Rectifying Ignorance
Haiti – Part I
by Rev. Marcia Ricketts
As I watched the catastrophic images of the June 12, 2009 earthquake, I felt incredibly powerless. I wanted to rush down there and start shifting rubble, but the last thing they needed was an old lady getting in the way. Maybe later, but for now, what can I do to help? Obviously, give money, but there must be something more. I set out to cure my own ignorance about Haiti and to try to answer a question I’ve nurtured for years – “What keeps Haiti so poor?” I’d like to briefly share some of what I’ve discovered, hoping it will encourage all of us to learn more about our neighbor. I’ve tentatively structured my discovery this way:
• Part I – a look at Haiti’s past
• Part II – the role of popular religion in the Haitian world view and American Baptist mission work there
• Part III – thoughts about the future
I welcome your comments and questions.
When the earth began to shake at 4:53 pm on January 12, the world changed for the people of Haiti. It obviously changed for the worse for now – can it be for the better in years to come? As I watched the devastating images, I realized how little I know about Haiti. Since even before I become an American Baptist pastor, I was aware of its grinding poverty. In fact, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Over the years, American Baptist churches responded through fund raising and mission trips. Beyond that, I know little more. Why is Haiti so poor? What is holding this brave little country back? Is it a “victim mentality” that can’t be overcome? Have well-meaning Christians been handing out fish rather than teaching how to fish, or is the source of its distress something deeper? Furthermore, what are our American Baptist missionaries doing to improve the situation?
Lucky for me, ignorance is curable, so I set out to cure it. I’d like to share a brief summary of what I’ve learned. To begin, I looked first to the past.
The area now known as Haiti is the size of the state of Maryland and was once lush, forested and mountainous sloping into a warm, turquoise sea. Its inhabitants, the Taíno, called it Ayiti – “mountainous land.”
On December 5, 1492, this land came to European attention when Columbus landed on the northern coast of an island he named Hispaniola and claimed for Spain. There was a gold glint in Spanish eyes. They mined gold using the Taíno as forced labor. Between oppressive slavery and new infectious diseases, within 30 years the Taíno had become virtually extinct and were gradually replaced by slaves from Africa. Though the source of labor changed, the cultural norm that legitimized cruel slavery didn’t.
Ayiti – and especially French Tortuga, a small island off the northern coast – became a haven for pirates in the 17th century, some of whom settled to grow tobacco when they grew tired of disrupting Caribbean trade. The 1697 Treaty of Ryswick settled hostilities between France and Spain and ceded the western third of the island of Hispaniola to France who named it Saint-Domingue, while the rest of the island (now the Dominican Republic) remained a colony of Spain. For 300 years, the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic has been disputed and the enmity between them continues.
During the 18th century, Saint-Domingue became the wealthiest French colony in the New World; its sugar, coffee and indigo industries made possible by slaves. Though France instituted rigid rules on slave treatment, the oppression increased until, in 1791, inspired by the French Revolution, the slaves revolted. Toussaint L’Overture, a former slave and leader in the revolt, drove out the French and British (who had joined the fray) and set the stage for the establishment of the first independent nation in Latin America, the first post-colonial independent black-led nation in the world, and the only nation whose independence was gained as part of a successful slave rebellion.1 L’Overture didn’t live to see the birth of Haiti (the former slaves chose the old Taínoan name for their new nation); he had died nine months earlier in a French prison.
But, independence didn’t mean peace. The French tried to retake the country until 1835, finally stopping when Haiti agreed to pay it 150,000 million francs, in essence buying the freedom they’d already won. It was “an indemnity for profits lost from the slave trade.”2 Other nations, the United States included, also raided the Haitian treasury – while draining it of its natural resources. Throughout the 19th century, in addition to receiving very little support from the world community, it endured a series of coups and despots, internal as well as international opposition, and constant conflict with its neighbor, the Dominican Republic.
As a response to civil strife and the absence of a stable government friendly to the United States, the U.S. occupied and ruled Haiti with a military government from 1915 to 1934. Many improvements were made to the infrastructure during this time, but there was also a growing bitterness by Haitians who resented this occupation of a foreign government. In 1937, the conflict with the DR came to a head with the “Parsley Massacre,” a five-day battle during which 20,000 to 30,000 Haitians living within the Dominican Republic were slaughtered.
