By: Staff Writer
August 17, 2021
A concerned Haitian engineer on the ground in the aftermath of the 2021 earthquake says he wants to reduce illiteracy and create a Youth Corp to accelerate environmental programmes and be the hero his country needs right now.
Jude Elie, a Haitian born engineer, speaking to Caribbean Magazine Plus about what he saw in the aftermath of the devastating August, 2021 Haitian earthquake, said that there is so much more the country can do to pull itself out of poverty and rebuild stronger as a nation and as a people.
Mr Elie told us he wants to bring about a new young middle class by helping to set-up 450 entrepreneur groups so the country can create micro-grids and micro potable water companies and waste management companies in every small town across Haiti.
He also said: “We need to set up a Youth Corps (Konbit Jenn) to accelerate the agricultural and environmental programs. They will also serve as Protection Civile in cases of disasters.”
The Protection Civile is the French equivalent of a “Civil Protection” service and in France is a voluntary humanitarian and First Aid agency.
Mr Elie said he also wants to reduce Illiteracy and added, “One of the many uses of the Youth Corps will be to help reduce illiteracy.
“We want to build the Youth Corps to up to 50,000 members, with them serving for 2 years and strengthen them in teamwork, self-reliance, self worth, duty towards country and technical Studies.”
Job creation is a major issue for Haiti and Mr Elie said that Haitian can create 50,000 permanent jobs every year through just rebuilding Port-au-Prince, the nation’s capital.
“We need a Hero right now and I think I can be that person who can take Haiti out of the darkness and bring us into the light of a New Haiti full of prosperity and life,” said Mr Elie
Right now, Haiti does indeed need a hero, a saviour, a lot of aid money and international help and a lot of prayers and help from the Almighty God, after having been dealt the blows of a leadership crisis out of the assassination of its president, and now this devastating earthquake, which is being said to be larger than the 2010 earthquake and may end up having more loss of life when it is all said and done.
Reflecting on the 2010 earthquake and how it compared to the one earlier this month, Mr Elie said: “We need a proper plan and vision that will help the people and leave room for growth in the future. The damage is still there and visible but everything is stalled. We need to go in there and get it done.”
But with regard to the investigations into the Jovenel Moise assassination, Mr Elie said: “I promise to find the culprits and prosecute them for their crimes against a sitting president. It’ doesn’t sit well with me that we have not found out who is behind this yet.
“We will do what we need to keep all our people safe and make sure we get justice for the death of Moise. My condolences to his wife and family.
Right now we need to secure the island said Mr Elie and hire the islanders to help restore peace and only then can we start to rebuild the island. “Most importantly we need to eliminate the Coronavirus from our island,” he said. Haiti does not have a vaccination programme in place, with the late Moise refusing to participate in the COVAX programme being administered by the World Health Organisation.
Mr Elie has produced a platform and concept paper for interested persons to review so he can build networks and partnership in this effort to rebuild Haiti back stronger.
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