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NEWS & LETTERS, October - November 2008
World in View
Un-natural disasters
In August and September, four huge storms struck Haiti, causing loss of life and enormous physical destruction. The death toll reached toward 1,000, and the number of homeless came close to a million. As devastating as are these natural disasters, it is the un-naturalness of their consequences that characterizes Haiti in its human suffering and vast damage to the land.
Deforestation--more than 95% of Haiti's forests no longer exist--was the immediate cause for the rush of water and plummeting rivers of mud that swallowed up hundreds of people and pulverized thousands of ramshackle houses. It is a deforestation that lies deep in the history of Haiti, first in the colonial/slave world, then in the post-Haitian revolution 19th century, followed by the deepening impoverishment of its people and land in the 20th century and continuing to today.
Its continual deep impoverishment has meant that the poor, who live on its hills, have for decades cut the remaining trees for survival. They did not and do not have access to cooking gas or kerosene, so they obtain fuel by cutting trees and making charcoal. As Paul Farmer, a doctor and long-time human rights activist in Haiti, notes: "They have been driven into a corner, the people I serve, you know, the rural poor. Their only option for cooking has been to make this charcoal, and they're going to continue as long as they have no jobs, no food, and no fuel."
In "normal" times some 70% of Haitians have no access to potable water, resulting in high incidents of intestinal parasites and amoebic dysentery. The Inter-American Development Bank had approved loans to rework the water and sanitary system for two of Haiti's cities. But for political reasons, the U.S. has worked for years to slow down the disbursment of this money.
--Eugene Walker
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