The Haiti Super Thread- Merged

[scm77]

This joke was on This Hour Has 22 Minutes last night. I found it amusing.

"Prime Minister Martin, has sent three Canadian Forces Hercules aircraft to Haiti to help evacuate people. However most people feel safer in Haiti then on a Canadian Forces aircraft."

 

[John Nayduk]

From Sunday, March 7, 2004

Today has been a nice and quiet day for us on the mountain. We‘ve been able
to work in the office and also just spend time relaxing and visiting
together.

The volunteers drove to the airport and picked up 5 children from XXXXX
XXXXX orphanage in Cap Haitian. XXXXX and 2 volunteers flew them
down to PAP and then turned around and flew back to Cap Haitian. The
children seem to be adjusting pretty well. I think it was easier because
they came as a group.

I wish I could say the same quiet day took place in PAP. But it didn‘t.

While returning home from the airport, XXXXX ran into a demonstration in
Petionville. The police on one side and the Marines on the other and a
large group of people in between! It turns out it‘s the opposition group
and it started out mainly of students and built as they walked to the Palace
to demonstrate their support of the leaving of President Aristide. By the
time they reached downtown on the main road called Lalue, past Immigration
toward the Palace. the crowd had grown to thousands of people.

XXXXX had gone to march in the crowd but was going to join them at the
Palace because he couldn‘t leave early to be at the beginning. I am so
thankful that he wasn‘t marching down the road with them because Chimeres
(thugs) started firing on the crowd.

A Spanish journalist was reported shot and killed. We met several Spanish
journalists. How sad I am for his family and his country. Many People in
the crowd were injured. Claude XXXXX said he heard at least 5 or 6 were killed.
Haiti has lost a lot of people to the fighting this last month. Many
families here also are mourning the lost of loved one.

Panic took hold and people started running to get out of the way. Two
police swat team were shot. They are no match for the chimeres. President
Aristide‘s men had equipped the chimeres better than the police!

XXXXX said by the time he arrived at the Palace there were already
thousands waiting for the tens of thousands to arrive. He said they were
burning photos of Aristide in front of the Palace. Then all of a sudden he
heard what sounded like thunder. He said people around him said...don‘t
worry, the police are guarding them, they will take care of the
chimeres...but they couldn‘t and people were killed.

Claude ran for his car and hurried away from the Palace. The demonstration
was stopped which is what the chimeres wanted. Just on Saturday, the
pro-Aristide faction marched in PAP and no one fired on them. If the
International community is here, then they MUST help the police take back
the control that is lost. They can‘t stand by and protect the Palace while
people are shot and killed in the streets 1 block away!

I sit here very angry at the injustice of what has happened. Why can‘t
these students and opposition faction be allowed to march in peace?

XXXXX may open tomorrow and may not open tomorrow. The staff has not been
told to come in the morning, so we don‘t know what to expect.

XXXXX will leave for the DR tomorrow along with another child. They will
meet their parents there.

This is far from over and with the fear of being shot....many people won‘t
come to work tomorrow. The opposition will be angry and I don‘t blame them.

Only God can save Haiti. The UN can‘t do it. The Haitian police can‘t do
it. The Opposition can‘t do it. We, missionaries can‘t do it. Only God
can....

And life in Haiti goes on.....

 

[John Nayduk]

Up-date for March 9, 2004

This morning we left about 9 AM to travel to Port au Prince and the Spanish
Embassy. XXXXX was leaving for the Dominican Republic to meet her
mother, XXXXX.

We were afraid she would cry when we left her at the Embassy but she didn‘t
cry at all. She was such a good little girl and is probably sitting on her
mama‘s lap at the Spanish Embassy in the DR as I write this letter.

We saw very little traffic going down to the Embassy this morning. It‘s not
all of the way downtown but it‘s about 2/3 of the way. Usually it takes me
at least 1 hour to arrive there. Today it took less than 40 minutes because
the traffic was so light.

Immigration did not open today. No one came in to work.

IBESR (Haitian Social Services) did not open today. One person went in to
open up but no one showed up to work or take dossiers.

