Land of Tears

The United States has thus far responded to the human tragedy in Haiti just as most Americans and the rest of the world would have expected us too. The President has declared that our country will not ignore Haiti in its time of agony and death. Most importantly, it is not just the President and the government that he manages that has responded, it is as always in time of international tragedy, the American people. Hundreds of thousands of average Americans have responded to the death and destruction in Haiti through text and online donations, responding to telethons, and working within their own local communities to provide money, food, medical supplies and all the other necessary resources needed.

In Haiti, the world has witnessed not only a horrific natural disaster, but also the combined effect of nature, poverty and politics. Before the earthquake, more than 10 million Haitians lived in horrible poverty. Here in the U.S. the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is committed to the notion of providing “safe, sanitary and decent” housing for even our nation’s poorest amongst us. In Haiti, the squalid housing built primarily of adobe, mud, tin and aluminum would not even pass muster as housing for America’s homeless who live on our streets.

Having not yet recovered from the hurricanes of 2008, last week’s earthquake, measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale, has not only devastated the country, but has slammed into the Haitian government, making its ability to govern now virtually impossible.

Contrary to Rush Limbaugh’s admonition that donations to Haiti already exist and that it is called “our income tax” U.S. foreign policy towards Haiti over the past 20 years has actually done more harm than good. During Bill Clinton’s presidency, its efforts to bring democracy to this little island nation, specifically the reinstatement of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, resulted in an embargo that in the end, destroyed Haiti’s already fragile economic infrastructure.

Following Bill Clinton was George W. Bush and that administration spent many years trying to undo the reinstatement of President Aristide by preventing badly needed international aid to Haiti and then when that failed, simply overthrowing Aristide and exiling him to Africa.

Now, the world is in the tenuous situation of having to save millions of Haitian lives, or simply watch an entire generation of Haitians disappear off the face of the earth. While U.S. assistance is critical, so much so that a general relief offered without it would certainly fail, President Obama will hopefully recognize that the U.S. government lacks the means to go it alone. Particularly when faced with economic challenges of its own, America simply does not have the stomach or the capacity to be solely responsible for the rehabilitation and revitalization of the Haitian people and its economy. There is no question that in the coming weeks, massive U.S. emergency assistance is required, but as soon as the situation has become relatively stabilized, assistance for Haiti should become internationalized.

Whenever a natural disaster erupts somewhere in the world, the tragedy is usually followed by pledges from the international community totaling billions of dollars. Haiti’s government, already undone by the hurricane of 2008 and the poverty and political instability before and after that hurricane cannot and should not be expected to come before a hodgepodge of international relief agencies seeking post disaster relief. To fund a recovery process that will lead to economic and political stability in Haiti, there needs to be a large sum of money in the bank as it were, ready to be spent on the kind of infrastructure and social revitalization that will finally bring an end to the cycle of Haitian poverty, economic disaster and political instability. Either the Inter American Development Bank or the International Monetary Fund would serve as excellent venues for the overall recovery effort. The Inter American Bank in particular would be a wise choice because it already serves as Haiti’s largest development partner and would be positioned to attract donors from all over the world.

Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University has laid out an admirable plan for how such a recovery fund could be organized. He recently wrote in a piece published in the Washington Post, that a “Haiti Recovery Fund should receive emergency outlays from the United States and other donors; organize a board that includes members appointed by Haitian President Rene Preval, the U.N. Secretary General and donors; and empower a management team to formulate and execute plans agreed to by the Haitian government.”

God willing, the first phase of Haiti’s recovery will soon end. Tragically, it appears that more than 200,000 Haitians will have lost their lives, many of them dying under the rubble with rescue simply getting to them too late. Now, the primary focus of the rescue effort seems to be on saving Haiti itself since its cities are without the essentials such as food and water. If this were not enough, the specter of epidemics due to dead bodies in the streets of Haitian communities is a reality that simply causes one to shudder in anticipation of the deaths to follow that reality. In addition, there is almost a total lack of electrical power which has more than a negative impact on the ability of hospitals and other medical triage centers to operate. And, lurking behind this unbelievable dire set of circumstances is the very real possibility of murderous civil unrest which had already begun to manifest itself prior to the arrival of American military troops.

Consequently, the recovery fund, as described above, would first concentrate on bringing back basic human services needed for Haitians to begin surviving and to stop dying. Already, we are seeing medical supplies arriving from all over the globe, particularly the United States. This along with an assemblage of surgical units and clinics is essential. Electrical power could be provided by barges, anchored offshore, supplying electricity until new electric generating plants on land could be built.

The initial emergency relief provided by America and other countries should quickly morph into reconstruction. As Jeffrey Sachs pointed out in his piece, “Indeed, if we stop at humanitarian relief alone, Haiti will be right back in crisis soon enough…” Therefore, the first step in this transition from emergency relief to nation building must be food. Haiti’s agricultural sector will require seed and fertilizer almost immediately after the earthquake’s dust has settled. Getting Haiti’s farmers back on their feet is vital since growing food will be far more economical than continuing to invest in the cost of providing food by importing it from outside of the country.

New housing cannot be comprised of weak and inefficient attempts at housing which would easily be destroyed by the next earthquake or flood. The international community will have to provide technical assistance to Haiti so that a construction industry can be developed that will result in the construction of homes that are made of brick, reinforced concrete and other durable, storm-resisting materials. Housing is an area that is best managed by private companies with specific expertise and capacity. American construction firms understand the nuances of both stick build and pre-fabricated housing. This kind of expertise could prove invaluable in developing quick but stable housing for millions of Haitians.

Without a plan to re-build Haiti after the international community, led by the United States, has responded to the nightmare of the earthquake and its aftermath, we can expect to see this again, if there even is a Haiti left.