ORPHANED GIRLS PAY PRICE FOR HAITI'S POLITICAL STRIFE
By April Umminger and Jack Gruber

July 29, 2004 - (USA TODAY) An orphanage in the slums of Haiti's capital shows how little has changed here in the five months since a violent mob moved on Port-au-Prince and forced the country's president to leave in February.

Like much of Haiti, the Centre d'Accueil orphanage for girls has no running water, indoor plumbing or a set income to depend on. But these conditions aren't new for the 45 girls ages 3-16 who live here.

Haiti was the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and depended on aid from other countries even before violence erupted in February.

International aid was suspended after Jean-Bertrand Aristide was re-elected president in 2000 in what were deemed flawed elections. Aristide, a former priest whose administration had been supported by the United States in the 1990s, was accused of corruption, cronyism and failure to address the Caribbean island's problems, including poverty, HIV/AIDS and drug trafficking.

U.S. and French forces intervened in February to prevent further bloodshed after rebels, many of them members of Haiti's disbanded army, clashed with pro-Aristide gangs. The violence claimed at least 200 lives and forced Aristide to flee.

The United Nations took command from the 3,600-strong U.S.-led peacekeeping force on June 25. The United Nations plans to increase the force to 8,000 troops and police to keep the peace and help disarm gangs of former soldiers before an election.

However, a $35 million appeal requested by the United Nations to meet emergency humanitarian needs hasn't materialized. A donors conference held July 20 in Washington yielded nearly $1 billion in pledged support for Haiti. The World Bank and other multilateral financial institutions estimate the Caribbean country needs $1.36 billion for reconstruction through 2006.

At the opening of the conference, Secretary of State Colin Powell said U.S. aid in 2004-05 will total $230 million. That doesn't include U.S. money for peacekeeping operations.

The Centre d'Accueil orphanage, opened by Brother St. Vistal Pierre in 1990, has relied on money from the Catholic Diocese of Norwich, Conn. But Pierre, 30, never knows how much money to count on because the Diocese of Norwich depends in part on fundraisers and individual donations.

The orphanage also receives funds from international aid agencies, including Cross International of Boca Raton, Fla.

Volunteers, called "mothers," help care for the orphans. A cook prepares meals and boils water in a kitchen equipped with a hot plate and a gas burner.

There is no electricity; the only light inside the two-story concrete building is what filters through the windows. Furniture is sparse. Some orphans sleep on the floor. The girls play with whatever they can find. They primarily jump rope or style each other's hair.

"During all of the violence and riots of February and March, it was particularly difficult for Brother St. Vistal and the girls because they could not leave the orphanage at all," says Amber Walsh, director of the Norwich Mission House in Port-au-Prince, opened by the Diocese of Norwich in 1987 to minister to Haitians. "Another major problem ... was that all the food provided by charitable organizations was cut off completely," she says. "Prices skyrocketed at the same time."

"Even though we have the United Nations force and international groups to help, Haiti won't change until Haitians change themselves," Pierre says.

"Haitians need a new mentality. But if international forces just leave the Haitians to do whatever they want, there will not be any change," he says.

From: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-07-29-haiti-orphans_x.htm