Reflection

Forgive me for the tardiness in my posts and the time-lag between reality and posting. This was something I wrote immediately after the first raindrops of trouble in the election.

I have just heard that at the closing event of Michel ‘Sweet Mickey’ Martelly’s presidential campaign gunmen opened fire killing at least one person. Cholera is sweeping through the country and The Dominican Republic has closed its border to Haiti to prevent the spread of disease. With all that has ensued since my arrival, flooding, cholera, political instability, against the backdrop of the earthquake, it is hard not to feel unmoved by another event which will further destabilize an already difficult country.

I cannot begin to comprehend, nor, accordingly, convey the hardships that each day brings for the average Haitian. In defiance of non-existent government, poor governance, ignorant NGOs, meek international institutions, poverty, decrepit infrastructure, deceit, violence, helplessness and worst of all indifference the people of this small island attempt to build families and live a good life. The list would go on, though I fear that I am erring too far away from my desire to remain apolitical and, by some measure, evaluative.
I observe that at the macro-level the reasons for continued decay, economic stagnation and insecurity are myriad and dauntingly complex. However, at the individual level, the pieces of the puzzle conspire to tie each person in a yoke that renders even the most fundamental of tasks an effort. Now is not the time to try and unpick the knots, save to remark that a recovery of sorts would take generations and I am not sure that our continued presence here as NGOs will solve anything. Merely, all the efforts and energies expended thus far seem to pull in the opposite direction away from independence and against what I value most - personal autonomy.