Published: August 14, 2001
Help
Haiti Play Their Lousy Hand
By
Emory Curtis
There is a saying that individuals as well as countries should follow, "Play the hand that was dealt you." In the other words, make the most of what you have and waste no effort crying over the hands you wish you had.
I recently took a Caribbean cruise with over fifty members of the Haiti Support Group (HSG) which is a group of African Americans who try to help Haitians better play the lousy hand they were dealt. From what I saw, they need help.
Before our Haiti stop, the ship stopped in St. Thomas, one of the U. S. Virgin Islands. It seems to me U. S. would do well to adopt St. Thomas's education and low income housing rules.
All levels in St. Thomas agree that uneducated youths are drags on their tourist-based economy. Therefore if a student has two consecutive unexcused absences from school, the parents are fined $35.00.
That puts the onus on the parents by making them pay dollars out of their pocket for their child skipping school. It brings the compulsion in compulsory education right to the parent's front door, where is should be. That's an idea worth adopting.
In subsidized housing, the renter gets good looking deeply subsidized units with the admonition to take care of the unit. That admonition is followed by an inspection every four months. If it hasn't been taken care of, that tenant is out on the street forthwith. Another adoptable idea.
From St. Thomas we went to Haiti. Once away from the cruise ship owned and controlled spit of Haiti land, Labadie, it was like stepping into a long ago 19th century world.
Our HSG was taken from the ship to two of Haiti's premier national historical attractions, La Citadelle and Sans Souci.
La Citadelle is a giant fortress on top of a 3,000 foot mountain with 20' thick walls and innumerable slots for cannons. It took about 20,000 men and 13 years to complete the fort. It was to deter a French invasion. For Haitians, it was a success, the French didn't invade.
Sans Souci was constructed as the palace of the ruling monarch, Henri Christophe. It was built to rival France's Versailles and they even diverted streams to cool marble floors by running under them..
La Citadelle and Sans Soui are being restored and promoted as tourist attractions, They also serve as a source of pride for present day Haitians to see what their ancestors did almost two centuries ago. That gives them that individual feeling of, "We can do."
However, looking backward at what happened then and what is happening now, brought this question to my mind, "Do present day Haitians have the organizational ability and the focus to build such avant garde-structures?" Without some internal changes and outside help, it seems unlikely.
From a statistical and visual standpoint, Haiti is in need, dire need.
Statistically, about 60% of Haiti's work force is unemployed, only about 45% of Haiti's population has access to health care, 16% of rural residents and 44% of urban residents have access to potable water, 45% of the population is literate, only 67% of the 6-12 year old children have access to school, and the average per capita income is a measly $300 (US) per year.
Anyway you look at it, that is a dismal set of statistics.
About forty HSG members took a bus ride to La Citadelle and Sans Souci; since those sites are prime tourist attractions for Haiti, most likely we traveled some of the best roads in that section of Haiti. That best was some black top, some plain dirt and a lot of rough gravel.
All along the way Haitians were roadside to see us (their American kin) whiz by with a van of armed guards between each of the four buses. In towns shacks in all stages of construction are cheek by jowl on each side of the road.
A resident told us that some take up to 5 years to complete their shack. The builder builds what he can when he can. That's playing the hand that was dealt him as good as he can.
In the towns as well as the countryside the roadside served as a dump for cars and other unwanted goods. However, at no cost to the government, a maximum of recycling occurs because at that economic level, one man's trash is another man's find.
From my bus window observations, Haiti has two assets that are vastly under utilized: a large group of under and unemployed willing workers and underutilized arable land. Sugar cane is a glut on the market and utilizes most of the arable land.
Organic produce crops for the U. S. market could replace sugar cane. A year around growing season, a nearby airport and a ton of willing workers could all be utilized to make Haiti's produce market in this country that rivals Chile's size.
That may come about, but not soon. Meanwhile, our Haitian kin (their African forbearers were dropped there, ours here) ought to be near the front of our charitable giving line. They need everything. I was even told that some classrooms have to pass their only pencil around student by student.
I was surprised that six of the fifty plus HSG came from Oklahoma. For the record, I'll take John Goodman, an ex-San Franciscan, off the Oklahoma list to add to the Northern California contingent of my wife and myself.
Let me hear from you: (916) 961-1859 (V); (916) 967-1866 (FAX); e-mail; eccurtis@hotmail.com. or 8931 Bluff Lane, Fair Oaks, CA 95628.
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