One Year Anniversary of Japan Tsunami Commemorated With 'Healing Anthem' (REPORT)

(PHOTO: DemocraticUnderground.COM) 

(HN, March 10, 2012)  From Tokyo - On the one-year anniversary of the tsunami and earthquake in northern Japan, noted Japanese soprano Tomoko Shibata will perform a Japanese translation of the American healing anthem “Towers of Light” at her memorial concert at the prestigious Yamaha Hall in Tokyo. The event on Sunday evening will commemorate the victims of last year’s Japanese tsunami and earthquake. 

“Towers of Light” was composed by noted New York clinical psychologist and well-known radio and TV personality, Dr. Judy Kuriansky and international composer Russell Daisey.  Inspired by the two beams of light which shine on each 9/11 anniversary at the Ground Zero site where the Twin Towers fell, the song promotes healing and commemorates the heroes of that day. 

Through the unique friendship and shared vision of healing between the American and Japanese writers and performer, “Towers of Light” will now be featured by Tomoko Shibata in her ‘Songs of Hope’ concert.

The New York composing team of Kuriansky and Daisey are in Tokyo for the premiere of their song in Japanese at the concert and will make introductory remarks at the event.

Shibata produces and performs ‘Songs for Hope’ concerts at the earthquake zone in Japan and also around the world.

Says Shibata, “I passionately believe that music gives hope and lifts spirits of people in trauma.” 

(PHOTO: Dr. Judy Kuriansky, Russell Daisey performing in Tokyo/DRJUDYK)Fear of another quake is ever-present in Japan, she explains, and people around the world also experience trauma and need comfort. 

“My heart expands and people feel like crying when I sing the ‘Towers of Light’ song,” Shibata says. “So I wanted to make a Japanese version so the Japanese people can appreciate the warm feeling and healing.” 

Shibata first sang the “Towers of Light” anthem with Dr. Judy and Russell in September 2010 for the highly acclaimed series of Hiroshima Hibaku (Survivor) Piano concerts in New York City. Subsequently, she sang it for the Tenth Anniversary of 9/11 at the 'Annual 9/11 Japanese Floating Lantern Ceremony’ on the East River, NYC.

Over the past few years, Dr. Judy, Russell and Tomoko have performed the song together and through their friendship and creative collaborations the song has been translated into Japanese by Tomoko as “Souls Become Stars.”  Given their shared vision, this endeavor for peace has expanded and transcended the song’s initial inspiration, to encompass a connection between the two monumental tragedies of 9/11 and 3/11, as well as fostering healing for survivors of both catastrophes. 

Kuriansky and Daisey are co-founders of the Stand Up for Peace Project (SUFPP), an initiative that promotes peace, understanding and healing worldwide. They have performed the healing ballad “Towers of Light” internationally at peace festivals, United Nations conferences, Global Harmony concerts, peace seminars, and music and peace tours throughout Japan, Mexico and Haiti, as well as at the First Hiroshima International Peace Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, for Nobel Peace Laureates, the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Betty Williams.

“Powerful, very powerful,” said the Dalai Lama when he first heard the song.

“As an international psychologist and an NGO representative at the United Nations, it is powerful to me that our song to help heal from 9/11 is now in Japanese and helping people heal from 3/11.  The intensity of that cross-cultural connection brings me to tears," says Kuriansky.

The humanitarian, who represents psychological organizations at the United Nations, has provided psychological first aide after the 9/11 terrorist attacks at Ground Zero and at the Family Assistance Center, as well as after other disasters including the Asian tsunami and earthquakes in Haiti and China.  She teaches psychology at Columbia University Teachers College and runs peace workshops world-wide. 

SUFPP co-founder Daisey is an internationally acclaimed pianist/singer/songwriter who has played command performances for American presidents and world dignitaries, including Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, and the Chiniya Lama of Kathmandu, Nepal.

