And Still I Rise

As I type this I am wondering how much more Haiti can take. From being the richest colony in the world Haiti has degenerated to being the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. We look down our noses at Haiti preferring to see them as nothing more than those evil voodoo worshippers. We choose not to remember or don't know that once upon a time Haitians dared to dream of self rule and in the process carried out a successful slave revolt. Many of us don't even know that when Haiti gained her independence the only other Western country to be independent was the USA. Do we even know that Haiti became the first black republic following the slave revolt?. That was years ago and many of us remain ignorant to the pressures exerted on the young nation by its former rulers- pressures that contributed to the Haiti we know today.


The Haiti of despair as portrayed by the boat people who risk their lives in search of a better day.. The Haiti that takes an almost yearly pounding from hurricanes. The Haiti of political unrest and coups and counter coups. The Haiti where soil erosion has left the hills bare. And now an earthquake of 7.0 magnitude has come to further crush the depressed people. I really don't know what else to say since sorry seems so inadequate but I really am sorry. I know there is much to be said about the strength of the human spirit so I'm really hoping that the people can find some inner strength to deal with this disaster. Meantime, let's all do our bit to help our Caribbean brothers and sisters.

Don't give up Haiti.