haitian Creole: Ayiti, Haitian Creole pronunciation: [ajiti]), officially the Republic of Haiti (République d’Haïti ; Repiblik Ayiti) is a Caribbean country. Along with the Dominican Republic, it occupies the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago. Ayiti(land of high mountains) was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the mountainous western side of the island. The country’s highest point is Pic la Selle, at 2,680 metres (8,793 ft). The total area of Haiti is 27,750 square kilometres (10,714 sq mi) and its capital is Port-au-Prince. French and Haitian Creole are the official languages.
Haiti’s regional, historical, and ethno-linguistic position is unique for several reasons. It was the first independent nation in Latin America and the first black-led republic in the world when it gained independence as part of a successful slave rebellion in 1804. Despite having common cultural links with its Hispano-Caribbean neighbors, Haiti is the only predominantly Francophone independent nation in the Americas. It is one of only two independent nations in the Americas (along with Canada) that designate French as an official language; the other French-speaking areas are all overseas départements, or collectivités, of France.
Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas as per the Human Development Index. It has experienced political violence throughout its history. Most recently, in February 2004, an armed rebellion forced the resignation and exile of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and a provisional government…
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Earthships
July 27, 2010 by Katherine Hui
Haiti was devasted in early 2010 by an epic earthquake. Throw in 52 aftershocks and the hurricane season and you’ve got a country in desperate need.
There have been several ideas to emerge to help with the rebuild and aid in Haiti, but this one is one of my favorites. Earthship Biotecture builds dwellings from old tires, styrofoam, bottles and other waste materials.
The brains behind the operation, architect Michael Reynolds, says he intentionally doesn’t use the word ‘house’ because people have preconceived notions about what a house looks like. Instead he calls them Earthships, which are structures built from waste materials in local environments. They are durable and sustainable. Solar and wind energy are used to to generate power and heat and the homes are designed to collect usable water from rain.
Homes made from recycled materials are an excellent all-consuming use of what’s around, especially in places that have lost all infrastructure and have lots of waste about. This idea ticks all the boxes.
(Spotted in the Wall Street Journal)
Fighting Global Malnutrition Locally
July 7, 2010 by Bernard Pollack
Cross posted from Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet.
Every year, 5 million children worldwide die from malnutrition-related causes, including immune-system deficiency, increased risk of infection, decreased bone density, and starvation. But a variety of local efforts are hoping to turn things around.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a country struggling with internal conflict, food shortages, and poverty, thousands of lives are threatened by acute malnutrition. When a child is brought to one of the therapeutic Stabilization Centers at regional hospitals, run by the Congolese Ministry of Health with support from the organization Action Against Hunger, they receive rations of specially formulated Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTF). RUTF—such as Plumpy’nut, a peanut butter-based food produced by the French company Nutriset—is infused with vitamins and minerals and is used to quickly rehabilitate children suffering from malnutrition.
RUTF is packaged and requires no preparation or refrigeration. It can be administered at home, allowing families to avoid having to travel to far-off medical centers or pay for long and expensive stays at hospitals. It is also very effective. After about 40 days of two or three servings of RUTF per day, a child can reach a healthy…
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It’s Not Easy Being Green
March 7, 2010 by Steve Miller
One of the problems of, ah, maturing, is that you recognize your own contradictions. I’m good at the “vision thing” but not as good with building and maintaining. That’s not to say that I haven’t planned, implemented and maintained complex technology systems but I’m satisfied with the big picture and leaving the other stuff in more capable hands.
This is where my conflict about the digital future of Haiti surfaces again. I see clearly that the immediate need of feeding, sheltering, providing medical attention and protecting the people of Haiti is paramount and needs to be done now. But I can’t help looking down the road and around the bend to what’s there or, at least, what should be there. The question I raised in Haiti’s Digital Future was who makes the decisions?
At the recent Greener Gadgets conference, I distilled the question a little further to the members of the Green Living Begins at Home panel. How would you rebuild Haiti? Jay McLellan, President and CEO of Home Automation, Inc (HAI), took a deep breath and asked, “Do we have all day?” He then went on to say that the key is the infrastructure. “Make…
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Haiti’s Digital Future
January 30, 2010 by Steve Miller
After several adult beverages and a Farscape marathon, I finally got the cognitive functions of my brain from cowering in the corner, overwhelmed by the images from Haiti. As a journalist, I’ve seen my share of disasters but I’m really glad I didn’t have to cover this one. I haven’t even been able to call or write a friend who lost family in the tragedy. “Sorry for your loss,” seems inadequate. But I can’t come up with anything else that might offer some comfort to him or me. So I’ve gone to the place where I’ve always felt safe. Looking down the road and getting the first glimpse of what’s around the technological bend.The Future Was Yesterday
Technology can’t solve the problems of governance, politics and providing for the immediate needs of Haiti’s people. What it can do is short-circuit some of the thinking about what it takes of build an infrastructure from scratch. About 15 years ago, I was invited to participate in a UN sponsored working group on technology in developing nations. I was in a room with the heads of IT from several Fortune 500 countries, a couple of ministers…
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