On Monday, the day after the concert and 3/11 anniversary, Kuriansky, Daisey and Shibata will travel to the Miyagi area, to do a workshop and music concert for several schools.  They will be joined by famous Japanese pop star Shinji Harada. All have been working on recovery and global harmony projects separately and together for years in varying parts of the world.

--- Dr. Judy Kuriansky is a member of HUM's Board of Advisors

'Major Devastation' in Turkey Quake (NEWS BRIEF)

(Video: SkyTurk via YOUTUBE)

(HN, October 23, 2011 - UPDATED 2300GMT) - Hundreds of people are feared dead in an afternoon, 7.2 magnitude earthquake which struck the impoverished eastern regions of Turkey Sunday.

Video broadcast by the Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC) showed massive devastation, with buildings collapsed and people screaming.

In a bulletin several hours after the first quake, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said a magnitude 6.0 quake hit 20 km northwest of Van at a depth of 9 km.

Istanbul-based journalist Dorion Jones told CBC that the area is one of the poorest in Turkey, with building codes rarely enforced. He added that cold weather has already hit a region that is both mountainous and, in parts, sparsely populated.

One Arab satellite channel showed ordinary people frantically digging through rubble with their bare hands.

Turkey's Hurriyet Daily News reported that three military C-130 aircraft are on their way to the region with relief supplies. It added that two battalions are on their way to the region to assist with relief efforts.

State-run television is reporting deaths in the dozens, but 1,000 could already be dead, said Mustafa Erdik, head of the Kandilli observatory. The epicentre appeared to be near Ercis, a town of 75,000 in the province of Van and close to the Iranian border. The bustling regional centre of Van is said to have sustained major damage, and its airport is reported to be closed, hampering relief efforts.

"Around 10 buildings have collapsed in the city of Van and around 25 or 30 have collapsed in Ercis, including a dormitory," Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay said.

The Turkish Red Crescent said its workers are responding in the areas affected by the quake.  Red Crescent workers are focused on search and rescue efforts, providing blankets, stoves, food and water to survivors and operating disaster management centres in the mountainous and isolated region.

Turkey lies on one of the world's most active seismic zones. In 1999, two earthquakes killed about 18,000 people.

News agencies said the powerful quake also shook buildings in neighbouring Armenia, including in the capital Yerevan.

Offers of assistance have started to come in from around the world. The U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, Francis Ricciardone, Jr., said "we have been in touch with the Turkish authorities to offer all possible assistance."

Israeli President Shimon Peres has called his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gul, to give his condolences, Haaretz newspaper reported.

- HUMNEWS staff, agencies

7.1 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Japan - Tsunami warning for Miyagi (Breaking News Brief)

(Source: USGS) (HN, April 7, 2011) -- A 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the North East coast of Japan in Miyagi prefecture on Thursday, shortly after 11:30  p.m. local time, triggering a tsunami warning for one prefecture, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

This is the same area where the now infamous 9.0 earthquake struck on March 11, 2011 killing more than 16,000 and damaging homes, shattering lives and where the continuing troubled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant run by TEPCO sits. 

Public broadcaster NHK reported a tsunami warning for Miyagi prefecture, saying people in that area should evacuate away from the shore to a safe place. NHK also reported a tsunami advisory for Iwate prefecture, saying a tsunami is expected to arrive in coastal regions there as well.

A one meter wave has been confirmed ashore in the region; and as of 12:30pm the Japanese authorities have cancelled the tsunami warning.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said based on all available data, "a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is not expected and there is not a tsunami threat to Hawaii."

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was centered 41 miles (66 kilomemeters) from Sendai -- one of the areas worst hit by last month's 9.0-magnitude quake -- and 73 miles (118 kilometers) from Fukushima, where a crisis has been under way at the nuclear plant since last month's tsunami.

Workers at the Fukushima nuclear plant have been evacuated; and the power supply has been cut to 2 of 3 lines at the Ongawa nuke plant in Miyagi prefecture because of the quake.

