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EDITORIAL
Why This New Publication?
First, the overarching mission of HDNdigest is to promote Haiti and Haitians by highlighting their heritage, their know-how, their expertise, their academic, scientific, financial and cultural achievements.
Second, the publication will present ways and means that will empower Haitians and their communities, in Haiti and abroad, to improve and enrich all facets of their daily lives, mainly regarding ethical, familial, educational, professional, financial, intellectual, and cultural matters.
Third, this biweekly will allow HDN to maintain regular contact with Haitians, Haitian descendants, and foreigners, who care about Haiti, Haitians, and their descendants.
Haitians and Haitian descendants constitute the target readership of this digest, so its content is tailored to their information needs. Apart from a few short presentations by its editors and the republishing of short Haitian or foreign texts, readers will find links to interesting and helpful articles and essays mainly in French or English on subjects such as education, economy, personal finance, housing, health, culture (popular or scholarly).In parting, we invite everyone to write to us with their suggestions or comments. Whenever possible, we will share your messages with our readers, unless they are anonymous, politically partisan, disrespectful, or tendentious.
P. S. HDNdigest thanks all those who graciously gave of their time to read and comment on an advance copy of the first issue of the digest, which is now being released in a revised and expanded form. These reviewers’ comments and suggestions have greatly helped us to improve not only the functionality of the site but also the form and content of the publication. Their invaluable contribution to this work in progress is greatly appreciated. We also thank LinguaOne, who provided the Spanish translation of part of the content of this issue, and to Dr Jean Eddy Saint-Paul who partly revised the Spanish translations.
TARGET READERSHIP
The HDNdigest is a publication of Haitian Development Network designed for a composite readership consisting of people interested in, and supporting of, the economic, social, and cultural progress of Haiti and in the advancement of Haitians and Haitian descendants, both in Haiti and abroad.
OBJECTIVES
In addition to promoting Haiti, Haitians, their descendants, and communities, HDNdigest has three sets of objectives:
- To inform its readers, especially members and supporters of Haitian Development Network, about the organization’s activities, which include recent achievements, ongoing projects, and planned initiatives;
- To inspire and motivate its readers to support development initiatives for Haiti and Haitian communities;
- To suggest promising pathways for Haiti, Haitians, and Haitian descendants in such key areas as communication, community building, economy and finance, education, energy, entrepreneurship, food production, health, housing, transportation, etc.
LANGUAGES
Materials included in this publication are in English, French, Haitian Kreyòl or Spanish. Whenever possible we will provide French and English versions of editors’ texts that are more than two paragraphs long. Machine translation of various writings is available by simply clicking on the desired target language (French, English, or Spanish) — the current technical conditions do not allow us to provide automatic translations in the Haitian language.
CONTRIBUTORS
Two co-editors, Asselin Charles and Jean Jonassaint, assume oversight of the content and form of the materials published in this biweekly. They may also contribute short essays or information pieces. Other materials included in the publication are contributed by volunteer collaborators or taken, with requisite attribution, from open sources on the web or in the public domain.
FREQUENCY OF PUBLICATION
The HDNdigest is an online biweekly published every first and third Thursday of the month from February to November; on the first Thursday of December; and on the third Thursday of January.
DISTRIBUTION
The HDNdigest will be delivered free of charge directly to subscribers’ emails. In addition @ hdn.org/digest, readers can access the publication directly online or download it onto their device to be read, listened to, or printed.
Contents of This Inaugural Issue:
HDN NEWS
Under this rubric may appear news flashes highlighting:
- Initiatives or achievements by Haitians or Haitian descendants, in Haiti or abroad.
- Planned initiatives in all fields undertaken by either HDN or by other actors, in Haiti or abroad.
- HDN’s achievements (successfully completed projects either initiated by HDN or supported by the organization);
- HDN’s ongoing projects (brief progress reports on HDN-initiated or HDN-supported projects);
The French text of HDN Director Jacques Jonassaint’s video on Haitian Flag Day, which was May 18.
HAITIAN MEDIA
For Haitian news, some Haitian media accessible online:
DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES
This section offers readers documents (articles, books, videos, films, webinars, podcasts, etc.) from various web publications in English, French, Haitian Kreyòl or Spanish, that highlight inspiring actions and initiatives from all over the world in the fields of education, economy and finance, food production (agriculture), infrastructure, communications, science, housing, entrepreneurship, community building, etc.
For each piece a headline is provided over either a short summary or the lead paragraph, followed by the link to the original source of the document on the web.
Articles, books, videos, films, webinars, podcasts, etc. from various web publications in English, French, Haitian Kreyòl or Spanish, that highlight inspiring actions, events, and initiatives from all over the world…
SPOTLIGHT ON
This is a piece that spotlights an individual (Haitian preferably but from any national or ethnic origin) or an institution (Haitian or non-Haitian) that has accomplished something worthy of admiration or emulation for the benefit of our collectivities.
Alternatively, instead of a short essay on an exemplary individual or institution this section may offer a short Q & A interview of said individual or representative of said institution.
Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain (1898-1975), author of numerous books and articles on both African and Haitian issues from the 1930s-1970s, one of our most important academics, whose “50th anniversary of death” commemorations are included “in the calendar of anniversary celebrations with which UNESCO will be associated in 2024-2025,” according to a press release of the Permanent Delegation of Haiti to UNESCO.
NEW & NOTEWORTHY
Activities and productions worthy of attention: publications, exhibitions, shows, conferences, etc.
OPPORTUNITIES
Avenues for personal or collective development, training, jobs, investments, and other opportunities in various fields.
RESOURCES
This is a directory of resources for readers seeking information and useful contacts to achieve success in various occupational endeavors.
LES BONNES PAGES
Starting with a reflection on the question of language in Haiti, we present this important rubric, which is also that of a founding text of the nation, the Proclamation of Dessalines in Gonaïves on January 1, 1804.
Bonne lecture!
If you have any comments or suggestions, do not hesitate to write to us. In advance, thank you very much.
