ILLUSTRATED NARRATIVE REPORT - of -

Caravane de la Paix! Operational Haiti: November 2005 — July 2007

This document sets out to demonstrate the astounding range and diversity of the contribution Caravane de la Paix has made to the Haitian peace process 2005/7

Caravane de la Paix is an extraordinary peace initiative in Haiti, where the UN was invited in in 2005 to address

the crisis in the country’s government, society and economy.

Using three brightly painted vehicles, actors, musicians and artists entered the most hotly contested slum areas where gangs ruled. There they engaged with the gangs on the streets, in their hide-outs and in residential pro-jects. Caravane de la Paix negotiated with many of the gang bosses seeking reconciliation up to 48 hours before the gangs were engaged by UN mili-

tary and Haitian police forces.

Caravane de la Paix assisted and developed com-munity-level peace groups, and ran its own Clubs Culturels - collections of local, national and inter-national artists dedicated to the furtherance of

peace.

Caravane de la Paix visited schools, clubs and so-

cieties.

Caravane de la Paix organised events from street-corner level to huge spectacles attracting crowds in their thou-

sands. We estimate 1 million Haitians have seen us.

Caravane de la Paix worked closely with United Nations, Haitian local and national government agencies to help

reinforce a national peace agenda.

In July 2007 The Bill Brookman Foundation was asked to hand over the project to a national organisation. - We

wish Caravane de la Paix success in its new manifestation.

Bill Brookman, Chair, The Bill Brookman Foundation* Director, Caravane de la Paix

bill@billbrookman.co.uk www.billbrookman.co.uk/haiti

• Access, negotiation and influence in contested zones

• Taking the initiative building of local peace agencies

• Education especially but not exclusively within trouble

spots

• Using the arts to advance social issues

• Building local, national and international experience,

competence, exposure and reputation

* Administered through Bill Brookman Productions Ltd

Rapport Naratif CDLP general audience Eng 070709 Page 2

Translucent map, which when aligned to satellite photo reveals route through barricades and tank-traps to gangster hide-out. We could admit to having it only if Caravane staff were captured. December 2006.

Director Bill Brookman con-fronts gangsters who claim to defend St Catherine’s Hospital, Cité Soleil after they have tried to rob him.

Caravane de la Paix tries not to allow gang-leaders to appear as ‘Robin Hoods’. Gonaïves ‘commander’ Ti-Wil poses as anti-gun for the camera. Cara-vane negotiated with him 4 times in September/October 2006. He was arrested 26 May 2007.

Six warning gunshots were fired against Caravane in Martessan, November 2006

Making first contact: Cité Soleil

Caravane de la Paix has negotiated with the following gangster chiefs:

Ti-wil, Gonaïves: four times between September and November 2006.

Evans, Cité Soleil: once, November 2006.

Amaral, Cité Soleil: twice, November/December 2006

Anonymous, Delmas 2 (Bel Aire): before capture in February 2007.

Saturné, Chef l’armée Rami Kos: dates are confidential.

We also negotiated with Belany’s ‘soldiers’

* Bill Brookman helped collect 150 guns for UNDP in Sierra Leone in 2005. Weapons collection is much harder in Haiti where there is no

‘war/peace’ as such.

MUNUSTAH: the UN mission in Haiti. UNDP: United Nations de-velopment programme. APCs: ar-

moured personnel carriers.

2 days after Caravane negotiated with Evans, alias ‘Ti-Kouto’ MINUSTAH attacked his base. Caravane staff went away to Jacmel. Director Bill Brookman went to the mountains then to the UK. We were relieved when he was subsequently cap-tured hiding in Les Cayes. CDLP staff have al-ways worried that we might be taken for spies.

WITHIN ONE WEEK of being requested by the United Nations, Caravane de la Paix established and subsequently maintained a continual and highly visual presence in the most hotly contested zones even when the UN operated a tacit no-rescue policy. Caravane de la Paix was escorted by gang-members past ditches dug to trap MINUSTAH APCs* in order to negotiate directly with ‘commandantes’ to bring continual pressure to bear on them to affect positive peaceful change; thus allowing negotiating entry-points

with heads of armed gangs for DDR.

