Haitian reflects on rebuilding program
By Chris Sykes
Staff Writer
An earthquake measuring 8.8 on the Richter Scale that was 100-times stronger than the one that killed 200,000 people on the island of Haiti hit Chile at 3:44 a.m. on Feb. 27. The death toll in that country has risen nearly to 700.
Although comparing Haiti to Chile is like comparing apples to oranges when it comes to the level of economic development, affluence, poverty and other measurable indicators, as the effort to rebuild the shattered island nation gets under way in earnest, it might be constructive to consider ways of doing so that will improve the country and its infrastructure.
With that in mind, the Irvington Herald decided to talk to some Haitian Americans in town to ask them what they believe can and should be done to rebuild their homeland. A particular interest was put on soliciting ideas with the potential to tackle the well-known and acknowledged problems of systemic corruption, poverty and crime that have long plagued the island nation and hampered efforts to take advantage of its natural beaches, climate and location and turn it into a tourist and vacation destination.
Ludin Pierre is the owner and chief executive of Arescue Staffing Solutions, a company that once counted Home Depot among its long list of clients. Hours after the earthquake hit his island homeland, Pierre was on the phone working to make critical connections with friends and family. But helping to mount some sort of relief effort was not the only thing Pierre was doing in those first frantic hours. He was also looking to the future, to a time when the island could be rebuilt even better than it was prior to the natural disaster.
On Jan 24, he penned “A Simple Solution for Haiti,” something he hopes can help act as a blueprint for his homeland’s recovery.
“Haiti is devastated, now what,” he asked in the opening lines. “We understand and are grateful for the humanitarian efforts showered over Haiti, our dear country. We thank the USA, the U.N. and all the friends of Haiti from around the world, standing in the gap with us. The relief effort, besides bottlenecks, is going fairly well. When the country has become a country of corpses, a country of dried bones, is there any hope?”
Pierre said he sees nothing but hope for Haiti, but the key is to translate that optimism and the current world focus of resources and materials into a viable recovery plan. He said there is hope if these “friends of Haiti” can come up with a consensus where each one can agree to commit itself into rebuilding one part of Haiti.
Staff Writer
An earthquake measuring 8.8 on the Richter Scale that was 100-times stronger than the one that killed 200,000 people on the island of Haiti hit Chile at 3:44 a.m. on Feb. 27. The death toll in that country has risen nearly to 700.
Although comparing Haiti to Chile is like comparing apples to oranges when it comes to the level of economic development, affluence, poverty and other measurable indicators, as the effort to rebuild the shattered island nation gets under way in earnest, it might be constructive to consider ways of doing so that will improve the country and its infrastructure.
With that in mind, the Irvington Herald decided to talk to some Haitian Americans in town to ask them what they believe can and should be done to rebuild their homeland. A particular interest was put on soliciting ideas with the potential to tackle the well-known and acknowledged problems of systemic corruption, poverty and crime that have long plagued the island nation and hampered efforts to take advantage of its natural beaches, climate and location and turn it into a tourist and vacation destination.
Ludin Pierre is the owner and chief executive of Arescue Staffing Solutions, a company that once counted Home Depot among its long list of clients. Hours after the earthquake hit his island homeland, Pierre was on the phone working to make critical connections with friends and family. But helping to mount some sort of relief effort was not the only thing Pierre was doing in those first frantic hours. He was also looking to the future, to a time when the island could be rebuilt even better than it was prior to the natural disaster.
On Jan 24, he penned “A Simple Solution for Haiti,” something he hopes can help act as a blueprint for his homeland’s recovery.
“Haiti is devastated, now what,” he asked in the opening lines. “We understand and are grateful for the humanitarian efforts showered over Haiti, our dear country. We thank the USA, the U.N. and all the friends of Haiti from around the world, standing in the gap with us. The relief effort, besides bottlenecks, is going fairly well. When the country has become a country of corpses, a country of dried bones, is there any hope?”
Pierre said he sees nothing but hope for Haiti, but the key is to translate that optimism and the current world focus of resources and materials into a viable recovery plan. He said there is hope if these “friends of Haiti” can come up with a consensus where each one can agree to commit itself into rebuilding one part of Haiti.
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