I don‘t know if anything did open today for the government. My worker was
going to the courts today and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and I don‘t
know yet if he found anyone working at either of those agencies. I‘ll find
out if he could get papers when he comes to work in the morning.

Now, Petionville was another thing altogether! You couldn‘t go anywhere
because the traffic was so heavy! All stores were open and people were out
buying. The street market was so busy that it took 30 minutes just to pass
through one street.

The line at the Western Union office was 50 people deep and the guard was
using his baton to keep people from swarming the door!

Everywhere I went, people asked why the marines weren‘t doing anything to
protect the people. Why were they just standing-by while people were shot?
Why weren‘t they helping disarm these thugs and gangs that are walking
around? Why when the pro-Aristide group marched on Saturday and some had
guns on them...why didn‘t someone disarm them then?

They are very angry about the chimeres still being so active and killing
people. They are angry that Aristide left and now is telling the chimeres
to continue to fight.

They are saying that Aristide should come back and let the rebels have their
guns back and the international community can leave and see how long he
lasts! Lots of anger out there among the people that we talked to.

I tried to explain that we were told that the Marines were here to assist
the police only. But they don‘t understand it this way. They say the
police can‘t do anything on their own. They just aren‘t equipped.

The New President Alexandre was on the radio asking everyone to work
together to build a new Haiti. One where there is no barriers between the
rich and the poor and the whites and the blacks. He gave a wonderful
speech....if only everyone will listen.

While he gave his speech, Aristide supporters stood outside the Palace and
waved photos of Aristide in the air. But most people just want Haiti to
settle down so people can work and support their families. It‘s very hard
to see so many people suffering. And both sides are suffering....

Adoptive parents are beside themselves over getting their children home but
at this time we can‘t do much until a few of the government agencies open up
and start working. You can be assured that as soon as I‘m able...I will be
down at the Embassies with all of the paperwork that we have done presenting
it to the different governments. Then they will have to decide if they
allow the children to travel or not.

Tomorrow morning, hopefully, my daughter, XXXXX and her husband, XXXXX will
finally get to go home to their 3 children. Their 7 day vacation has turned
into 16 days. We have kept them working hard. XXXXX has been a big help to
XXXXX and they put in the tanks for the fuel and XXXXX welded everything that
needed it. He also built shelves for the new storage room. He says he
needs to go home so he can get some rest! But I think both of them have had
a good time at the orphanage.

I have to be at the US Consulate tomorrow morning at 8 AM for a visa
appointment with 3 children. Pray that all is quiet and we arrive safely
and that they let the children get their visas for travel to the States.

School started for XXXXX and XXXXX today. All seemed quiet on that side of
town. There weren‘t very many children in school but more will be returning
after this week.

Today has been a sad day for me. I am still upset about Sunday‘s
demonstration and shooting. Someone who was in the Emergency room at Canape
Vert Hospital where the injured were treated said it was like a war zone.
It was worse than any movie they had ever seen about casualties of war.
They never wanted to experience something like that again.

I felt at such a lost. Would Haiti ever change? Were we doing anything to
help or just hindering with our work? Are Humanitarian workers and
Missionaries making any sort of dent in the overwhelming needs of the poor?

God sent me an answer. We had stopped in a little back road of Petionville
to buy some medicine and a man came up to the car and said he knew about our
orphanage in XXXXX. That someone he knew on XXXXX had brought a
baby to our "hospital" and he needed help. He said he was walking and
visiting friends trying to find someone to help him. He had visited 3
already and couldn‘t find help.

His son had been shot and was in a hospital at Leogane, a village south of
Port au Prince. He had lost a lot of blood and had already received 2
units. The father didn‘t have any money to buy IV fluids or medicine for
his son. He needed $100 Haitian which is about $12 US. We talked to him
for a long time. Normally, I would have thought he probably wasn‘t telling
me the truth...but something about this man was different. I just felt that
I should help him!

I gave him the money and I felt good about giving him the money. Many
people reading this will say...boy, she was foolish...but I feel that God
wanted me to help that man and even though I may never know if I truly
helped or not...what I gave to him may change his or his son‘s life.