In 1957, François “Papa Doc” Duvalier took over and used political murder and death squads – Tonton Macoutes – to keep the population in check. His son followed in his footsteps. Since he was overthrown in 1986, casual observers have seen a confusing mélange of rulers and dashed hopes. René Préval now serves as president, and the United Nations Stabilization Mission has been keeping peace in Haiti since the 2004 rebellion.
Until 4:53 p.m. on January 12, this was Haiti:
• It was the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with 80% of the population living under the poverty line and 54% in abject poverty according to the CIA World Factbook;
• The average person survived on less than $2 a day and most were crowded into flimsy housing clinging to mountainsides;
• There was widespread unemployment and underemployment – more than two-thirds of the labor force didn’t have formal jobs and there were some 200,000 domestic child slaves;
• In many areas, the lush forests had been decimated – an estimated 98% of the trees had been cut down for export, slash and burn farming, or fuel;
• Deforestation had caused soil erosion, flooding and mudslides – in 2004, flooding killed over 3,000 in May and another 3,006 died in September when tropical storm Jeanne hit;
• During the hurricane season of 2008, four storms – Fay Gustav, Hanna and Ike – left in their wake unmeasured damage to roads and bridges, housing, crops and crop land, schools and hospitals with approximately 900,000 people having only the clothes on their bodies.
When I learned more about Haiti, I found a grim description of a nation teetering on the edge even before the catastrophic earthquake. But this summary of its past says nothing about the personality of its people, their beliefs and hopes, their perspectives and possibilities – and these will determine its future. In Part II, I’ll try to learn more about how Haiti’s popular religion impacts its ability to change and American Baptist work there.
If you want to learn more, here are some of the resources I used:
www.Wikipedia.com - Haiti
www.lrb.co.uk/v26/n08/paul-farmer/who-removed-aristide
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/haiti/index.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8460185.stm
Rev. Ricketts has served churches in New York and Pennsylvania, worked in communications for the ABC, and volunteered on mission fields in Thailand and Nicaragua. She also teaches English as a Second Language to local college students.
1 Wikipedia - Haiti
2 Wikipedia - Haiti
Haiti – Part I
by Rev. Marcia Ricketts
As I watched the catastrophic images of the June 12, 2009 earthquake, I felt incredibly powerless. I wanted to rush down there and start shifting rubble, but the last thing they needed was an old lady getting in the way. Maybe later, but for now, what can I do to help? Obviously, give money, but there must be something more. I set out to cure my own ignorance about Haiti and to try to answer a question I’ve nurtured for years – “What keeps Haiti so poor?” I’d like to briefly share some of what I’ve discovered, hoping it will encourage all of us to learn more about our neighbor. I’ve tentatively structured my discovery this way:
• Part I – a look at Haiti’s past
• Part II – the role of popular religion in the Haitian world view and American Baptist mission work there
• Part III – thoughts about the future
I welcome your comments and questions.
When the earth began to shake at 4:53 pm on January 12, the world changed for the people of Haiti. It obviously changed for the worse for now – can it be for the better in years to come? As I watched the devastating images, I realized how little I know about Haiti. Since even before I become an American Baptist pastor, I was aware of its grinding poverty. In fact, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Over the years, American Baptist churches responded through fund raising and mission trips. Beyond that, I know little more. Why is Haiti so poor? What is holding this brave little country back? Is it a “victim mentality” that can’t be overcome? Have well-meaning Christians been handing out fish rather than teaching how to fish, or is the source of its distress something deeper? Furthermore, what are our American Baptist missionaries doing to improve the situation?
Lucky for me, ignorance is curable, so I set out to cure it. I’d like to share a brief summary of what I’ve learned. To begin, I looked first to the past.
The area now known as Haiti is the size of the state of Maryland and was once lush, forested and mountainous sloping into a warm, turquoise sea. Its inhabitants, the Taíno, called it Ayiti – “mountainous land.”
On December 5, 1492, this land came to European attention when Columbus landed on the northern coast of an island he named Hispaniola and claimed for Spain. There was a gold glint in Spanish eyes. They mined gold using the Taíno as forced labor. Between oppressive slavery and new infectious diseases, within 30 years the Taíno had become virtually extinct and were gradually replaced by slaves from Africa. Though the source of labor changed, the cultural norm that legitimized cruel slavery didn’t.
