Photos

Here is a picture of Haiti School Bus DIGNITE

On 27th January, 2015, the Haitian President Michel Martelly symbolically proceeded for the official presentation of 50 new school buses to the authorities of the ten departments of the country. This noble effort by the Martelly Government will provide free transport facilities to over 100,000 school children throughout the country. President Martelly welcomed Mr. George Mangonès, the Honorary Consul of South Korea, and requested to convey his thanks on behalf of his country to the South Korean people and its authority as their friendly gesture with a financial assistance of $5 million, has greatly supported this initiative. We may remember that even in 2013, 'Diginite' also added 50 new buses to its fleet through a donation of South Korea.

During the occasion, the Haitian President was accompanied by the Prime Minister, Mr. Evans Paul, the Ministers of Economy and Finance, Mr. Wilson Laleau, of National Education and Vocational Training, Mr. Nesmy Manigat, Communication, Mr. Rothchild François Junior and the Executive Director of the Company Dignité, Mr. Castro Arboîte. The Haitian President has expressed his vision to make Haiti a welfare state with sustainable development and he strongly believes that education is the surest path that can lead the country to such mission.

'Dignity', the Haitian school bus company was established in 1995; currently the company has a fleet over 300 school buses in 86 cities and provinces across Haiti. In the beginning, it used to carry students for a monthly fee; in 2011, President abolished the fee and made it free. In the fiscal years 2013-2014 and 2014-15, Dignité has received government subsidies of 292 million gourdes, per year, for meeting operation and staff expenses.

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Here is Archbishop Guire Poulard of Port-au-Prince

The Archbishop Guire Poulard of Port-au-Prince has expressed his satisfaction over the building of a transitional cathedral next to the historical Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral and viewed the effort as a major accomplishment. The cathedral was built between 1884 and 1914; it was dedicated on 13 December, 1928, and became the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince till it was destroyed in the 2010 earthquake. It has been rebuilt as one 1,500-seat transitional cathedral and dedicated in November 2014 when the ceremony was attended by church leaders from the U.S. and other places. Poulard has admitted that after serving as the bishop in the Jacmel and Les Cayes dioceses for a total of 23 years, his appointment as the Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince was a big responsibility that he undertook on Jan. 12, 2011, exactly one year after the earthquake. The Port-au-Prince Archdiocese continues to rebuild its ministries since the country's 2010 earthquake.

While meeting the representatives of the Catholic News Service on March 10, 2015, Poulard has told that the Port-au-Prince archdiocese is presently working with over 60 active projects, most of which are of the pastoral in nature. Thirty new parishes have been formed, the new ministries have emphasized on the greater involvement and support for religious congregations serving rural and urban communities. With the assistance coming from Haitian Catholics, the Haitian Diaspora and some international partners in pastoral efforts and some reconstruction projects, the progress has remained slow but the working is going at a steady pace. Haitian churchgoers and diaspora, both are determined to rebuild the church and their country. PROCHE has undertaken some other rebuilding works related to church- reconstruction projects, in addition to those undertaken by the Port-au-Prince archdiocese. PROCHE is a partnership of the dioceses of Haiti, with the Catholic Church and numerous institutions and individuals in Haiti and throughout the world under the patronage of Conference Episcopale d'Haiti (CEH).

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Here is a picture of Pierre Théoma Boisrond-Canal who served as the President of Haiti three times.

Boisrond-Canal was born in 1932 and went into military service from 1858 until 9 years later when he retired to take up farming. Three years later, he would become embroiled in politics and rose quickly to be senator of Port-au-Prince twice. Like many political figures, he was exiled for a period, in Jamaica, but was made, upon his return, army commander of the Ouest Department by President Domingue. The first of Boisrond-Canal's three presidencies began in 1876 when he replaced Domingue as provisional leader before presiding non-provisionally as of July 17 that year. During his first run, he reinstated the 1867 constitution, which Domingue had replaced in 1874.

His inability to successfully mediate the National and Liberal parties compelled him to resign in 1879. His replacement, President Lysius Salomon would himself resign in 1888, and Boisrond-Canal was once again president, this time in an acting capacity. His last run as president was in 1902 when he was appointed interim president. This post lasted from May 26 to December 17, when he was succeeded by Pierre Nord Alexis.

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This is a picture of Chemins de Fer in Haiti during the government of Pierre Théoma Boisrond-Canal

Much of the activity former President Pierre Théoma Boisrond-Canal had to perform when he took office in the mid 1870s was to undo the financial and constitutional damage done by the president before him. France was on the back of Haiti, demanding a repayment of the supposed 58 million francs borrowed by President Michel Domingue, who had, it seems, borrowed in ill-faith for himself and not for the country. While this was indeed no way to start a presidency, Boisrond-Canal had had the type of history to prepare him for such work.