I can‘t question what I‘m here for. God has sent me to Haiti to work with
the children. And I KNOW that lives are changed because of the aid that we
give to children and their families.

Can we bring about change in Haiti? Yes, one child at a time...

And life in Haiti goes on.....

 

[Sh0rtbUs]

I found this to be a decent read, figured Id give those at work something to stall time with.


Canadian deployment to Haiti begins as troops head out from N.B. and Ontario

FREDERICTON (CP) - Kristy Reimers says she‘ll never get used to saying goodbye to her husband when he is deployed by the Canadian Armed Forces to world troublespots like Haiti.

"I‘m a little nervous and worried," Reimers said as she waited at the Fredericton airport on Friday for the first major departure of Canadian military personnel to Haiti. "But people have been very good about reassuring me about the safety of this mission. I just don‘t like to be separated from my husband. He‘s my best friend."

Reimers husband, Sgt. Doug Loader, is an ammunition expert at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown and a member of an advance group of soldiers who left for Haiti on Friday to lay the groundwork for the full Canadian commitment beginning next week.

"We‘ll be back soon," Loader promised his wife as he left for what is expected to be a 90-day deployment.

Thirty-one soldiers from the sprawling training base in southern New Brunswick boarded two lumbering Hercules transport planes for the six-hour flight to the Caribbean troublespot where they will face civil unrest and sporadic violence.

"We‘re expecting the worst," said 23-year-old Pte. Trevor Arthur, a native of Ontario. "But we‘re going in there prepared and ready to follow the training we‘ve done."

There was an air of excitement at the Fredericton airport where steadily falling snow and chilly temperatures made the prospect of balmy Haiti, even with its problems, seem inviting.

But Maj. Dave Lambert, commander of the Royal Canadian Regiment rifle company, made it clear to the soldiers Haiti is no tourist spot.

"The country is a mess," said Lambert, who had just returned from a reconnaissance trip to the Haitian capital, Port au Prince.

"There are stacks of garbage and people wash their clothes in open sewers. This is a country that has suffered from poor government."

The advance party of 31 soldiers and four vehicles from Gagetown will join 45 military personnel from the Joint Operations Group in Kingston, Ont.

The two groups are part of a larger contingent of 450 military personnel that Canada has committed to a multinational effort to stabilize Haiti following a rebel uprising that forced President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to flee the country last month.

The group from Kingston includes engineers, signallers, supply and logistics personnel. They will be in Haiti for about 30 days setting up a Canadian camp.

Lambert said that altogether, including the 31 soldiers who left on Friday, 138 soldiers from Gagetown will be in Haiti for the 90-day deployment.

Lambert said the bulk of the force will head to Haiti on Wednesday.

He said the Canadian Forces will be working in Port au Prince with a U.S. Marine Corps battalion.

He said the situation on the city streets remains tense and dangerous. The main threats he said are from drive-by shooters and snipers.

"There is still a certain amount of danger there," he said.

"Life is returning to normal to a certain extent, but underneath that surface there is still unease and unsettlement."

Lambert said the role of the Canadians Forces will be to help ensure a secure environment for civil authorities to re-establish an orderly society.

He said the Gagetown troops will be patrolling, performing weapons searches, setting up roadblocks and gathering intelligence to understand how the situation is developing.

Lambert said that in some ways, the assignment to Haiti is less dangerous than Afghanistan, where many of the troops have already served tours of duty.

There are no land mines in Haiti, he said, and suicide bombing is not an issue.

"You know that although you might be sniped at from a distance, no one is going to run up to you with a bomb strapped to their body."

The Gagetown soldiers are part of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment. It is a mechanized infantry force that includes three rifle companies.

It is equipped with Canada‘s newest armoured personnel carriers and its troops have seen action in such hotspots as Bosnia, Africa and Afghanistan.

CHRIS MORRIS

http://www.hispeed.rogers.com/news/national/story.jsp?cid=n031217A

 

[scm77]

Good luck to everyone going there. Hope they all make it back safe and sound.

 

[NMPeters]

Straight from the CP newswire 2 minutes ago...

