My family and I just arrived back at our friends home where we are staying for a few days while on vacation. We were spending precious time visiting with relatives—beautiful people who we see far too little. Oh, you probably think that this is just another day in the privileged country of Canada where I live. Did I forget to mention that we are currently in the heart of a supposed shithole country? That’s right. As I write this, we are in the centre of Port Au Prince, and these friends of ours whose place we are staying at run a preschool for underprivileged Haitian children. They are amazing people who have also been going the extra mile in partnering with us, looking after my adopted daughters siblings who still live in Haiti. The relatives who we were just visiting are the birth parents, brothers, sister, grandmother, uncle and aunt, not to mention various cousins of my Haitian born daughters.
We fell in love with this country and its people fifteen years ago when we first came here to meet the first of two little girls we would adopt as our own. As we (my wife and I with our daughters, the birth parents, and sister) travelled via tap-tap (it’s Haiti’s public transportation—basically we rode in the back of a small pickup) to the home of the uncle and aunt while the boys were in school, I couldn’t help but to observe the vibrant life of the city that we travelled through. Every building is painted in bright colours and the sound of the traffic and street vendors are inescapable.
This trip marks our seventh time to Haiti. I have been from Jeremie in the south end of the island, all the way to Labadee in the north. Two things that stand out to me every time I come here, as I observe the people struggling to make a living any way they can against all odds: This is the home of a proud and strong people who exude dignity and determination. Also, this is a very picturesque country with majestic mountains, lush tree canopies and beautiful beaches.
There are six family’s who control Haiti’s entire economy. They are the extremely wealthy elite in this country who control most of the wealth and are also responsible for directing the political power—in their favour of course. In short, the people of Haiti are for the most part trapped under the thumb of the very rich, very powerful and very corrupt. Looking at the history of Haiti, you realize that the people here have always really been living under an extreme disadvantage. From the get-go, they were brought here as slaves from west Africa and sold to Europeans by fellow countrymen who wielded power over them. They have never had a fighting chance to escape the cycle of poverty which has entrapped them for generations.
In talking to Haitians in the streets of Port Au Prince, I have discovered that Donald Trump with his disparaging remarks is not a very popular person here. You see, if you are overweight and unhealthy, and are kept that way by being fed a poor diet and locked in a small room where you cannot exercise, it is completely unhelpful for someone to look through your window and call you a fat, lazy slob.
The population of Haiti (minus the rich, powerful and corrupt elite) want change. They don’t enjoy having to scrape by in a country that lacks potable water with 80% unemployment, poor healthcare, no social assistance, a poor education system, and scant evidence of governmental regulation. (There’s actually a much larger list of grievances than this. Consider this a small sampling). The people here want—and deserve change. And they are powerless to do anything about it as a repressed people.
It is not helpful to trample the dignity of a beautiful and strong people by calling their home a “shithole country”. They are well aware of what they lack compared to developed nations.
It’s easy for us in North America to sit back in our comfortable living rooms at the end of a day of working at a job that we take for granted and criticize those who don’t enjoy the success we have. it’s easy to assume it’s their fault and they are just too lazy to do anything about it, while we smugly pat ourselves on our collective back and go back to whatever vapid means of diversion that was entertaining us.
Put yourself in their shoes. Better yet, bring your shoes down here (with your feet in them) and get to know the people here. Spend time in their country, spend your money here, find a reputable organization that is here long term and making a difference and support them financially.
If you, in your comfortable position of being the elite worldwide economic minority, which we all are as North Americans, sit there and call the country of Haiti a “shithole country”, you are part of the problem. Whatever you do, don’t insult a downtrodden people. Don’t project a false identity of worthlessness onto them.
God Bless Haiti!
Here are some reputable long term organizations who I trust and support, and I would encourage you to also support in an effort to make life better for these beautiful people:
http://mcmhaiti.org/
http://heartlineministries.org/
https://www.compassion.ca/