Jerryanne Heath is the CEO and Founder of ConceptLink Consulting, a firm which helps US and international social-mission organizations connect with their stakeholders through various event management and communications strategies. She is also co-chair of the Africa Social Enterprise Forum.
Nearly 200,000 people are feared dead in Haiti as a result of the earthquake that struck the island nation on January 12, 2010. Hundreds of thousands of Haitians have been displaced and are now homeless. The earthquake caused terrible damage to the capital city, Port-Au-Prince and surrounding areas, toppling the already strained infrastructure and economy.
Media coverage of, and the international response to, this disaster are unprecedented. The images of orphaned children, screams of amputees, and miraculous stories from survivors resonate with me. We are all human. This tragedy could have happened anywhere. Many of us feel compelled to do something.
As of January 29, more than $560 million had been donated to US nonprofits leading relief efforts in Haiti. According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, the pace of giving for Haiti is running ahead of the amount donated in the same period after the September 11th attacks in 2001 and the Asian tsunamis in 2004. Many of these donations are going directly to NGOs working on the ground, saving lives, and providing food and water. I have donated to 5 organizations – I want to do my part to ease the pain.
What concerns me is that beyond the immediate task of rescue, the overwhelming kindness of do-gooders may be contributing to the longer term detriment of Haiti. Are we, in our efforts to help, ignoring the true desires/responsibilities of the Haitian people? For example, 10 American missionaries have been arrested for child-trafficking after trying to ferry 33 children out of Haiti and into the Dominican Republic. The missionaries claimed the children were orphans; but many of their parents were alive and many of the children simply did not want to go.
I am also concerned about the international donor community rushing in and pledging billions of aid dollars to Haiti over the next several years. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with fellow do-gooders in Montreal last week to discuss helping Haiti “build back better.” They agreed on a 10-year reconstruction effort which is expected to cost $3 billion. According to Haitian officials, the money would be used to house 200,000 people left homeless in 200 model communities complete with schools and health care centers, as well as to rebuild government ministries and national infrastructure. The end goal sounds great; however, it is unlikely that any aid scheme will reduce poverty and corruption if the approach remains the same as it has been for the past two centuries.
An op-ed article in the Wall Street Journal made me stop and think about the historical roots and longer term impact of all this money pouring into Haiti. Social entrepreneurs and others who want to make a difference in Haiti must first understand Haiti’s historical and political context. Haiti was the second country to gain independence in the Americas (after the US). US political leaders, threatened by the country’s emergence as a state born out of a slave revolt in 1804, refused to officially recognize Haiti as a sovereign nation until 1862.
Since then, particularly in the 20th century, the US policy on Haiti has been schizophrenic. Haiti was ruled by a despot, Francois Duvalier, from 1957-1971. Despite its repressive nature, the regime was tolerated by the US because it was anti-communist. After the country descended into a military dictatorship in the mid-1980s, the US suspended aid. Jean-Bertrand Aristede, a former priest, tried to establish a democracy and was elected President in 1990. Seven months into his term, the military overthrew him and installed another dictatorship. The Clinton administration responded by imposing sanctions, withholding aid and invading Haiti to restore former President Aristide to power. A decade later, the Bush administration squeezed the economy to push Aristide back out of power again. Confused by all of this? So am I.
What has been consistent over the years is that extreme violence and corruption have been prevalent in the Haitian government. Haiti has been called one of the worst governed and poorest states in the Western Hemisphere. Furthermore, international policies that use aid as a tool to achieve a political goal have often made problems in Haiti worse, contributing to poverty and economic and political instability.
International donors have assured us that an independent damage assessment will be conducted before any money is officially pledged for the 10-year rebuilding effort. The assessment will be led by “experts” from the Inter-American Development Bank, the United Nations Development Program, and the World Bank, many of the same organizations that have admitted their own ineffectiveness in Haiti over the past several decades.
The World Bank reported that “…the development impact of World Bank assistance to the country since 1986 has been negligible, as the critical constraints to development—governance and public sector capacity and accountability—have not diminished.” It added, “…without improved governance and institutional reforms, the World Bank and other donors will be able to accomplish very little.”
Knowing that there has been a historical mismatch between the amount of aid money sent to Haiti and the government’s capacity to absorb it, wouldn’t it make sense to just stop? Stop with the 10-year plans, stop with the aid – they haven’t worked and these policies have been inconsistent. Saving lives should certainly be the priority right now, but instead of rushing to promise longer term aid, shouldn’t we acknowledge Haiti as a sovereign nation, capable of taking responsibility for its future?
