Kreyol Network » haiti

Surprise visit from Lionel Messi in Haiti, UNICEF ambassador

recklaz — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 05:54:04 +0000

Lionel Messi, the star of FC Barcelona and Argentina, making a short visit to Haiti, a country ravaged by a Jan. 12 earthquake that killed more than 250,000 dead and 1.5 million homeless, including children , UNICEF said Thursday.

“Lionel Messi is goodwill ambassador of the United Nations Fund for Children, it is as it is in Haiti, told AFP Ms. Monier CIFOR’s communication department of the UNICEF in Haiti.

During his brief stay in Haiti, the Argentinian international has visited the UNICEF office in Port-au-Prince where he met with Haitian children.

“This is strictly a visit as part of its mission with UNICEF, there is no formal meeting scheduled,” it was said that the department’s communications office of UNICEF.

“He visited a camp that serves children moved near the airport in Port-au-Prince amid a tight security,” said a UN official contacted by telephone.

Many fans were trying to track the movement of the famous footballer.

Why Chile’s Stronger Earthquake Won’t Be as Deadly as Haiti’s

Nick J — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 00:32:03 +0000

Yes, the quake that struck the coast of Chile this morning was about 100 times stronger than the quake that devastated Port-au-Prince in early January. But initial reports put the death toll in the very low three digits—120 as I’m writing this. And while that number is certain to climb in the hours and days ahead, no one is expecting the calamitous destruction and loss of life that we’ve seen in Haiti, where 230,000 are already dead. How can that be?

A few reasons. First and most obvious, the construction in Chile is far better than construction in Haiti. A popular saying among seismologists is that “earthquakes don’t kill people, buildings do.” Chile’s buildings are better built, with better materials, higher-skilled laborers, and an eye toward earthquake resistance. They are therefore more earthquake-resistant. Many fewer of them collapsed, so fewer people died.

Ten Americans suspected of theft of children in Haiti

recklaz — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 04:56:16 +0000

Ten U.S. citizens suspected of having “stolen” 31 children aged 2 months to 12 years, were arrested Friday in Haiti.

Ten people, five men and five women, were arrested along with 31 children, aged 2 months to 12 years, a Haitian police officer while they were crossing the Dominican border, said Minister of Social Affairs and Labor, Yves Christallin.

“This flight is not an adoption,” he said, adding that “to leave Haiti a child needs a permit from the Institute of Social Welfare, which handles cases adoption.

According to him, two pastors, one in Haiti and one in Atlanta (Southeast U.S.), are also involved in this case.

American citizens have been brought to justice and were held Saturday evening at the Central Directorate of Judicial Police in Port-au-Prince, Haiti with two alleged accomplices, confirmed to AFP Chief of Police Mario Andresol .

An investigation was initiated to determine under what circumstances ten Americans came into possession of the children, said Andresol “is now in justice to his work,” he said, adding that children were transferred to a shelter in Croix-des-Bouquets, north of Port-au-Prince.

“It’s a shame that this is the Americans who are involved in this case because they are helping us like other countries do,” said the commerce minister.

In an interview with U.S. television network NBC, a relative of Americans said they arrested were charged with trafficking in children, and that this case was, they said, a misunderstanding administration.

The Americans were presented as part of a charity called “The Refuge for a new life for children, based in the state of Idaho (north-western United States).

Many children have been adopted since the earthquake that devastated Haiti January 12.

The U.S. administration on Wednesday urged the prospective adoptive parents of Haitian children to be patient, pending the establishment of “transparent” procedures to avoid mistakes and trafficking of children.