Article on Haitian Women's Response; Link to Wired's new ReWiring Haiti site

HI all,

I've been in P au P all week. Will provide a trip update later. Meantime, please see an article I published yesterday at World Pulse media.

I also asked my ex-upstairs neighbor, Evan Hansen, Ed in Chief of Wired Online, to bring together some of the best minds and experiences in tech and innovation -- including green architecture, urban planning, communications, IT, and disaster recovery - to help Haitians consider how to rebuild their grid. He launched ReWiring Haiti and invites those interested in these aspects of Haiti's future to join the conversation.

URL for World Pulse story:

http://www.worldpulse.com/magazine/articles/holding-up-haiti-women-respond-to-nightmare-earthquake?page=0,0

URL for ReWiring Haiti: http://haitirewired.wired.com/


CALL FOR PRESERVATION:

Meantime, small impt note: As the bulldozers work to clear the rubble, some Haitians who are very involved in Preservation of Haiti's rich cultural heritage are sounding the alarm about the need to PRESERVE and RESTORE Haiti's unique architecture - including 100 year old houses that are slated for demolition in Jacmel.. without their owner having had a chance to bring in their own engineers to assess if they can be preserved and restored to withstand future shocks.

Ironically in P au P, Haiti's famed gingerbread houses are among the only ones standing (like my late grandmere's house in Bois Verna, an otherwise very hard-hit section with nearby Sacre Coeur church collapses. We need to learn from the survival of these well-built wooden houses... those that fell often collapsed because the larger brick structures next to them fell on top of them...

Meantime, for all who ask: I find Haiti's indomitable spirit alive and well, despite grievous loss.

Finally, I have proposed an idea I've had for a memorial DAY FOR HAITI -- soon.

A day to Honor the Dead, and Fight for the Living.

The concept is for a global day of mourning and celebrating Haiti's losses and survival at the same time. A decentralized affair, global, allowing Haitians everywhere. including the Diaspora, to pay homage, and most importantly, to speak AS HAITIANS TO HAITIANS, with the global community as a witness. A spiritual affair, that honors Haiti's fallen cities, and many leaders, the millions surviving and the spirit of Haiti, with song, prayer, words... this led by Civil Society, which invites Haitian government leaders to join as a critical sector of the society in charge of the overall message of unification and solidarity.


The idea and decentalized concept is receiving very positive response from the colleagues here I've shared it with...Haitian community leaders, journalists, cultural workers in theater, art, literature, and historians.

They are all so busy and overwhelmed there's been no time to mourn. But all agree, esp with bulldozers arriving, parents of children and those with other loved ones buried in the rubble are having a terrible time, and all need some closure, even as they step forward to embrace their own survival and the need to continue on.

More on this soon. Share the idea and let me know your thoughts. A small working group is going to meet here, to see about next steps, and share with government officials. Some day sooner than later, to come together Tet Ansamn.

AC