In 2008 alone, four major hurricanes hit the country hard, leaving some 800 people dead, destroying about 60% of the country’s crops and covering entire cities in mud and making them uninhabitable. Life then in Haiti, already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, reportedly went from grim to desperate. But now, words cannot do justice to the destruction, the anguish and the sheer hell that Haiti is going through.
After decades of political instability, civil strife, rampant insecurity, economic decline, man-made and natural disasters, leading many to write Haiti off as a failed state, the apocalyptic earthquake visited upon Haiti is the last thing the country needed.
Now, though, is not the time to question why Haiti seems destined to remain forever on her knees, whether it be for the effrontery of defeating the army of Napoleon Bonaparte to assert in 1804 her independence and her people’s humanity, establishing thereby not only the first independent nation in Latin America and the Caribbean, but more significantly, the first free post-colonial black-led nation in the world; or because of economic subjugation in the face of French rancour and the former colonial power’s determination to make upstart Haiti literally pay for her right to be free; or Haiti’s defiance in the face of American duplicity throughout the 19th century; or even because of Haiti’s own turbulent post-independent path, with her dictators, coups and Byzantine political machinations right up to the present day; or the unfulfilled pledges of the international community and the relative impotence of the Caribbean Community to assist its newest and weakest member. Nor should we bother ourselves with Pat Robertson’s revolting remarks about Haitians’ “pact with the devil,” which only serve to expose him. No, let us have none of that. Now is the time to reach out with compassion and tangible assistance to put Haiti back on her feet again.
Haitians are a proud, energetic and spiritual people, who perhaps because of their history, do not like to be patronised. But even they will have been moved and will be grateful for the immediate and tremendous outpouring of grief, sympathy, solidarity and assistance in the wake of the killer quake.
The full extent of the catastrophe is not yet known, but one thing is certain: Haiti will need all the help that the international community and Caricom can provide.
Most commendably, Guyana and the rest of Caricom have already stepped forward. President Jagdeo has announced immediate relief aid of US$1 million and the creation of a committee to coordinate a national response to help the long-term effort to rebuild the country. Other Caricom countries are responding with cash and emergency supplies. Trinidad and Tobago, the richest Caricom member is also donating US$1 million. The Caribbean Development Bank has announced an initial aid package of US$750,000 and the Caribbean Disaster Management Agency, the Regional Security System and the Caricom Secretariat have mobilised to provide support. More significant international assistance is forthcoming from the richer countries of the hemisphere and Europe and from as far away as China and Japan.
Perhaps, if there is a faint glimmer of a silver lining, it is that the responses to the Haitian tragedy have been so immediate, heartfelt and heartening. After the search and rescue, after the efforts to clean up Port-au-Prince, after the dire situation is stabilised, then it will be the time to rebuild, literally from the rubble of a destroyed city and a grievously wounded country. Then it will be the moment for the international community finally to make good on its promises. And Caricom must energise itself to ensure that Haiti is at the top of its regional agenda until her long-term reconstruction is guaranteed.
Haiti, too long a victim of her past and seemingly condemned by the present, cannot, must not be left alone to contemplate a doomed future. The stories emerging from Haiti are heartbreaking. But we are also seeing that amongst the death and devastation, amongst the pain and anguish, the spirit of the Haitian people will not be broken. We must not fail them in their hour of need.
