Haiti: Touching the Third Rail
Getting Off Our Knees
I need a new phrase for what is happening in Haiti.
Disaster to the 9th power
KKK( Krentif-Kadejak-Kidnapin)
Pre-Darfur
The Mideast with More Melanin
A German word that sounds terrifying and has 10 syllables
Sara Mansbach brought an open letter to my attention from the Global Centre For the Responsibility to Protect. Titled: Policy Framework For An Effective Transition. It has been signed by more than 79 grassroots organizations.
It takes eloquent and detailed issues with the total absence of women on the Presidential Transitional Council.
They demand that women need to be in at least 30% of decision-making positions that involve women. Make it safe for women, and you make it safe for everybody The 30% is the magic number researchers have shown us that changes culture - whether it is the board room or the neighborhood. Bringing in a single person who is different is tokensim that will be tolerated but won’t have much impact. Two is better but get it to 3 or 30% and the non-majority members will now be looked at as individuals and not spokespeople for their minority. They can be heard now above the din of their race or gender.
Look to grassroots leaders to fill these positions. You know what should be mandatory for such a leader—what her community thinks of her. You know what should not be mandatory—the ability to speak French like a Parisian. Also, re-think the education requirements of the various job descriptions. How much of those are necessary to get the mission accomplished?
And I will now touch the third rail for Christian NGOs. In many communities, the most respected woman is a Vodou priestess. Despite onerous attempts, Vodou remains part of the nation’s fiber. It is not going anywhere. Perhaps it is time to work with the local Vodou community - no more disparaging comments in church services about the local Vodou priestess. We Christians should be humble about our efforts to date in Haiti. If our God is truly so powerful - why is Haiti in this mess when we have been there for decades? Perhaps less praying and more partnering is in order. This is academic paper that addresses the possibility of a Vodou-Christian effort to repair Haiti.
And now I am going to jump on the tracks and stand in front of the train. The Duvaliers invited the Protestants into the country to do their stuff with the proviso to stay out of politics. And the missionaries kept that promise. They modeled an older version of American Christianity that had nothing to do with politics. For any problem - praying about it was the most important action. The concerns of the government were trifles - nothing to care about. This has led to generations of Haitians blaming societal ills on the devil and it compounded an attitude of helplessness. So we have some blame for Haiti’s current state of affairs. Hard to hear I know. I think now is the time to get off our knees.
This newsletter is brought to you by the LearningHaiti ecosystem to help educational NGOs in Haiti share resources. You can contact me at winifred.flint@gmail.com