In looking back this probably should have been my first post as it was what first inspired this blog. Since I wrote this SOIL has been working in Port-au-Prince to try to alleviate the dire need for toilets and proper waste removal. I also believe they have started their first compost site in/around Port-au-Prince. You can check for updates on the SOIL website at www.oursoil.org They are doing great work.
I will have another post up shortly with a few thoughts on development efforts in Haiti.
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To paraphrase Amy Wilentz, who has written extensively on this distinct phenomenon: Haiti is not a place into which one can take a sample or half-heartedly commit, rather Haiti grabs you with its giant claws and doesn’t let go. You feel as if it is grabbing you for a reason, like it has been waiting for you—and when you find out it hasn’t, you thrive on its rejection.
Though most are familiar with Haiti’s problems (including the international press, which has long painted Haiti as a dangerous and savage outcast), few know it’s deep and hardy roots, which stand fast as a base for the tree of liberty in the Western hemisphere. Haiti was the second country (behind the U.S.), to garner independence from its European colonizer. The legacy of that colonial power (the French, who called their colony “Saint-Domingue”) is one of raw brutality, torture and bloody sweat. As we labor to help Haiti in the wake of the 7.1 magnitude earthquake I believe we should know and understand the story of these people.
French plantation owners committed unspeakable atrocities on their enslaved West African imports—unspeakable to the point that most of the female population was sterile, or was worked to death before being able to reproduce. It was quite frankly cheaper to import new slaves than take care of those already in the colony. Imported slaves developed a common language that was primarily a mix of French and West African languages. Given this tumultuous origin, it is no surprise then that the language that emerged—Haitian Kreyol—has long been called “the language of survival.” Though rumblings of resistance were previously met with harsh blows, in 1791 the slave populations of northern Saint-Domingue rose up under the leadership of Voudou Spiritual Leader Dutty Boukman (or “Book-man”, so called for his reading abilities). Following a ritual at Bois Caiman, the slaves began a thirteen year rebellion against their French oppressors. Initially armed with nothing more than long machetes used for cutting sugar cane, the slaves rapidly began to organize under the leadership of General Toussaint Louverture, an educated former slave and devout Catholic. Though Louverture was captured, his armies eventually defeated French forces under the leadership of General Jean-Jacques Dessalines.
On January 1, 1804 just months after dealing the French their final blow at the battle of Vertieres, Dessalines restored the name “Ayiti” or “Land of High Mountains” in the native Taino language and infamously declared that in defeating the French he had “avenged the new world.”
Truly the forces of good defeated those of the purest evil, that is what a successful slave rebellion represents, good over evil, right over wrong, liberation from chains and oppression. Despite this polished and hardened moral victory Haiti was made a pariah by the international community. The United States did not recognize Haiti for sixty years after its independence and France refused to trade with its former colony until the young nation agreed to pay today’s equivalent of $20 billion in reparations for property lost during the Haitian revolution. It was of course that $20 billion that forced Haiti into a cycle of debt and deforestation (much of the islands tropical timber was felled and sold to raise money to pay reparations).
Since its existence Haiti has been punished for its success—punished for being on the side of good in defeating evil. Call it racism, call it jealousy, call it ignorance or call it disrespect, the fact remains that the victory and legacy of Haiti and the Haitian people still represent the ultimate moral triumph of any age and any place on earth. Good defeating evil is rarely so transparent. Despite decades of challenges that range from environmental degradation to political instability to outright occupation by foreign powers (the U.S. occupied Haiti for 19 years from 1915-1934 to “protect American and foreign interests”), this moral victory endures. Despite the stereotypes of voudou practitioners, the boats of refugees that sink under the weight of desperate souls trying for a better life, and the yearly devastating hurricanes, this victory endures and lives within the soul of each Haitian.
Thus it should be with great anticipation that we seize the opportunity to be a part of the cause of the Haitian people, which since the beginning has been the cause of good over evil.
Everyone wants to know how to help, and not just for the now but for the future as well. I am fortunate enough to have traveled to Haiti three times, and was present on the island when the latest disaster struck. I believe I have found an organization that is employing effective and innovative solutions to common problems. The program is called Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihood (S.O.I.L.) and to speak candidly, they build toilets.
So you may be asking yourself how can I be advocating for the building of toilets when the capital city lays in ruins? My logic is plain and direct, this organization has developed a method to change human waste into nutrient rich compost, all the while teaching basic public health and enriching Haiti’s topsoil, which is severely depleted after years of deforestation . Improper sanitation breeds disease, drains resources and prevents community growth. Further, massive deforestation has created a cyclical problem leaving Haiti vulnerable to Caribbean hurricanes, mudslides, and desertification so severe that large crop yields are hard to come by, which is what forces Haiti to depend largely on imported food.
Through this organization’s work they have reached into the villages in northern Haiti and developed partnerships with the local people and organizations. They have been doing the on-the-ground work that has taught them where the needs of the people really are for years, and now that chaos has erupted in the wake of the earthquake they are well positioned to, in the short term get supplies to the people that need them most. They are small, agile, thrifty and their long-term connection to the people of Haiti will not fade after the cameras and microphones of the world media are shut off. Perhaps most importantly, I have witnessed firsthand that this organization operates under a very basic ethos, “Tout Moun Se Moun” or “All People are People.” They are well connected to both American and Haitian organizations that are on the ground doing disaster relief now, and they will continue their valuable work over the long term.
As I close I must present the awkward request for your charity. At the very least I urge you to remember the story of Haiti, their triumph over enslavement, their fight for freedom and recognize that they deserve liberty from the narrative that paints them as primitive, uncivilized or looking for a handout. They share all of humanity’s desire to sing in the glory of self sustaining sovereignty. This is a story that must be told so please correct misinformation, and fight ignorance of Haiti’s story. If you can, I urge you to give to the organization S.O.I.L. by going to www.oursoil.org (you can also follow one of the directors blogs, Dr. Sasha Kramer is currently working in Port-au-Prince). I pledge that from what I have seen, this group will continue their valuable work, allowing Haiti to move beyond survival to a place where they can prosper.
I urge you to give both now and in the future.
Participate in the cause of good, invest in Haiti.
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