Joegodson didn’t vote on Sunday. He preferred to watch the proceedings. He sees the most inspiring and noble hint of Haiti’s future appear through the confusion, like a single ray of light that pierces dark and menacing clouds.

Spoiler: we announce the winner of the Haitian election in this piece.

After we reported a couple of days ago that rumours were circulating that Americans had planted the cholera bacterium in Haiti, we were reprimanded for trivializing an important issue. The press, establishment or alternative, are sticking to the ‘facts’ in the case. However, the Haitian masses never allow the facts to get in the way of the truth.

With the cholera epidemic looming, Joegodson keeps in touch with his family in Saut d’Eau. His aunt is listening for the response of the local peasants to the knowledge that their waters are the source of the current cholera epidemic. Joegodson listens in Port-au-Prince and Gros Morne.

In appealing to the ‘democracies’ to the North to allow free and fair elections in Haiti, the core imperialist countries appear to allow something at home that they prohibit abroad. In fact, American and Canadian voters have far less freedom than Haitians. It just looks different.

People are used to the rubble. They walk around it. But it is more difficult to avoid the violence and criminality.

Do you have the right to live if you are not helping to produce profits for those already awash in profit? Who do you allow to determine what your life is worth? As we organize our fair trade enterprise, surrounded by an ever-expanding and increasingly ruthless empire of capital, we continually confront fundamental questions about the nature of human existence.

At first I had very little hope that we could successfully petition Canadian NGOs for help for Simon. Some of the reasons are outlined in our postings. But, as we began to advocate in favour of the logic of allowing Simon’s local community organizations to control the funds that Canadians had donated, I became surprised at two things: the number of people who enjoyed reading about it and the almost total lack of response.

Since the First Supper served by the Community Kitchen last Wednesday, the organizers have been meeting with the discontented. Joegodson returned to his home community on Monday to help repair fissures that, left untended, threaten to topple efforts to rebuild and to unify.

On Sunday, the people of Simon in Cite Soleil congregated at the new structure that they want to use as a Community Kitchen. At the moment, the building is as empty as their stomachs. Their goal was to find a way to speak directly to communities outside of Haiti. They have pleaded with NGOs for food and water, without success. Their situation is deteriorating, as is the case throughout Haiti.