[HoI Course] Looking to the Future (Haiti Today 6/6)

WELCOME TO THE FIFTH LESSON FOR HAITI TODAY 

PART OF THE HISTORY OF IDEAS ACADEMY

You can find the outline for the course here, a brief history of Haiti here, an introduction to Vodou here,  a discussion of daily life here, an overview of NGOs and foreign intervention here, and a discussion of zombies and spirits of the dead here. Please post all comments, requests, and questions in the Reddit post  rather than the blog. That way we can continue our discussion within the History of Ideas subreddit. I've also posted an album to accompany the post that you can view here. 

Looking to the Future

Areas of Promise and Hope for Haiti

      So far I've spent a lot of time talking about the problems past and present in Haiti. But there are some promising things too. The goal of this section is to look at some of the areas that have the potential to change Haiti's situation. In particular, I am focusing on projects that have large scale implications and not just small localized focuses. When possible, I've picked out a particular project I find interesting and promising.

Environment

      Intensive logging, crops that have leached the top soil, erosion, pollution, deforestation, and contaminated water have created a dire environmental situation in Haiti. Like I laid out in a previous post, less than 2% of Haiti is currently forested and the erosion and poor farming techniques have led to reduced productivity of the soil. For a country that is food poor, this is a serious concern. USAID and NGOs have attempted to solve these issues in a variety of ways, but with little success. For example, there have been a number of attempts to reforest Haiti through planting trees. Often groups choose fruit and avocado trees in the hope that it will kill two birds with one stone. However, what the goats don't eat the local people often cut down to turn into charcoal. Charcoal is still the most popular fuel for cooking and wood is used for heating (the mountains actually do get cold in the winter.) This doesn't stop planting efforts from being the major method utilized by non-profits and aid organizations. It isn't that efforts such as those by the Timberland company are completely ineffective. But unless something larger changes, it merely slows the inevitable and provides a continuous supply of trees for fuel and goat feed.

      Attempts to modernize agriculture have been limited by lack of access to resources, lack of credit available to farmers, land tenure issues, and corruption. However, there are a few interesting projects under way. When I was in Haiti in 2011, I met the executive director of a project called CHIBAS who was trying to cultivate edible Jatropha that he hoped would solve three specific issues. Edible Jatropha is a plant already found in Haiti and is used for marking land boundaries and in some religious ceremonies. While it is edible, as its name suggests, the fruit is not very tasty. But it does provide practical resources. The oil produced from crushing the fruit is a great biofuel - it can replace diesel in a modified engine or be used as cooking fuel. The nuts can also be used like briquettes in place of charcoal. The mash that is left over from pressing the fruit can be used as livestock feed, something that is currently very expensive in Haiti and is almost all imported. The trees grow easily in a wide variety of soils in tropical regions - including sandy and nutrient poor conditions. And, goats don't like to eat them and the wood does not make good charcoal.

      Therefore, with some educational programs they hope to shift locals' use of charcoal to Jatropha nuts and biofuel as well as encourage them to use the mash for feeding livestock. Petroleum and food currently makeup two-thirds of Haiti's annual imports but there are always shortages of each. The Jatropha program is already underway with plants being started in a field and then replanted along the mountainsides when they are big enough. Similar projects have also been underway in places like India where they hope to turn the Jatropha oil into jet fuel. It is important not to overstate the successes of projects like this and retain a healthy level of skepticism. Yet, they do look promising and give hope that the next stage of the Green Revolution will be much more successful. In the past, certain projects like those in Bali failed because they did not take local contexts, concerns, practices, and needs into account when developing their projects. Agriculture has a huge domino effect on environment, nutrition, jobs, economy, gender relations, class, etc. CHIBAS' edible Jatropha projects do a much better job listening to local concerns and trying to address the multiple levels that their work will impact. It helps that the executive director of CHIBAS was born and raised in Haiti so he is able to apply his PhD expertise in genetics, agriculture, and plant biology in a culturally and locally sensitive manner. If you are interested in learning more you can visit informational sites about the project here and here. You can also watch a video about the research going on though unfortunately it is in French.

