We arrived home late Friday night after a full day of travel. I got sniffed by a dog,scrutinized by Customs, partially undressed for TSA and went through their screening as my bag was whisked into something that looks like a commercial dishwasher. Passed everything this time.
Laundry is done and am partially packed for the next leg of our winter getaway which starts early Friday AM. We will be going to a Club Med on the Pacific side of Mexico with my Father and Sister.
I have been reading about tourism returning to Haiti and there is a mix of shock and disgust in view of the disaster in Port au Prince. I think this is referring to Royal Caribbean Cruise Line that resumed its normally scheduled stops at Labadee.
Labadee is a private resort beach for passengers on Royal Caribbean and sister line Celebrity. This cruise line has been stopping at this port for almost 10 years. The economic impact of this tourism in the area is huge. The company hires native Haitians to maintain the property and to set it up for the cruise ship visits. A large beach BBQ is prepared for the guests and the Haitians have access to it and to all of the food that may be left over. The arts and crafts building is filled with Haitian vendors and artists selling their crafts. All of this provides jobs and a steady income to the employees and vendors that is needed. In addition to the guest services Royal Caribbean pays port taxes and these go to the Haitian government. The bottom line here is that tourism plays a role in the Haitian economy. The current government before the quake was actively looking to improve Haiti's image and try to cultivate Haiti as a tourist destination.
In addition to the above benefits of Capitalism, there is the fact the Royal Caribbean has teamed with Food for the Poor and has in place the infrastructure in Miami and Labadee to ship and distribute much needed food and supplies to this poorest of countries. To stop tourism because of some misguided sense of propriety is just plain stupid. Haiti needs immediate aid in the form of food, water, medical supplies-the Royal Caribbean has the infrastructure in place to do this. As the country recovers from this disaster they need jobs and revenue to get their homes, schools, churches, government buildings etc rebuilt- RC provides jobs and a market for their art crafts. This recovery will take cash money to purchase the supplies the individuals and the government need to clean up the debris and rebuild- by allowing the Haitians to come to work at the resort provides cash income. To deny any Haitian a job that will help them rebuild their life and self esteem is just plain immoral. We need these people to become economically independent of relief aid. They need to become independent and productive citizens of their country. Most of all these jobs give back to the Haitians a sense of dignity that every human being deserves. So welcome to the ships and tourists to Haiti and may more cruise lines find a way to create a great vacation place that will employ more Haitians.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Jewel of the Sea Day 11
Sea Day today. Hubby and I are going to relax on the ship and pack up our bags. We dock in Miami tomorrow and then fly home. Hope this earthquake business stops. I don't think the folks here can take much more. The Durbans are still safe after the 6.2 quake. But life is Haiti is becoming hard to endure. Bye for now.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Jewel of the Sea Day 10
Grand Cayman. We stayed on the ship today and enjoyed the ship amenities with very few folks aboard. There are four other large cruise ships in the harbor and we have found that leads to congestion. So we opt for the relaxing day to enjoy the amenities of the ship. We have not been bothered by the earth quakes that are rocking the various islands that we visit. Cayman had a 5.3 yesterday but it did minimal damage.
Jewel of the Sea Day 8
Limon, Costa Rica. A port town at the Caribbean entrance to the Panama Canal. Hubby and I went on a short tour and saw Gatun lock from land side (we've gone through the canal twice). Very different perspective. Then we boarded a pontoon boat for a guided tour of Gatun Lake looking at the wild life. Very Nice
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Jewel of the Sea Day 7
Jewel of the Sea Day 7
Colon, Panama. Colon is the Caribbean entrance to the Panama Canal. The most awesome thing to see are the dozens and dozens of cargo ships from around the world waiting their turn to cross into the Pacific via the Panama Canal. We did an short turn of the first lock—Gatun. It was really nice to see the lock from the land. We have passed through the canal twice. But this was a much different experience.
We then went to a dock at Gatun Lake (one of the largest man made lacks in the world) and took a pontoon ride around the lake. We had a guide that was showing us many of the flora and fauna found in the ecosystem.
Back on the ship we relaxed until we left port. The rolly polly has virtually stopped and the sea is calmer. Tomorrow is Limon, Costa Rica another of my favorite countriess
Colon, Panama. Colon is the Caribbean entrance to the Panama Canal. The most awesome thing to see are the dozens and dozens of cargo ships from around the world waiting their turn to cross into the Pacific via the Panama Canal. We did an short turn of the first lock—Gatun. It was really nice to see the lock from the land. We have passed through the canal twice. But this was a much different experience.
