A cloud of smoke billowed from downtown Port-au-Prince. News quickly spread that the dwellings of 1,500 families had been demolished by the Haitian government—some with only 24 hours’ notice—to make way for municipality buildings. Families once displaced by the 2012 earthquake now found themselves once again digging through rubble to salvage a few remaining family … [Read more...] about Haiti: getting resettlement right
Social Systems
Barbados Community College Graduation Speech
We were all born in the 20th century. The previous century of our foreparents was a very different place. At the dawn of last century, you travelled on foot, animals, boats or trains. You wrote letters to distant loved ones and went to a library to learn new things. … [Read more...] about Barbados Community College Graduation Speech
The Fear Factor a Back-Of-The-Envelope Calculation on the Economic Risk of an Ebola Scare in The Caribbean
This brief presents simulations of an Ebola scare in the Caribbean, including three highly tourism-dependent economies, The Bahamas, Barbados, and Jamaica. On the basis of the experience of Mexico in 2009 with swine flu, we simulate a short but sharp drop in tourist arrivals resulting from tourists' worries about Ebola. The Caribbean is special in that tourism contributes … [Read more...] about The Fear Factor a Back-Of-The-Envelope Calculation on the Economic Risk of an Ebola Scare in The Caribbean
Why the Caribbean Embraces Open Data
Discussions about open data and open government are advancing rapidly in the Caribbean and we are already witnessing some good examples of the benefits of open data in the region. In this post, I would like to briefly review progress being made of the creation of an Open Data ecosystem in the Caribbean and look at a few examples that have been useful to some of the governments … [Read more...] about Why the Caribbean Embraces Open Data
Healing for the Victim and the Offender Part I
The gun was pointed directly at us. What scared me was not so much the gun but the crazed look in the 18-year-old’s eyes. It was as if anything done at that moment would make him jump and inadvertently pull the trigger. I, at 15 years old, was paralyzed with fear. My brother gently eased my seat back and told me to stay low. He slowly stepped out of his car. I remember the … [Read more...] about Healing for the Victim and the Offender Part I