Latest on Violence in Haiti

Disturbing news continues to come out of Haiti about the increase in the level of violence there. Chuck Kolesar reported Father Ilric had been carjacked twice, and a representative with Food for the Poor told me last week that many volunteer groups were pulling out because of the violence. Below is a Washington Post article that shows the violence is finally getting some international attention.

Annan Makes Plea For Troops in Haiti
By Colum Lynch
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 30, 2005;

UNITED NATIONS, June 29 -- United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan asked the United States this week to consider sending troops to Haiti to support a U.N. peacekeeping mission beset by mounting armed challenges to its authority, according to senior U.N. officials.

Annan told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a meeting at U.N. headquarters Tuesday afternoon that he may have to ask for American "boots on the ground" in the coming months to reinforce more than 6,500 Brazilian, Chilean, Argentine and other peacekeeping forces serving in Haiti, the officials said.

He expressed hope that the United States would participate in a planned U.N. rapid reaction force, authorized by the Security Council earlier this month, that would have the firepower to intimidate armed gangs threatening the country's fragile political transition. Officials said that similar requests are being considered for other countries, including Canada and France. "We want scarier troops," one senior U.N. official said.

Annan told Rice that the Haitians "respect the U.S. military," according to a senior U.N. diplomat familiar with the closed-door meeting. Annan added that the United Nations may make a formal request for troops later, the diplomat said.

The plea from Annan comes weeks after Rice questioned the need for U.S. military intervention in Haiti, saying that it would be a "mistake" to abandon confidence in the ability of the Brazilian-led peacekeeping force to do the job. Rice provided Annan with no pledges of military support, officials said, but offered to help persuade France and Canada to contribute to the mission.

Following the meeting, Annan's office made no specific mention of his suggestion about U.S. troops. Instead, Annan's spokesman issued a statement saying that the U.N. chief had highlighted the "need for greater military support" for the U.N. mission during his talks with Rice.

The Pentagon has been weighing a request from the U.S. ambassador to Haiti, James B. Foley, and other senior U.S. officials to present an American show of force in the troubled Caribbean island nation, according to U.S. officials. The officials, who said they were not authorized to speak publicly on the issue, expressed concern that violence could spiral out of control, threatening the country's municipal and presidential elections scheduled for October and December.

U.S. and U.N. officials have begun a series of preliminary discussions about a possible U.S. military role in Haiti, including the provision of logistical and intelligence support to the planned U.N. rapid reaction force, according to senior U.N. diplomats. But the diplomats said that the United States, which currently has only four military staff officers serving in the U.N. mission, has made no formal commitment to expand its military presence.

The chief U.N. peacekeeping official, Jean-Marie Guehenno of France, declined to discuss the specifics of any military contacts with Washington. "At the moment, we are discussing a range of options," he said. "We don't exclude any options."

The Bush administration sent U.S. troops into Haiti in March 2004 to halt an upsurge of violence that culminated in former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide's flight from Haiti. A Brazilian-led U.N. peacekeeping force replaced the United States as the country's chief guarantor of security.

In Port-Au-Prince on Wednesday, hundreds of U.N. peacekeepers raided a slum filled with gangs loyal to Aristide, killing six gunmen. The largely Brazilian force suffered no casualties during the eight-hour offensive. About 300 soldiers participated in the operation. Troops detained 13 suspected criminals and turned them over to Haitian police

June report on Haiti

The Haiti Ministry met Thursday June 16th. We made several organizational decisions. A leadership council was set up consisting of Bob Lorsbach, Debra Bartelli and Chuck Kolesar. Lois Chamblin agreed to head up fundraising, and Karen Gephart will help coordinate work with the K-8 school. I'll work with communications. Chuck Kolesar brought us up to date on his visit to Haiti. Here are excerpts from his report.
On May 21 thru the 31st I had the opportunity to travel extensively in our sister parish of Notre Dame d'Altagrace. I met with thre representatives from each village and heard their concerns and aspirations. The needs of the parish at large are enormous. The overall condition of the community is deteriorating. Poeple are suffering from widespread disease, hunger and critical potable water shortages. Educational opportunities are lmited to the frail chapel elementary schools and healthcare is almost nonexistent. In a season normally associated with plenty (harvest of the mangos), I spoke with many hungry children whose villages had no access to thre fruit du to the cutting of the mango trees during the dry season for fuel. Clean water is so scarce the the vast majority of the community drinks directly from streams and rivers polluted with typhoid, dysentery and girardia. young and old alike are dying unnecessary and premature deaths.
Despite these cruel realities, the spirit of the people remains strong. Their faith and hope provide real sustencace that many of us in our faith community may never know. Christ lives and breathes in the mountains. Our task, I believe, is to support our brothers' and sister's faith and hope, ad to resist the pwerful temptation to separate them from our consciousness. The suffering ones are real and alive and are praying for us at this moment.
The Haiti Ministry is committed to working toward clean water for Layaye and the chapels. To find ways to bring fundemental healthcare to the suffering. To work towards bringing food to the hungry. And to help Father Ilric in his vision of building a self sufficient community through education. It's a huge job, but we will do all we can. We ask everyone who hears this message to help.

Chuck's Report from Haiti

Good Evening Friends of Haiti!
I just wanted to give thanks for prayers of support for my trip to Layay. I got back late last night and have been resting today. The trip was both beautiful and extremely grueling. I was able to travel to all of the most inaccessible chapels in Fr Ilric's parish and was well received by the people who were often waiting for my arrival. Some days I spent 8 to 12 hours walking, climbing (Pato Mon) and riding a burrow to get to these parishioners. I can't express the tremendous impact the kindness and generosity of these people of faith have had on my life. I was the guest of honor at a little child's baptism feast, sharing with these hungry people three small bowels of food, set on a tiny table, in a wooden home no bigger than a tool shed with a dirt floor. Ten of us ate, sharing two plates and two spoons. I spent most of one night at a wake for a man who had died in the village. Singing Creole songs. I attended healing services for the many sick people who showed up on father's door with no food, money, or hope. And I spent more time than I have ever known, secretly weeping for the many hungry and sick children I came across on the road who had been left by their parents to wait alone because they were too small to climb in the steep mountains to the family garden plots.
Traveling the breath and width of the parish and seeing the enormous needs of the people is an overwhelming experience. However, I am certain that hope lies in the youth of Layay and the surrounding villages. There are bright and dedicated teachers and young students who are dedicated to learning as much as they can with the goal of staying in Haiti to help their people. Currently Fr Ilric is facing a crisis with the many students he supports most of whom are attending St. Martin College (high school) in Hinche. These are kids from Layay who have to make the 2 to 3 hour journey to school on foot each day. Father needs $1,500 to pay for the tuition for about 50 students for the months of May and June, otherwise, these kids will not be allowed to take final exams and will have lost a year of school. Monday morning we left Gesper (seminarian) to beg the school for more time to get the money. I would like to request that we help these children immediately and provide the money from our funds. The education of these children is our only hope to help break this crushing cycle of poverty and despair and I think it would be criminal to allow them to lose this year.

Thanks again for your prayers.

I "m looking forward to seeing everyone on June 16th.
Peace,
Chuck Kolesar