Aug. 2, 2009
Wyclef Jean's Hopes For Haiti
Scott Pelley On The Rock Star's Efforts To Help His Homeland
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Play CBS Video Video Wyclef Jean Wyclef Jean emigrated to the U.S. as a baby and grew up to live the American dream as a millionaire rock star. He's now using his extraordinary talents and wealth to help his native Haiti. Scott Pelley reports.
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Wyclef Jean (CBS)
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Fast Facts Haiti Learn about the people, economy and history.
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Photo Essay Shakira And Wyclef Join Forces Pop superstars team up on smash hit single, "Hips Don't Lie"
To live the life of Wyclef Jean is to believe that almost anything is possible. Wyclef is a Grammy Award winning multimillionaire rock star who comes from Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. He's one of thousands of Haitians who immigrate to the U.S. And many never return. But not Wyclef.
As 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley first reported in January, he goes back to Haiti often, using his personal wealth to help his impoverished country.
Wyclef's passion and determination have made him a hero to millions of Haitians.
Pelley got to see firsthand how they feel about Wyclef Jean when they visited Cite Soleil, one of the most infamous slums on Earth.
Cite Soleil is a sprawling slum by the bay of Port-au-Prince. Half a million people live there, many of them next to a garbage dump. The name means "Sun City," but despite its name, this is a breeding ground for disease and despair, gangs and violence.
"They know you're here," Pelley remarked, hearing the cheers. "Man, they are coming by the hundreds, by the thousands."
They're coming for Wyclef. When he's around, it's as if he's the only ray of hope in "Sun City."
"Yeah, they're not gonna give up. Yet. So we gonna get out and do a little walking," Wyclef told Pelley, as the crowd around them grew and grew.
They found themselves in the middle of a spontaneous homecoming for a Haitian icon who left the island nation nearly 30 years ago.
Wyclef Jean is one of the world's most recognizable stars, performing before sold-out audiences, selling more than 50 million records in a 20-year career. His music is an eclectic mix, rooted in his Haitian DNA. Known primarily as a hip hop artist, he has a gift for guitar that reminds many of Jimi Hendrix.
"I came from Haiti. English is not my first language. I came to the land of the free, the land of the opportunities. I made somethin' of myself," Wyclef told Pelley.
Asked what he thinks would have happened had he never left Haiti, he said, "I think about that all the time. I always think 'Why you, Clef? There's close to ten million people in that place. Why you?'"
He comes from a country both beautiful and destitute. The average Haitian lives on less than $300 a year. Half the people scratch out a meager living on the land. The others are packed into cities like the capital, Port-au-Prince. When 60 Minutes came with Wyclef, he was greeted like a head of state. To most Haitians, he's the living incarnation of their dream, someone who got out, struck it rich, but didn't forget where he came from.
"These kids, they could identify with me, 'cause they say, 'He looks like us, and he talks our language,'" he told Pelley.
In 2005, Wyclef created a charity that seems designed to attack all of Haiti’s problems at once. It's called "Yele Haiti". He spent nearly a quarter of a million dollars of his own money to start it. And now, with donations and sponsors, it has an annual budget of $3 million.
Produced by Harry Radliffe and Magalie Laguerre-Wilkinson
© MMIX, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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See all 29 CommentsThe Rev. Rebecca Crosby,Associat Minister of the Old Lyme, CT Congregational Church and her husband fund a school in Haiti. The story of their work on that tragic island would be a perfect sequel to Wyclef Jean's story. I can't do justice to their story. Please call Becky and decide for yourself if I am right.860-434-8686. your
Posted by davemanfoot
Wyclef is a good guy. I met him at a wedding once, he was guest just like us. I knew my daughter would be so disappointed if i didn''t get his autgraph, so I waited for the right opportunity and asked. he very kindly obliged, and I know that it must have irritated him when he was simply out celebrating a friends wedding, just being a regular person for a change. I guess that''s just him, in Haiti or in America, his heart is always out there for others. maybe when he gets a little older, he might rethink that President thing...
How much of Haiti''s problems do you think are a result of bad leadership? Do you think that much of Haiti''s problems began with the Papa Doc Duvalier or does it go back further? Where do you think Haiti''s problems started? I don''t mean any disrespect, I just want your opinion.
It''s jompbonnet@yahoo.com. I''m up in sussex county. old web site is www.immeds.com. Jean-Paul Bonnet
Haiti can and willbecome the beacon of light. What we do for the least of men we do for him. This is the hour, this is the place. We have been blessed with the technology, now let us create the human initiative. To take third world to new world. It is in fact a revolution of thought or the mind as you say. What say you of a global peace concert to help the poor of HAiti. Summer solstice 2009. Let me know. Stopped at your dads church not to long ago, hoping to catch you. Peace, ask Gwynne she knows
Wyclef is "Renaissance Man." A great musician and humanitarian who loves his native land. I admire the fact that he''s more concerned about Haiti than big cars, lots of women and bling. His heart and mind are in the right place and I love that. I''m just a middle-class working secretary. I live in Washington, D.C. but every month I try and send his non-profit a little money. Sometimes $20, sometimes $30. I figure every little bit helps. It may help a child go to school another year, plant a tree, buy someone a flock of chickens or a pig - something that will help them feed themselves - not a hand-out but a hand-up. If you have it in your heart, please go to Wyclef''s non-profit organization''s website: Yele Haiti at www.yele.org - you can donate money for schools, reforestation, work programs, food programs, small business programs. The time for judging people is over, the time for action is now. Haiti didn''t get this bad overnight and it won''t become better overnight either. Remember, by birth you are lucky to be born in the U.S. As a black American I see these people and I know that there but for the grace of God goes me. My ancestors could have been dropped off in Haiti and I could be living in that nightmare so I feel an obligation to these people as I know they are my brothers and sisters. I cannot not give!
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