Soledad Returns to Haiti

Soledad O'Brien returns to Haiti with her documentary team to follow up on the aftermath of the earthquake that still impacts the citizens of that country.

In an interview on www.thewrap.com, she commented that:

I covered Katrina, I’ve covered the tsunamis, all of them, the Haiti earthquake... you get to a certain point in your career where you say 'I want to now cover what I want to cover.'

So for one of our first Al Jazeera pieces for “America Tonight,” we’ll go back to Haiti. I go back there every year, and we’ll take a look at what’s working and where the money has gone?

On location in Haiti, 2013

There’s a lot to do there, so I’ll go in and do a couple pieces on that. For all the Americans who gave a lot of money, what’s happening in Haiti?

Soledad Recounts Her Reporting On Haiti's Orphans

In an excerpt from The Next Big Story by Soledad O'Brien posted online at CNN.com, she retells the story of her journey to Haiti.

Her reporting was the basis of a one-hour documentary on Haiti's orphans called "Rescued."

The moment I arrive at the Lighthouse I find the answer to the question that has been nagging me since we arrived -- how does any one person make a difference in the face of such an enormous tragedy?

Susette and Bill Manassero came to Haiti at the urging of their eldest daughter, Ariana. She was 9 and had saved coins to sponsor needy children in Haiti. She wanted to go for a visit. The Manasseros were indulging her when they came to Haiti and were shocked to find the high rates of poverty, sex trafficking and child abandonment -- some of the worst in the world. The children they met were being abused.

They were on what they thought was just a casual visit. They made a drastic decision, one that is inconceivable to so many of us. They sold everything and moved their three young children to Haiti...

continues at http://www.cnn.com


The Next Big Story: My Journey Through the Land of Possibilities

Soledad O'Brien: Speaker

Soledad O'Brien is a frequent speaker. She is represented by Keppler Speakers.

The video below is an excerpt from a longer talk. She is speaking here about her time spent in Haiti in 2010 with orphans after the earthquake there.

Hope for Haiti Charity Event - Soledad O'Brien

Soledad O'Brien at a Hope for Haiti charity event - 2010

Soledad at Charity:Water Event

Soledad in Joanna Mastroianni gown at Charity: Water Ball in NYC 12/13/10

Soledad O'Brien attended the charity: water event in New York which raised more than $1 million used for water projects in Central African Republic, Haiti and Ethiopia.

Guests slipped off their shoes to take on the Waterwalk and see what it’s like for the millions who have to walk miles for their water. They lined up and pledged their birthdays to raise money for water projects at our the Water Wall, and they read and watched stories from Cambodia to Liberia to Haiti to Central African Republic.

Charity:Water http://www.charitywater.org connects with Soledad's own efforts to keep a focus on the two million people living in tent cities in Port-au-Prince. Relief efforts have helped, but many are looking for jobs so they can provide for themselves. Soledad spent a good deal of time in Haiti this past year and her CNN documentary Rescued focused on Haitian orphans.

Soledad O'Brien and Her Daughter in Haiti

Soledad O'Brien coninues to tell the stories of Haiti. Last night she guest-hosted Larry King Live with a show on Haiti 6 months later.

CNN has posted an excerpt from her upcoming book. The excerpt focuses on a trip to Haiti she made a few weeks ago with her daughter Sofia.


Here is the opening of the excerpt from Soledad O'Brien's upcoming book, The Next Big Story.

(CNN)  I returned to Haiti in mid June, over a month after having produced a documentary called Rescued on two children whose precarious lives depend on an orphanage run by American Christian missionaries. I don't have another story to report. I just want to go back. I am haunted by these kids. Cendy Juene is just 6 and she has no one person in the world caring for her, just the kindness of the staff at the Light House orphanage. Mark Kenson Olibris, the caretaker at the orphanage, is a young man who has grew up there and now promises he will help rebuild Haiti. They are so resilient, so inspiring, they leave me wanting to know how life is unfolding in their shaky circumstances. I decide to take my oldest daughter Sofia who is nine. She looks totally thrilled we are going together. So am I. I see this as an opportunity to share with her a major lesson I have learned from my time in Haiti. That one person can change the world, if only by changing a piece of it.

She takes a breath when we land, not from the jolt of the plane, but out of pure excitement. I am so happy to be taking this trip with her. The people in the plane clap and so does she too. I love the sight of her...

Continue reading at edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/07/12/soledad.obrien.haiti

 

Soledad on Larry King Live Tonight

Tonight, Soledad will be filling in on Larry King Live @ 9pm ET.

She'll be talking about Haiti with Wyclef Jean as well as actress Maria Bello and Susette & Bill Manassero, orphanage directors featured in her documentary Rescued.

