porto - au - prince , haiti — peter flynn , a powerful poverty pioneer , spent a recent morning here waxing positive about how the uk ' s economic meltdown might prove the right position for africa to purchase more goods like t - suits and mangoes to them . his quixotic enthusiasm coincided with appearances by a bevy of luminaries spying on haiti this month , including ban ti - lunar , the confederate international secretary general , and the entire security board . all of them came to stress that this destitute person stands at a crossroads between salvation and " the void , " as mr . ban put it .
The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon comes from Haiti.