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Here is a picture of Oreste Zamor who served as president of Haiti in 1914. His presidency was described as short and extremely chaotic

Emmanuel Oreste Zamor (1861-1915) had served as the Haitian President in 1914 for a little over 8 months (February 8, 1914 - October 25, 1914). He was the leader of a countryside army called 'Cacos' that often took part in rebellions. The Cacos supported Zamor because he had promised to keep them on the government payroll. Zamor and his government were facing a rebellion that grew louder every day in the North. Oreste Zamor himself took the head of his troops to the North, however, he had to retreat. When he came back to Port-au-Prince, his responsible cabinet members were rushing for foreign legation. He was arrested by his successor Guillaume Sam who overthrew him and locked him up in the National Penitentiary. Zamor was murdered along with other 167 political prisoners.

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Here is a picture of Jean-Jacques Louis Philippe Guerrier who was a career officer and President of Haiti from May 3, 1844 to April 15, 1845.

Jean-Jacques Louis Philippe Guerrier (born 19 December, 1757; died 15 April, 1845) was a Career Officer and a General in the Haitian army. He was a respected soldier who successfully commanded the Southern Black Army during the Haitian revolution. Philippe Guerrier was an octogenarian when he assumed the Presidency. He was illiterate but that deficiency and lack of knowledge was counterbalanced by his love for the country. He was a moderate dictator, much respected by the peasants. The Mullatto hierarchy displaced his predecessor President Rivière-Hérard and replaced him with this aged black general as President on May 3, 1844. Guerrier held his office for only 11 months before he died on April 15, 1845.

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Here is a picture of Franco-Haitian Jean-Pierre Roy, aka Rasta Piquet

Competing against great racers from small countries like Haiti is never an easy job. However, the Franco-Haitian, Jean-Pierre Roy, aka "Rasta Piquet" at his age around 52, represented Haiti in the 3rd World Ski Championships in Vail (Eagle County, Colorado, United States). With over 700 athletes from 70 countries, FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, 2015, is the largest gathering of the racers in the world, scheduled from February 2-15 of 2015. The final showdown on the event was witnessed when Haitian ski racer Jean-Pierre Roy battled out with the Jamaican Mike Williams for the last place at Golden Peak, on Thursday February 12. Roy took the Caribbean title on the day by defeating Williams from Jamaica. After his win, he has said. "I will be the first in the world to participate in the World Championships as a grandfather!" He was born in Port-au-Prince, founder of the Haitian Ski Federation (Fall 2010), wants to Haiti remains in the hearts of all.

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Haiti is on its way to replace wood-burning stoves with clean, ethanol-fueled cook stoves through project Gaia.

Project Gaia is a Non-profit non-governmental U.S organization working to provide cheap eco-friendly alcohol based fuel on ethanol stoves in the developing countries. Most Haitians rely on charcoal and firewood to cook their daily meals. As a result, the nation is experiencing extreme deforestation over the years and an estimate reveals that it has been reduced to 2% of the earlier cover. Furthermore, the polluting fuels like wood, charcoal, dung, coal and petroleum have shortened the average lifespan of Haitians by 6.6 years due to the illness caused by household air pollution. In Haiti, POET in association with Project Gaia will replace wood-burning stoves with clean, ethanol-fueled cook stoves. Jeff Broin, the founder and Executive Chairman of POET has donated 12,000 gallons of ethanol of which 6,200 gallons have passed the Haitian customs in December 2014. Dometic, another partner of the project would supply locally made ethanol stoves and 'Novogaz' will be responsible for its distribution. "POET Bio refining - Jewell' will produce the needed ethanol.

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Here is a picture of the famous Haitian musician Black Alex who just decided to give his life to the Lord at Church Shalom Tabernacle.

Until recently, there were rumors about the death of Alex Black (the real name of the star is Jean Pierre Alex). The audience was in doubt until the group published its recent meringue "on tiptoe" where they clearly heard his voice and a photograph of the artiste with a fan was made public. On February 3rd, there was an unexpected program that viewers witness on TV Shalom: Black Alex joined the flock of God. According to the rapper's family sources, for several years, Alex is struggling with AIDS. After rumors of his death "Black Alex" made a public appearance on Shalom TV and declared his decision to rearrange his rest of life to the service of the Lord.

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Here is a picture of Occide Jeanty Music Academy in Cité Soleil founded by Pastor Jean Enock

The "Occide Jeanty Music Academy or the Academie Musicale Occide Jeanty (AMOJ)" was founded by Pastor Jean Enock in Cité Soleil on August 6, 2006. Pastor Enock was born and brought up in this suburb of Port-au-Prince with a dream in his mind to set up a "Haitian Youth Orchestra" which will provide an alternative to the children and adolescents who were once falling prey of gang violence (known as "Operation Bagdad") which ravaged the community between 2004-2007. After 10 years of Pastor's hard work and with its present 250 AMOJ students, the music academy has been successfully reduced the violence and misery in Cité Soleil. The most of the students come from extremely impoverished backgrounds; contribute a nominal fee to participate in the program under a small team of part time teachers. Their parents have reported substantial improvement in the characters of the children. They have become responsible, punctual and disciplined after joining the group. This is the only important artistic event in the community and a source of pride for them.

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