At the airport

May 21, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
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Here’s another one of the videos recorded around the time of the food riots in Haiti.

If you haven’t caught up with the details yet, I was part of a small team visiting Haiti last month to see the work of Compassion. We were meant to be there for a week but had to evacuate after 48 hours when ritoting and looting in Port-au-Prince escalated.

Our exit was interesting to say the least.

After a rather scary drive from our hotel to the airport we had the opportunity to reflect on what we’d just been through. This video is a couple of minutes of me sharing my thoughts as we sat in a disused room at Port-au-Prince Airport.



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Video from Haiti

May 17, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
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While trawling the Compassion Day website yesterday I stumbled upon a heap of YouTube clips that I hadn’t previously seen.

The clips are taken from our recent trip to Haiti and the one in this post shows the situation outside the Port-au-Prince Compassion office just before a rock came through the window we were standing near.

You may have heard the story of the riots and how close we came to getting caught up in everything there. This video, while still fairly rough, shows a little of the scene before the rock attack.

You can see the beginnings of the crowd heading down the street, some armed with crude weapons.

The next thing you see is the shattered glass in the room where it all happened and then a bit of a debrief between members of the team. Several of us, including me, had a chance to talk over the situation.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on what you see.



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Edouard

May 15, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
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Edouard.jpgAs part of Compassion Day I spoke to Edouard Lassegue during my morning radio programme on 98.5 Sonshine FM today. Edouard is Compassion’s Vice President, Latin America and Caribbean Region.

Edouard was in Haiti with our Australian team last month when we had to exit the country rather quickly as rioting and looting took hold in Port-au-Prince. It was a nervous experience for us but millions of children are still caught in that situation. I asked Edouard to give us a quick understanding of what brought about the riots that caused our quick departure from Haiti.

When we made our somewhat risky trip to the airport to leave Haiti, Edouard was the one who stepped out of the safety of our vehicles to try to find a way forward. He’s a very brave man who quite possibly saved our lives.

I really want you to listen to his heart for those experiencing desperate poverty in his home country. Edouard is Haitian and was once the Compassion Country Director for Compassion.

Listen to what he had to say by clicking the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

[audio:http://mpegmedia.sonshinefm.ws/feeds/MOR150508_0931.mp3]

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It's Compassion Day

May 15, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
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CompassionDay.JPGWhat a day it’s been so far.

It’s Compassion Day across Australia. 42 Radio stations across the nation are encouraging listeners to sacrifice $44 a month to change the world one child at a time.

I had such a wonderful time during my morning radio programme on 98.5 Sonshine FM today as I told listeners about my recent trip to Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Many listeners have taken up the challenge to sponsor children through Compassion Australia and I’m hoping that many more will make that decision before the day is over.

Haiti, in the Caribbean, is the most impoverished nation in the western world where one child in fourteen never reaches their first birthday and one in five never reaches the age of four. Haiti is a nation of people locked in shocking poverty. I travelled with Compassion Australia to see the work that they are doing and to see the hope that people like you and me can give through child sponsorship.

Can you imagine being in the situation where you have to decide whether your child will go to school or whether you need them to go out to work? Or even which of your children will be given the opportunity of an education. Compassion’s Vice President for Latin America, Edoaurd Lasegge, was with us on our journey and he explained a little of the situation while we were there.

Can I encourage you to listen to a little of my story? Just click the play button of the audio player at the bottom of this post. I’d love to hear your thoughts on what you hear.

[audio:http://mpegmedia.sonshinefm.ws/feeds/COM150508_1107.mp3]

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New PM for Haiti

April 28, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
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Just a quick post for those wanting to stay up to date with the situation in Haiti.

The President named a new Prime Minister yesterday. This AFP news report says that 63 year old Ericq Pierre has been handed the position. I truly hope that the government can move quickly to help the people of Haiti.

Haiti on Sunday named a new prime minister two weeks after his predecessor was ousted over rocketing food and fuel prices that sparked violent demonstrations claiming several lives.

President Rene Preval chose Ericq Pierre, 63, a respected Haitian economist with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Washington, to be the country’s prime minister, government sources told AFP.

Pierre, whose nomination must now pass a vote in parliament, would succeed former premier Jacques-Edouard Alexis, who was forced to resign on April 12 after a no-confidence vote followed food riots that killed six people and wounded around 200.

Now is not the time for token political gestures; it’s time for real action that will put food in the mouths of the Haitian people. I truly hope that this latest move will have real and immediate effects.

Compassion Day on Thursday the 15th of May will focus on making a difference for the people of Haiti.



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