Haiti - a nation's persistence
"In 1804 Haiti drew
attention by becoming the first black republic to declare
independence, and today it attracts attention for its struggles with
poverty and corruption. Even though in the past Haiti's individualism
symbolized the ambitions of the world’s enslaved people, they made no
effort to inspire or to help other slave rebellions because of the
fear that the great powers could retaliate against them. The country
has always been considered as a place where anyone could make money
off the backs of the poor, whilst major powers supported dictators to
maintain their dominance in order to continue exploiting the country.
It is the archetypal example of a system that sees the rich get richer
and the poor get poorer.
Even though the violence has decreased since the UN started a
razzia (breakdown) in the beginning of 2007, institutionalized poverty
and the high rate of unemployment have created a hopeless situation
for most Haitians. Clean water, food and electricity are in short
supply whereas typhus, malaria, dysentery, tuberculosis and Aids are
abundant.
The lack of a social system has resulted in weak healthcare and
education, near universal unemployment, high criminality and mortality
rates, illiteracy and a missing infrastructure. Children, almost half
the country’s population - and Haiti’s future of course - endure
slavery or a life on the streets where prostitution and underpaid jobs
are part of everyday survival."
