A Christmas Message To All Haitians

From: Cwpolo

HAITI = CHANGE OR MORE OF THE SAME ?

Last week the Inter-American Development Bank doubled the grants allotted to Haiti for social and economic programs.

The Bank plans to give Haiti $ 100 million in 2009, much of it to help repair damage from last summer’s tropical storms.

The money will go to rebuild the nation’s hydroelectric plant, improve roads, advance sanitation projects, build schools and upgrade the meager defenses against natural disasters.

We know in the past that the money hasn’t always been spent wisely, proper oversight is sometimes missing and that some plans are too vague or loosely structured to succeed.

Last month the mayor of Port-au-Prince estimated that 60 percent of the city’s buildings are unsafe because of storm damage.

Three schools collapsed in the past two months, killing an estimated 100. Keep in mind that Port-au-Prince was topographically build to sustain a population no greater than 150 thousand people; now over two millions people live in greater Port-au-Prince creating an insane and unsafe environment.

With unregulated and unsupervised building construction, the scarcity of running water and electricity, inadequate sewer system, Port-au-Prince is an environmental disaster.

Many think that the $100 million earmarked for Haiti will significantly change things, it will not. We tend to ignore the lessons of history.

Haiti has not always been the poorest nation in the western hemisphere.

We Haitians made it so.

Our illustrious leaders of governments since the early 1900’s have all contributed to our shameful image, and the rest of us jump off board abandoning a sinking ship to go live as a divided people wherever life takes us. We are Capois, Jacmeliens, Port-au-Princiens, Jeremiens, etc, etc, but not Haitians.

We don’t think of ourselves as one People.

We tend to distance ourselves from other Haitians who don’t look like us, talk like us, dress like us.

We tend to project an unrealistic image of ourselves around others, we stop speaking Creole when others are observed in the area or simply ignore those who speak Creole around us. We have an identity crisis because we don’t like who we are, and therefore don’t like our fellow countrymen.

Haiti does not suffer from a lack of money; there is plenty of money in the country.

Haiti suffers from a lack of consciousness from the part of those in charge of the money.

Haiti suffers from selfishness from those who could help but refuse to do so.

Haiti suffers from the spirit of division that is eating us all like an incurable cancer that kills our ability to get together for the good of our country; therein lies the problem, we simply stop caring or perhaps we never cared.

Haiti will not change unless we, Haitians, change.

For too long we make a mockery of the inscription on our Flag “L’Union Fait La Force” (united we are strong)

For too long we look the other way while those left behind are suffering and dying in misery.

How much longer are you willing to watch and do nothing?

How many more must die.

How many?

(Somalia, Rwanda, Darfur and now Zimbabwe, do they ring a bell?)

May the Christmas season and the New Year bring a much needed change in all of us Haitians.

And may you find in your spirit the will to embrace a Haitian other than a friend or relative and tell them “I love you brother/sister” It’s hard, I know, it’s always hard to give what you don’t have.

Make the effort.

After all isn’t what Christmas all about?

Out of love for us all God, on Christmas day, sent his only son to die for our sins