Cover Story
Haiti must not die
by John Halford
Sadly, it took an earthquake that levelled Haiti to put it on the map. Before January 12, I don’t suppose many of us knew much about Haiti and its history. Then, for several days it became front page news. By the time you read this, the media will have moved on – but the tragedy remains.
I know Haiti well. I visit there often and have many Haitian friends. (Thank God they all survived, and are doing what they can to help their neighbours.) When the news came that a massive earthquake had hit Port au Prince, I winced. I knew it would be bad. Even before the earthquake much of the city looked like it was ready to fall down. The old buildings, picturesque and historic perhaps, were sadly neglected. Newer constructions were often shoddily built, with little attention paid to the building codes. And then there were thousands of makeshift shacks, some teetering on the edge of ravines. Port au Prince was an accident waiting to happen.
As indeed was the entire country. Before the earthquake Haiti was rarely front page news. It is of little strategic importance, a threat to no one (but itself), and its tourist industry has all but collapsed. Most people only see it from the air, on the way to their holiday destination in the Dominican Republic, with whom Haiti shares the island of Hispaniola. From thousands of feet in the air you know when you have crossed the border. The lush forests of the Dominican Republic suddenly give way to the barren and eroded hills of Haiti. Same island, same climate, but what a difference. Over-populated and under-developed Haiti was by far the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.
Guilt-edged compassion
As the scope of the tragedy unfolded, and the media descended, the rest of the world began to learn something of the history of this unlucky nation: its struggle to become a free country after a determined fight against slavery, only to be abandoned by the USA and exploited by Europe in its greatest hour of need, and finally victimized by corrupt national leaders who appropriated what little wealth was left.
Unfortunately, this story is often told from the perspective of blame. By telling the story of Haiti’s sad history against a background of pancaked buildings and hollow-eyed children, we can tug at the world’s heartstrings, and put them on a guilt trip. But this only works for a while.
Certainly, much blame can be laid at the developed world’s feet. But blame leads to guilt, and guilt is a strong emotion. Stir guilt into the mix of ruined buildings, broken people and abandoned children, and you can guarantee an immediate outpouring of concern and generosity. The trouble is, guilt is also an emotion that can quickly evaporate. Putting the world on a temporary guilt trip may help the immediate emergency. But it will not produce the kind of long-term commitment that Haiti needs.
If we are to really help Haiti rebuild, there must be a stronger motivation than just feeling sorry for them, and sorry about what ‘we’ collectively might have ‘done to them’.
We Christians are especially susceptible to feelings of guilt. But it is rarely constructive. Jesus never sinned, and he is not to blame for ours. So when he took our sins on himself, he did not do it out of a sense of guilt. But he did accept the responsibility for them, because he loves us. He said he came to give us life1, and he did it ‘while we were yet sinners’2. We need to look at the challenge of helping Haiti as a responsibility, based on love – not guilt.
As we look past Haiti’s ruins, poverty and misery, we need to see the people as God sees them. I always come away from Haiti with a new feeling of respect for what it means to be human. There is so much to love about Haiti and the Haitians. I look into the eyes of the market lady asking if she can sell me a match – just one match. They are not the eyes of a beggar. It is a dignified transaction. As I pay for my match she thanks me, and offers me change from a handful of tattered bank notes and battered coins.
Then there was an old man at the airport who would clean the shoes of departing passengers. He crouched at my feet, polishing away with his battered brushes and a tin of polish scraped nearly dry. A lowly job? Hardly. He told me that he had put several of his sons through college. (A great tragedy of this earthquake is the almost total destruction of Haiti’s education system.)
These are not unusual Haitians. The way Haitians have tried to help each other in the wake of the disaster is impressive. There has been relatively little violence or looting. Overall, the stricken population has behaved with patience and restraint. I wonder if a similar disaster hit one of our cities whether we would behave as well. Those who know the Haitians well will tell you they are asking for a hand up, not a hand out. Given a chance, they work hard and seize opportunities.
21st century challenge
In the aftermath of the earthquake the world has been generous. The immediate crisis is contained. Haitians now need to rebuild. It will take many years and billions of dollars, pounds, Euros and anything else the world can send their way. It will also need a co-ordinated effort, without the petty infighting, posturing and politics that so often mar humanitarian efforts. A rebuilt and restored Haiti would be a wonderful monument to the 21st century. By some estimates the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are costing about $122,000 (£80,000) every minute. Just suppose, in the name of our common humanity, our adversaries agreed to a ceasefire, or even a temporary truce, to allow America and her allies to divert some of that to rebuilding Haiti.
OK, let’s get real – that isn’t going to happen. It is not the way of this world. Soon there will be other crises, other disasters, other priorities. But we who represent another way and a higher kingdom must not forget Haiti, for in its sad ruins is an opportunity for all of us to show what it means to be human. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul reminds them how ‘those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honourable we treat with special honour’.3
What we call the ‘faith-based community’ will need to be deeply involved. The tragedy that has hit Haiti calls us all to fresh priorities. If we can set aside sectarian and political rivalry and work together for a common cause, a new beginning could emerge from the hell that is now Haiti.
It could show the world how the kingdom of God can come – on earth, as it is in heaven.
Haiti and America
Everyone knows that the United States was the first nation in the Western Hemisphere to throw off colonial rule and declare independence. But how many realize that Haiti was the second?
In the years following the Revolutionary War and the Declaration of Independence, large parts of what is now the USA were still very much ‘up for grabs’.
The French had dreams of a North American Empire, and had claimed a huge slice of territory reaching from New Orleans to the Canadian border. Much of this was still a wilderness. France’s most important New World colonies were the Caribbean islands. And the richest and most prosperous of all was the one they called the ‘Pearl of the Antilles’ – the land that is now Haiti.
Haiti’s wealth was founded on slave labour, and the slavery in Haiti was particularly brutal. In the late 1700s, when France was convulsed in its own revolution, the Haitians also rebelled and demanded freedom. There was not much the French could do about it, and for a few years, the slaves enjoyed a measure of freedom. But in the early 1800s, the Emperor Napoleon, now firmly in charge of the new French Republic, decided that he needed to safeguard his North American territories against the Americans, the British and other rival powers. He sent a large force to strengthen his stronghold in New Orleans. On the way, they were ordered to stop over in Haiti to restore Imperial rule and re-impose slavery.
This was supposed to be a quick mopping-up operation. But Napoleon underestimated the determination of the Haitians, who had no intention of becoming slaves again. They fought back, and the ‘mopping up’ operation became a long and brutal war. The French army was decimated, and had to retreat. In 1804, Haiti declared itself an independent nation.
With his army decimated, Napoleon was left without sufficient forces to defend his North American possessions. Faced with wars in Europe, France abandoned the dream of a North American Empire, and in 1803 France sold Louisiana and its territories to the United States, for about 3 cents an acre.
The determination of the Haitians to remain free became a factor in the greatest real-estate deal in history, and the future power and prosperity of the United States.
1. John 10:10
2. Romans 5:8
3. 1 Corinthians 12:22-23
Haiti’s remote families face a new threat >
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