Kathy Dorce - Dec 2003:

If there ever were a country who needs and deserves us to love her more than we love ourselves, it is Haiti. As a beacon of freedom and equality and a symbol of the triumph of good over evil, Haiti should be nurtured and treasured by everyone concerned. Those in Haiti, those in countries around the world who are sons and daughters of Haiti or friends of Haiti, those who want to do business with Haiti should all treat Haiti as a precious pearl to be preserved at all cost not to be plundered as she has throughout history. Greed should be outlawed in Haiti so that she can be restored to her rightful place in the Caribbean and in history.

My wish for Haiti's 200th birthday is that the heroic acts of the forefathers do not fade away as some disappearing cloud of smoke and haze but rise up in a huge conflagration and enflame the hearts and minds of all Haitians. Let it inspire all to live up to the magnificant standards of Toussaint, Christophe, Dessalines, Petion and all the unnamed thousands who lived and died to defeat one of the greatest evils ever to cast a pall on this earth.