Haiti's pain, hope for the region

Glenda Simms

The tragic natural events which altered the present and future reality of Haiti will forever be engraved in the memories of millions of world citizens who watched the 'CNN-ised' version of the aftermath of the tragedy. Those who listened to their local media houses in their nation states will also feel close to the suffering people of Haiti.

Over and above the reaction of the ordinary folk in the 'Westernised' world, large numbers of us are exposed to the daily doses of analysis, pontificating and explanation of why this tragedy happened in a country that has been popularly described as the poorest nation in the Western world.

Sir Hilary Beckles, principal of the Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies, joined other historians and political analysts in enlightening the general public about the intricate and many-layered political conspiracies that were designed to keep black people in their place.

In the January 24 edition of The Gleaner, Sir Hilary's article, 'The hate and the quake', detailed the political events that created the contemporary underdevelopment of the Haitian state. This is truly a story of hatred, absolute racism and the injustices that have characterised the lives of the majority of peoples of African origin in the Americas.

unholy alliance

In a similar vein, the Reverend Garnett Roper used his column in The Sunday Herald of January 24-30, to discuss the unholy alliance between certain segments of the Christian community and the wicked actions of the oppressors of the descendants of previously enslaved African people.

According to Roper, many of the evangelical sects and several versions of the new American churches have spread the propaganda of the "generational curse and the suggestion that black people are under the curse of Ham ... and we are thereby condemned eternally to remain the hewers of wood and drawers of water".

This perspective was a strong plank of the belief system of the Mormon Church in Canada. In fact, this thesis was the reason why black men were not allowed into the inner sanctum of the 'temple'.

It was interesting to note that as time moved on and vast reserves of oil were discovered in Nigeria, the hierarchy of the Mormon Church had a visitation from their God who advised them that Black men were no longer cursed.

Obviously, the God of the capitalist needed to smooth the way for the oil barons of North America to establish an alliance with the ruling patriarchs of Black Africa in order to suck out the oil dollars to enrich the coffers of North America and Europe.

Haiti, like many other ex-slave societies, has been the victim of organised oppression, unholy alliance of Church and State, the neglect and corruption of home-grown robber barons, otherwise called politicians and elected leaders. It is, therefore, not surprising that when the most devastating earthquake crushed the Haitian nation, significant numbers of its people were forced to either meet their death or deal with life under the most difficult and dehumanising circumstances.

Amid all this death, pain and suffering, the major political conglomerates of the Western world had to put on their thinking hats and scrambled to put 'humpty dumpty together again'.

suspicious motives

We can well imagine the horse trading that is taking place behind the scenes. There are those who are suspicious of the motives of the big boys and the few girls who are meeting in different places to put in place a master plan to rebuild Haiti and to bring this ill-fated nation out of the rubble to which it has been reduced.

The meeting of foreign ministers of several countries which has recently convened in Montreal is of real importance to the way forward for Haiti. It is no accident that Canada was chosen to host such a gathering. After all, there has been a strong historical bond between Quebec, the francophone sector of the Dominion of Canada and the Haitians who represent a significant sector of the immigrant population in Quebec.

CARICOM will no doubt be at the head table as the plans for Haiti are put in place, because we fully expect that the Caribbean neighbours of Haiti will be integral to the revisioning, restructuring and rebuilding of a new and different Haiti.

Most important, the funding agencies were there to pledge their resources and to push their developmental points of view.

It is within the sanctuary of the main meeting room in Montreal that I would have loved to be a 'fly on the maple leaf'.

I would savour the moment when the governor general of Canada, a black woman of Haitian origin, greeted the high-level delegations that had descended on Montreal. The governor general is not ashamed of showing her emotions and her passion for the land of her birth. She would certainly have 'lit up' that room of mostly men in dark suits.

Apart from my 'fly like' interest in all the presentations, I would be especially attuned to the presentation made by the World Bank. I can imagine the representative of this most important institution reminding all those who are now poised to rebuild Haiti that this rebuilding cannot be in the established mould of male-centric development.The bank should, of necessity, remind the high rollers of Church and State that there can be no lasting development without gender equality.

the way forward

The bank would also politely tell the masterminds who are convinced that they know the way forward for Haiti, that without gender equality the majority of men and women in all developing societies will not escape the grinding poverty that has restricted their life chances over time.

The World Bank, if it is true to its policy directions, should have reminded the so-called experts who sat behind the leaders gathered in Montreal that "growth alone will not deliver the desired results" in a newly constructed Haiti of steel and good concrete.A new society will need to be the centrepiece of gender equality in rights, resources and voice. This means that President Préval must be convinced that he has to reconceptualise democracy within the framework of a new, dynamic and just society.

He must leave his many consultations with a vision of change to the patriarchal underpinnings of all the societies of his region.

no best practice of regional gender equality

From my point of view, there is no best practice of gender equality in CARICOM. There are a few significant legislative changes that try to reverse the effects of the historical wrongs that all women have experienced in the region.

The saving grace for hope that CARICOM can be up to the task of helping Haiti to become a progressive, developed and prosperous nation in a gender-equal framework lies in the leadership of former prime minister of Jamaica, P.J. Patterson.

While I cannot take comfort from the fact that none of the Caribbean states has demonstrated an organised ideologically driven, gender-integrated and just society, I pin my hope for change in the region on my belief that Patterson has the intellectual capacity and the social awareness of how patriarchal values have prevented balanced and equitable development in the region.

Under his leadership, therefore, we should anticipate that in the new Haiti we will see at least 30 per cent of women either elected or appointed to form a reconstructed parliament which will supervise a process of humane governance and justice.

The time has now come for all women of goodwill in the region to insist that representatives of their government who become involved in Haiti's restructuring and new reality be held accountable for the integration of women's human rights and gender equality in all aspects of the new society.

Haiti's pain might yet be the catalyst that will propel our societies to move beyond lip service when it comes to the issue of the human rights of all citizens of the region.

Dr Glenda P. Simms is a consultant on gender issues. Feedback may be sent to columns@gleanerjm.com.