Solidarity with Haiti
Fr Francois Kawas SJ (right) with one of 100 families to be rehoused in new homes. Photo: Compagnie de Jésus – Territoire d’Haïti
The challenges that the people of Haiti are experiencing today provoke strong emotions among Haitians and non-Haitians: anger, compassion, astonishment, and weariness. It also raises serious ethical questions. How has it come to this? Who is responsible? What can be done for Haiti to get out of this quagmire?
The response needs to go beyond addressing immediate problems. This is a crisis that threatens the foundations of society where the vital sectors of the nation and the very survival of the people of Haiti are being seriously undermined.
Haiti is facing a real humanitarian disaster where a majority of the population is deprived of the most basic social services. This is a result of colonialism, a succession of corrupt and authoritarian leadership supported by foreign powers, and foreign intervention, among other things. A more recent issue is the proliferation of armed gangs in the capital, Port-au-Prince, some provincial towns, and the countryside. These gangs are part of a strategy used by political leaders to contain popular revolts in poor urban neighbourhoods. They serve as militias for big businesses and industrialists to protect their interests. The proliferation of armed gangs endangers the security of the population and accelerates the collapse of the state.
Haiti has also been known as the “Republic of NGOs.” A multitude of non-governmental organizations are active on the ground. They provide care to relieve much suffering. But true solidarity with Haiti requires a serious re-examination of the traditional forms of international cooperation, to move towards a cooperation that takes its lead from Haitian community-based organizations to help Haitians rebuild trustworthy public institutions and a sustainable peace rooted in human rights and self-determination.
The Jesuits in Haiti are accompanying vulnerable families affected by the August 2021 earthquake by rehousing 100 of them in new homes equipped with anti-seismic and anti-cyclonic features. The project is supported by Canadian Jesuits International (CJI) and other international Jesuit partners.
True solidarity is also an invitation to Haitians to renounce a culture of dependence, to regain confidence in themselves and to heed lessons from their history.
