Trying to Help in Haiti

http://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/caribbean/haiti/Does-Foreign-Aid-to-Haiti-Do-Any-Good.html

by Mz • 12 years ago

61 30 12 years ago

This is a complex subject, and it reminds me of the science fiction book The Sparrow. Please, no spoilers from the commenters. I remember reading the author saying that one of the premises of the book is that in our relationship with God, [or karma or the unknown or the universe or whatever], many times we create all these causalities that really don't exist. So I'll do this, and then that will happen

I was reminded of this in several parts of the essay, like when people write the kids and tell them just to work hard, and things will work out for them. Or when the author expected that for the money he sent, something better would have happened.

This is almost universally a recipe for terrible letdowns in life.

At the risk of sounding pedantic, we do things because they are the right things to do. The universe is random in many ways and acts in ways we may not easily comprehend. A person chooses to work hard because they believe that working hard has value, and a life spent working at something they value is more precious than one spent passively looking on. A person gives to some charity because they believe that making that choice makes their own life more authentic.

I'm not saying that perhaps there isn't some better way of accomplishing all these important goals of getting out of poverty or helping those in Haiti. I'm saying that we all make personal decisions that demonstrate to others and ourselves the things that we value. That the real story here isn't something along the lines of "I pushed this button, and nothing happened" but more like "I made this decision because these things were important to me"

Or maybe I'm just too much of an existentialist :)

mercurial3• 12 years ago

I'm not sure what you're getting at? Sure, we're often trying to do the right thing, but it doesn't invalidate the fact that it's worth it to investigate whether what we do actually works. Otherwise, aren't we just going back to the issue you raised in your first paragraph and invent non-existent cause-to-effect relationships, because we are working under invalid assumptions?

DanielBMarkham2• 12 years ago

You seem to be implying an either-or choice where one does not exist. Of course we should evaluate the results of our actions. And of course that information should be used next time.

What we can't do is somehow try to add it all up after the fact to figure out if it was worth it or not. At the time we make decisions based on what we know and who we are. It's our embrace of our uncertainty of knowledge yet courage to make what we feel our moral choices anyway that is noble. The author seemed to try to be figuring out if what he did was the right thing or not. That's whacked. Instead, the question is whether, knowing what he did then, he was authentic to who he was.

Let's try this a different way. You could replay the exact same article with three different conclusions. The kid could have escaped poverty and went on to law school. The kid could have been a farce made up by the religious guy. The kid could have spent all the money on drugs. Who cares? If you care about Haiti and the larger situation, it's all anecdotal anyway. If you don't care about the larger situation, then this story is just about the unique and personal experiences each of the participants has. There is no larger story. So all of this other stuff about the macro situation is just a form of projection the author is experiencing while trying to make sense of his own experience. That's fine -- as long as he understands it. But in the end it's just a framing technique.

The personal story was the author trying to figure out if things he had no idea about -- what was actually happening with his money -- were important to the decisions and feelings he had about his own religion during his teen years. It's almost like he was an observer of his own life. There's a strange disconnect.

What was really going on, for both he and the kid, was that they were taking a big piece of fuzzy, unfortunate, and difficult life situation and making hard choices about what to do. The kid stays with his family. He doesn't stand out, stays with the herd. The author still sends money, but is unsure why, except to say that would have been even worse. Then he realizes that he's so involved that he has to know what's been going on. Why the change of heart? I'm not exactly sure. Is he really worried about evangelizing kids? Also, I left the article not really being sure. The most important part of the story, the decisions he made, is the foggiest. He walks right by the most important part of all of this, his own values, and instead waves his hands around at the preacher, the county, the NGO, dumb westerners, and so on. Then he continues to give! It's like he does these things and doesn't know why.

In my mind these choices are where the real story is, not trying to piece it all together into some kind of uber narrative about Haiti (or religious NGOs) in general (which would also be a good story.)

spydum• 12 years ago

The real question is what would have his life been like without that aid? Perhaps no education, no money for health care. Perhaps even loss of life (or a family member)?

On aside, since it was covered so heavily: I have heard of more than a few people who lose their faith due to church behavior. This seems almost immature thinking to me. If you see a problem with church leadership behavior, and you don't see fault in the beliefs, why not affect change in the church? Ask those tough questions about what money is spent on. This seems far more logical than abandoning faith.

fendrak• 12 years ago

Speaking as someone who's lived through the opposite experience (grew up seeing the wrong thing not believing, found the right thing and believed), I think it comes from the repeated dissonance between reading/being taught one thing, and then not seeing that thing actually lived out. Turns out that when you actually see people practicing what they preach on a large scale, things can turn out quite different!

I can only imagine people don't try and affect change for the same reasons they don't try and affect change in politics at large, namely that the issue seems so large that they can't see themselves making any headway against a seemingly advancing tide.

x0x02• 12 years ago

Why is it immature to see people preach one way, behave a separate way, and conclude they're full of shit? It seems a basic requirement of a reasonable human being that people preaching that folks should behave way X comport themselves in way X.

eg the catholic church is, at this point, practically a child rape conspiracy: over and over people in the church discovered what was going on, and over and over they chose to tolerate the behavior to protect the church. Just to pick one notable example, the pope chose not to defrock a priest that molested TWO HUNDRED boys in his care [1], instead squirreling him off to northern wisconsin... where he had more access to children. As their book says, you shall know them by their fruits. This was an act performed by the head of the catholic church.

