Local Politics and International Economies

It is becoming clear that, like anywhere where a few people lead a larger group of people, that there are power struggles going on in Camp Traizele. There is not just one camp committee, there are two, based on separate sides of the terrain. I didn't know this until I watched a soccer game with the folks at the far end of the camp. When I mentioned this to Darly, he practically spat. Those miscreants?! Don't go over there, Claire, those are bad people. Two days ago, an NGO (I wasn't there, I'm not sure which) came to the camp and began some kind of census taking. They distributed identification cards with names and numbers, and told people they were working to relocate the camp to a different territory, off of private land, where everyone would have a permanent shelter. They marked the tents with triangles and circles (the meanings of which they did not bother to explain to the inhabitants of the camp, apparently). However, when Darly and his police officer friend found out about this, they came and shut down the whole operation. The NGO's efforts to help weren't legitimate because they had arranged their project with the other committee, and they were asked to leave. Or at least that what it looked like to most the people in the camp. There was so much anger that afternoon as I wandered around. So much frustration that rivalries over control of this small community were preventing aid from reaching the people who actually need it. Haitians are so stupid! So petty! I was told. Trust no one. Everyone's just out for themselves. Don't expect anyone to ever help you. If you want something done...

The next day, the committee that had invited to NGO organized a rally in front of the camp, in Darly's territory, more or less. They set up a table and a loud speaker, the men (they were all men) wore button up shirts and freshly pressed pants. They made speeches to a crowd of probably 150 that they, and not Darly and co., had the best interests of the camp in mind. About half the people in the crowd cheered at the appropriate times, the rest remained with their hands at their sides. I couldn't understand too much of what they were saying. Who do you listen to, I asked my friends. Most people responded that they don't listen to anybody, that neither group is really there to help them. Others said they thought Darly was wrong for shutting down the aid distribution effort. As I was leaving, I spotted Darly sitting outside a tent with some of his friends on the margins of the crowd, literally shaking with rage. I asked him what was going on, which I regret now, since he walked me home, and everyone at the rally saw Darly walking away with the blan. I'm his blan. I feel like he might have been using me somehow, using his affiliation with me as a sign of status (not the first time I have felt that way). But nevertheless it was good to hear his perspective. According to him, they weren't shutting down the operation because they were against it, its just that the group came in the middle of the morning, when many many people were at school, work, or in the streets. Any census done at that time would be woefully incomplete. He spoke with the group and they agreed to come back another day, in the evening, to do a more complete census. Unfortunately Darly and co. did not explain their rational to the inhabitants, and he lost a lot of trust that way. Today I learned that after his rivals rally, Darly and co. did a march around the camp with a megaphone, proclaiming the legitimacy of their actions.

One of the major hurdles to the aid effort, I think, is that every camp is a different microcosm. These are not the undifferentiated black masses reaching out desperately for bags of rice, like Anderson Cooper would like us to think. Each community has a particular history and set of dynamics that should be acknowledged and assessed in order to figure out the most effective ways of helping the camp inhabitants with their situation. Had the NGO known about this internal rivalry, they might have tried to work with both groups, or not be scared off when they were told to leave. Of course, that's a little utopian: humanitarianism is a business, reconstruction is business. I'm not blaming them, they respected what seemed like the wishes of the camp, and they have a lot of work to do, a lot of ground to cover. Not every camp has a wayward grad student wandering around, asking questions, taking notes.

A small, but important tangent: humanitarianism is a racket. Especially American federal aid. If I understand correctly, any humanitarian organization that receives aid from the American government is obligated to purchase good and supplies from American companies, from American farmers, and shipping them on American ships. The law specifically prohibits aiding local economies by buying produce from local farmers or supplies from local merchants. Its a way to make sure that American money stays in American hands. Thus, the American aid efforts manage to keep people alive while not investing in a economic system that can support people on its own. Same with the reconstruction effort. American contractors, using imported American supplies to rebuild Haiti. A major disaster becomes a occasion for serious profiteering. Maybe that's why America acted to fast to get its foot in the door here? The only thing that can actually help Haiti, in my humble opinion, is meaningful investment in the local economy. Creation of jobs, support of local farmers, of an internal economy that can grow to feed itself. The kind of economy Haiti had before the 90's when Bill Clinton pushed Haiti to its knees and force-fed it subsidized American rice. (Of course, policies of that nature had been going on since the 70's). When faced with Haiti's staggering devastation and inability to feed itself, Bill Clinton himself admitted that he was overzealous in his efforts to help his Alabama farmers. The consequences were too great. Nevertheless, none of the reconstruction bills involve repealing these agreements or raising the tariffs on imported American goods in order to support Haitian producers. None of the reconstruction bills involve job creation either. Also, there is no effort to educate Haitians on the real nature of American policy towards Haiti. So many people are hopeful that Bill Clinton will become president of Haiti. Clinton has never had Haiti's interests in mind, not as when he was president and not now. And yet, he is effectively the president of Haiti. They should be afraid, but there is no other figure they feel they can put faith in.