In contested zones: Access, negotiation and influence

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Maintaining contact through troubled times

When violence was at its height, Caravane de la Paix maintained a presence on the streets and thus was often the only point of contact for pro-peace groups, ordinary people and the gangs within the bidonvilles, reassuring and ad-vancing the peace agenda. When the violence was such that contact could not be maintained in the field between beleaguered peace-groups and DDR*, Caravane de la Paix maintained formal and infor-mal links through visits and, when

shooting was going on, cell-phone.

Owing to the use of Haitian staff and Creole culture Cara-vane de la Paix mediated and calmed local hostility to per-ceived international (UN) inactivity, diffusing anger and frustration and creating positive celebrations, concerts and

sporting events.

Haitan staff, Haitian culture and Creole language rescues many situations

Support for beleaguered organizations in Cité Soleil

During the period October 2006 –

January 2007 DDR sponsored

CPVD* structure was not possible

in Cité Soleil. However Caravane

de la Paix maintained and sup-

ported the following Cité Soleil

organisations:

Aimer = Servir (Cité Soleil, Simon,

Village Solidarité), AJEPSEH

(Shada -Cite Soleil), AVSI (Cite

Soleil)

‘Declare your-self for peace!”. Distribution of pro-peace T-shirts after trouble

After a school bus was kid-

napped and one child killed

in December 2006, Cara-

vane de la Paix passed

though MINUSTAH check-

points of up to 12 APCs

Caravane de la Paix

has distributed over

10,000 tee-shirts

Caravane de la Paix has successful dif-

fused hostility to international organiza-

tion perceived inactivity in the following

areas:

Carrefour-Feuilles

Gonaïves

Martessan

Bel-Air

Periods:

September/October 2007 and May 2007

THESE WOMEN HAD

WALKED 15 KM to pro-

test to the UN about

damage to their houses

in battles. Caravane de

la Paix was the only or-

ganisation which reas-

sured them. May 2007.

* DDR: UN Demilitarisation, Demobilisation, Reintegration sector tasked with negotiating with the gangs. CPVDs:

“Committees for the Prevention of Violence and for Development” are grass-roots local committees.

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Caravane de la Paix has successfully supported re-gional UN (DDR) officers when building trust between local community organisations and local government. Antagonism between community and local government levels is common. Caravane seeks to strengthen CNDDR*, (the government commission on disarma-

ment) policy of reinforcing local government.

Building trust between grass-roots and local government

Local official

wears our T-shirt

in Boucan-Carré

Caravane de la Paix has worked with the follow-

ing local governments and mairies:

Kenscoff, Port Salut

Au Cayes, Petit Gouaves

St Marc, Boucan-Carré

Lascaobas, Port-au-Prince

Carrefour, Grandes Salines

Gonaïves

Petite Rivière de l’Artibonite

Jerabel, Leogane,

Dates when we have diffused community-local

government/mairie hostility are avalable in the

appendix in GREEN, by request

Caravane builds capacity of local peace organisa-tions at the behest of DDR allowing them to stand

up to armed violence. While setting up for a performance in Bel Air in

July 2006 the local ‘patron’ and his supporters

arrived to challenge the right of the local CPVD to

hold a celebration without his ‘permission’.

Caravane de la Paix staff intervened and solved

the problem satisfactorily.

The festival was held up for one day to allow the

‘patron’ to make sure all his friends were thor-

oughly involved in the celebrations! Caravane de la

Paix plays,

Bel-Air rocks!

Caravane advances CNDDR policy by supporting local, national and international artists to help spread the message. CNDDR has chosen to run

Caravane in fu-

ture.

80% of all Caravane de la Paix performances

involve local artists.

We have brought 4 artists from overseas.

Caravane de la

Paix plays,

Haitian artists

find expression!

Reflecting national government policy

Reflecting UN policy

* CNDDR: “Commission Nationale de Désarmament, de Démantèlement et de Réinser-

tion” the Haitian government appointed disarmament commission.

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Lectures, meetings, forums, clubs: Keeping ‘peace’ on the public agenda

Our relationship with the Comités pour la prévention de violence et pour la développement (CPVDs) has continued to develop and mature. In times ahead it is likely that Caravane de la Paix will be called on to help explain new CPVD strategies as well as explain new national poli-

cies on arms control.