The quake was centered 207 miles (333 kilometers) from Tokyo where teh quake was felt as buildings shook, and it was 15.9 miles (25.6 kilometers) deep according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

---HUMNEWS

Death Toll Rising in Myanmar (aka Burma) After 6.8 Magnitude Earthquake (News Brief)

(HN, March 25, 2011) --- Burmese officials say the death toll from Thursday's 6.8 magnitude earthquake is now up to at least 74, with at least 111 injured.

The U.N. reports six aftershocks have been felt since the earthquake first struck and the risk of landslides remains high.

The quake struck in northeastern Myanmar (aka Burma) near the border with Thailand.  The epicenter was about 90 kilometers north of the Thai city of Chaing Rai, which sustained minor damage.  U.S. experts say the quake was just 10 kilometers deep.

State-run radio broadcasts quote Burmese officials as saying at least 390 homes, 14 monasteries and nine government buildings were destroyed in the areas near the epicenter of the quake.

One woman in Thailand was killed when a wall of her house collapsed on her.

Aid agency World Vision says it is working closely with Myanmar's government to provide emergency assistance to those affected by the 6.8 magnitude earthquake near the Golden Triangle. 

Chris Herink, World Vision country director for Myanmar, told Radio Australia's Asia Pacific it had received immediate cooperation from authorities within the military-led regime when it offered assistance.

Massive Pacific Quake Triggers Devastating Tsunami, After-Shocks (REPORT, VIDEO)

(video courtesy of TelegraphTV)

(HN, March 11, 2011) UPDATED 2000GMT - A massibe Pacific earthquake measuring 8.9 magnitude hit Japan Friday afternoon local time, triggering tsunami waves that caused massive devastation in northern Japan and even creating damage to docks and boats as far as the California coastline.

A tsunami was inituially issued for Japan's eastern coast - and then broadened to several Pacific nations, including Taiwan and as far as Papua New Guinea and British Columbia in Canada.

Many major airports were closed in Japan, including Narita and Haneda. Several expressways have been closed and damage is reported as widespread. The epicentre was off Japan's northeasten Honshu Island.

The Government of Japan has set up an emergency task force and a call for foreign assistance has been issued. The US has flown in coolant to relieve a damaged nuclear reactor, according to reports.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued a warning for Russia, Marcus Island, Wake Island, Northern Mariana, Guam and beyond. The first tsunami waves were up to 50cm high. Some residents in Japan said it was the strongest-ever quake they have ever felt. Many living along coastlines had no chance to escape.

- HUMNEWS staff, agencies

Update on Friday, March 11, 2011 at 10:31AM by HUMNEWS

This graphic provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows estimated tsunami travel times following a massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake hit Japan on March 11, 2011.

(UPDATE - HN, March 11, 2011) Officials in Japan say that two to three hundred bodies have been found in the north-eastern coastal area of Japan after a massive earthquake triggered a tsunami.

The bodies were found in Sendai city, the closest major city to the epicenter of the quake, say police.

The magnitude 8.9 quake and 23-foot tsunami were followed by more than 50 aftershocks for hours, many of them more than a 6.0 magnitude.

Violent tremors were felt in many cities along a 1300 mile coastline  – including Tokyo which is several hundred miles from the quake's epicenter.

The death toll is likely to continue climbing given the scale of the disaster. 

The tsunami reached the tiny Hawaiian island group just after 1pm UTC (coordinated universal time) today.

So far there are no reports of casualties, but it is believed masses of water are washing through the area.

Thousands of people are watching live streaming footage beamed directly from Honolulu's Waikiki beach, where the wave has yet to hit. Reports said the water there receded by 200ft.

Despite evacuation attempts and island-wide warnings about the approaching wave people can still be seen walking along the coast.

Australia and Alaska are set to be hit nine hours after the original quake. Warnings for New Zealand and Taiwan have now been lifted.

Earlier in the day, Hawaii's main airports - Maui, Kauai and the Big Island were shut down as a precaution. And the U.S. Navy ordered all warships in Pearl Harbor to remain in port to support rescue missions if needed.

Also on tsunami watch is the entire West Coast of the United States and Canada.