If you can stomach the acts performed by the church and the totality of the church hierarchy, then still believe what they preach, I'd say you're practically deluded.

[1] http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2010/03/26/wisconsin-prie...

inportb• 12 years ago

Why is it immature to see people preach one way, behave a separate way, and conclude they're full of shit?

It's not. Concluding that people are unreasonable and summarily dismissing what they preach is what seems immature. One might instead realize that a church and its religion are related but distinct... that although people may not perfectly embody what they preach, the beliefs themselves may be virtuous.

spacehome2• 12 years ago

People don't come to religion through a rational and dispirited analysis of all available evidence. Why would you expect them to hold leaving religion to a higher standard?

ClashTheBunny5• 12 years ago

Do you have evidence for this? Statistics? I don't think it is wholly irrational to seek community, as we are social animals; I think that people who join religion can do it for community. What irrational reasons do you know of and what percent of people do it for those reasons?

calibraxis• 12 years ago

Bizarre. He's apparently from the country which smashes Haiti (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Bertrand_Aristide#Return_t...), yet he's troubled about religious groups. How can such an article be high on "Hacker News", yet there is no serious analysis of why things are as they are? Do "hackers" ignore the context of problems they work on?

Do clueless Brits and Dutchmen fly to countries their governments ravaged, and scratch their heads about such things?

ClashTheBunny5• 12 years ago

I hear British people say the exact same stuff when the get to the US. It's a pretty standard reaction...

mercurial3• 12 years ago

I'm not sure what you're trying to say here? That Britain ravaged the US?

bargl2• 12 years ago

I'm going to share my experience with HN here. It is a treasured experience, and something I hold near and dear to my heart. I was able to spend 3 months in Haiti as a volunteer. It was supposed to stay for a year. It was after the earthquake and I was stoked to go down.

When I was there I didn't really have any real work to do. They wanted me to create some software but this was the beginning of my "Hacker" career and I was using Access (don't judge). But the thing I really did while I was down there was play with the kids.

That piece of my time down there was more treasured then anything else I have. I got to know the kids so well it was heartbreaking to leave. One of the parents asked me to take his son (who was my pal and Creole teacher) to the US with me.

Just take a moment to think about that. This man loved his son. He took him to work and he was proud of him. You could see it in his eyes. Ose was a GREAT kid, mischievous, but great. His father was willing to sacrifice his time with his son for me to take him. I honestly didn't want to say no.

I built similar relationships with some of the girls at the orphanage. I can still remember the sound of them singing one night. It was the saddest most beautiful song I'd ever heard. 50 orphan girls were singing while beating the rhythm on whatever they had at hand. I don't know the lyrics but that moment was sorrow and happiness.

I had to leave suddenly and wasn't able to make it back, due to riots that closed the airport and running out of savings. When I finally could go back, I decided to go to Bolivia instead, there is a more stable volunteer community there and I could afford it.

I've never regretted something more then not returning to Haiti, but given the choice I'd do it again. I know that in my short time there I was able to make friend and pick up peoples spirits. I know that doesn't seem like a lot, but it was.

I'm still looking for a way to go back and help again, but I just don't know how. I think this sponsorship program sounds like a GREAT idea. This is something so many of the kids down there need.

rch• 12 years ago

Have a look at the Colorado Haiti Project. A friend of mine works with them, and says they've been managed to be effective by focusing on one particular area. The leadership and dedication of a few individuals in the local community has been critical as well.

bargl2• 12 years ago

Thank you. I'm looking into it now.

mynameishere• 12 years ago

Absent mineral resources, the only organizations that could help Haiti in its present state are textile and garment manufacturers. That has been the consistent pattern for the past ~200 years. The author hinted quite strongly where his money went--nice shoes for the kid, and a nice house for the NGO officers.

cllns• 12 years ago

For those interested in learning more about why Haiti is so impoverished, Junot Díaz wrote a great and powerful piece a few years ago in the Boston Review.

"Haiti’s nightmarish vulnerability has to be understood as part of a larger trend of global inequality."

[1] http://bostonreview.net/junot-diaz-apocalypse-haiti-earthqua...

ClashTheBunny5• 12 years ago

The whole paragraph that ends the previous section is, to me, more salient than the quoted sentence itself. Haiti is a microcosm of world iniquity, but it is also a very special hell created by the powers that were (and the powers that be). A better way to state the sentence may be "Haiti’s nightmarish vulnerability has to be understood as [the future] trend of global inequality [for all of us]".

gohrt2• 12 years ago

iniquity,

accidentally relevant typo

but it is also a very special hell created by the powers that were

not very special, though.. so many improverished/war-torn nations have a similar story with different character names.

robert_foss• 12 years ago

Maybe the American led coup d'état in 2004[1] has something to do with their misfortunes. Or the CIA involvement in the 1991 coup d'état. Or the occupation by the US in 1915-1934[3].

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Haitian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Haitian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_occupation_of_Ha...

Trying to Help in Haiti

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