Ayiti – and especially French Tortuga, a small island off the northern coast – became a haven for pirates in the 17th century, some of whom settled to grow tobacco when they grew tired of disrupting Caribbean trade. The 1697 Treaty of Ryswick settled hostilities between France and Spain and ceded the western third of the island of Hispaniola to France who named it Saint-Domingue, while the rest of the island (now the Dominican Republic) remained a colony of Spain. For 300 years, the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic has been disputed and the enmity between them continues.
During the 18th century, Saint-Domingue became the wealthiest French colony in the New World; its sugar, coffee and indigo industries made possible by slaves. Though France instituted rigid rules on slave treatment, the oppression increased until, in 1791, inspired by the French Revolution, the slaves revolted. Toussaint L’Overture, a former slave and leader in the revolt, drove out the French and British (who had joined the fray) and set the stage for the establishment of the first independent nation in Latin America, the first post-colonial independent black-led nation in the world, and the only nation whose independence was gained as part of a successful slave rebellion.1 L’Overture didn’t live to see the birth of Haiti (the former slaves chose the old Taínoan name for their new nation); he had died nine months earlier in a French prison.
But, independence didn’t mean peace. The French tried to retake the country until 1835, finally stopping when Haiti agreed to pay it 150,000 million francs, in essence buying the freedom they’d already won. It was “an indemnity for profits lost from the slave trade.”2 Other nations, the United States included, also raided the Haitian treasury – while draining it of its natural resources. Throughout the 19th century, in addition to receiving very little support from the world community, it endured a series of coups and despots, internal as well as international opposition, and constant conflict with its neighbor, the Dominican Republic.
As a response to civil strife and the absence of a stable government friendly to the United States, the U.S. occupied and ruled Haiti with a military government from 1915 to 1934. Many improvements were made to the infrastructure during this time, but there was also a growing bitterness by Haitians who resented this occupation of a foreign government. In 1937, the conflict with the DR came to a head with the “Parsley Massacre,” a five-day battle during which 20,000 to 30,000 Haitians living within the Dominican Republic were slaughtered.
In 1957, François “Papa Doc” Duvalier took over and used political murder and death squads – Tonton Macoutes – to keep the population in check. His son followed in his footsteps. Since he was overthrown in 1986, casual observers have seen a confusing mélange of rulers and dashed hopes. René Préval now serves as president, and the United Nations Stabilization Mission has been keeping peace in Haiti since the 2004 rebellion.
Until 4:53 p.m. on January 12, this was Haiti:
• It was the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with 80% of the population living under the poverty line and 54% in abject poverty according to the CIA World Factbook;
• The average person survived on less than $2 a day and most were crowded into flimsy housing clinging to mountainsides;
• There was widespread unemployment and underemployment – more than two-thirds of the labor force didn’t have formal jobs and there were some 200,000 domestic child slaves;
• In many areas, the lush forests had been decimated – an estimated 98% of the trees had been cut down for export, slash and burn farming, or fuel;
• Deforestation had caused soil erosion, flooding and mudslides – in 2004, flooding killed over 3,000 in May and another 3,006 died in September when tropical storm Jeanne hit;
• During the hurricane season of 2008, four storms – Fay Gustav, Hanna and Ike – left in their wake unmeasured damage to roads and bridges, housing, crops and crop land, schools and hospitals with approximately 900,000 people having only the clothes on their bodies.
When I learned more about Haiti, I found a grim description of a nation teetering on the edge even before the catastrophic earthquake. But this summary of its past says nothing about the personality of its people, their beliefs and hopes, their perspectives and possibilities – and these will determine its future. In Part II, I’ll try to learn more about how Haiti’s popular religion impacts its ability to change and American Baptist work there.
If you want to learn more, here are some of the resources I used:
www.Wikipedia.com - Haiti
www.lrb.co.uk/v26/n08/paul-farmer/who-removed-aristide
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/haiti/index.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8460185.stm
Rev. Ricketts has served churches in New York and Pennsylvania, worked in communications for the ABC, and volunteered on mission fields in Thailand and Nicaragua. She also teaches English as a Second Language to local college students.
1 Wikipedia - Haiti
2 Wikipedia - Haiti