Let's Build Gonave, Haiti!

 

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Courtesy of The Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/jan/27/port-au-prince-collision-progress-haiti-earthquake

Imagine La Gonave is leased to a newly created not-for-profit that would serve as the island's government.  Imagine the Treaty of Gonave, where a lease is established with the not-for-profit and Haiti.  The island would not only self govern, but Haiti wouldn't have any financial responsibility.  The only responsibilities Haiti would have would be military protection, and international representation. While it sounds far from reality, it is a strong possibility.  Haiti can't really afford to take care of the island of La Gonave effectively.  A treaty that establishes Haiti owning the island, but allows a large amount of autonomy could be a way to solve La Gonave's problems. Financial policy, immigration, job creation, housing, politics, etc would all be at the hand of that not-for-profit.  That not-for-profit by the way, would be staffed and ran by residents on the island of Gonave.  Parts of the government structure could contain some people from ...

Last year I wrote about ways to power the island, and some of it focused on Coal, Solar, or Wind power plants.  All of these types of plants have their advantages, and disadvantages, which I went over briefly. What is a simple and cheaper way?  Diesel Powered Generators.  Many third world nations use these systems as their only source of power, Nigeria comes to mind.  Using these systems work well when money and time are a major problem.  These plants run on diesel or gas, and can be expandable.  I am posting three videos about such systems.  I think this is something that Gonave and maybe even Haiti should consider to solve power issues.  This is a 13.2 MW power plant in Saudi Arabia that uses 4 engines. This is an animation of how a plant can be customized for the environment, and how the system can be expanded over time.  It talks about the type of engines possible. The last video is also an animation from a dif...

I have attached a YouTube video from RECON-Digital.  They are an animation company from Nigeria, that has recently been on CNN due to their unique commercials that use animation. In Africa animation is a big thing that helps push products and services.  Could something like this be used on Gonave?  Possibly creating characters and shows that reflect on Haitian culture and life on Gonave?  Creating an animation studio isn't very expensive, and as you can see in the video below, the quality is decent. The below video is a spoof on the American Idol, and is titled Africa's Top Poet. Go Gonave!

I have been working on a plan, call 20-20-20.  It centers around farming on the island of Gonave using simple yet proven techniques.  Food production is low on Gonave and many cite this as a problem. With the plan, some 400 acres could be developed in 5 years. Types of farming would be from beef to fish, and from honey to pineapples.  The approach would be to start off with three different types of farming, which in Year 1 would be Apples, Honey, and beans.  There would be several farms of 1 acre in size, which allows for much less overhead, and also it would work well in areas with a small working plot of land. I'm currently in talks with a few of the current NGO's that are on the island to try and make this happen.  Given the small start up cost, I think this will be a success, and would even allow for enough food to be sold to Haiti.  We are also in talks with the Haitian government on the ability of leasing land to do this.  Stay tuned to more...

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"Wongolo" - My interpretation of the Haitian Folk Song from Richie Trimble on Vimeo .

Jamaica once was the most productive new nation in the Caribbean.  This started with large loans from the World Bank to build schools, however money didn't go towards this.  So now many Jamaican's are debating if Independence is a good thing. See Video

A soap manufacturer had contacted me about potentially locating on Gonave.  The company provides soap to different retail businesses in Canada and the US.  While no firm commitment was actually made, the company, which for now the name will be excluded, mentioned that Gonave could make sense.  The lack of power, water, and freight options are a problem.  These are all things I mentioned in many of the blogs I placed before. What makes Gonave so important is that there is a large pool of workers to run the machines that is needed to make the soap.  Also it is cheaper to employ people on Gonave vs people in Florida.  Makes complete sense to me, but again Gonave and people that live on the island must start to focus on how to make these things happen.  I have outlined a few things, but it will take a village (Gonave), to make this happen. I will have a YouTube channel coming soon, so stay tuned! Go Gonave!