The damage assessment to be performed in Haiti should include representatives from the private sector, not just the World Bank and its peers. In our efforts to help rebuild, do-gooders should seek a clear plan for attracting new investment and fostering formal entrepreneurship in the country. Haiti received 10 times as much in aid ($701 million) as it did in foreign investment in 2007. The private sector is in shambles and because of the lack of jobs, more than 60% of the working population was self-employed in 2001, according to a former World bank employee. A 2001 study found that the country contains over 200,000 unregistered businesses, which were estimated to possess $270 million in machinery and equipment at the time. Shouldn’t we seek a framework that legitimizes these businesses and enables the government to begin generating sustainable revenue through modest taxes?
I am not proposing that the international community or well-intentioned do-gooders withhold aid. But I do think that promising to help before seeing a clear plan, outlined by Haiti, to address the country’s deep rooted economic and political issues could have serious negative repercussions. Ten missionaries are now sitting in jail for circumventing local laws while “trying to help” and at least fifteen orphans have been separated from their parents. The international community needs to stop and take a close look at the local context before rushing in with acts of kindness.
Photo Credit: LISANDRO SUERO/AFP/Getty Image
Jacqueline Musiitwa Said,
February 9, 2010 @ 12:05 am
I am currently reading “In the River They Swim” (http://www.intherivertheyswim.com/) and it starts with the discussion of a Sufi master that in teaching his disciples about different levels of knowledge by using the analogy of getting to know a river. He described to them the most basic knowledge being that of book knowledge, then to taking a journey to see the river and all the sacrifices incurred to travel to the river and the last level of knowledge is that of swimming in the river because at that point one tastes it, feels it etc, you get the picture.
The problem with the “reconstruction” of Haiti is that we the international community generally do not have the depth of knowledge or experience of Haiti to truly have the best solutions for Haiti, the Haitians do. With all the money that has been given to international organizations, I am left to wonder whether the needs of Haitians will be met. I recently read a blog entitled “Nobody wants your old shoes: how not to help Haiti” (http://aidwatchers.com/2010/01/nobody-wants-your-old-shoes-how-not-to-help-in-haiti/) which I found humorous and true. Here we are sending items that Haitians may not necessarily need because we feel they should have them. I guess my point is, have we stopped to ask the Haitians what they need? As organizations asked for money in the days following the quake, I do not recall seeing any Haitians outlining what they need, other than to be reunited with family, rescue from rubble, food, medications, shelter etc. Then again, I am very selective about the media sources I pay attention to so it is possible I could have missed the mass Haitian appeal.
After viewing all the images of the earth quake, I like others grappled with the question of how can I really help. I have read a lot about Haiti’s history, I know a lot of Haitians, I enjoy Haitian culture, but I have never experienced Haiti, I have not swam in Haiti. After donating money and not feeling like I was doing much, I continued to anguish until I talked to some Haitians friends of mine and asked what they and their families needed. After hearing request upon request for immigration advice, I decided the best way for me to contribute was to create Prese! Prese! (http://www.preseprese.org), an initiative for lawyers to provide pro bono legal services for Haitians in need of Temporary Protected Status application advice and other legal matters. Had I not talked to Haitians, I probably would have come up with a solution I felt they needed instead of what they really needed.
Even if Haitians had somehow or another found a way to voice a mass Haitian appeal, it would be naive of us to think Haitians speak as one voice. We would have most likely heard the most powerful voices or those with access to technology and it is arguable whether or not those would have represented the majority. So my question is who is Haiti’s voice to the world? I wonder is not that why countries are represented by governments? Governments, or at least democratic ones are for the people, by the people, of the people. Pardon me again in case I missed it, but I have not heard much from the Haitian government other than asking for more money and debt relief. I have not yet heard many plans for how to resolve the problems (the longstanding ones or the new ones).
Having said that, while the government may not be considered the best by governance standards, it is what the Haitians have in place. Haitians know the river they swim in. Perhaps the greater lesson for Haitians is in holding their government accountable and transparent. Hopefully, now is their time to rethink and rebuild much of the ailing physical and societal infrastructure in Haiti. Perhaps the earthquake will prompt Haitians to better value good leadership and refuse to be led by leaders who do not have their interests at heart. Moreover, elections are slated to take place in the near future (if they happen) so if the current government fails to act now, may the Haitians choose a government that will act on their behalf.
Moving forward, I can only hope that all our goodwill, prayers and well wishes will be used for the betterment of peoples lives in Haiti. I think the government, international donors and NGOs should work with the Haitians to develop initiatives and strategies that will create sustainable solutions to poverty alleviation, rule of law, good leadership and sustained economic growth. Partners in Health is a great example of an organization that enables Haitians to map and carry out programs that are for their own benefit. This model should be replicated by other groups. I think I echo the sentiment of many that Haiti should not become a protectorate of sorts of the international community. We can not dictate how Haiti should use the funds it has received. We the international community should not see rebuilding as an opportunity to impose our views about how Haiti should be governed and/or developed. Haitians need to be at the forefront of keeping the government and all the other players in the reconstruction scene accountable. Haitians are responsible for Haiti.
