Reactions to the earthquake in Haiti

The recent news coverage of the tragedy in Haiti reminds me of the description of humanity in Psalm 90 – “like the new grass of the morning – though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered – and makes it hard to pray more than “How long Lord, how long?”

In the fall semester I taught History 314, a course titled “Empires, Independence, and the Post-Colonial World,” which examines the recent history of more than ¾ of this world, regions that were colonized by European countries and then divided into the independent countries that we know today. Students are involved in discussing some major questions about why our world works, and doesn’t work, in the way that it does. They research and lead seminars on several of the former colonies. Lindsey and Nicole worked on the topic Haiti – and both talked about how difficult and depressing they found the history and present situation of that country, and that was before last week’s earthquake. I’ve asked them each to make some suggestions for prayer, based on their research and writing about Haiti.

-Professor Helen Vreugdenhil

As many of you know, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with 80% of the people living under the poverty line. In my research I discovered that a main cause of the poverty that Haitians have been subjected to is a result of a highly corrupt government, as elite and international influences have used their positions in government since the 19th century to gather the wealth and power of Haiti for themselves. In the past forty years, the percent living in extreme poverty has almost doubled as a result of corrupt governments. Over a period of thirty years in the mid-20th century, several brutal Haitian dictators were responsible for the deaths of over 30,000 Haitians, as well as for the persecution, imprisonment, and exile of many others.

When I heard of the earthquake that hit Haiti last week, my knowledge of the history of their unstable presidency made me question how the current government will respond to this disaster. Will Haitians benefit from all of the foreign aid that is flowing into their country right now, or, following the patterns of history, will they watch the elite reap the benefits while they continue to suffer? Has the chance for Haitians to have a voice decreased because of this disaster?

In light of this, I ask that you keep the Haitian government, especially their president René Préval, in your prayers. Pray that he will have compassion and understanding for the people of Haiti, and that God will use him to help restore Haiti.

-Lindsay Plouffe

When I heard of the devastation in Haiti I immediately thought about all I had learned through my recent research into Haiti’s history. While there is way too much history to sum up in a couple of minutes, I was also struck by the amount of corruption that Haiti has experienced throughout the 20th century. Because of both internal corruption in the government and damaging foreign intervention by countries such as the United States into Haiti’s political and economic affairs the country has been left with virtually no infrastructure, let alone the capacity to deal with a disaster of this magnitude. Part of the big problem in Haiti right now is that there is the lack of organization to get the millions of dollars of food and relief supplies away from the airport, and to the people.

I believe that as Christians, we need to live for change. It is deeply ironic to realize that we, as members of the Western world, along with our governments and militaries, have contributed to the impoverishment that exists in Haiti, and now, in the wake of a disaster, we are the ones who are so willing to help rebuild Haiti. We are all hoping to donate money or supplies, to help in any way we can. How can we really help? What if we looked at the historical basis for Haiti’s poverty? What if the international community forgave Haiti’s debt? What if world superpowers re-evaluated their policies of imperial aggressiveness towards vulnerable and developing countries? What if we didn’t just rush in and apply a “foreign band-aid” to Haiti, but actually worked towards an end to the Western world’s corporate and military exploitation of Haiti? I’d like to challenge you to become more aware of the ways in which our comfortable nations have contributed to the ongoing destitution in Haiti, and to pray, and work, for world-altering change.

-Nicole Dunham