Caravane de la Paix has a good relation-

ships with many community groups:

Organisation Fanm Vanyan, Comité pour

l’Espoir des Jeunes Progressiste (Bel Air,

Tèt Kfou), Association des Jeunes

Artistes pour la revalorisation de l’Art

(AJART, Carrefour Feuilles), Association

des Jeunes Progressistes de Delmas 12

(AJPD, Delmas 12), Fondation Ghetto (Bel

Air), Organisation des Jeunes

Progressistes de Solino (OJEPS, Solino -

Bel Air), Réflexion Citoyenne pour l'Unité

Nationale, Echo Danse, Haïti Tchaka

Danse (Port au Prince, Bourdon),

Association des Jeunes artistes de Fort

Mercredi, Association des étudiants de

As a response to an absence of DDR strategy Caravane de la Paix has devised its own Com-munity Approach to Arms Reduction pro-gramme, and has written and rehearsed strategies for intervention at all levels, from

training to emergencies.

15 Affiliated Peace Club members in Cité Soleil,

including:

Vanité, singer. Anbiskade69, singer. Vibration Stars, singers. U.J.A.H., artists. Freedom Dance School,

dance. Nova Dance, dance club

15 groups affiliated in Carrefour-Feuilles!

17 groups affiliated in Martessan!

Caravane de la Paix has created its own ‘Community Ap-

proach to Armed Violence Reduction’ programme in order

to speedily implement CNDDR policy of promotion of lo-

cal artists and culture against violence.

We always share our podiums with local and national and

international artists. But we have done more! We have

created ‘Peace Clubs’ inspiring a host of cultural organi-

sations to declare themselves publicly and creatively for

peace!

‘La Fleur Guinen’ is

one of the biggest

RaRa groups in Haiti

with 30 members

All-women group

‘Tamboula’ from

Martessan

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60 schools visited in one year up to May 2007

30,000: Number of school-children reached

157: Number of community organizations visited

We educate, explain, persuade, assist, inspire, play, argue, create, confront, enjoy and bring a positive hope for the

future

Caravane de la Paix visits: schools, hospitals, youth clubs, prisons, NGO, orphanages, street-children, markets, parks, gang-territory, slum and street-corner sites especially in violent areas

Large crowds in the bus-station

Young prisoners, Delmas 31 Prison. - They need to get the message.

Bel-Aire, 2006 World-Cup. Tension re-laxes at Caravane street event. After July 2006 Caravane operated without

security or escort.

Enfants de la rue—one of our primary target groups A clear positive message for every

school-child in Haiti? We must change the opin-

ions of the next generation

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A remarkable transformation Caravane de la Paix has participated in each Programme* de reintegration de MI-NUSTAH/UNDP bringing male and female beneficières out of a gang environment for inten-

sive re-education projects lasting up to a month.

These photographs [below] trace the development of one such group, from co-incidental first-contact in Cité Soleil to their uncoordinated appearance on day one, to a transforma-

tion into a motivated and cohesive group at their graduation ceremony.

Dates of these programmes are shown, by request, in our Annexe, calendar in BLUE

• We have worked four times with between 20 and 60 male beneficiaries

• Two projects with women associated with beneficiaries twice numbering between 20 and 60

• We have worked on a daily basis with individuals and families fleeing violence at a secret loca-

tion

1

5

3 4

2 Caravane de la

Paix has already earned their trust and respect on the

street

On day one the beneficières may

think of them-selves as one unit. But their body lan-guage betrays how separated they are

By now the group is thinking and behav-

ing together

Beneficières are given psycho-socio-cultural training. It includes challenging tasks to

disorient and then re-orientate them

The group

graduates.

Transformed

Unfortunately 6 benefi-

cières and two Jor-

dananian soldiers were

shot and killed and a

Haitian policeman tor-

tured to death while

one programme was

running; November

2006

*A full model of delivery is available. Also available are documents explaining examples of how we challenge drugs and guns.

