Politics, Social Change, and Development, Experiences from Bornge, Haiti

St. Joseph’s House of Hospitality

402 South Ave

Monday, March 17 at 7pm

Estimable Francius Dauphin, Adjunct Mayor of Borgne, and Outreach Coordinator in Borgne for Haiti Outreach: Pwoje Espwa (H.O.P.E.)

Kevin Foos, H.O.P.E. volunteer and Chair of Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods (SOIL)

Sarah Brownell, H.O.P.E. technical volunteer and Co-founder of SOIL



Can you hear Haiti ? Suffering from hundreds of years of slavery, dictatorships, political turmoil, economic exploitation, and human rights violations, Haiti has long been the United States poorest neighbor. The Haitian people, however, have an unquenchable desire for freedom, a faith in democracy such that they would walk an entire day and stand in line another day just to participate in elections, and a fascinating resilience. Whenever there is a small space made for acceptance in the climate of repression, grassroots groups spring forth.



No matter which party is in power, poverty is still the main, ever present human rights violation in Haiti . Many people do not have access to clean water, enough food, a place to go to the bathroom, a grade school education, a job, or health care.



Monday night we will discuss political developments in Haiti including the 2004 coup de ta against democratically elected President Aristide, the occupation by US and then UN forces, the 2006 election of President Preval, and recent devastating price increases as well as how local governments and grassroots organizations are implementing hopeful development solutions that protect both human health and the environment.



www.hopehaiti.org

www.oursoil.org