30608: Spinelli (reply) Re: 30598: Spinelli (reply) Corbett (reply) Jacmel Film Festival (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: MASpinelli@aol.com
    (fwd)

I want to thank Bob Corbett for his reply to my letter. It is only through
hearing diverse opinions can we grow.

It is important to know that I find no fault with the arts, festivals, etc.
I spent my whole business career in Tourism and look forward to the day that I
 can help Haiti in this area. And.. I want nothing back from Haiti but to see
her  prosper.

My only point was that I feel that it is a time to prioritize as  we are
dealing with a nation with deaths due to disease we have long ago cured,  a 
nation
with little clean water leading to high infant mortality and the  creation of
bacilli resistant diseases as simple to cure as Typhoid Fever, etc.  A nation
with little electricity.

Haiti has the potential to become an economic dynamo for the Caribbean
simply by  obtaining a tiny share of the outsource  manufacturing  going to 
Asia. I
spend time each and every day of my existence seeking ways to  bring a hope
of life to the bottom of the pyramid. The "grangou" of Hait.

My only feeling is that I find it difficult to digest facts like these when
I read of festivals a few hundred kilometers away:

·        75% of Haitians earn less than a $1 a day
·        70% of Haitians have no jobs
·        90% deforestation causes constant disastrous  flooding
·        Most children never go to school
·        Life expectancy is 53 years
    *    More than 12% of Haitian children die before  their fifth birthday,
largely due to poor access to clean  water

·        Barely one in four Haitians can read
·        97% of Haitian homes lack electricity
    *   Approx. 5% of the Haitians are infected  with HIV or AIDS, the
highest rate in the Americas
    *   Major roads have potholes as big as  bath-tubs.  A functioning
highway  system doesn’t exist
    *   25% of Haitians die before the age of 40  (Dr. Paul Farmer)
    *   Emigration from Haiti is rampant, mostly from desperation; the  vast
majority are in the USA and eager to help their  motherland.
We have two choices... to go after the  CAUSES of these problems, not through
charity towards the EFFECTS of the causes,  but to solve the problems. Like,
for instance: Windmills in the  North Coast, Clean Water provided by the towns
and government sponsored wells  for the boon docks.

My carefully drawn plan for the  reconstruction of Haiti can be found at:
_http://homepage.mac.com/sfabbella/spinelli/_
(http://homepage.mac.com/sfabbella/spinelli/)

I want to thank Bob  Corbett for this forum the important point to understand
is that I am not  against the arts, just "grangou," Famine and Hunger. Thee
is indeed room for  people to work in all arenas, I just feel too deeply for
the sad conditions of  most Haitians. For this I apologize.
There is an old Creole  Saying:


“Nan  tan grangou patat pa gen po” – In time of hunger, the potato 
has
no skin.”
Mike  Spinelli
Advocate for a  prosperous Haiti.



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