poverty - Haiti Observer Blog

Haiti has finally reached the point where the country could not go any further. The Island country of Haiti has been ranked as the poorest country in the entire world.

For a population of 10,123,787 people, 77 percent of the Haitian population is poor, the highest in the world. Its GDP is $7.35 billion (66th lowest) and per capita, the GDP is $726 which is 22nd lowest.

The world bank remarked that more than 50 percent of the Haitian population live on less than $1;00 a day and close to 80 percent of Haitians in Haiti lives on less than $2.00 a day

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Whether the victim is tricked into owing a debt, forced into servitude, or sent to work as an unpaid domestic, all are forms of slave labor.

Sources in the international community say that enslavement is a threat to anybody by virtue of random circumstances not under their control. In some instances, victims are lured by promises of a better life. Preying upon the destitute and naïve from underdeveloped countries, seeking a way out of their misery, these predators ensnare and coerce their victims into debt bondage.

An illustration of this method of slavery is the plight of illegal crossing over the border from Mexico into the U.S. Lured by rumors of work, they are picked up during the border cross and told there are jobs waiting for them. They ride for days, caged within the vehicle, with no chance to eat or relieve themselves.

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The term used for children with this arrangement is restavek (one who stays).

Haiti suffers the reputation as the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Many Haitian families cannot afford the care of their own children, so they send them to live with rich families as unpaid domestics or Restaveks.

Sometimes a restavek will live with a family, who can afford to educate them and give them adequate living conditions. If not, will use the floor as their bed and be subjected to sexual abuse.

Restaveks are domestic slaves, and the majority of them are girls, 80% of them. They perform household chores, not for pay, but in return for shelter, food, clothing, and education, usually of inferior quality. Even under optimal conditions, restaveks have inferior status in the household, even with peers and younger.

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Correct me if I am wrong, I believe there is a business out there and it is no other than the business of selling Haiti misery.

Again, I want to honor all those who either came to Haiti, donate for the cause or plan on coming in the future to continue to do so because Haiti needs as much help as it can get an from as many people as it can get it from.

However, for those International or religious organizations currently taking advantage of the people of Haiti by taking pictures that are shocking for the sole purpose of raising money, who does that benefit?

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In following-up with the series on NGOs and Religious Organizations selling Haitian Misery, the question that comes to mind is: What good does that serves to humiliate the Haitian people?

There is a Haitian proverb that says: "Si Ou pa ka bam, Pa Kraze Kwy moin", If you can't give me, do not break my dish.

What I realized is that only in Haiti this kind of things can be done.

I have been living in the United States for a long, long time and I dare you to film or take pictures of people in their most intimate or private moment as easily as those International organization do to Haitians in Haiti.

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I am sick and tired of NGOs and Religious Organizations selling Haitian misery to raise money.

Doesn't that just get to you, watching our Haitian brothers and sisters getting stripped from their dignity by these foreign Non-Profit Organizations or religious organizations for a bag of rice or some second hand clothes or shoes?

Let make it clear that many of these organizations are providing tremendous services to the Haitian population. Some of them are providing services that the population desperately needs such as help in the medical field, agriculture, energy, business development, education, home, and technology and we are very thankful for that.

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