WAKE HAITI UP FROM THE QUAKE

International aid is sorely needed for now, but continued mendacity thwarts our ability to become self-reliant and essentially stunts our growth as a progressive people. I would like to appeal to all Haitian-American financial experts to join the SimACT Group in setting up a special “ Simact Haitian Renaissance Fund ” in the same way Israelites from abroad did in order to accelerate the development of the state of Israel. Please, let's develop a true inventory of our resources in the Diaspora. Send your suggestions to Simactinfo@aol.com . Once a list is compiled, we will call for a meeting of the core participants for a general assembly of Diaspora leaders to develop our own “ Marshall plan “version of a comprehensive national development strategy for HAITI.

Lesly Kernisant, M.D.
CEO, SimacT, Inc.

land in rural areas should be encouraged. For that, we need to provide them with affordable housing and other essential services.

2) Social Integration

c. Re-imagining Haiti as a just society creating equal opportunity for all, empowering the impoverished communities to gain easy access to the wealth enjoyed by a tiny fraction of the largely “privileged few” .

d. Open participation in projects that build character and good citizenship and ultimately provides automatic channel to earned social promotion.

3) Diaspora outreach (85% of Haiti’s human resources)

a. Provide incentives to tempt back well trained expatriates to participate in the rebuilding process.

b. Provide sources of financing (can be subsidized using known U.S. assets or some form of help like the student loan system) of sustainable projects by the Haitian-American community.

SIMACT is a clear example of a company doing business exclusively in Haiti. However, progress has been very slow because of lack of financial support by an impoverished government of Haiti and a lack of any investment financial vehicle. Attempts at securing funds from regular lenders were impossible because of country risks. As far as international donors, we did not pursue that route fearing that the “ for-profit ” aspect of our investments would not really qualify SIMACT for socially-conscious projects despite the fact we are the only group of Haitian-American investors in Jacmel creating a structured residential project to create jobs and attract the large Haitian-American professional baby boomers of North America. Please, go to our website at Simact.net for more info about our “Belle Rive” project.

At this juncture, we are perilously near a long-lasting national calamity. The expected electronic wave of rhetorical dissuasions and persuasions that will follow in the upcoming weeks should not deter us from what is the most important factor in salvaging what is left of our beloved country: the substantial Haitian Human Capital (HHC).

Haiti has natural exploitable resources, great human resources scattered throughout the region to the tune of 2,6 million well-prepared and well-trained in construction, sciences and liberal arts.

WHAT HAITI NEEDS NOW:

1) Poverty-reduction

a. Job Creation is key to improve living conditions. Infrastructure rebuilding and agricultural revival should be part of any plan.

b. Decentralization of P-au-P… Overpopulation is in itself a major problem. Projects that put shanty dwellers back on the

In the coming weeks, we invite all leaders in the Diaspora to unite behind one simple theme “WAKE HAITI UP FROM THE QUAKE”. It is an idea worth exploring. SImACT, in collaboration with other sister organizations, want to engage all concerned Haitian-Americans in the Diaspora to consolidate our resources by sending a clear message not only to our afflicted compatriots in Haiti, but to the rest of the world that we are ready to be a part of the REBUILDING PROCESS.

Remember, charitable contributions are now at a fever-pitch level and will probably be consumed to contain the immediate crisis. Once the camera lenses move on to other news-making events, we, Haitians will then be left to financially carry the burden of a sustainable development.

With an unexpected suddenness on January 12, 2010, Haiti became a large window through which the world visibly witnessed the elements of a real, earthly “catastrophe”. The path of nature's timely recalibration may have, in an instant, crisscrossed man's ungodly neglect of a country mired for too long in abject poverty not too far from countries immersed in a sea of abundance. As Haitians, we should all be proud of our rich history, but we should also reflect resolutely on our self-destructive past.

Being hit by the worst natural disaster of the western hemisphere, Haiti can now be seen as the sacrificial land that gives the rest of Caribbean islands pause to wonder what if their own economic vitality was dashed with such sudden and destructive force of nature. Amid the deafening cry for helping Haiti, the truth is that a large part of this tragedy could have been avoided. What most health care professionals described as “stupid deaths” are the resultants of years of benign neglect, collective mismanagement and the normalization of “hands-out” as part of our fiscal policy, in collaboration with well-meaning, but ineffectual philanthropists. We can continue to shift the blame and point fingers at our leaders, but we need to examine our own conscience as to our failure to perform our individual civic duties to help improve the living conditions of our people.