Haitians in Haiti, Haitians in the Diaspora, as well as scholars and activists in the US and elsewhere all have varying views on the best strategies to alleviate and improve the country’s devastation. The arguments have at times degenerated into unproductive noise in which the various agents have not listened to each other and in so doing have acted as discursive and destructive aftershocks of the
main earthquake. We are interested in a symbiotic relationship between states, local and international NGOs, grassroots organizations, communities and scholars. We are seeking funds to generate a conversation that can help us develop a collective mindset and a shared list of priorities for the proposed Carrefour-Feuilles Neighborhood Redevelopment Project. We have chosen the neighborhood of Carrefour-Feuilles because of its existing ties with the Center for Black Studies Research at UCSB, and because it is one of the communities in Port-au-Prince most devastated by the January 12 earthquake in 2010. It is also receiving a lot of attention and support from international organizations and institutions such as the Clinton Global Initiative, OXFAM and the World Bank. At the conceptual level, our project is both specific and universal. Our focus on the neighborhood of Carrefour-Feuilles renders the project a sharp specificity and necessary locality. Such a local focus will not only allow us to create a structured link between UC and Haiti, but effect positive change at the local level. It also forces us to focus on social, cultural and economic nuances to questions of development, and assess the gap between community and international development efforts. The documentation and self-reflexive interpretation of our consensus-building workshop will be framed within more broad issues of the role of Nongovernmental Organizations, bilateral and multilateral aid, as well as the significance of local participation, in community development.