Education & Economy

      Education can empower people to be their own agents of change and open up new opportunities. Even just gaining literacy skills allows individuals to read newspapers, make informed decisions at the polls, apply for better jobs, navigate bureaucracy, and continue their education on their own. These benefits are even higher when educating women and this is especially true in Haiti where women often manage the money, are primarily in charge of selling in the marketplace, and make most decisions regarding health, nutrition, and education of the children. In short, education is one of the few things that we can provide for other communities that creates a lifelong change.

      Yet, access to education and the ability to afford it is a major problem in Haiti. 57% of the population over the age of 13 is completely illiterate and more are functionally illiterate. 90% of schools in Haiti are private, and at an average of $109 in fees per child per year (about 40% of a poor family's yearly income) it is difficult for families to send one let alone all of their children to school. Most families do their best to send kids to a couple years of elementary school, which is reflected in the 2002-2003 enrollment statistics that show about 76% of children to to first and second grade. However, only 22% stay in school after that. In some areas high school level education is not available at all - public or private. Families that are interviewed for academic research and ones that I've spoken with personally overwhelmingly want their children to get a higher level of education and recognize its value in creating a better future for them. However, they cannot afford the fees, do not always have access to a school for their child, and may need assistance from children that requires them to attend only part-time or drop out completely. Once a child reaches an age where they could babysit younger children, help out on the farm, or assist with production and/or selling of goods the family may need their labor enough that school no longer becomes an option.

      The earthquake made this situation even more dire. At least 3,000 schools were damaged or destroyed and it will be years still before they are rebuilt. Additionally, the financial strain of sending a child to school is exacerbated when a natural disaster hits. Families lost homes and jobs and the influx of international aid workers has made prices for everything - food, shelter, water, clothing - increase dramatically. Many children and adults also experienced highly traumatizing events that may psychologically hinder them from working or attending school. And the recent cholera epidemic that has killed about 8,000 people has also created serious burdens for families. Therefore, it is important to remember that the ability and desire for attending school is not just about the child but the child's entire family and social context. Improved economic situations, child care services, cheap or free school expenses, better health services, and incentives like free lunches help children get educations just as much as access to schools.

      There are a ton of non-profits in Haiti working on the education issue. But, as I already discussed, simply building schools is not enough. They need resources to run and the other social conditions mentioned above also influence whether people can take advantage of them. Non-profits and NGOs that build structures without thinking about how the teachers, books, uniforms, school lunches, clean water, taxes, etc. will continue when the group moves on to their next project fail in their main goal. Often local politicians take them over and run them as a private school for the income with little concern over the quality of education. This is part of the reason why public schools, though they only make up about 10% of available institutions, often provide higher quality education. However, there are some promising developments on the education front and I'd like to mention a couple of them.

      First, President Martelly (elected in 2011) ran on a platform that promised free public school education to all children ages 6-12. Surprising as it may seem, he was the first president to promise this and it was a large part of why he was elected. To fund this initiative he institute two taxes: $1.50 on every international money transfer and 5 cents per minute for every international call. The taxes were to only be paid by the international participant so that it would not be a burden to locals. Remittances (money sent from families living outside the country) make up about 20% of Haiti's GDP or roughly $2.32 billion per year. His administration estimated they could raise about $8.5 million per month towards their education goals. Now the president does not actually have the legal power to levy taxes in Haiti and many Haitians at home and abroad were upset that he ignored law and instituted them without Parliament or the nation voting on them. However, enough people were willing to overlook the legality of the situation because they supported the end goal. The National Fund for Education continued to put away money while Parliament planned for how they would implement the free education scholarships. But six months after the plan was put in place, some serious concerns about the funds began to arise.

