Haitians Expect Little from U.S.-Haiti Meeting

Ordinary Haitians said yesterday they expected little from the meeting between U.S. President Back Obama and Haitian President Rene Preval. Preval and Obama are in Washington DC to discuss reconstruction efforts for Haiti, which was left devastated after the January 12 earthquake. <br /><br />Many Haitians do not trust the Preval government. <br /><br />[Pierre Aliodor, Local]: (Male, English) <br />''We don't get nothing to eat, we don't have a safe place to live, you know what I mean, so we don't have nothing, we are just living alone so we don't see the Haitian government so that's the reason, when Preval is moving, meeting with Obama, he just gonna take care of his business so he don't gonna do nothing for the Haitian people.” <br /><br />[Sherlyne Theodor, Local]: (Female, Creole) <br />''Nothing serious. The poor will become poorer, the bad will become worse, the upper class will be more upper class and the white will stay white. Nothing serious to expect.'' <br /><br />But there are a few who hope that the meeting will produce tangible results. <br /><br />[Pierriatil Fritzner, Local]: (Male, English) <br />''I think the meeting will be positive for the Haitian people because we need the American help to rebuild the country.'' <br /><br />Legislative elections were originally scheduled for February 28 but got delayed by the earthquake. <br /><br />The U.S. has already given almost $700 million into Haitian reconstruction efforts. <br /><br />Preval said up to 300,000 people were killed in the disaster and tens of thousands of people remain in flimsy tent cities around the capital.