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This photo was taken just before Christmas of me and my friends at Aimer Haiti.  It was the end of a busy week of planning, dreaming, and believing in what Haiti can be one day when we all work together.  I have not been able to reach any of them and pray that they and all of their loved ones survived.

I can see the shanty towns on the hillside of Port-au-Prince in my mind as if I were standing there right now and know the outcome for many will not be good after the earthquake shook a city already in pain to its knees today.

I have spent the last 4 months working with a group of business men and women in Haiti who have seen enough  disappointment and suffering and are willing to do whatever it takes to show the rest of the world that it is not to late for Haiti.  They have a dream for their country and they are determined more than any other people I have ever met to see that dream come true.  Their country is beautiful, its people are kind, and its potential is off the charts.

We are working on economic and agricultural development and devising new models that would let us use this one country and the momentum their government, the UN, President Clinton, and my friends at Aimer-Haiti have recently created to let it mark a new beginning for global economic development.  Despite this tragedy, it can still be done.

What everyone needs to know is that just because they have now experienced what appears to be massive devastation, we cannot give up on the dreams that both local Haitians and those living abroad still have for their country.  In fact we must use this tragedy to awaken the rest of the world to the story of Haiti.  Haitians have more spirit and more strength than you can imagine and they will not let this beat them.  What Haiti needs, and what Aimer Haiti is organized around, is economic development and the building of a true middle class.  Haiti will need immediate aid for sure, but they also need long term development aid so they can eventually find their own way and loose the title of the poorest country in the western hemisphere.

If you want to help please do two things:  One you can give to Yéle Haiti donations that will be used for immediate relief. Yéle Haiti is a non-profit that did amazing work after the devastating hurricanes in 2008.  Grammy-Award winning musician, humanitarian and Goodwill Ambassador to Haiti Wyclef Jean founded Yéle Haiti in 2005.

Two, you can provide donations to AimerHaiti that will be used to ensure that focus remains on economic development after the period of immediate aid is past.  Long-term development is the real lifeline that will ensure everyone in Haiti has an opportunity to earn a decent wage and take care of his or her loved ones.   If you are interested in helping this organization, please contact me directly.

There is much we are planning as far as creating new and innovative ways of using international aid and government support to promote private investment.  Alignment and partnerships can be created between local governments, private domestic investors, private foreign investors and foreign aid such that all are moving in the same direction.  Aid can be used to incentivize and guarantee investment that will create sustainable progress instead of being primarily used to shore up faltering national balance sheets and lining the pockets of a few.

We are going to insist that when it comes to the developing world:

• We must change the focus from problems to opportunities
• We must take more action and do less analysis
• We must build-up and exploit what each country has to offer
• We must reinvigorate the dreams of people all around the world
• We must let the world participate in it’s own rebuilding

Please don’t give up on Haiti, there is still a chance to rebuild; and rebuild something far better than what exists today.  Haiti is a beautiful country that has much to offer the world.   We have an opportunity to show that the world together can develop a small country into a productive nation that can in turn help others.  We simply must be smart about how things are rebuilt, create partnerships that last, and align all parties in the same direction.

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