Mexico and Central and South America are also on high alert. 

Update on Friday, March 11, 2011 at 1:14PM by HUMNEWS

(UPDATE - HN, March 11, 2011)Foot-high surge rolling into Richardson Bay, Sausalito ... All harbors broken loose in Crescent City...Boats breaking loose at Santa Cruz Harbor, dredge adrift, docks torn loose. 

In Hawaii - The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said Kauai was the first of the Hawaiian islands hit by the tsunami. Water rushed ashore in Honolulu, swamping the beach in Waikiki and surging over the break wall in the world-famous resort but stopping short of the area's high-rise hotels.

Waves about 6 feet high were recorded on Maui, and 3 feet in Oahu and Kauai. Officials warned that the waves would continue and could become larger, but a scientist at the tsunami warning center said it didn't appear that they would cause major damage in Hawaii.

Roadways and beaches were empty as the tsunami struck the state, which had hours to prepare. Sirens sounded throughout the night, and residents in coastal areas were sent to refuge areas at community centers and schools while tourists were moved to higher floors of hotels. People waited in long lines stocking up on gas, bottled water, canned food and generators.

- HUMNews Staff, KGO Radio 

(REPORT) HAITI – When talking becomes doing – building back better

(PHOTO: USGS, Red shows 1/12/10 earthquake epicenter) (HN, Oct. 12, 2010) – Nine months ago, on January 12, 2010, the island nation of Haiti experienced a massive earthquake, killing almost 225,000 people and leaving more than a million people homeless. 

Days after the quake struck, just outside of Haiti’s capital city of Port-au-Prince, a journalist covering the devastation was quoted as saying: “Haiti will need to be completely rebuilt from the ground up, as even in good times, Haiti is an economic wreck, balancing precariously on the razor's edge of calamity."

And on a recent June 2010 return to the island nation, CNN journalists described Port au Prince as: “It looks like the earthquake happened yesterday.”

HURRY UP AND WAIT:

Within days of the calamity, several international appeals were launched and many countries responded to calls for humanitarian aid help; pledging funds and dispatching rescue and medical teams, engineers and support personnel to the devastated island nation. 

(PHOTO: Relief supplies being unloaded after the 1/12/10 earthquake. Wikipedia) The US, Iceland, China, Qatar, Israel, South Korea, Jordan and many others were among the global neighbors who supplied communication systems, air, land, and sea transport facilities, hospitals, and electrical networks that had been damaged by the earthquake, which hampered rescue and aid efforts. Confusion over who was in charge, air traffic congestion, and problems with cargo transportation further complicated relief work in the early days.

Mass graves containing tens of thousands of bodies were centered outside of cities as morgues and hospitals were quickly overwhelmed with the dead. Getting enough supplies, medical care and sanitation became urgent needs; and a lack of aid distribution led to angry protests from humanitarian workers and survivors with looting and sporadic violence breaking out. 

(PHOTO: Wikipedia, BelAir neighborhood, Port-Au-Prince, Haiti) Just ten days after the 7.2 quake struck, on January 22 the United Nations stated that the emergency phase of the relief operation was subsiding, and the next day the Haitian government called off the search for quake survivors. 

One aspect that made the disaster response unique was the deployment of new technology: the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters provided satellite images of Haiti to be shared with rescue groups along with help from GeoEye; the curation site Ushahidi coordinated texts, messages and reports from multiple sources; social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter aggregated members asking for help; the Red Cross and other organizations set records for text message donations.

Also in the immediate aftermath of the quake US President Barack Obama asked former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to lead a major fundraising effort to help the Haitian people. Together they established the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund (CBHF) - which has raised over $50 million from over 230,000 individuals and organizations, and has disbursed more than $4 million in grants to organizations on the ground in Haiti providing near-term relief and recovery assistance, designed to help the people of Haiti rebuild - and build back better. 

