From CineInstitute Director David Bell

This from CineInstute Director David Bell:

Ciné Institute Director David Belle reports from Port-au-Prince:
"I have been told that much US media coverage paints Haiti as a tinderbox ready to explode. I'm told that lead stories in major media are of looting, violence and chaos. There could be nothing further from the truth.
"I have traveled the entire city daily since my arrival. The extent of damages is absolutely staggering. At every step, at every bend is one horrific tragedy after another; homes, businesses, schools and churches leveled to nothing. Inside every mountain of rubble there are people, most dead at this point. The smell is overwhelming. On every street are people -- survivors -- who have lost everything they have: homes, parents, children, friends. "NOT ONCE have we witnessed a single act of aggression or violence. To the contrary, we have witnessed neighbors helping neighbors and friends helping friends and strangers. We've seen neighbors digging in rubble with their bare hands to find survivors. We've seen traditional healers treating the injured; we've seen dignified ceremonies for mass burials and residents patiently waiting under boiling sun with nothing but their few remaining belongings. A crippled city of two million awaits help, medicine, food and water. Most haven't received any. "Haiti can be proud of its survivors. Their dignity and decency in the face of this tragedy is itself staggering."
David Belle, January 17th, 2010 Go to Ciné Institute's website for latest photos and footage coming from the students in Jacmel:

http://cineinstitute.com

Project Medishare

I met with Dr. Barth Green founder and Ellen Powers director of The University of Miami/ Project Medishare initiative a couple of weeks ago for my documentary Nou Sove. They are in Haiti now on the ground with an 11 person team and need support. They are bringing in Doctors, Nurses and health care proffesionals and have been working in Haiti for many years. Here is more info and ways to donate to them.

blog-http://projectmedishare.wordpress.com

facebook- http://www.facebook.com/pages/Project-Medishare-for-Haiti-Inc/103687956624?ref=s

donate-http://tinyurl.com/yarw8zm

Why Haiti? The Earthquake, disaster and the need to help.

Why Haiti? So many ask me this question about my projects and reasons for pushing so hard for Haiti. Why anywhere? It could be Bosnia in the trying times or any country where the population is moving to have the same opportunities as others. I didn't choose Haiti. Sometimes things come, fall into your way and you make a way for things to happen. Haiti came into my course and I'm so much better for it in so many ways. I am privileged and understand the privilege I've had the ability to act upon. I could have been born anywhere, to anyone, but was born here, raised with many advantages. I've had many challenges, lived in many places, some good some not so much. I understand that when much is given, much is expected. This is why. I'm not Haitian. I could be from anywhere, born at any moment. Do we know from one day to the next if we'll still have the same privilege.

The earthquake in Haiti is disheartening on so many levels. We have the opportunity, have had the opportunity to do something, something big. If we do, if we uplift our neighbors, our brothers and sisters it will have an effect that will resonate across the globe. I recently gave a speech at the Miami Dade County reception for Haiti Independence month. Mayor Alvarez gave the key to the County to both Haiti Ambassador Raymond Joseph and Jimmy Jean Louis last Friday. I gave a gift bag to Jimmy Jean Louis on behalf of he Miami Dade Film Office and a speech about Jimmy's contributions and my love for Haiti. Ambassador Joseph said something in his speech that took me by surprise. I knew it already, but it didn't register fully until that moment. Haiti was the second Independent nation in the Western Hemisphere. After Haiti, many nations followed. Many nations were helped to independence by Haiti including the United States. Battles in Louisiana, Georgia, even Chicago. In the Revolutionary war no less.

So we have another opportunity to do whats right. My heart and soul goes out to my friends and family there and here. I have given a lot for Haiti and will continue to do so. Why, because Haiti has given so much, needs less than that which has been given so freely and is a country that is in my heart and soul. What will we gain, we will gain the strength, spirit, soul, minds and determination of a nation that has helped so many. Here's a few organizations doing something now and a message I was sent a short while ago:

Nou Sove

Hollywood Unites for Haiti (HUFH)

Pan American Development Fund (PADF)


World Vision


In the wake of news that an unprecedented 7.0 earthquake has hit the already impoverished land of Haiti, we call on humanity to lend a helping hand. The earthquake has struck just 10 miles from the capital of port-au-prince, where an approximate 2 million people reside. Officials are already branding this a catastrophe of major proportions. A not for profit organization, Pwoteje Timoun is calling on you for your help. We are not only asking for donations of food and clothing but also of physical persons willing to travel to haiti to volunteer their time and effort to help those most in need. In the midst of this untimely disaster, the people of Haiti need your help, help not only for basic necessities such as food, clothing and water,but also your helping hand to clear roads of rubble, and to assist in finding members of family households that are missing and trapped under the rubble. We can not do this alone. Any and all assistance is welcome. Your help is needed immediately. The next few hours after this disaster will be critical.

