Haiti One year After – Some Reflections

It was one year ago that an earthquake of gigantic proportions shook Haiti, capturing the attention of people the world over. With the kind of developments in technology that are available, disasters or events in any part of the world come to our attention as though they were occurring next door. This was brought to our attention particularly on that day that Nelson Mandela was released from prison.{{more}} We saw it in our living rooms and empathised with him and the black people of South Africa. On January 12th last year we looked and prayed as persons were dragged out of collapsed buildings. When we thought it was all over and no other person could possibly have survived, we stared in utter amazement when others were brought out alive. Feelings of sympathy and promises of assistance in the rebuilding effort poured in from all over the world. It is now one year later, and we need to look at what has being achieved or not achieved. Let us however put what happened on that fateful day into context. This tragedy struck one of the poorest nations in the world, a country listed as number 148 out of 169 countries on the UN’s Human Development Index. The immediate reaction to Haiti’s tragedy then revealed the ignorance and prejudices that existed about a country that was the second country in the Hemisphere to have received its independence. What was significant about Haiti was that it was the only slave colony to have carried out a successful slave revolt and in doing so became an independent country, while other colonies in the Caribbean region remained gripped in slavery.

This was Haiti’s initial problem. A colony that had successfully thrown off the shackles of slavery sent fears among the slave holding nations of the world. This could not have been allowed to go unpunished because of the example it set to those other colonies still experiencing the yoke of slavery. The French, Spanish, British, Dutch and Portugese could not tolerate such an enigma, as I guess they saw it. The prejudices against Africa and the slaves who came out of its bowels continued against a people who had freed themselves from slavery. Haiti, however, became an inspiration to slaves in the Caribbean and assisted Latin America in its efforts to secure independence from Spain and Portugal. Haiti’s resistance against Napoleon’s efforts to regain control led eventually to his decision to sell the Louisiana territory. A colony just emerging from slavery by its own efforts needed all the help it could have gotten. Instead it was treated like a pariah. With hostility and threats of invasion Haiti had actually, in 1825, to accept France’s terms about the payment of reparations which it continued to do for almost one hundred years. This, of course, was a severe blow to the Haitian economy and society.

Haiti also suffered from American occupation from 1915- 1934 and its continued interference in the politics of the country, supporting, among others, the brutal Duvalier dictators, Papa and Baby Doc from the 1950s to 1986. Of course, all of Haiti’s problems could not be blamed on its history and on foreign intervention, but the country was set on a path from which it was never able to recover. Political instability, interventions by the army, brutal dictators, corruption not all of the Haitian making, all contributed to the disaster that Haiti became. The country was just never given a chance.

The earthquake of 2010 exposed all of the ills that had beset Haiti and rekindled the prejudices that existed, hence Pat Robertson’s talk about a ‘pact with the devil’ and the international community’s failure to involve the Haitian government and people to the extent that they should. Most of the rubble still remains in Haiti, over 800,000 persons are still homeless, with the UN estimating that by the end of 2011 about 650,000 Haitians will remain in tents. Some commentators claim that not much has happened since January 2010. Things have undoubtedly happened but not to the extent that was expected. There are quite a number of NGOs on the ground providing health care and basic services but as happens with the overall reconstruction effort it all remains uncoordinated. It will be extremely difficult to begin to address long term needs when services such as housing remain chaotic. In fact priority areas that need to be addressed should include housing, clearing the rubble, deciding on ownership of land and providing jobs. It would appear that the International community has been focussing on what it considers priority needs as opposed to the priority needs identified by the Haitians and their Caribbean colleagues. Contracts are given largely to foreigners, with only a very small percentage going to Haitians and with profits going back to the donor countries. The reconstruction process is controlled by the International Community with the Haitian Government, institutions and people being sidelined.

The social situation is deteriorating further with continued reports of robbery, prostitution, rape, sexual abuse and domestic violence occurring in the tents. Added to this is the outbreak of Cholera which has already claimed thousands of lives, and further political instability created by problems with the elections of November 28. It is amazing that in this chaotic situation a decision was taken to hold elections. The elections have been fraught with irregularities, voter intimidation and fraud. Will the next year be as chaotic, with the reconstruction process moving at the snail’s pace it is? The Washington Post recently indicated that amidst all of this was some good news. A South Korean Garment company through its Chairman has just signed a deal to establish business in Haiti, bringing 20,000 jobs. The paper said also that “The U.S government along with the Inter-American Development Bank will spend US$170 million-erecting a power plant, an industrial park, factory shells and 5,000 worker houses and improving the northern port of Cap Haitien” Digicel’s Chief Executive is also heavily involved having spent US$12 million to renovate the ‘historic Iron Market’. Is this a turning point? The Haitians had expected a lot more but many of the promises either failed to materialise or are slow in doing so. It is clear to me that the reconstruction effort will never bring the benefits expected unless the Haitian people become heavily involved and are part of the decisions and of the overall reconstruction effort.

Dr Adrian Fraser is a social commentator and historian.