Since the initial round of donations were pledged, on January 25^th there was a one-day conference held in Montreal, Canada to assess the relief effort and make further plans.  Haitian Prime Minister Jean Bellerive told the audience from 20 countries that Haiti would “need massive support for its recovery from the international community”.

Another donors' conference, delayed by almost 3 months, took place at UN headquarters in New York in March. The 26-member international Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission, headed by Bill Clinton and the Haitian Prime Minister didn't get together until last June 2010. That committee is set to oversee the $5.3 billion pledged internationally for the first two years of Haiti's reconstruction; but only ten percent of it has been delivered, mostly as forgiven debt to Haiti. The rest is stalled in more than 60 countries and organizations that pledged help.

Still, nine months later, international officials are looking at the long term planning needs of reconstruction while also continuing to deal with the daily task of managing the emergency situation. 

Here’s where things stand at the moment:

(PHOTO: St. Felix Eves refugee camp, Haiti. Readyforanything.org) -   As of October 1, there were over 1 million refugees living in 1300 tent cities throughout the country in what’s been called `treacherous’ humanitarian situation;

-    As much as 98% of the rubble from the quake remains uncleared. An estimated 26 million cubic yards (20 million cubic meters) remain, making most of the capital impassable, and thousands of bodies remained in the rubble.

-   The number of people living in relief camps of tents and tarps since the quake was 1.6 million, with almost no transitional housing had been built. Most of the camps have no electricity, running water, or sewage disposal, and the tents were beginning to fall apart. Crime in the camps was widespread, especially against women and girls.

-   From 23 major charities, $1.1 billion has been collected for Haiti for relief efforts, but only two percent of the money has been released. According to a CBS report, $3.1 billion had been pledged for humanitarian aid and was used to pay for field hospitals, plastic tarps, bandages, and food, plus salaries, transportation and upkeep of relief workers. Incredibly, by May 2010, enough aid had been raised internationally to give each displaced family a check for $37,000.

(PHOTO: Wikipedia, Damaged buildings in Port-Au-Prince) The Haitian government said it was unable to tackle debris clean-up or the resettlement of homeless because it must prepare for hurricane season. Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive has been quoted as saying, "The real priority of the government is to protect the population from the next hurricane season, and most of our effort right now is going right now in that direction."

And if natural disasters weren’t enough to slay the spirit of the Haitian people, a new UN Report out this week states that “Wars, natural disasters and poor government institutions have contributed to a continuous state of undernourishment” in some 22 nations, including Haiti.

The hearty island nation is no stranger to turmoil and chaos: anyone reading its history from the time of the colonial powers would conclude this. Haiti is the world's oldest black republic and the second-oldest republic in the Western Hemisphere, after the United States and did not receive U.S. diplomatic recognition until 1862.  What should also come as no surprise to many is that before the devastating earthquake in Haiti, the nation needed help to survive, and now after the earthquake, the country is even more in need of help. 

But what kind of help does Haiti need?

Refugees International, a U.S.-based non-governmental organization, made some startling claims in its latest field report, called "Haiti: Still Trapped in the Emergency Phase," just one day after former president Bill Clinton toured a Port-au-Prince camp. It says Haitians living in refugee camps set up after a devastating January earthquake are at risk of hunger, gang intimidation and rape.

“People are being threatened by gangs, and women are getting raped," said Refugees International President Michel Gabaudan in a release.  "Practically no one is available to communicate with the people living in these squalid camps and find better ways to protect them."  Refugees International says there are still 1,300 camps in Haiti, mostly run by the International Organization of Migration (IOM).  Melanie Teff said Haitians still living in camps often have "no one to turn to for help."

"Young men come with weapons and rape the women. They haven't reported it, because the hospitals, the police — everything was destroyed in the earthquake," reports Hannah, a nurse who sleeps in a makeshift tent in a volatile camp outside of Port-au-Prince.

Bill Clinton, the co-chair of the commission overseeing Haiti's reconstruction, expressed frustration with the slow delivery of promised funds by donors who have delivered about $732 million of a promised $5.3 billion in funds for 2010-11, along with debt relief.