FT. LAUDERDALE DROP:Donations can be dropped of @ Pwotege Timoun, 11911 NW 32nd Manor, Sunrise, FL 33323 where boxes will be set up for donations of non perishable food items and clothing. We are organizing a group of people to go to Haiti as early as Thursday. If you are able to volunteer your time please contact Gathy Brutus. I can be reached at gathy.brutus@gmail.com or (954) 829-2636.

MIAMI DROP: Haitian American Youth of Tomorrow (HAYOT), 1348 NE 147th Street, Miami, L 33161. Contact: “Teacher” Carline Paul for more info at (305) 509-2313 or hayotinc@aol.com or teachcarline@aol.com.



I, alongside many other Haitian nationals have not made any contact with our families in wake of the earthquake, but we pray for their safety. In the meantime, we come together and organize to bring help to those in need.

Do not fear my people of Haiti, help is on the way!!! God Bless...

PLEASE PASS IT ALONG
THANK YOU

--
Gathy Brutus
Pwoteje Timoun/Protect the Children, Inc.
(954) 829-2636
gathy.brutus@gmail.com

Haiti's close, yet so far.

We've started going over some of the footage and although it's been over a week I still feel I'm there. Maybe because Haiti is so close, only two hours by plane. Close as many cities in this country, but so far. It was surreal to be there with John Edwards, who was a viable presidential candidate only a few months ago. So close. But hope was there in the form of a priest, Father Rick. He told a story one night in the middle of Wharf City of how one must deal in Haiti to get things done. It was an amazing tale of good versus evil, greater good versus greater good. In the end what is greater? What is good? Evil? Close, so close. Lives, walk a mile in another's shoes, greener grass, other side, take a side, take a stand. Doc soon, story soon.


Paul Haggis, Josh Brolin, Father Rick, John Edwards

Experience, heart and soul

Being in Haiti for this trip was amazing, heartbreaking, encouraging, gut wrenching, inspiring, brilliant, and I feel an experience that has moved me as much as any experience in my life. I've lived all around the US, in Europe and in Africa, but this trip really moved me. First, Haiti must be one of the most connected places on Earth. At all times there are people walking, catching tap taps (trucks with benches in the back)...







...on and off and on again, riding bikes in tandem, motorcycles three and four on the same seat at a time, talking, selling, trading and simply making it work. The connectiveness of the people push the life there, make it possible to make a way, seemingly out of no way. But there is. This connectiveness I feel is the key to Haiti's future. We went to a school in the heart of Cite Soleil, one of the roughest cities on the planet.




garbage piled in the sewers

There were women, men, children, grandparents, parents, brothers and sisters in the same room...learning. The seed, that's the seed. The spark. It was breathtaking to me in the midst of the sea of turmoil an island, engaged, eyes cemented to the wall of a chalkboard. Ad hoc chairs, stools and whatever could be used to have a place in the room of the sun. Soleil means sun and the city, in that room was indeed shining. The surroundings however, where quite gloomy. UN peacekeepers spotted every quarter mile or so with grenades, machine guns, riot uniforms and all.


Heaps of garbage, much of it burning, as much of Haiti is perpetually burning. Pigs and goats rooting in the muck wherever they pleased. And the bustle of the people, constant movement was the glue that kept it all from collapsing, the weight and burden as heavy as any in history. But hope is where I found glory. There is much hope. I'll get into that in later posts. And there was of course Jimmy moving seamlessly and effortlessly from the high hotels, to the dankness of Wharf City touching hearts wherever he went.



And Josh "Rollin'" Brolin, connected as much and funny as ever, hanging off the back of a tap tap any chance he got.



Later posts, later posts...

Doc soon, Photo's now.

Did I mention that going to Haiti will bring a new perspective on life. It will change you. More photo's. Info on the documentary coming soon.


