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...Haiti cash-for-work program, which is expected to last through the spring, has employed more than 35,000 locals since it began early this month, at a cost of about $175,000 a day. (Workers earn about $4.50 a day, slightly more than Haiti's minimum wage, UNDP officials say, but not enough to siphon workers from the country's other vital economic sectors.) But the goal is 100,000 workers - a number that will require more than the $25.5 million the UNDP has so far garnered in donations and pledges for the project, which is why the agency...
...UNDP officials say the Haitian government has been remarkably cooperative. But Haitians aren't shy about noting how thoroughly corrupt that government is. Many workers openly laud the fact that they don't need to know (or kick back to) a local machine boss to get a cash-for-work spot - "If the government were running this, I probably wouldn't have this job," says Sentelis Doassalit, 30 - and that the pay goes directly to their hands and not through a venal, lethargic Haitian bureaucracy...
...Carrefour-Feuilles, at least, cash-for-work also encourages local entrepreneurship. Much of the recyclable waste collected from the rubble there is used to make long-burning fuel bricks for cooking, manufactured with equipment workers helped design and build. The venture is an economic engine for the bidonville and a sustainable one as well, since it provides an alternative to the traditional charcoal fuel that has contributed to Haiti's vast deforestation...
Bruno Lemarquis, a UNDP director in Haiti, says the plan now is to "redirect" cash-for-work beyond clearing streets to tackling the country's drainage infrastructure, which is impossibly clogged with earthquake rubble but has to be cleared now that the rainy season is near. In the end, says Lemarquis, "cash-for-work can only be a temporary step in the recovery process. After that, Haiti and the international community have to take this approach to a broader level, especially to the private sector." It's not a panacea, but so far it's proven...
Some transsexuals say the country's open-minded Health Minister, Roselyne Bachelot, removed transsexualism from the list of mental disorders because it was an outdated classification and because she wanted to acknowledge the work transsexuals have done to further their cause. But others see a potentially more troubling motive. Tin worries that politicians may be making allowances on this front to avoid engaging in debate on legalizing gay marriage or removing barriers to allowing gay adults to adopt. (See pictures of the gay-rights movement...