Soledad O'Brien Q&A on CNN's Haiti Documentary, Rescued

CNN's latest documentary, Rescued, premiered this weekend with the initial airing on May 8th. The program is a moving look at the suffering in Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake.

O'Brien answered some questions exclusively for the Huffington Post including some personal connections like these two:

Q: How does being a mother of four yourself influence your desire to do a story like this?

A: I hope that any good journalist would say--this is a story that people need to know about. But as a mother--I guess any parent full grasps the horrible choice in handing off your child because you just can care for him because you have no job, and a result, no food. It's heartbreaking. We capture some of those moments in this documentary: a mother who begs to stay in the orphanage. But they can't take her--it's already too crowded. The orphanage is also running out of food. So, she hands over her infant--"please take him". It's so powerful and so desperately sad

Q: How do you explain the difficulties you report on to your children?

A: My children are young, ages 9, 8 and 5 year old twins. We talk a lot about the stories I'm covering and the work I'm doing. They've seen the documentary and were riveted--all four kids! Then watched it again! It's a story anyone of any age can understand. I think they feel good about the stories I tell--they get to ask lots of questions (the main one is "did babies die") and we discuss in great depth the why. Why slavery? Why poverty? Why hurricanes? Why earthquakes? I can't always answer the questions but we always discuss the issues. I think that they're developing a special understanding about the world through the stories I tell.

CNN Haiti Documentary "Rescued" Premieres Today

Rescued

Premieres: Sat. May 8,and Sun., May 9, 8 p.m., 11 p.m., 2 a.m. (one hour; all times Eastern)

CNN anchor and special correspondent Soledad O’Brien investigates the plight of those left most vulnerable in the wake of Haiti’s devastating earthquake – Haiti’s children in a new documentary, Rescued.

Told through the eyes of 7-year-old Cendy Jeune and former child slave Marckenson Oliphi, O’Brien reports on how Haiti’s orphans struggle to overcome immense obstacles – crushing poverty and the shame of child slavery.

Along the way, O’Brien interviews people connected to Haiti’s almost 400,000+ orphans – missionaries, aid workers, and relatives, all who themselves must overcome bureaucracies and a frail recovery from the powerful earthquake.

SoledadOBrien.info

CNN's "Rescued" Sneak Peek in Miami

Soledad O'Brien hosted a sneak peak of CNN's newest documentary, Rescued, at the University of Miami's Cosford Cinema this week.

The one-hour documentary describes the plight of hundreds of thousands of Haitian orphans before and after the January 12 quake.

The story is told through the eyes of two orphans, six-year old Cendy Jeune, described as a "gem with a tough exterior", and former restavek (child slave) Marc Kenson Oliphi. Two American missionaries, Susette and Bill Manassero saved the two young Haitians by bringing them into their orphanage, The Lighthouse.

O'Brien's team picked up the project from visual journalist Jonathan Olinger, who began shooting the orphanage in 2007. Beginning less than one week after the quake, O'Brien traveled to the island three times to complete the story.

The invitation-only event was presented by  The Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center and the UM School of Communication.

Rescued will air this Saturday, May 8, at 8 p.m.




SoledadOBrien.info

'Rescued' CNN Promo Clip

SoledadOBrien.info

Haiti’s Innocents in CNN Documentary, RESCUED

Rescued, premieres this Saturday, May 8 at 8pm ET

CNN was the first news organization to report from Haiti following the earthquake that devastated the tiny Caribbean country in January. That’s when CNN anchor and special correspondent Soledad O’Brien began a journey reporting on Haiti’s remarkably inspiring children.

Told through the eyes of two abandoned children and two American missionaries, O’Brien reports this powerful one-hour CNN documentary on Haiti’s children’s before, during and after the earthquake.

The two children, six year old Cendy Jeune and former child slave Marc Kenson Oliphi are Haitian orphans abandoned years ago by their parents. They represent the children whose faces appear on the worldwide appeals for charity. They survived some of the worst poverty imaginable and escaped their hardship when they were taken into an orphanage of an American missionary family.


Susette and Bill Manassero are the American missionaries who have devoted their lives to Haiti’s children. They are part of an expansive and controversial missionary community that shelters thousands of Haiti’s abandoned children. They manage the Lighthouse Orphanage, and live in Port-au-Prince with their family so that the young Haitians they care for do not have to leave their homeland.

Haiti has 380,000 children living as orphans, though O’Brien learns, in a country with unbelievable capacity challenges, the term ‘orphan’ has a complicated meaning.

