Update: No new action this week, just some updates and com­ing attrac­tions. But please con­tinue to pur­sue H.Res.241, the Haiti Debt Can­cel­la­tion Bill, with your mem­ber of Con­gress. The Rep­re­sen­ta­tives are in your dis­trict in August, look­ing for votes for next year�s elec­tions. For more infor­ma­tion, see last week’s alert. Our handy Haiti Debt Can­cel­la­tion Bill Resource Packet con­tains every­thing your Rep­re­sen­ta­tive needs to know to sup­port H.Res. 241. Just print it out and hand it to the Rep­re­sen­ta­tive or staffer at a local meeting.

Fr. Ger­ard Jean-Juste is return­ing to Haiti for a week­end visit today. This is dou­ble good news: it is a sign that Fr. Gerry’s recov­ery from leukemia has gone far, and that Haiti’s jus­tice sys­tem is recov­er­ing enough for Fr. Gerry to count on it respect­ing his rights. Fr. Gerry�s mes­sage on the visit is below, click here for an update on his legal situation.

On the bad news side, Hur­ri­cane Dean is expected to pass about 100 miles south of Haiti on Sat­ur­day. Cur­rent pre­dic­tions are for trop­i­cal storm force winds, but prob­a­bly not hur­ri­cane force winds, to hit Haiti�s South­ern Penin­sula. Heavy rains are expected. Click here to track the storm.

Com­ing Attrac­tions:� This week­end, August 18 and 19, is the Grass­roots Music and Arts Fes­ti­val at Bethel Farm in Hills­boro, New Hamp­shire. The fes­ti­val will fea­ture music, art, films, hik­ing, swim­ming and other sum­mer fun, with pro­ceeds going to the Insti­tute for Jus­tice & Democ­racy in Haiti.

The Jubilee USA Net­work (IJDH is a mem­ber) is orga­niz­ing a 40-day fast for debt can­cel­la­tion and eco­nomic jus­tice from Sep­tem­ber 6 to Octo­ber 15. Octo­ber 4 will be the Haiti Day, which will include a Con­gres­sional Brief­ing in Wash­ing­ton backed up with grass­roots sup­port through a call-in day. Please reflect on what you and your orga­ni­za­tion can do to make this day a suc­cess, and let us know your ideas. The kick-off day for the fast is three weeks away, Sep­tem­ber 6. Sev­eral orga­ni­za­tions work­ing on Haiti have com­mit­ted to par­tic­i­pat­ing in the fast, includ­ing Haiti Reborn, Hast­ings Human Rights Project for Haiti, the Women�s Inter­na­tional League for Peace and Free­dom (WILPF) Haiti Issues Com­mit­tee, Kon­bit pou Ayiti/KONPAY, the Haiti Sol­i­dar­ity Net­work of the North­east and IJDH. �Please let us know if you can par­tic­i­pate too.� For more infor­ma­tion on the fast, see http://www.canceldebtfast.org/.

From Fr. Jean-Juste
Miami August 16, 2007
From the desk of Fr. Ger­ard Jean-Juste
E-mail address: njeranjeri@yahoo.com
Tel: 786–290-1750 (USA) 509– 405‑3244 (Haiti)

To Friends and Journalists

Hon­or­able Broth­ers and Sisters,

Fri­day August 17, 2007, by the grace of the Liv­ing God, I will fly home for the first time since Jan­u­ary 29, 2006. I intend to make a pil­grim­age at my parish St. Clare’s, Tiplas Kazo.

I will join my prayers to the parish­ioners and pil­grimers to beg God’s bless­ing for all Haitians and suf­fer­ing human beings around the world. Those com­pa­tri­ots who are per­form­ing good deeds deserve encour­age­ment. Oth­ers who are still stub­born in vio­lat­ing People’s rights should have a change of heart.

Let’s all give Haiti a chance. No more coup-d’Etat. No more kid­nap­ping.� May the Hait­ian Exiles return, espe­cially for­mer Pres­i­dent Dr. Jean-Bertrand Aris­tide. Release the polit­i­cal pris­on­ers, par­tic­u­larly Rene Civil. Basic human needs for all Peo­ples with imme­di­ate atten­tion to the very needy Hait­ian compatriots.

May all of us be inspired by this wis­dom from for­mer USA Pres­i­dent J. F. Kennedy: “…Ask what you can do for your coun­try.“
With Dr. M.L.King, jr. I ‘ll con­clude“
“LET FREEDOM RING!”