Haiti Conference The annual Haiti Conference has been taking place for the 4th time from the 17th to the 19th of April at the Miami Beach Convention Center. This event is part of sustainatopia, an organization promoting change in the world in order to create a better future for human beings, animals and the planet. Program This year’s conference started on Wednesday, 17th April at 9:00 am with a keynote from the Inter-American Development Bank representative Gustavo Arnavant followed by a speech from Haiti’s Consul General in Miami, Francois Guillaume II. Throughout the day different speakers were discussing topics ranging from ‘Haiti’s Youth and Haiti’s Future’ to ‘Update on Housing & Property Rights’ and ‘Community Development’. The second day started with different speeches about ‘Technology as a Game Changer’, ‘Achieving Sustainable, Private Sector-Led Growth’ and ‘New Energy Models’ After a lunch break on Lincoln Road the participants reflected on Haiti’s future under headlines such as ‘Exploring New Models of Sustainable Development’, ‘The Role of Faith in Development’ and ‘The Future Impact of Investing’. The day ended at 8:00 pm with a reception. The third and last day of this year’s conference started as 9:30 am with speeches about ‘Meet the Next Generation Leaders for Haiti Redevelopment’, ‘Empowering Women Through Investment’ and ‘Small Scale Business Models & Agriculture’. With another lunch on Lincoln Road and a session about networking and processing after this event, the 4th Haiti Conference ended. Locations The participants were mainly staying at local Hotels such as the Carlton South Beach Hotel and the Cliffton South Beach Hotel which are also sponsors of this year’s conference. Other hotels (all within a mile of the Miami Beach Convention Center) are the Albion South Beach, Lords South Beach At Nash and the Clay Hotel. Lunch was always taking place on Lincoln Road throughout this year’s conference. This famous road created in the 1930’s to 1950’s is a pedestrian mall, known as a thriving shopping and dining area today. The participants also got a chance to visit the Miami Beach Botanical Garden as a reception was held there on the first day of the conference.   Speakers Each year, many different speakers from around the world take part in the conference. This year speakers from political bodies such as Isabelle Cascarano from the US Embassy, Alain Hall from the Chamber of Commerce, Larry Kaplan from the Cite Soleil Opportunity Council or Mark D’Sa from the State Department are taking part. Moreover, participants from a wide variety of backgrounds are speaking, these include representatives from financial and economic organizations as for example Leo Williams (Jamaica Stock Exchange and Agriculture Commodities Exchange) or Caroline Guillaume and Bill Barhydt (Boom Financial) or Kaveh H. Azimi (Encite Capital). Other speakers are representing different charities and organizations supporting the Haitian economy and people such as Dr. Majorie Brennan from JDT Foundation, Tiffany Kuehner from Hope for Haiti, Al Sem from RebuildHaitiBetter or Buddy Teaster from Soles4Soles. Difficult start from scratch - Haiti needs your help Haiti in 2013 – the country is still hard hit based on the catastrophic earthquake in 2010 as well as the cholera and further severe diseases that followed. Haiti has a young population that finds itself in misery, partly in long-term homelessness - and thus hopelessness. Moreover, Haitians suffer from a lack of potable water supplies and its agricultural sector is threatened by deforestation and the damage caused by the 2010 earthquake and flooding. The population is thus struggling to re-establish a common living standard that should guarantee to satisfy the Haitians’ basic needs. Help for Haiti: www.siemens.de www.antik-held.de www.amgen.com www.timewarner.com The country, situated on the Western part of the island that it shares with the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean Sea, is located in a tropical zone. Hurricanes and other natural catastrophes should not be viewed as unusual events in such a climatic zone. The ten million Haitians now need external support in order to re- establish confidence hope for their future. Progress has been made till now…but to an insufficient extent. One cannot hold back easily and watch them trying to cope with their own situation – without having the means for it. Haiti has to start from scratch, Haiti needs to progress: Haiti needs your help. A donation would already help Haiti in its revival as every Cent counts now. Help us to help them. Contact