"From the moment I met the children at the Lighthouse orphanage, I knew I had to return to Haiti to help put a face on the hundreds of thousands of orphans living there. Not only are they incredibly strong and inspiring, but they tell the larger story of Haiti and its struggles before and after the devastating earthquake."

After viewing an initial screening of the documentary and being so moved by what he saw, hip hop music artist and philanthropist Wyclef Jean, a son of Haiti, provided voice-overs of the Creole translations in the program, along with award-winning Haitian novelist Edwidge Danticat.


Geraldine Moriba is the executive producer for Rescued and Rose Arce is the senior producer.

SoledadOBrien.info

CNN on Haiti

More information on CNN's Rescued documentary hosted by Soledad O'Brien, and their continuing Haiti coverage can be found at:
http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2010/haiti.quake/

You can continue to contribute to Haiti relief through CNN’s Impact Your World webpage at:
http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/impact.your.world/



SoledadOBrien.info

"Rescued" Documentary on CNN

Rescued

Premiere: Sat. May 8,and Sun., May 9, 8 p.m., 11 p.m., 2 a.m. (one hour; all times Eastern)

CNN anchor and special correspondent Soledad O’Brien investigates the plight of those left most vulnerable in the wake of Haiti’s devastating earthquake – Haiti’s children in a new documentary, Rescued.

Told through the eyes of 7-year-old Cendy Jeune and former child slave Marckenson Oliphi, O’Brien reports on how Haiti’s orphans struggle to overcome immense obstacles – crushing poverty and the shame of child slavery.

Along the way, O’Brien interviews people connected to Haiti’s almost 400,000+ orphans – missionaries, aid workers, and relatives, all who themselves must overcome bureaucracies and a frail recovery from the powerful earthquake.

SoledadOBrien.info

CNN's "Rescued" with Soledad O'Brien

In CNN's Rescued, you meet some of Haiti's orphans and their rescuers. The documentary will air Saturday May 8 at 8 p.m. ET on CNN.

View a video preview

SoledadOBrien.info

CNN Documentary on Haitian Orphans

Soledad O'Brien's CNN documentary, Rescued, about orphans in Haiti will air May 8th.

SoledadOBrien.info

Soledad O'Brien at Hope Help & Relief Haiti Event

Soledad O'Brien speaks onstage at the Hope Help & Relief Haiti "A Night Of Humanity" event at Urban Zen on February 8, 2010 in New York City.
(Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images North America)

http://hopehelpandreliefhaiti.org

http://twitter.com/HHRHaiti

SoledadOBrien.info

CNN Haiti Documentary to Air in May

The CNN Haiti documentary hosted by Soledad O'Brien about Haiti's orphans and Christian missionaries will air May 8th and 9th.

SoledadOBrien.info

Getting Personal About Helping Haiti

Soledad O'Brien spent time in Haiti covering the disaster relief efforts there after the earthquake. She is working on a CNN documentary about Christian missionaries helping in Haiti, but she spoke recently about the personal efforts that people can do - including her own young children.

"My kids, their project for their second -and third-grade classes, is they got plastic bags and put in notebooks and pencils and pencil sharpeners and stickers because when I was in Haiti the kids loved these little horse stickers my son put on the back of my blackberry. They went, 'Oh, these are great.' So I said, 'We should bring some stickers next time I go.' So I brought two roller bags of 300 notebooks, pencils and stickers and it happened to be the first day of school. That was something little we did. Did it make a huge difference? No. But a bunch of kids have notebooks now. So there's a lot of things you can do that cost nothing or very little."

SoledadOBrien.info

O'Brien On Haiti and Chile Disasters

Soledad O'Brien, speaking recently at an event at Holy Name Medical Center in NJ, compared the devastation in Haiti and Chile following the earthquakes there. After covering both of these disasters on the ground in the past month, she feels the difference between the two disasters is apparent.

"I think in a lot of ways Chile is just much better positioned to withstand a massive earthquake. Even though theirs was significantly larger than the one in Haiti, it's all about the structures. Haiti has really poor physical structures: concrete cement, very sandy texture, a lot of limestone and built by hand. But in Chile, we did our live shots in front of a building in Conception that had fallen (completely sideways) and at last count 8 people had died and 79 walked away. That's how a structure can make a difference in how catastrophic an earthquake can be.

This can be a wonderful opportunity for people who give money to help this country that's just off of our coastline. Haiti had hundreds of thousands of orphans before the earthquake. Haiti had an unemployment rate of 85 percent before the earthquake, so the world has to decide whether to say, 'Well, bummer for you,' or to say, 'This is an opportunity to invest and make all these dollars that come in make a difference.'"

SoledadOBrien.info