We then went to a dock at Gatun Lake (one of the largest man made lacks in the world) and took a pontoon ride around the lake. We had a guide that was showing us many of the flora and fauna found in the ecosystem.
Back on the ship we relaxed until we left port. The rolly polly has virtually stopped and the sea is calmer. Tomorrow is Limon, Costa Rica another of my favorite countriess
Haiti First Person Account
[Below are two emails that Lance Durban sent to a group that I belong to. Lance was a college friend and we have stayed in touch over the years. He owns a business in Haiti and employees.The first note was the second we received after he saw the devastation. The one below was to let us know he and his family were all okay ]
Dear Fredonia-1970 Group, This group does not have its main purpose as fund-raising, though if it was, it would logically be fund-raising for the SUNY Fredonia College Foundation, our common link. Nevertheless, seeing the signs of devastation all around me here in Haiti, having fielded several requests about how best to contribute, and having read that Nick Kristof op-ed in today's New York Times about giving, here is one suggestion. We truly do not know the scope of the problem for our 470+ Haitian employees, most of whom have not returned after last Tuesday's devastating earthquake, but as one of our group members who visited Haiti years ago correctly surmised, our workers could well be among the most affected. They were not the poorest of the poor, most were not living in wooden shacks which presumably would cause less of a problem than having a concrete roof fall on you. We have created a brief survey which our Human Resources Manager will be getting out to as many as possible to fill out... to assess house damage and the personal injury/death count. We have also established a Haiti Emergency Fund for friends and family contributions, 100% of which will be distributed to those employees most affected by the earthquake. A distribution formula is yet to be worked out, but it will be based on our best determination of need. A number of our customers have already pledged help, and for any of you interested in contributing, please make checks payable to MANUTECH and marked Haiti Emergency Relief. Checks may be sent to our Miami address: MANUTECH, INC. 8181 NW 91 Terrace, Bldg 10 Miami, FL 33166 We will promptly acknowledge all contributions, and provide all donors with a brief report when the fund is closed out... probably by the end of the first quarter. It has been a difficult and heart-breaking time, several people we knew were among the victims when the U.N. headquarters collapsed, and my mini-bus is today "on loan" to one of our employees with a badly injured daughter... he is taking her to a good hospital in the provinces, which he hopes will be better able to provide quicker attention in his non-life-threatening, though serious, situation. Here in the capital, we know two surgeons, who are directors of a small hospital not far from our factory and they had performed 8 emergency amputations just yesterday. We can only hope that 2010 ends better than it has started. Lance Durban Fredonia-1970 Yahoo! Group SUNY Fredonia Class of 1970
Port-au-Prince, Jan 15, 2010 Dear Fredonians, It's been 72+ hours since Tuesday afternoon's earthquake hit Port-au-Prince, and I thank you for your expressions of concern. All Durbans in Haiti are fine, and fortunately we have had virtually no property damage either. Here is a quick update if you haven't already overdosed on Haiti earthquake reports. The quake hit about 4:45 PM Tuesday as I was leaving work, and at first I thought it was a flat tire. The car quickly started swaying violently from side to side however, and then I noticed telephone wires swinging back and forth like giant jump ropes and the telephone poles themselves waving wildly back and forth. Clearly, this was no ordinary flat tire. I circled back to the plant and was pleased to see it still standing, although everything inside had been shaken up... water coolers tipped over, computers on the floor, ceiling panels in the offices all displaced, etc. It took 4 hours to drive home that night, up a road that was full of pedestrians, emergency vehicles, whole whole families sitting in the median, lot's of small children being carried by anxious parents. Still, it was only when driving down to work the next morning that the full scope of the disaster became apparent. We still have had only a few of our 470 employees return to work, so cannot confirm exactly what percentage will have lost their homes, but we will be doing a survey next week. I got out to the Port-au-Prince airport today to check on cargo flights, and the place is abuzz with military and relief flights coming in from all over. There have been some 40 aftershocks now, some of them rather severe, and each one brings some degree of panic, although Nadia and I have been sleeping in the house every night. Fortunately it is a pretty solid house... we hope. I have received a zillion e-mails from long lost friends and associates, and the outpouring of concern has been touching. Nadia's school is closed (large cracks making it structurally unsound, though it may be salvageable) so she volunteered at a makeshift hospital today, and saw plenty of serious injuries. The number of homeless people is pretty staggering, and we just wish that we could do more to help. That's it for the moment. Will write more soon on that Easter trip to London from April 1st to April 9th. We've bought our tickets and will definitely be going.... hope to have some of you join us. Regards to all, Lance Durban Fredonia-1970 Yahoo! Group Moderator SUNY at Fredonia, Class of 1970
