I think this is the type of thing more money and attention need to be invested in. The younger generation is the future, and it is vital that they learn mutual respect and learn how to work together for a common advantage. Very often there is more emphasis on what divides and separates Dominicans and Haitians, these games, simple as they may be do a lot to show that there is a common thread and ground that we can all be on.

But I wonder:
1) Would each respective Government see the value in such activities and invest resources in order to further develop these games?
2) How would it be supported on each side of the border?

Take a look, what do you think?

True equality between the two countries will never happen as long Haiti and/or Haitians continue to be unable to "get their shit together" and rise all the societal/economic levels to even Central American minimums, or in average laymen's words, as long as one of the two countries remains being the one carrying the load of both. The fact that Martelly and others there have stated that their objective is to put the Haitian country "on the path of development again" is pretty indicative of how much there needs to be done.



I disagree. I think that it's with measures on the ground (such as the Cubans are doing on the health sector) that we will be able smooth things on between the two countries, so I'm among a minority that say that we Dominicans should be more proactive and strive to help the Haitians IN Haiti in order to achieve this. Of course, we would need to surmount the most obvious obstacle first, that is, the traditional Haitian distrust against blan (foreign) people first, but there's nothing that a few papeletazo$$$$$$ left and right can't accomplish.

As the radio commentator Jose La Luz says, as long as we don't take over the process there, or at the very least create a truly specialized intelligence unit dealing with Haitian affairs on our foreign service, all these attacks by NGO's and the like will keep catching us unawares. The best way to shut these naysayers up is when we Dominicans become the number one country helping Haitians get their bearings together on their own house, but that will certainly take some time. I can't help but confess to you that it would be very heartwarming to me if we could show those NGO's the bill and tell them: "These are the things we're doing on their behalf at the moment, so either you match up all of this, or shut the fuck up and leave us and our matters alone."

A clear example of a sector that could help get things going there is tourism, which I have to recognize that the land there is better equipped for the "sun and beach" department than our part will ever be, for the fact that their coastlines have more kms2 to explore, and the islands of the Haitian coast (Ile-a-Vaches, the Cayemites, Tortuga and Gonave) are also bigger, specially Gonave, which is larger than many islands of the Eastern Caribbean, most notably, larger than Curacao, so that should tell you something about its touristic potential. Of course, any touristic scheme will have to be made so as that the sector ends up benefitting all the other ones on the economy there, instead of having the revenues there being kept on the All Inclusive enclaves, like it's the case with ours and their little niche of Labadee near Port-de-Paix.



Doubtful.



The border provinces might be warm to it, the rest of the country will just shrug and move on.

The political processes are vital as well, but there also needs to be some things that encourage better relations between Dominicans and Haitians. It does not matter HOW much money is pumped into the system if people are still creating contention among one another and impeding progress. Programs like these focus on the younger generations and help them to not view each other as the 'enemy' but rather a neighbor in which one can trust, work with and learn from.

Hey Bernard, are you still claiming you are not Haitian?.