C-F-B Gagetown, New Brunswick. x--18s. Defence Minister David Pratt says he expects Canada will have a long-term presence in Haiti. Pratt spoke to 170 soldiers departing for Haiti today from C-F-B Gagetown in New Brunswick. They will provide security and humanitarian aid. The minister says he expects Canada could maintain a police presence for a year or more.

(``...six-and-a-half.‘‘) (SOURCE:BN) (245p)


TAG: The minister says details of a follow-on mission have not been finalized. The current deployment of over 450 Canadian soldiers is set to last 90 days

 

[Scoobie Newbie]

Hopefully my BN will get the follow up call, unless of course we get into the combined multinational NATO force being formed.

 

[Tyrnagog]

Good luck to all you soldiers being sent to Haiti...

Come back safe, mm-kay?

 

[Engineer Corporal]

http://www.herald.ns.ca/stories/2004/03/22/fOpinion141.raw.html

Defence HQ staff not fit for duty in Haiti

By SCOTT TAYLOR On Target

LAST WEEK, the first members of the Canadian peacekeeping contingent went to Haiti to begin a 90-day mission. Although Prime Minister Paul Martin had declared that Canada would contribute troops to the UN intervention force, it took Defence Department planners several days to scrape together 450 service members.

Based on an infantry company from Gagetown, N.B., and a helicopter detachment from Valcartier, Que., the support personnel necessary to round out this task force were drawn from bases all across Canada.

In announcing the composition of our Haiti peacekeeping contribution, Martin admitted that the numbers were "less than we hoped for," while Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Ray Henault simply mumbled that the size of the contingent was "sustainable." To give DND operations staff their due, for them to pull together any resources at all is no easy task given the current level of troop commitment.

Unlike the 1993 mission to Haiti, there is no embargo to enforce and, therefore, no practical application for a naval force. This is undoubtedly a relief to our burned-out sailors and fleet maintainers. After two years of overcommitment in the war against terror, Canada‘s navy has just one ship deployed on operational duty, and it set sail without a functional helicopter.

While the air force has not been at the forefront of media coverage, it too is heavily tasked in supporting our military operations in far-flung theatres of operation. In particular, the old Hercules transport aircraft and Aurora patrol planes are now being nursed along on reduced flying hours as a result of their heavy taskloads. In fact, as part of Canada‘s initial rapid deployment evacuation team into Haiti, the Hercules suffered a number of embarrassing breakdowns.

There is no question the army has been stretched to the limit by the enormous 12-month mission to Afghanistan. Henault, himself, once admitted that in order for our army to fulfil this obligation, which involved more than 4,000 personnel in total, we would not be able to mount any operations "for up to 18 months" after our withdrawal from Kabul.

Evidently, Henault‘s assessment of his deployable resources has been altered through a combination of world events and domestic political pressure. Although we are going to reduce our commitment to the NATO stabilization force in Bosnia to virtually nil, Henault recently announced that Canada will contribute a strong detachment to Afghanistan after our current mission expires in August.

Given the circumstances, finding a "meaningful" contribution for Haiti was not easy. One of the scenarios tossed about (in jest) at Esprit de Corps was that Henault could tap into the "fourth" branch of the Armed Forces - namely the 11,000 personnel posted to National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa. In theory, this would not be too difficult. There are dozens of unfunded but fully staffed procurement project offices, which means that thousands of trained service members while away their days producing meaningless memos. One could speculate that many of them would jump at the chance to escape their cubicles to do some real soldiering in the sunny Haitian streets.

Reality, of course, is a different matter. In the late ‘90s, NDHQ attempted to conduct a 72-hour security exercise. The after-action report said the whole affair bogged down and was cancelled in less than one day because it proved to be "too inconvenient" for the personnel involved. The military police supervising the exercise were overwhelmed with outraged officers complaining that they had missed their bus rides home. In one case, a female service member had simply left her post because she had to drive her daughter to a Girl Guide meeting.

Another drawback to sending headquarters personnel is that despite the so-called "universality of service" regulations, many service members posted to Ottawa are not exactly in front-line shape. There is an embarrassing photo essay in the current issue of Frank magazine titled Saving Private Pieman, which features candid photos of "camouflaged fatties" out for their lunchtime waddles.

