‘Haiti Through Clear Eyes’

Introducing the new Working Papers section of Focus on Haiti. The first paper is ‘Haiti Through Clear Eyes,’ a recent presentation by Dr. Robert Maguire addressing the contemporary social and political context in Haiti. Following this initial paper, we hope to expand the use of this section to post ongoing papers from the Focus on Haiti team. Working Paper posts,…

Cholera: The Epidemic Power of Vibrio cholerae

By Jeremy Akers, Danny Mays, Marc Siegel, MD, Visiting Focus Bloggers  This is the first in a series of posts on cholera and its impact on Haiti. The first post is a discussion of the disease itself, and serves as an examination of medical and epidemiological factors that enabled cholera to be carried by Nepalese…

The Invisible Walls of Aid

By Scott Freeman, Visiting Scholar In order to prepare students for the aid industry, graduate and undergraduate institutions have designed degrees and concentrations in international development. Focusing on thinking critically about policy and procedure, students are ostensibly prepared so that previous errors will not be repeated again. But once one is ‘in’ the industry, is…

Dr. Paul Farmer: Communities Should Lead Problem-Solving in Haiti

Democracy NOW! recently hosted Dr. Paul Farmer to discuss his work in Rwanda, Haiti and his latest book, To Repair the World: Paul Farmer Speaks to the Next Generation. Farmer decided to compile a collection of commencement addresses he has delivered to graduating college students over the past decade, through which he encourages them to…

Haiti Advocacy Working Group Recent Events: Dialogues between Haitian Institutions and US Aid Groups

By Scott Freeman, Visiting Scholar This past week, the Haiti Advocacy Working Group put together a gathering of representatives from Haitian NGOs, development aid workers, and a few members of Haitian and American governments. While I wasn’t able to attend the entire three day event, I was able to attend the panel on agriculture in…