Rep. St. Fleur will not seek re-election this year

State Rep. Marie St. Fleur: Will not seek re-election to the House of Representatives this year.Updated Feb. 25— State Rep. Marie St. Fleur, who became the first Haitian-American state elected official ion Massachusetts history in 1999, will not seek re-election to the Massachusetts House of Representative this year. St. Fleur delivered the news to a gathering of Dorchester Democratic party activists on Saturday morning (Feb. 19), according to our sister newspaper, the Dorchester Reporter, which has a full report on her announcement here. St. Fleur did not say what she plans to do after her term expires in January 2011.

Children's Hospital blog documents commitment to help Haiti

Haiti MissionHD Port Au Prince, Haiti 2010
by nelsonjaquino

Nelson Aquino, a nurse anesthetist from Children’s Hospital Boston, went to Haiti last month with a group of Children’s clinicians as part of a disaster response team. Now, after two weeks back in the United States, he reflects on the life-altering experience in the video above. For many more accounts of the way Children's Hospital Boston has helped respond to the disaster, please check out their blog dedicated to Haiti. Thank you to our friends at Children's Hospital Boston for their ongoing efforts.

Gov. Patrick: Fed dollars will go to local groups for mental health, social services

More than $500,000 in federal funding will be distributed by state officials in the coming weeks to assist with mental health counseling and other social services related to the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti. According to Gov. Deval Patrick's office, funds "will be used to support activities related to": • Providing mental health services to those directly affected by the earthquake in Haiti;

Brown University sponsors Friday "teach-in" on Haiti

“Framing Haiti: A Brown University Teach-In” will be held Friday, Feb. 19, from noon to 3 p.m. in the Sidney Frank Hall for Life Sciences, 185 Meeting St. All events are free and open to the public. Brown University is in Providence, Rhode Island. Sponsored by the Brown University Haitian Relief Committee, the event will address Haiti’s rich legacy of art and literature, its history and culture, as well as January’s catastrophic earthquake and the medical crises it engendered.

White House statement: US continued to stand with Haiti

The White House issued this statement today on the one-month anniversary of the Jan. 12 earthquake: Statement by the Press Secretary on Haiti: "As the people of Haiti observe a national day of mourning to remember those lost in the catastrophic earthquake one month ago, the United States continues to stand with our Haitian friends as they recover and rebuild. Our thoughts and prayers also remain with Haitian-Americans around our country who have lost so many family and friends.

Rich Innocent: Back in Boston

Rich Innocent in Haiti Many readers have inquired after the BHR's own Richardson Innocent, who provided some of our early reports from Delmas — where he survived the earthquake on Jan. 12. Rich spent the next three-and-a-half weeks helping out friends and neighbors all over the PaP area. On Wednesday, he came home to Boston to regroup. Rich hitched a flight to Florida's Fort Rogers courtesy of Missionary Flight International and then made his way back to Boston via Miami. Richardson is pictured in this photo (above) as he assisted in a search and rescue operation in Delmas. Innocent says he intends to return to Haiti in the near future.

Prayer service marks one month anniversary of earthquake

An interdenominational prayer service is set for this evening at 6:30 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston's South End to mark the one month anniversary of the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti. The memorial service is organized by the Massachusetts Haitian-American Earthquake Task Force and will include eight different clergy members.

Mass regulators weigh relief plan for families with ties to Haiti

Family members of Haiti earthquake victims who are enrolled in state-subsidized health care plans would get a reprieve from premiums this year, under plans outlined by state health care regulators Thursday. The move, according to Connector Authority Executive Director Jon Kingsdale, is aimed at relieving financial pressure on Massachusetts residents sending money to their loved ones. The plan will be built into the Connector’s regulations and appears poised to move forward without a vote by the agency’s 11-member board. Of Commonwealth Care’s 150,000 enrollees, 79,000 pay premiums.

Ruth's Recipes: Especially in our grief, we must eat well for our health

Marie Ruth AugusteThese last few weeks have been painful for so many of us. Sooner or later, however, the body demands nutrients to stay alive and well; mind, body and soul. For many of us (myself included) when we’re experiencing shocking, stressful, emotionally painful times loaded with anxiety, the appetite shuts down and the body says “no” to eating. From the lump that you feel in your throat to the seemingly yet vivid tightening knot in your stomach, food is the last thing on your mind and nothing will go down.

Moving beyond the remittance/transfer dependency

Karl SalomonSince the 1980s, the level of remittance to Haiti has dramatically increased, and so has Haiti’s dependence on the Diaspora. According to the Inter-American Development Bank, Haitians abroad remitted $1.87 billion (US) to their relatives in Haiti in 2008. This amount is more than a 900 percent increase from the $106 million mark of 1980, based on The World Bank’s data. This astounding amount made up more than 26 percent of the country’s gross domestic product for that year and averaged out to about $5 million per day.

Boston Haitian Reporter