Jerryanne Heath Said,
February 9, 2010 @ 6:53 pm
Jacqueline, thanks for your comments. I couldn’t agree with you more. We (in the US) have a tendency to act first and ask questions later. Going forward, we need to allow Haitians to be the masters of their own destiny.
Prese!Prese! looks like a fantastic initiative. I read a study prior to the earthquake that 67% of Haitians wanted to leave Haiti. I can only imagine how many more would want to leave the island nation now. Though we hope that Haiti will become a desirable place to live and work in the future, we have to acknowledge that millions of people are clamoring to leave. I think there should be as many opportunities as possible for Haitians to seek a new life elsewhere. I am glad to see attorneys coming together to address these critical immigration issues.
debbie L Said,
February 16, 2010 @ 1:02 am
It’s not a well thought out solution to have Haitians leave Haiti as the fix. Stay in your country and help your fellow people. I believe in helping,empowering, partnering, but more along the lines of “show them How to fish, you feed them for life” philosophy. I live in a city with over 300,000 Haitians , as well as MANY other immigrants. It’s like having a life boat, but too many people trying to get in and tipping it over. It’s extremely hard to keep an economy growing when you have so many people in the lower class with few skills or resources, and draining, yes draining, the social programs meant to help, but are overwhelmed.That is the reality, not racist or against immigrants. Jerryann, you say “there should be as many op’s as possible for Haitians to seek a new life ELSWHERE”. I think that is irresponsible thinking. I come from a lower middle class family, but my parents grew up poor. I agree that Haitians need to be the spokesman for their nation,and we should help them where they see the need. I’m all for that. I agree with the medical treatment here for those in need. I’ve lived in poor neighborhoods, but Haiti’s poor is beyond most American’s belief. It is heartbreaking.
I think Haitians need to be in their own country helping their people. Here in Florida, in neighborhoods most media never really live in, immigration has hurt this states economy. Too many people at the bottom of an economy will hurt the nation. Thats just the truth, not trying to anti-anybody.Only a strong, solvent America can help it’s people, and other nations. I may be naive, but I think that IF the worlds gov’ts all helped rebuild Haiti, or any other gravely poor nation, we could get it to a stable state.And certainly without violence or negative means. Just concentrate on one area, help fix it, then keep a stable, reinforced policy as a partner. The sad fact is, it could be done. But a “little here, a little” there doesn’t work.
Please forgive my ignorance, bad grammar, etc, I just have strong feelings about this. I’ve given to many charities, to Haiti, and hope it helps the Haitians, who deserve it. If all poor, underdevoloped countries sent their poor here, it would bankrupt the US. Find solutions in those countries, for the people and with their needs/ideas at the fore front. THank you for letting me vent!
Jerryanne Said,
February 18, 2010 @ 1:16 pm
Debbie, I want to thank you for your comment. You are obviously passionate about this issue. I would like to better understand your perspective. In your experience with Haitian immigrants in Florida, do you get the sense that their quality of life or income has improved since moving to America? Here in New York, I am surrounded by Haitian immigrants who are entrepreneurs, doctors, nurses, lawyers, and bankers. Debbie, have you seen similar success stories in your community? And for those who live in poverty, wouldn’t their condition be worse if they were still living in Haiti?
I emigrated to the US from the Caribbean with my family when I was 5. By no means do I believe that moving to the US is the best solution for everyone – I’m not promoting brain drain. But I do acknowledge the opportunities that would have been otherwise unavailable to me and my family if we were still living in the Caribbean. I don’t see immigrants as a drain on resources – more often than not their drive, energy and creativity add value to their new society.
I don’t think that mass migration is the best solution for Haiti. However, I firmly believe that there should be opportunities for those who do want to leave and that a controlled emigration process should be part of the rebuilding efforts. Hundreds of thousands of people are now homeless in Haiti and will be living in tents and squalor indefinitely – does it really benefit the country to force people to stay in these conditions?? I would think this would strain the tattered economy even more.
The President of Senegal at one point offered fertile land to any Haitians who wished to repatriate. Though he was criticized by many, I think there is value in this offer. I see more positive benefits from the international community providing income generating opportunities for Haitian immigrants, instead of just dumping billions of aid money into the country.
It’s a complicated situation with no easy fix. We can all debate about the best way forward, but at the end of the day we need to empower Haiti to determine its own destiny. Any Haitians out there? I’d really love to hear your perspective!