What’s needed according to Haitian officials, citizens and other experts are communication systems, project management, security, food, jobs, housing, mediation, regulatory easing to doing business, and political stability.  According to Transparency International, an NGO which studies corruption levels worldwide in their annual Corruption Perceptions Index, Haiti has a particularly high level of corruption making the rebuilding job even harder.   

INCREASINGLY, PRIVATE EFFORTS ABOUND: 

As the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation struggles to rise up from one of the most destructive natural catastrophes in recent history, Haiti and the huge international aid operation assisting it are looking to private enterprise and investment to be the powerhouse of reconstruction.

Despite $11 billion pledged by donors, the aid commitments work out at $110 a year for each of Haiti's 10 million people, a per capita sum which paled in comparison with huge needs in housing, infrastructure, health and education, on top of daunting humanitarian costs.

In the 2010 Doing Business report prepared by the World Bank, which ranks business conditions around the world, Haiti already lagged at 151 out of 183 economies.

To help Haiti, companies such as The Timberland Co. says it plans to plant 5 million trees in the next five years in Haiti and in China’s Horqin Desert, two regions “that have long suffered severe and widespread impacts from deforestation.”   And to increase its efforts, the shoe marketer is also launching the Timberland Earthkeepers Virtual Forest Facebook application. Consumers can help Timberland plant additional trees in Haiti (above and beyond the five in five commitments) by creating a virtual forest on Facebook.  The larger the virtual forest, the more real trees planted.  

(PHOTO: NASA, deforestation on Haiti/Dominican Republic border)The environment is one of the most significant factors most experts point to as both a past problem and a future solution for the beleaguered country.   In 1925, Haiti was lush, with 60% of its original forest covering the lands and mountainous regions. Since then, the population has cut down an estimated 98% of its original forest cover for use as fuel for cook stoves, and in the process has destroyed fertile farmland soils, contributing to desertification.

In addition to soil erosion, deforestation has caused periodic flooding, as seen with Hurricane Jeanne in September, 2004. While Jeanne was only a tropical storm at the time with weak winds, the rains caused large mudslides and coastal flooding which killed more than 1,500 people and left 200,000 starving and homeless. The UN and other nations dispatched several hundred troops in addition to those already stationed in Haiti to provide disaster relief assistance. Looting and desperation caused by hunger resulted in turmoil at food distribution centers.

Earlier that year in May, floods killed more than 3,000 people on Haiti's southern border with the Dominican Republic.

Haiti was again pummeled by tropical storms in late August and early September 2008. The storms – Tropical Storm Fay, Hurricane Gustav, Hurricane Hanna and Hurricane Ike – all produced heavy winds and rain in Haiti. Due to weak soil conditions, the country’s mountainous terrain, and the devastating coincidence of four storms within less than four weeks, valley and lowland areas throughout the country experienced massive flooding. A September 10, 2008 source listed 331 dead and 800,000 in need of humanitarian aid in light of the flood. 

And, this, many experts agree, is just where Haiti’s reconstruction effort should begin – and could, in fact become a model for the rest of the world if done well.

(PHOTO: the Haiti Huddle 2010, Douglas Cohen) Last week’s Haiti Huddle 2010 an effort of Helping Hands for a Sustainable Haiti, an organization founded by Lisa McFadin and Thera N. Kalmijn at San Francisco’s Fort Mason, brought together development, humanitarian and investment experts from both the US, Haiti and from other countries tackled several crucial issues.

The groups’ main mission was to work on breaking the logjam of red tape which has seemingly kept 1.3 million people living in refugee camps for the past nine months by focusing on culturally-appropriate solutions for and by Haitians; and working on practical sustainable solution to recreate an environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable Haiti.  