It is a sad comment indeed on the state of military affairs when Frank magazine has to remind NDHQ personnel about fitness regulations.

Makes you want to stand up and salute doesn‘t it......

 

[Franko]

And they wonder why we call it Disneyland North?

Regards

 

[Pikache]

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2004/04/09/415281-ap.html

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - Canadian troops in Haiti could have their 90-day stay extended while they train Haiti‘s police force, Canada‘s defence minister said Friday.

Minister of National Defence David Pratt didn‘t offer details in remarks he made while visiting 500 Canadian soldiers in Port-au-Prince, Haiti‘s capital.

"There‘s a recognition that we need to have a long-term commitment in Haiti," Pratt told troops lined up at their base.

"Without that, it‘s safe to predict that we‘ll be back here again."

A U.S.-led coalition of military forces has been in Haiti since shortly after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted Feb. 29.

The original plan for the Canadian, U.S., French and Chilean troops was to stay 90 days, while the United Nations put together a longer term peacekeeping force, to be led by Brazil.


Pratt said he spoke with interim Haitian president Boniface Alexandre about the possibility of Canadians training Haitian police, many of whom were overwhelmed by rebels who still control large areas of this Caribbean country.

During a two-day visit, Pratt went on patrol with troops, visited parts of the capital by helicopter and met with U.S. military leaders and members of Haiti‘s interim government.

Canadian military spokesmen said Pratt ate the same food rations as soldiers and slept on a cot with a mosquito net.

"This visit has given me a much better idea of what‘s happening on the ground," Pratt said.

Addressing the troops in both English and French, Gen. Raymond Henault, the senior Canadian commander, told them they had done a good job in helping provide security for Haitians.

"What makes the difference in these operations is the ability to come in quickly and establish security," Henault said.

"I‘m proud of you."

Pratt told soldiers Canadian government officials are still considering giving them a federal tax exemption for the length of their stay in Haiti. He said he is "optimistic" a decision could come next week but had no guarantees.

"This would be a good way for a grateful nation to say: ‘Thank you very much,"‘ he told the troops.

Canadian soldiers in conflict areas generally receive extra compensation. Haiti isn‘t considered a formal conflict zone, Pratt said but emphasized he is studying extending a tax exemption to members of Canada‘s mission in Haiti.

 

[Jason Bourne]

If it turned out to be a really long term thing..I wouldn‘t mind ending up getting posted there..

 

[Scoobie Newbie]

Well I don‘t think anyone here is surprised to hear that the mission may get extended. We were told that it won‘t be use though (Brig Cmnd) as we are supposed to be slated for the NATO Reaction Force.

 

[Scoobie Newbie]

It would save money logistacally vs Bosnia.
If Pratt did actually eat IMP‘s and sleep on a cot for a night I will be quite impressed. Hopefully that minor taste will give him an idea of what the troops go through.

 

[kaspacanada]

I don‘t really think a cot and IMP‘s are representative enough of what the troops go through. But it boosts morale. Like I said before, MND David Pratt and his top aide, David Price, have a very firm grasp of what goes on in the military. The latter has lots of experience from the reserves and the regular force. The former, well, he‘s got a lot of cabinet level experience reporting on military matters (a pretty good start).

It doesn‘t surprise me that we are staying either. It seems like any place that falls into civil war needs a long time to stabilize these days.

 

[Scoobie Newbie]

No but it is a start. You can‘t expect him to drive around in the honey wagon or participate in a patrol.

 

[Marauder]

Sweet! Where do I sign up for the next Roto?

 

[Armymedic]

Between Haiti and Afghanistan...
Should be a short yr before I head out again....

 

[Jarnhamar]

Whats the rule on waiting for another tour? I‘ve heard you could sign wavers or something and deploy again shortly after returning if you choose to. Any truth to that?

 

[sgt_mandal]

ALl you lukky guys get to get deployed. I still have to wait a couple of years. So what‘s life like in these places when on and off duty?