Haiti, The Earthquake, and Donations

I don't hold the country of Haiti in high regard. I was there in 1996 or maybe it was 1998 for a 30 day work assignment. I was asked to go back a second time but that for only a few days right after my first stay. I was hesitant to do so but did it because it seemed an important assignment, the fate of the first mission (a training mission teaching Haitian law enforcement how to smuggle interdict narcotics coming into and leaving the country. The first mission would continue if a group of diplomats, who dragged me along with them, could convince Haitian government officials that the program was worth it. We did as far as I know convince them. It was probably all for naught as Haiti was the most corrupt country I have ever visited in my limited travels, and this was also the opinion of some others on my team who had traveled world wide and who had been in many other very poor countries. The country was an ecological disaster. It was densely overpopulated, the people were poor, they were under the control of a corrupt and probably somewhat tyrannical government (which was a great improvement over the previous administration there, it was extremely unbalanced in regard to class structure from the ultra rich directly to the dirt poor with virtually no middle class. It was dirty, is stank to the high heavens, the people (at least those with any money) were obviously racists for the great part and disliked American although they made lots of money in the good old US of A. To say it was an utterly wretched shithole full of the scum of the earth would be an understatement.

Yet there was something in the Haitian poor that was almost unfathomable. It was hope. You could see it in the eyes of the school children, those lucky enough to be in school. You could see it in the yes of those who shopped in the markets, or those who sold there. You could see it in the eyes of the guys who carried the individual buckets of water to the wheelbarrows to mix the concrete for construction projects by hand. You could see it in the few beggars who were on the streets (here were very few beggars in evidence). You could see it on the faces of those who were aid workers. You cold see it on the faces of those few of the minute middle class who had jobs and were doing fairly well. You could see it on the faces of the folks standing there in their shanties and illuminated by a single electric light bulb in a bare socket hanging on a wire from a hook on the ceiling. What gave them hope was beyond me - that is unless it was all the handouts they were getting from the rest of the world at the time. They were the poorest nation in the northern hemisphere without a doubt and had little prospect of improvement within that century or this one. I had the thought that the best thing that could have happened to Haiti is that a 90 foot tidal wave would have swept away 75% of its population. I still believe it, that short of a miracle, that would have been the best thing that could befall Haiti and her people. Why? Not because I wished Haiti or Haitians ill but because if the country's population was reduced by about 75% the survivors maybe would stand a chance at a decent life - for example they would have almost enough resources, more employment per capita and so on. Of course, I never wished such on anyone in Haiti, it was just sort of a theory about what possibly would become their salvation, albeit by way of a horrible twisted path to get there.

The earthquake that just hit Haiti is not the same as the disaster that I believed would, in the end, help Haiti. Hundreds of thousands may have been killed and hundreds of thousands may have also been injured. Haiti's infrastructure, what little there was of it, is devastated for the most part. They are, in essence, helpless to help themselves They already were in terrible shape and have been left a hundred times worse off than they were. many countries of the world were helping them, and they probably were much better off than when I was last there, slowly but surely building up, but all of that or almost all of that has now been destroyed and they are back at a place beyond their worst state in the last 40 or 50 years by my guess. A lot of this is due to their own fault. Overpopulation, corruption, greed, raping the environment of the nation were caused, mostly, by Haitians. Then the nations of the world, or at least those of the United Nations (that disaster that should be shut down) stepped in and created the ultimate welfare state. Yes the country was building up but still remained, after about 12 or 14 years since my visit, the poorest country in the northern hemisphere. Why, because the country was now being raped by the UN under the guise of helping them.

Their situation, that of the people of Haiti, is now dire. Even though I feel no affinity for this country, I do feel for the people who are suffering. So why do i feel for them? I may not be religious now, but I was raised as a Catholic - a Christian - and to believe that charity (not welfare) is a good thing. They need help and they need it now. Sure, we are not as well off as we were a few years ago here in the USA, but we are darned sure better off than were Haitians just a few days ago, and are a million times better off than them since the earthquake. With that in mind, I am going to send them a donation as soon as I am done with this post. I ask that you consider doing, no make that I ask that you do send a donation likewise. Mine will go through the Red Cross or some other large organization that helps when a crisis like this hits. The banking crisis, the health care crisis, the economic crisis - they all look like a BB in a boxcar compared this smashing catastrophe in Haiti that resembles the size of the boxcar in comparison. So I urge you to give what you can. Give $1,00 or$50 or $25 or even $5 but give something.

I can only hope that some of the few good Haitian folks whom I met are alive and well. I hope our troops who were stationed there are also well. I also hope and pray for my fellow federal agents who are assigned there (probably mostly DEA agents). While I was there, I stayed at the Hotel Montana in Petionville (suburb of Port Au Prince). I understand it was destroyed; their website says it is closed until further notice. I met quite a few nice people there, some of the ones who I described above, those who showed hope on their faces for the future of their country and their countrymen. I can only hope that the look of hope will be reborn in their eyes after this disaster. With our help, maybe it will and maybe Haitians will be able to rebuild to the point where they will prosper. The road will be long and hard for them and our help at this time will maybe get them going in the right direction.

Edited to add: I donated $50.00. More than some and a lot less han others but I am sure it will help a lot. Please do likewise, give whatever you can afford. Nogt to create a welfafre state mind you but to help those who have almost no way of helpmg themselves in the face of an overwhelming disaster.

All the best,
Glenn B