Change is one of the passwords that describes the moving reality of our lives. It is obvious in our physical, mental, and social development. A human life is analogous in many ways to the cyclical seasons of nature. Whether in time or space, we are subject to novel experiences and circumstances. Since change affects us in such a drastic way, it is imperative to be well-armed to manage its impact. We need to be mentally and spiritually conditioned with the relevant attitude to monitor and adjust to the events that unwittingly come our way. This book seeks to empower you to manage your ongoing challenges in an ever-changing world. It will enable you to monitor and adjust to the changes taking place in your personal life, both from within and without. It is an invaluable tool that will help you travel in the paths leading to your well-being and the development of your capacity for service.

Clash of Cultures retraces the United States intervention and occupation of Haiti for two decades, 1915-1934. Though the treaty of 1916, which legalized the occupation, did not place educational matters under American control, the Marines used their unlimited authority to interfere with the operation of Haitian schools. Their interference led to a clash between Haitian and American cultures over educational policy for Haiti. American officials proceeded to develop a scheme aiming at a complete take-over of the Haitian school system, which was sternly opposed by the Haitians. As the obstacles in the way of a take-over proved to be insurmountable, the Americans moved to bypass the Haitian school system by creating a system of their own through the Service Technique de l'Agriculture et de l'Enseignement Professionnel, an American controlled agency. Clash of Cultures highlights the patterns of racism which permeated educational aims and objectives pursued by American bureaucrats. It demonstrates that in the background of the cultural conflicts between Haiti and the United States lies a wider collision of cultural imperialism, between the Breton clergy who safeguarded the French culture in Haiti and the Anglo-Saxon Americans.

In 1915, United States Marines arrived in Haiti to safeguard lives and property from the political instability of the time. While there, the Marine Corps controlled everything from finance to education, from health care to public works and built an army, "La Garde d'Haiti," to maintain the changes it implemented. For one hundred years, thedecisions made by the United States about and for Haiti have, for better and worse, indelibly shaped the development of what is generally considered the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. In Contrary Destinies, Leon Pamphile chronicles the internal, external, and natural forces that have shaped the nation as it is today, striking a balance between the realities faced by the people on the island and the global and transnational contexts that affect their lives. He examines how American policies toward the Caribbean nation - during the Cold War and later as the United States became the sole world superpower - and the legacies of the occupation contributed to the gradual erosion of Haitian independence, culminating in a second occupation and the current United Nations peacekeeping mission.

In 1915, United States Marines arrived in Haiti to safeguard lives and property from the political instability of the time. While there, the Marine Corps controlled everything from finance to education, from health care to public works and built an army, "La Garde d'Haiti," to maintain the changes it implemented. Ultimately, the decisions made by the United States about and for Haiti have indelibly shaped the development of what is generally considered the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Contrary Destinies presents the story of the one hundred year relationship between the two countries. Leon Pamphile chronicles the internal, external, and natural forces that have shaped Haiti as it is today, striking a balance between the realities faced by the people on the island and the global and transnational contexts that affect their lives. He examines how American policies towards the Caribbean nation-during the Cold War and later as the United States became the sole world superpower-and the legacies of the occupation contributed to the gradual erosion of Haitian independence, culminating in a second occupation and the current United Nations peacekeeping mission.

"In this well-documented and perceptively argued analysis, Leon D. Pamphile straightforwardly examines multifaceted aspects of the relations between African Americans and Haitians both at home and abroad and insightfully shows how these two subalternized groups have inscribed chunks of their histories inside the genealogies of each other's life trajectories."--Michel S. Laguerre, University of California, Berkeley In this first comprehensive study of the relations between Haiti and black America from the colonial period to the present, Leon Pamphile shows how historical ties between these two communities of the African diaspora have affected their respective histories, cultures, and community lives. Spanning some 200 years of relations between Haiti and African Americans, Pamphile's study is valuable for its thorough grounding in primary material, offering especially detailed treatments of 19th-century relations. He examines perceptions of Haiti in the United States during the debate over emancipation and slavery in the first half of that century and Haiti's role as a model in the struggle for liberation and then an asylum for many escaping oppression in the United States. His treatment of the decades from emancipation into the early 20th century, as descendants of African slaves struggled for legitimacy and respect in the post-slavery setting, is similarly meticulous. He highlights efforts to rehabilitate and elevate the black communities as well as dilemmas posed to African American leaders who defended Haitian independence during the U.S. occupation of 1915-34 and then sought to promote economic development on the island. He also treats relations between Haitian Americans and African Americans in major U.S. cities such as Baltimore, New Orleans, Charleston, and Philadelphia and traces the changing view of African American leaders toward Haiti during the Duvalier and post-Duvalier period as well as the role played by African American leaders in the U.S.-Haiti policy debate. His account covers individuals and events up to the period immediately following the multinational intervention of 1994. Pamphile demonstrates that Haiti and the African American community, though separated by national cultures, remained linked by the common experience of slavery and its aftermath. His detailed accounts of these connections in the areas of politics, agriculture, performing arts, religion, and family organization will provide valuable insights to scholars working in Caribbean and American history and foreign policy and in race relations. Leon D. Pamphile is the founder and executive director of the Functional Literacy Ministry, which provides reading materials and instruction in Haiti. He is the author of "La Croix et le Glaive: L'Eglise Catholique sous l'Occupation Americaine," winner of the 1990 book prize from the Historical and Geographical Society of Haiti, and of "Education en Haiti sous l'Occupation Americaine, 1915-1934."