The Most Effective Help For Haiti -- The Church

Why bother with Haiti? There has been a lot of exasperation expressed that "nothing has changed in Haiti" since the earthquake a year ago. There is talk of God's punishment for "devil worship," of the bitter fruits of failed socialism, of the inability of former slaves to govern themselves effectively. Money given for Haiti is just "poured down a rat hole." In other words, let's blame the victims for their predicament and leave them in it. They brought it on themselves. What's it got to do with us?

When Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, there was a tremendous response from Americans and people across the globe. Even in the world's richest country, it will still require a long time before that one storm's damage will be completely effaced.

Contrary to media reports, a lot has changed in Haiti. For one thing, the dire predictions in January 2010 of massacres, civil war, massive epidemics, etc., have not materialized because of the efforts of many people, beginning with the Haitians themselves. We should not expect the much greater devastation in Haiti, one of the world's poorest countries, to be rebuilt any faster. At best, it will be many years before Haiti will be back on its feet.

And while the Haitians themselves have often been their own worst enemies, the truth is that France first and then the United States have used military force and trade sanctions against Haiti several times over the past two centuries to promote their own economic interests. Once the world's biggest sugar exporter and a major rice producer, Haiti now has to import these commodities, principally due to American policies. Those who point a finger at the corruption of various Haitian governments have several pointing back at their own nations' involvement in sustaining those evil régimes.

Clearly Haiti has a lot to do with us, since we obviously have felt that way about them, even occupying the country militarily for 19 years. We owe them a great debt of honor. But more immediately, if they are not given the tools to raise themselves up, Haitians will remain the way they are now for the foreseeable future. Lots more will leave the country, mostly the brightest and the best, many of them clamoring to come to America. The whole region, including the Gulf Coast, needs a stable and self-sufficient Haiti.

Even more fundamentally, to leave Haiti to its own devices would be a massive failure of humanity. If there is anything to be learned from social networks, it is that they show us all how interconnected we really are, like it or not. If Haiti prospers, the rest of the world will be a better place for us all. If it continues to agonize, there will be that much more agony for the rest of us to share. So where should we put our efforts?

The government will take more time than initially estimated to organize itself, as the recent election controversies and postponements have shown. We need to find new ways to help Haiti now, and the most practical way to help Haiti right away is through actors on the ground whose effectiveness is already proven: the churches.

Episcopalians know about Haiti because it has the numerically largest diocese of the Episcopal Church. It operates the most schools of any Episcopal diocese anywhere, including trade schools, a music school and a university. It has its country's only philharmonic orchestra and four-year nursing school. It is one of a few dioceses that owns and operates a major modern hospital and is certainly the only one with an art museum! It is fair to say that on the whole, we did not appreciate what we had until we lost it.

The people, clergy and bishop of the diocese have been rising to meet their extraordinary challenges in amazing and inspiring ways. For the past year, volunteers from all over the world have streamed there to help, and money has been collected and wisely spent. Help for all Haitians to recover has come not only through the world's governments, but more importantly through many non-governmental actors like Episcopal Relief & Development and Caritas.

But now the rebuilding needs to start. The Episcopalians of Haiti are starting at their heart in Port-au-Prince, the Sainte-Trinité cathedral complex, so they can gather the strength to rebuild the remaining 80 percent of their physical assets lost in the 2010 earthquake.

Rebuilding the Sainte-Trinité complex will not only give a new spiritual center for Haiti, it will also put the music school with its orchestra, a trade school, a K-12 school and an institute for handicapped children fully back in business. Just this alone will give the entire capital a much-needed shot in the arm. The government of Haiti itself has confidence in our people. Last August, it deeded a parcel of land adjacent to the complex that effectively doubled its size. No one protested, because Haitians know what l'Église Épiscopale d'Haïti has done for all of them over the years.

On the anniversary of the earthquake, Jan. 12, the Episcopal Church is launching its first major capital campaign for the cathedral complex.

There is one challenge that the churches must face together worldwide, and that is to get the many nations who promised financial support to follow through with it. Of the $11 billion promised last year, only a trickle has come into the country. It will take moral suasion, as well as good organization, to turn the trickle into the river that is needed.

So pick your church, and ask how you can help.

What's Haiti got to do with us? Everything.