According to John Engle, of Haiti Partners, “Education and community infrastructure are the foundation to get to a meaningful development plan.  The country must recognize what got us here. A lack of investment in education and lack of cultural sensitivity and in fact connectivity and communication is why little to no progress has been made in the emergency of what many Haitians are still dealing with.“ 

Sam Bloch, Country Coordinator in Haiti of Grass Roots United says, "There were literally hundreds of NGO's on the ground before the earthquake focusing on community empowerment, collaboration and providing basic resources. But even before the earthquake the fabric of this community was torn and broken. Starting now it must be re-woven.  The Haitian community in country and in the larger Diaspora must re-unite and mobilize, in collaboration with all the organizations that pushed us aside after the disaster. We need to reconnect the service providers for such services as counseling, education, water, structures, food systems with community leaders.”

In fact one of the most important efforts that must be made according to Douglas Cohen, Founder of the Sustainable Haiti Coalition is, “Massive investments in education for longer term solutions, jobs, building schools, and revamping curriculum that includes wireless transmission for the whole country and which provides educational materials, and increases teachers’ salaries; paving the way to inter-active curricula; films, and video highlighting Haitian success stories, with Haitians implementing their own solutions.”

Other private efforts include electricity generators from E-Power, a $56.7 million Haitian-South Korean private investment that has forged ahead despite the January 12th earthquake; as well as an industrial park and garment manufacturing operation involving Sae-A Trading Company Limited, one of South Korea’s leading textile manufacturers, in a potential investment of between $10 million and $25 million being backed by the IFC and the U.S. State Department.

Last month, an Argentine entrepreneur announced a project with the Haiti-based WIN business group to build a $33 million, 240-room airport hotel in Port-au-Prince and there are government plans to create several special economic zones across the country. These would concentrate private businesses and investments in manufacturing, tourism and services, creating essential jobs and housing and driving development.

ELECTIONS COMING UP IN HAITI:

(PHOTO: Singer, activist Wyclef Jean, VIA Treehugger) In Haiti, campaigning for next month's November 28 presidential elections is well under way. Nineteen candidates are vying to lead the earthquake-ravaged nation; and with Haitian-American musician Wyclef Jean out of the race there's no clear front-runner. It could be a contentious battle for one of the toughest political jobs in the world.

The next president will have to oversee the reconstruction and try to redirect what was already one of the most dysfunctional nations on earth.  Before the quake, roughly 80 percent of the population lived in poverty. Roads, electrical lines, sewers and other infrastructure were in desperate need of repair. Now, they need to be completely rebuilt, along with most of the capital city.

Allegations of fraud in Haitian elections are practically inevitable, but this year's balloting faces additional challenges. The quake destroyed 40 percent of the polling stations in the country, killed tens of thousands of voters and displaced hundreds of thousands of others; and  numerous people lost all their documents and no longer have voting cards.

(PHOTO: Haiti's Presidential Palace, Wikipedia) But whatever happens in Haiti’s elections, and whoever wins the crumbling Presidential palace, will have their hands full, eleven months later with the still critical priority of getting the lives of Haiti’s citizens along with the entire infrastructure of a long and storied nation, back on its feet again.  And this, will certainly take a global village effort – private, NGO, corporate, government, and otherwise. 

--- Written by HUMNEWS staff.

"WE ARE THE WORLD: FOR HAITI"

STORIES OF HAITI....April 13, 2010

(HN April 13, 2010) --- Just days after Haiti's devastating 7.0 earthquake struck on January 12, 2010 - HUM Advisor Dr. Judy Kuriansky boarded a plane to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, with her colleague from Port-au-Princes' Good Samaritan Center - Father Wismick Jean Charles - where she then hopped a bus to Haiti's capital. In her suitcase were all the medical supplies she could carry; even when the airport gate agent told her she couldn't take them on board, she pleaded for the people of Haiti.

Dr. Kuriansky was no stranger to disaster - she had done this trip before to help victims deal with the lasting effects of trauma. At Ground Zero in NY, in Asia at tsunami sites, to war ravaged countries where people live on with their haunting memories.  Kuriansky knew that saving lives was crucial even in these early hours, but so was saving minds and hearts.  This is her video diary from just three days after the crisis began.

---HUMNEWS