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The Bill Brookman Foundation has 25 years experience using the arts for social cohesion and advancement. Caravane de la Paix grew from successful projects in Europe, the USA, Russia, India, Japan, Kosovo and Africa.

Music, theatre, spectacle, songs, poems, fire and circus with carefully devised slogans and messages were the main-stay of our large theatrical events.

A poster campaign was launched

We originally used the rich heri-tage of Vodou for our messages. But we abandoned this as Vodou arouses strong points of view...

…However the naïf style of Vodou painting was preserved in our vehicle decoration.

Our vehicles used specially com-missioned traditional Haitian metal sculptures including broken guns being entwined by foliage.

We used the rich visual tradi-tions of Haiti in our murals

Kosovo, 2005

But vodou is never far away in Haiti!

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As well as mounting its own events Caravane de la Paix provided technical and spectacular theatrical support for major public UN,

national and international celebrations.

Massive shows (average audience over 7,500) staged as part of

our Spectacles Contre La Violence programme :

Bel-Air

Champs de mars, Port-au-Prince x 2

Cité Soleil (Terrain la Couronne, 17 Décembre 2006)

Gonaïves (Place d’Armes, 18 Janvier 2007)

Delmas (Place de Carrefour de L’Aéroport, 28 Janvier 2007)

Bel-Air (Corridor Bastia, Lundi 29 Janvier 2007)

Carrefour Feuilles (Fort Mercredi, 1 Mars 2007)

Carrefour (Bizoton 11 Mars 2007)

Full List in Annexe

Caravane de la Paix creates exciting sport

Caravane de la Paix relies equally strongly on sport, capitalising on the Haitian championnat tournament format which can draw thousands of

relaxed enthusiastic spectators who are happy to listen to the slogans.

6

tournaments

staged, Port-

au-Prince

area 2006/7

Caravane de la Paix creates stunning theatre

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The Bill Brookman Foundation organised a steady stream of international volunteers who assisted Caravane de la Paix with such divers activities as web-site development, accounting procedures, visa and travel, sourcing equipment medical advice and more.

Barnaby Brookman built a new aerial acrobat rig as well as performing and teaching circus skills.

Janet Grant helped with visas, translations and office systems.

Victoria Calliss and Helena Parsons were invaluable teach-ing choreography and circus ‘poi’ performing.

Dr Katherine Darton helped with office systems, research, travel arrangements and medical mat-ters.

Jacob Brookman, shown here with Isnel Pierreval, project manager, performed music and circus skills.

Kate Grant came from the one of London’s world leading account-ants , Price-Waterhouse-Cooper to help with the accounts.

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The future

At the time of writing (January 2008) knowledge of what is happening to Caravane de la Paix is scanty. It is under Haitian national NGO Haitian government direction. Finding out what is going on is very difficult.

The Bill Brookman Foundation how-ever is already looking at possibilities of exporting Caravane de la Paix to Liberia, Palestine and Iraq. Time will tell.

The Bill Brookman Foundation is im-mediately concerned with the emer-gency lead interventions into uncon-trolled slums in the north of Haiti using arts and ecological principles. Over 25,000 people may have to be re-housed in a 10 year project.

We hope to build houses using ecol-ogically viable principles of our own devising and in world-wide partner-ships.

Our efforts to establish a circus school for street children in the slums of Port-au-Prince continue with slow negotia-tions with Cloones sans Frontiers and Cirque du Monde (the world-wide com-

munity wing of Cirque du Soleil) un-der way.

Our theatre company Bill Brookman Productions Ltd thrives in the UK as does our youth wing The 101 Per-forming Arts Group.

Enthusiasm is high with our new vol-untary organisation: Geeks sans Frontierères, an international virtual community of CAD designers help-ing devise water-management sys-tems for our slum renovation pro-jects.

Bill Brookman hopes to find time to accept an invitation to talk about these projects at the Conflict Man-agement School of Advanced Inter-national Studies, The Johns Hopkins University, Washington DC.

A special thanks to Daniel

Ladouceur, whose inspired

idea was Caravane de la Paix.

Contact:

Bill Brookman

We have over 1,000

signatures on our

Peace Petition!

Nou vle lapé

-Nou mande lapé!

We want peace

-We will have

peace!