It has been over 5 years since my last trip to Haiti. Before that I had made nearly a dozen trips over the years and I always looked forward to going back every year. I was heart broken in 2010 when the country was devastated by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake with subsequent 5.9 and 5.5 aftershocks. At that time I was in my second year of medical school and thus I could not travel to Haiti to help immediately following the earthquake. I would later hear stories from some close friends that traveled to Haiti just days after the disaster and to this day I am still jealous and irritated that I could not be there. That helpless feeling I felt back in 2010 is the same feeling I have today.
I call Haiti the land of the forgotten because despite being a 90 minute plane ride from Miami, FL, the vast majority of the US has no idea of the humanitarian crisis that is unfolding in Haiti today. However, to understand the present we must take a quick look at the tragic, violent and bloody history of Haiti.
In 1492 Christopher Columbus lands on the island and names in Hispaniola (little Spain). The island is subsequently settled by Europeans and becomes a massive producer of sugar and coffee with the labor coming from the west African slave trade. In 1697, Spain cedes the western portion of the island to France and this becomes present day Haiti. After over 100 years of colonial rule, a slave revolt in 1801 lead by Toussaint Louverture, gains control of Haiti and abolishes slavery. In 1804, Haiti finally wins its independence from France becoming the only nation born of slave revolt but it comes at a cost. In an unprecedented move, France forced the now freed Haitian slaves to pay France an estimated 20 billion in today's dollars for reparations. That is correct, the former slaves had to pay their former slave owners for the right to be free. It took Haiti 122 years to pay off that debt and thus greatly prevented the newly independent country's ability to prosper.
Since its violent birth in 1804, Haiti has been plagued with political assassinations, military coups, earthquakes, hurricanes, starvation, poverty, AIDS, tuberculosis, cholera and civil violence. On July 7th, 2021 the sitting president of Haiti, Jovenel Moise was assassinated by a group of Colombian mercenaries. Since then, the nation has continued to spiral further downward and has not have an elected government in place for nearly 2 years. The capital city, Port-Au-Prince is primarily controlled by violent street gangs and the police are either corrupt or outmanned. Rival gangs are killing each other and killing civilians. The gangs are also kidnapping prominent Haitians and relief workers. In 2023, over 3,000 people have been murdered in Haiti with thousands more injured. As if things could not get worse, the is growing cholera epidemic in Haiti that has the potential to kill thousands more, while children being at greatest risk. These figures cause me particular pain because I still have friends living in Haiti and they deserve better.
If you have made it this far, thank you. This is not been pleasant story, but it is an important one, especially to me. You may be asking, why should I care? I don't blame anyone that thinks that, honestly if I had not been to Haiti and looked into the eyes of so many Haitians, I may not care either. However, I do care because I know that all humans are valuable. They are valuable to their creator and thus they should be valuable to us. Jesus died for my sins and for the sins of everyone regardless of race or socioeconomic status. Just because most of the world has forgotten about Haiti, I can assure you that our Heavenly Father has not. I am so thankful that with God, there are no lost causes. Haiti is a nation in crisis that is currently controlled by dark forces that needs our help. If you are thinking to yourself that this is a sad story but their is nothing I can do. You are mistaken, you can pray, you can give to one of the many organizations do work in Haiti and you can tell others about the dire needs of those living just a short flight from Miami, Florida
Other organizations also currently working in Haiti:
Thank you for writing this. I just don't think we should wait for any father or thoughts and prayers. If prayers could solve it why is it there in the first place? so we would pray? Humans need to solve it. We should encourage a Haitian "Gandhi" to evolve and provide all political and material support.
This is very, very sad and tragic, but with faith in God, all things are possible. Haiti needs prayer and countries, including ours, to commit themselves to helping. And as you shared, there are organizations helping which one can support which you've shared. Thank you. I have been there twice in '94 and '95. The people of Haiti are kind and hopeful, but yes, many desperately poor and that is just awful that 3,000 people have been killed just this year. I met an American who started a mission in Gressier, that's where I went among other places, and had gotten involved with people in Boston committed to bringing democracy and help to Haiti after Aristide was put…