This video is of the Matsuura Rail Line in Japan, via Japan Railway.  The trainset (rolling stock) is a DMU, or a diesel multiple unit.  This line while going though some small communities use one to two trains (coupled together).  This line is how I envision some of the first transportation methods on Gonave using trains of a similar size.  Like in this video, the system would use a single track in most areas, and some double track where needed for bi-directional use.  Given the vast number of communities and villages on Gonave, something like this could be very viable.  Not only would it connect those communites together, but also it can encourage more development around train stops (stations). Just an idea, but I see this working vs building several highways throughout the island.  Not saying roads shouldn't be built, I think that is very important, but I think that linking the entire island with rail will be a better option given the small a...

July 9, 2011 with more than 98% vote from the future citizens of what will become South Sudan, the world's newest nation was born.  I remember this day and was very excited.  I knew of issues going on in Sudan and how long the southerns had wanted their own country which would look out for their interest.  I remember thinking hopefully this will happen in Darfur. Well back then I had worked with a few companies and even an Indiana State Senator to help South Sudan and their economy.  Why not bring in fresh ideas and new businesses to a place where there was virtually no jobs and no infrastructure? Well one thing that plays common in many third world nations is, patience.  Contacting high level officials offices isn't the problem, it is waiting for a response back.  Then when you get a response you have to wait again for additional details.  Given that S. Sudan had just formed a few months earlier it seemed reasonable.  At that time, they were...

A major problem in different parts of Haiti, and especially Gonave is the lack of seaports.  The cost of these facilities can ran to several hundred millions of dollars.  If the location of the seaport doesn't have a deep enough harbor, then extra costs and build times can be expected. One way to move good initially from Gonave could be flat bottom barges.  These large vessels can move several hundred tons of goods from port to port.  Some barges are used to load large cargo or container ships in the middle of the ocean. The future of Gonave and Haiti will be on how well the country can effectively transport and receive goods. Go Gonave!

http://www.haititradecenter.com/ Companies like the Haiti Trade Center connects people to many different aspects of Haiti.  Above is a modeling competition that was posted on the site.  In addition to this, jobs, business information, etc is also available.

Hop Farms I have mentioned a few occasions about having farms on Gonave, which will help with the island’s overall economy.   This can lead to selling goods to other communities and countries, which again is why farming can be something that is easy to implement   with good results. Given that I have a brewery often I need different type of grains and hops to make the beer that my customer’s like.   Having my own farm which would grow these grains and hops will lower costs, and also create additional jobs, and possibly lead to exporting of these hops and grains. Hops come back every year and given that I will create beers that are specific to Gonave, I will research what would be the best grains, and hops that can grow on the island. In addition to hops and specialty grains, I also mentioned before that honey farms could also be created.   These types of farms produce a high yield but have a much smaller footprint than other types of farming. ...

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I just added a new Live Traffic Feed to the blog site.  This will let you know who comes to the site and where.  Again it is very interesting when you see people from all over the world visit the site.  I think it's great, and again it shows that people everywhere wants to help Gonave and Haiti.  Go Gonave!

So I have been working on this blog about Gonave since September.  Some of my readers are from Russia, Germany, Haiti, all points in between, and most are from America. I have to say I'm very flattered and I appreciate it!  I feel that Gonave and Haiti need the world wide attention and it is very important to me.  It is a cause I have adopted and I consider it my Passion Project. About 1,752 views have taken place since September with a little over 50% of that occurring in December alone.  Below is a chart I wanted to share with you as far as the percentages of viewers over the past four months and how 2013 ended.  Here is to a new year and lets continue to support Haiti and Gonave.   Go Gonave!

As I mentioned last year I have been in talks with some businesses and NGO's that are either on the island or interested in coming to the island.  I also have been in talks with some folks on the ground to gauge ideas on how to improve Gonave.  I often hear many things, and some are just mobility. To get from one end of the island to the other, if the roads were paved, would take 45 min or so but due to mainly dirt roads that are in bad condition, it can take several hours.  One way to obviously fix this is to pave roads.  Well given the small amount of my group has, and the NGO's who provide basics for the population, a paved road is the last thing on many people's minds. So the alternative is gravel roads. like the one listed below.  Gravel roads are used by many places, even in America to solve road issues when paving isn't needed.  This partial paving method is key when you need either a temporary road or a permanent road in the future. This road...