Dear Fredonia-1970 Group, This group does not have its main purpose as fund-raising, though if it was, it would logically be fund-raising for the SUNY Fredonia College Foundation, our common link. Nevertheless, seeing the signs of devastation all around me here in Haiti, having fielded several requests about how best to contribute, and having read that Nick Kristof op-ed in today's New York Times about giving, here is one suggestion. We truly do not know the scope of the problem for our 470+ Haitian employees, most of whom have not returned after last Tuesday's devastating earthquake, but as one of our group members who visited Haiti years ago correctly surmised, our workers could well be among the most affected. They were not the poorest of the poor, most were not living in wooden shacks which presumably would cause less of a problem than having a concrete roof fall on you. We have created a brief survey which our Human Resources Manager will be getting out to as many as possible to fill out... to assess house damage and the personal injury/death count. We have also established a Haiti Emergency Fund for friends and family contributions, 100% of which will be distributed to those employees most affected by the earthquake. A distribution formula is yet to be worked out, but it will be based on our best determination of need. A number of our customers have already pledged help, and for any of you interested in contributing, please make checks payable to MANUTECH and marked Haiti Emergency Relief. Checks may be sent to our Miami address: MANUTECH, INC. 8181 NW 91 Terrace, Bldg 10 Miami, FL 33166 We will promptly acknowledge all contributions, and provide all donors with a brief report when the fund is closed out... probably by the end of the first quarter. It has been a difficult and heart-breaking time, several people we knew were among the victims when the U.N. headquarters collapsed, and my mini-bus is today "on loan" to one of our employees with a badly injured daughter... he is taking her to a good hospital in the provinces, which he hopes will be better able to provide quicker attention in his non-life-threatening, though serious, situation. Here in the capital, we know two surgeons, who are directors of a small hospital not far from our factory and they had performed 8 emergency amputations just yesterday. We can only hope that 2010 ends better than it has started. Lance Durban Fredonia-1970 Yahoo! Group SUNY Fredonia Class of 1970
Port-au-Prince, Jan 15, 2010 Dear Fredonians, It's been 72+ hours since Tuesday afternoon's earthquake hit Port-au-Prince, and I thank you for your expressions of concern. All Durbans in Haiti are fine, and fortunately we have had virtually no property damage either. Here is a quick update if you haven't already overdosed on Haiti earthquake reports. The quake hit about 4:45 PM Tuesday as I was leaving work, and at first I thought it was a flat tire. The car quickly started swaying violently from side to side however, and then I noticed telephone wires swinging back and forth like giant jump ropes and the telephone poles themselves waving wildly back and forth. Clearly, this was no ordinary flat tire. I circled back to the plant and was pleased to see it still standing, although everything inside had been shaken up... water coolers tipped over, computers on the floor, ceiling panels in the offices all displaced, etc. It took 4 hours to drive home that night, up a road that was full of pedestrians, emergency vehicles, whole whole families sitting in the median, lot's of small children being carried by anxious parents. Still, it was only when driving down to work the next morning that the full scope of the disaster became apparent. We still have had only a few of our 470 employees return to work, so cannot confirm exactly what percentage will have lost their homes, but we will be doing a survey next week. I got out to the Port-au-Prince airport today to check on cargo flights, and the place is abuzz with military and relief flights coming in from all over. There have been some 40 aftershocks now, some of them rather severe, and each one brings some degree of panic, although Nadia and I have been sleeping in the house every night. Fortunately it is a pretty solid house... we hope. I have received a zillion e-mails from long lost friends and associates, and the outpouring of concern has been touching. Nadia's school is closed (large cracks making it structurally unsound, though it may be salvageable) so she volunteered at a makeshift hospital today, and saw plenty of serious injuries. The number of homeless people is pretty staggering, and we just wish that we could do more to help. That's it for the moment. Will write more soon on that Easter trip to London from April 1st to April 9th. We've bought our tickets and will definitely be going.... hope to have some of you join us. Regards to all, Lance Durban Fredonia-1970 Yahoo! Group Moderator SUNY at Fredonia, Class of 1970
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