Review of Haiti: After the Earthquake

Paul Farmer, M.D., has written another masterful book on Haiti---Haiti: After the Earthquake, 2011.

A Haitian, Joia  S. Mukherjee, has written a preface entitled "Neg Mawon," Haiti's equivalent to our statue of liberty:

"Haiti was founded by a righteous revolution in 1804 and became the first black republic.  It was the first country to break the chains of slavery. . . . Tragically, this history of liberty and self-determination has drawn two centuries of political and economic ire [oppression] from powerful countries [U.S. is one of them] resulting in policies which have served to impoverish the people of Haiti.

"Fear by Thomas Jefferson for their successful [slave] uprising; extorted by France in 1825 for 150 million France [unjust forced reparations] . . . occupied by the U.S. military between 1915 and 1934, . . . . disrespected in their quest for democracy by an unrelenting series of dictators and coup-d'etats backed by Western [U.S.] countries: the free people of Haiti have been continually re-shackled [re-enslaved] politically and economically.

"Admist the rubble of the houses, buildings, and schools, and in front of the once grand National Palace stands Neg Mawon---the symbol of Haiti.

"When I arrived in Haiti on Thursday, January 14, 2010, I asked my friend who was driving---"Where is the free man?' . . . there, rising from the dust of the still trembling earth, stood the statue of Neg Mawon.  I was drawn by the image out of the car and as I stood, weeping, an old woman put her arm around me; she too was crying.  I said, "the free man is still standing."  And she replied, powerfully, "my dear, the free man will NEVER be broken."

This is a truly inspiring story, but it is only a half truth, a hollow shell, a delicious fantasy.  Free men need to live in a just society.  True freedom, complete requires justice.

Both Haiti and the United States have statues of liberty/freedom.  But neither country has a statue of justice.  Without Jubilee justice, countries bounce from one system of oppression to another.  In the U.S., from Indian genocide to African enslavement to segregation-sharecropping to mass incarceration to dominance by a rich, white, male elite.  In Haiti, from Indian genocide to African enslavement to debt slavery to dictatorships to dominance by a small rich elite.  Never justice, never justice with freedom.

Freedom and justice are Siamese twins; they must not be separated.  When will the American and Haitian churches combine freedom and justice as part of their gospel.  As Graham Cray asserts: The agenda of the kingdom of God is justice; the dynamic of the kingdom is the Holy Spirit.  But this important part of the gospel seems to be missing from Americanized and Haitianized Christianity

On January 12, 2010, an earthquake killed several hundred thousand Haitians, and destroyed or damaged much of the capital city Port-au-Prince.  Most of Haitian higher education was centered in Port-au-Prince; much of it was destroyed as well.  ". . . the nursing school had collapsed during class, killing students and faculty alike."  "A far greater aspect of the tragedy was the loss of thousands upon thousands of Haitians, students who died at schools and universities, . . . When the seminary fell, all the seminarians in Haiti died.  The loss of the national treasure of an entire generation of Haiti's best and brightest is a loss that cannot be measured.   The school system . . . must be the first priority"

Paul Farmer uses a medical term to describe the earthquake: "an acute-on-chronic event."  Or a natural disaster pile on top of centuries of socio-economic disaster---500 years of oppression first by the Spanish, then by the French (slavery and debt slavery), next by America (neocolonialism), now by a Haitian elite.  But when one listens to most American pundits talk about Haiti's problems, one would think the past never happened, a convenient historical amnesia.

Is there any hope?  Enter Didi Farmer, Paul Farmer's wife who is Haitian and an anthropologist.  She has written a chapter entitled "Mothers and Daughters of Haiti."  In this chapter, she compares Haiti with Rwanda; after the genocide/civil war in Rwanda, both Haiti and Rwanda were considered hopeless countries.  But Rwanda, thanks to the leadership of its women, it beginning a remarkable turn around.  Haiti has yet to educate and marshal the talent of its women.  Who will release and empower Haitian women?

The above are just a few of the deep insights one can find in Haiti: After the Earthquake.