How can we heal Haiti?

By SHAUN INGRAHAM

Wednesday, February 3 - As we continued our tours today, the big question was, "How can we heal Haiti?"

Will Haiti get the support it needs to pull through this period and emerge a more economically stable country?

Or, will the world quickly forget once the cameras turn to the next sensational news item? Is this indeed Haiti's time to turn lemons into lemonade?

As we rode and my host and I discussed this, we decided there is more than one issue to be considered. While having lunch, the observation was made that healing Haiti is like peeling an onion.

Some of the challenges include:

A crumbling infrastructure

It is reported that at least 100 boats now wait off the coast to land their cargo in the crumbling harbour of Port au Prince. It is depressing to know that some of this cargo just might be canvass tents, food, bedding, water and/or clothing. Or, do they have heavy machinery, excavators, front-end loaders, vehicles, building materials and/or medical supplies on board? In any event, whenever they arrive they will not be a moment too soon.

The approximately 60 mile journey from Pignon to Port au Prince takes four hours to complete and the broken, uneven roads leave travellers sore and tired. Roadways clogged with traffic jams delay workers for hours, cutting into productivity.

An acute brain drain

Each year thousands of Haitians leave their home in search of a better way of life. Some end up in New York, Canada, France, and others in Miami. They travel to give their children "a better way of life." All of our hosts are quick to point out that they have no plans to leave. They feel like Haiti needs them. What would happen if Haiti began a Come Back Home Programme? Will the diaspora return to apply their skills to the economic, political, educational and cultural institutions? What about the Haitian nurses and doctors abroad? I have seen the local ones working in some of the most adverse conditions.

75 per cent Unemployment

Can any country survive with this crippling statistic? While this percentage points to the number of individuals who do not have a paying job and do not pay taxes, it does not mean that Haitians do not work hard. Each morning, men, women and children gather beside the street with their goods to sell to those passing by. Some have fruit or vegetables, others have phone cards and still others sell flowers at the local flower market.

Today at one of the collapsed buildings, two stories high, I saw a man of about 32 sluggishly swing a sledge hammer at the tie beam, a task that in a more modern society is reserved for heavy machinery. His comrade had a hacksaw and was diligently working on cutting away the rebar that held the huge chunks of concrete together. I'm not sure how this ended but am willing to guess they didn't accomplish much and will have to return tomorrow and the next day and maybe even for a week at two dollars a day to complete this task.

The world's lack of understanding

If you travel to Haiti and meet the local people, visit their homes and see the beauty of the beaches and hills, immediately the hopelessness and doom and gloom that we often see on television is replaced by an impression of a spirit-filled people who refuse to give up; a people who are proud of their history, even if they have sometimes been punished for it and by it.

A friend of mine, when he heard that I was travelling to Haiti, asked me to deliver something to a friend of his who worked at a hotel here. Upon pulling up to the hotel, I soon realised that this could have been on a beach in Bermuda, the Bahamas or the Cayman Islands. It was beautiful. Most significantly, it was owned and operated by locals. I inquired about this facility, and the driver informed me that just recently a former US president had lived there on his visit to Haiti.

Our conversations went on for hours as we sat in the midday traffic.

We pointed out some obvious as well as not-so-obvious problems. I kept pushing the driver, who did not always understand my Eleuthera (Tarpum Bay) English, to help me come up with solutions. I wanted to understand and know Haiti.

His response was, "It is not easy to understand our problems." He suggested that one had to be an insider to understand. I began to agree with him. As I peeled away one layer, another one appeared.

Tomorrow we will travel into the city again and continue to seek strategic ways to carry out our mission. I am sure of one thing, there are no easy answers and no quick solutions. We are in this one for the long run . . .

Published On:Thursday, February 04, 2010