 

Follow Bishop Pierre Whalon on Twitter: www.twitter.com/bppwhalon

Comments

[jessivehadit]

04:56 PM on 01/14/2011

Christianity is a classic example of bait and switch salesmanship. They convince places that they are doing good charitable deeds, when in fact, they are just trying to increase their numbers, to raise for the heads of their global organizations. The poor and needy are told, "sure we'll give you food, medicine, shelter...­but you must attend church, convert to Christianity and help bring in others." It isn't free or charitable what they do, it is manipulation of the poor and uneducated­, as it has always been. Religions love to prey upon those in need with false answers and a false sense of hope.
In all of the more educated and civilized places around the world, religion's numbers are diminishing.
It is nearly impossible to sell Christianity to an educated adult because it has so many holes and requires you to just IGNORE them or do incredible mental acrobatics to get around these problems, fallacies or inconsistencies. However, if you have no education, or better yet, if you are an unknowing and trusting child, it is easy for this nonsense to take hold. It can then be reinforced or pounded into their mental wiring for years before they have developed enough mentally to question it. Usually by then it is too late. Pride kicks in and they spend their lives defending the indefensible.

[conservo]

09:36 PM on 01/14/2011

Well said. It has become quite clear to me that indoctrinating children with religion is a form of child abuse by robbing them of their ability to reason---which is, indeed, man's most valuable tool.

[acmeaviator]

11:16 AM on 01/12/2011

The Episcopalians have done about 1/10th as much for Haiti as the Catholics have done.

[Weirdwriter]

05:06 PM on 01/12/2011

Haiti is a predominately Catholic country -- it has more Catholics and more Catholic organizations to start with.

[conservo]

09:46 PM on 01/14/2011

Taking a look at the state of Haiti's economy and ability to function as an independent nation (even before the earthquake), one has to wonder, "What HAVE the catholics done to help Haiti"? What has any religion done for Haiti ---other than create dependence? Sure it may give you a warm fuzzy, but are Haiti's people better off because of you? How can you go about patting yourselves on the backs with results such as these?

[boyd3b]

10:59 AM on 01/12/2011

"Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries." - Douglas Casey, Classmate of Bill Clinton at Georgetown University

[Mehida-Loco]

09:51 AM on 01/12/2011

Religious imperialism hard at work. Is there any way aid can be streamlined into schools and the building of them?

[dpmol]

09:56 AM on 01/12/2011

rather cynical, no?

[Freemind42]

04:44 PM on 01/12/2011

with good reason

[Weirdwriter]

05:08 PM on 01/12/2011

Is there any way you can substantiate the insinuation that the aid of religious organizations is not going into the rebuilding of whatever the Haitians need most at this time, or only on the condition that people convert or at least tacitly accept the religious beliefs of the organizations?

[ninetailedfox]

09:49 AM on 01/12/2011

Pardon me for my blunt honesty, but the church has done wonders for Africa, Sri Lanka and other third world countries. To have a healthy community, one should help each other without the intervention of preists or reverends. I know, Ive heard it before, but churches help the poor, but you must ask yourself how did they get poor in the first place? some of those poor people were middle class people that gave to their local churches. Goes to show you how gullible people can be.

[Weirdwriter]

05:14 PM on 01/12/2011

Really? These countries are poor because the middle-class gave all their money to local churches? Or because "the churches" had something to do with creating widespread poverty in the first place?

By all means, provide evidence for your assertions -- so we won't be so gullible as to believe that the poverty of third-world countries comes from the historically-demonstrated complexity of bad economics, exploitative politics, scant resources, foreign economic manipulation, wars, cultural chauvinism, personal greed, environmental climate, etc.

It's just the fault of "the churches."

[conservo]

10:00 PM on 01/14/2011

I can think of two people that I currently know (here in the US) that have family members that are totally unable to provide for themselves. They give every bit of money that they have to their particular church. Their families do not know what to do. One of these, has family members that are quite well off, but, when they try to send (their mother) moneys for her rent or other living expenses (even food) she will give it right to the church (or church members who claim to be in dire need). They are certain that god will provide for them and they will be rewarded for their selflessness in some other life. The churches know about this---and yet do nothing to discourage this behavior.

[westral]

09:31 AM on 01/12/2011

The problem is not that money for Haiti is poured down a rat hole, it is that it ends up in offshore banks.