We have to swear 70 times 7 times that never, never, never, will one drop of blood fall in Haiti...We all want peace. Let all weapons be silent. To a… - Jean-Bertrand Aristide

Peace means for us, in this time, education and investment in health care. In my country, after 200 years of independence — we are the first black independent country in the world–but we still have only one-point-five Haitian doctors for its 11,000 Haitians. We created a university, we founded a university with the faculty of medicine that has 247 students. Once U.S. soldiers arrived in Haiti after the kidnapping, what did they do? They closed the faculty of medicine and they are now in the classrooms. This is what they call peace. This is the opposite of peace. Peace means investing in human beings, investing in health care, respect for human rights, not violations for human rights, no violations for the rights of those who voted for an elected President, and this is what it means. It means that, for humans in the world, today this is their day, [inaudible] men in the world, all together, we can all work hard to restore peace and constitutional order to Haiti.

Days come and go...Today is Oct. 15, 1994, the day the sun of democracy has risen and will never set. Today is the day for justice to open its eyes and never close. Today is the day for security for all of us, morning, noon and night...We too have a dream," said Aristide, after quoting the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. "Today, in our beloved Haiti, the dream of democracy has become reality. This restoration of democracy brings reconciliation for all, and respect for every single citizen."

What will 2004 look like to them? I see for them a country with 85% literacy, rather than 85% illiteracy. Cooperatives flourish in villages and in the informal sectors of the cities. Water is flowing through the fields of the countryside-where food enough for all of Haiti's people is growing. Creole pigs are seen more and more in the countryside, the descendents of those few that the peasants hid away and saved from extermination. Seedlings are beginning to take root on the mountainsides. The seedlings have a chance at survival because the people are no longer in misery, but are already on the road to poverty with dignity. There are primary schools and health clinics in every municipality of Haiti. The schoolbooks are not just half-price-they are free, in accordance with Article 32.1 of our constitution which promises a free education to every Haitian child. The children and young people are actively engaged in the changes sweeping their country. Radyo Timoun can be heard throughout the country, and people begin to feel it is normal for children to have a voice in national issues. The bayakou and the bouretye still labor, but the weight of social exclusion has been lifted. The restaveks are eating at the table with everyone else. This is our challenge for the new century; this is the challenge of 2004. We assume it. We are living it right now.