Jakmel Bay...Haitian Pride.


Boats prepared for sea in Jakmel


Diane Lane partying to the sounds of RAM, one of the most popular bands in Haiti


Jimmy Jean Louis with wind in his face moving up the mountainside to Jakmel

Back from Haiti

Haiti was incredible. Everyone needs to go at some point in their life. Images for now.



Jimmy Jean Louis and John Edwards


Paul Haggis and a beautiful Haitian girl.




Super Photographer Marc Baptiste/ Josh Brolin/ Madeline Stowe/ Maria Bellow/ Micheal Stahl David/ Bryn Mooser

Nou Sove

"Nou Sove" is the 2nd in our "Sove Nou" trilogy. The first part is our documentary "Sove Nou" narrated by Danny Glover

www.kijikmultimedia.com/sovenou

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and one of the poorest in the world. The country is as poor as any Sub-Saharan country in Africa or similar underdeveloped region in Western Europe. The Sove Nou trilogy was initiated to address many of the issues that have brought Haiti to where it is now, some of what is being done and what can be done to help bring stability to the region. The third in the trilogy is our feature film called "Tears for Revolution" which is currently under development. This blog and companion website will chronicle the development of Nou Sove while we're in Haiti December 2nd- 7th with logs, video and photographs. Our Haiti trip has become a bit bigger than we anticipated, as a movement has been started called Hollywood for Haiti which will take place while we're in Haiti. Below is information on that. This is not to be confused with the non profit "Hollywood Unites for Haiti" started by "Heroes" actor Jimmy Jean Louis, which KijiK will be partnering with for many projects:

HOLLYWOOD IN HAITI TO HELP CHILDREN IN NEED

Paul & Deborah Haggis, James Franco, Madeline Stowe, Josh Brolin & Diane Lane, Maria Bello & Bryn Mooser, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Michael Stahl David and others, in Haiti with N.P.H. – Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos (Our Little Brothers and Sisters) for the inauguration of the first Rehabilitation Centre for disabled children in the country, and the launch of “Francisville – New Work City.”

Two-time Academy Award winner Paul Haggis went to the slums of Haiti last February to meet Father Richard Frechette, priest and doctor, who has been working with the children of Port Au Prince for over twenty years.

Haiti is one of the two poorest countries in the world. “Father Rick,” as he is known to the people of its massive slums, is the Head of N.P.H. – Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos (Our Little Brothers and Sisters, Nos Petit Freres and Soeurs), a humanitarian organization founded in 1954.

In Haiti today, two hundred and fifty children die every week, most from easily preventable diseases. One child out of three dies before reaching the age of five. Of those who survive, one child out of two does not go to school. Seventy percent of its people are unemployed.

While in Haiti, Haggis visited several N.P.H. projects, including the orphanage that Father Rick founded twenty years ago, home to six hundred abandoned children, and the beautiful new pediatric hospital he built -- the largest in the Caribbean. He also spent time at Father Rick’s street schools in the slums, which provide an education and a hot meal a day to over 3.000 children, and NPH’s water distribution centre, which provides the only clean water available to thousands of people. Father Rick also built the only free mortuary and cemetery. As terrible as it sounds, until he did so, most poor parents were unable to bury their dead children, and their bodies were simply left on a hill, and as a result suffered terrible indignities.

Paul was also there to witness the beginning of construction of NPH’s rehabilitation centre for disabled children.

This December 3^rd, a date internationally celebrated as World Day for Disability, Paul and a group of friends will return to Haiti for the inauguration of “Kay Saint Germaine – House of Little Angels,” the first rehab centre in the country for disabled children. The life of these children is especially difficult in Haiti. According to voodoo worship, the disabled are considered cursed. They are therefore shunned, often abandoned, or worse.

Those visiting on this occasion are doing so to support N.P.H. and Father Rick in spreading information and awareness about the plight of the handicapped children in Haiti. They will also attend the kick-off of a new project, Francisville, a site where small factories and a professional school will be built to produce basic goods such as bread, soap and shoes in order to provide training and jobs for the poor, as well as to create resources to at least partially sustain N.P.H. humanitarian projects in the country.

Joining the group of Americans will be a delegation of Italian donors and volunteers from Fondazione Francesca Rava – N.P.H. Italia, the organization that lead to the realization of Kay Saint Germaine and is now promoting Francisville.