      The fund was not overseen by Parliament, but they estimated at that point it should have about $60 million. The head of the fund said their math was off and they only had $28 million. But the bank announced there was only somewhere between $5-2 million in the account. Parliament demanded an investigation as did the head of Digicel - one of the major cell phone companies and remittance transfer services that had to collect and process most of the taxes. Digicel claimed they had sent $20 million to the fund. It turned out that many of the school fees President Martelly had claimed were paid by the fund had been paid by the Clinton Foundation but many schools were still coming up short. Many teachers had not been paid their salary for months and were threatening to leave. As of writing this blog the missing money is still not accounted for and no one has a solid accounting of how much is supposed to be in there in the first place. In all, it seems like a dismal failure and one more example of President Martelly's corruption.

      So why then am I listing this initiative as a positive step? Well, in recognizing the President's failures other organizations and politicians have stepped up to try and rectify the problem. There are a number of politicians who are trying to resolve the corruption and legal problems plaguing the program. There have been numerous protests against President Martelly's mismanagement of the funds, but it is clear that the people overwhelmingly support the concept. After being promised free education for their children, the people expect it and have been very vocal about their demands for such a program going forward. It looks like even if President Martelly never fully delivers future politicians will have to at least make a show of trying to provide free schools. Other organizations like Partners in Health and the Clinton Foundation are investing heavily in local schools to help makeup for the lack of promised funds from the government. Partners in Health is also building a teaching hospital where they hope to train a wide range of medical professionals. But perhaps one of the most interesting projects actually comes from the for profit side. Digicel - the aforementioned cell phone company - is doing some very interesting things in Haiti and this is the second example that I would like to focus upon.

      Digicel is an Irish owned cell phone company that is incredibly popular and profitable in Haiti. Mobile phone access has drastically changed life in countries like Haiti. In 2005 only 5% of the country had cell coverage, but by 2009 95% of the country was covered. Some people in cities have land lines, but cell phones are much more popular and available in rural areas where land lines are not. Cell phones are relatively cheap and minutes can be purchased from vendors on the streets in whatever increments people can afford. Today, Digicel has about 4.8 million subscribers and Natcom has about 500,000 (overall population is about 9.7 million). However, these numbers are a little misleading because couples, families, and even friends often share a cell phone meaning that many more have access to one.

      Cell phones allow families and friends to stay in touch over distances in ways they couldn't before - whether that is someone going to the city for work, to the Dominican Republic to work in the sugar cane fields, or the the US. Like I discussed before, networks and relationships are incredibly important in Haiti as safety nets and for getting things done. Begging for charity is shameful in part because it indicates you don't have "people" i.e. you are not likable enough to have built up networks that would have prevented the need for begging. Cell phones may also be changing relationships within families because it allows fathers - who often leave for work - the ability to stay in touch with their children. Men often have photos of their kids on their phones and eagerly share their joy at being fathers with others through these pictures. Cell phones also allow rural communities the ability to stay in touch with urban populations and keep up to date on issues of politics, economy, and social changes that may not be covered in radio broadcasts. For example, coffee growers in the mountains used to be dependent upon middle men who would meet them at the base of the mountain and purchase the coffee to be sold in the city. Growers had to rely upon the middle men to tell them market price and were often shafted. But now they can call a cousin in Port au Prince to find out market price and this gives them the power to negotiate. More recently, the Bill and Meinda Gates Foundation  funded a program for Haitians to be able to use their cell phones like bank accounts since 90% of the population does not (and cannot) use banks. People can transfer money to other users and store money like an account. They can then take their phone to a Digicel store and get their money.  Adoption of the cell phone bank account has been slow, but the project is interesting because it allows poor Haitians access to services normally denied to them. Additionally, Digicel and other cell phone companies send out free texts to cell phones warning subscribers whenever a hurricane or other issue arises.

      All of this is to say that cell phones are great and it is good that Haitians have them now. But the educational possibilities come from the non-profit arm of Digicel. The company's billionaire chairman Denis O'Brien has made it a personal mission to improve the life of Haitians. O'Brien has also recognized that education is a major problem that the government seems unable or unwilling to tackle. So far Digicel has built 75 schools and plans to build 75 more. Some of these replace ones destroyed in the earthquake and others are aimed at reaching children in rural areas that never previously had access to education. They also have a teacher training program that plans to train 600 teachers over the next three years. The foundation also pays the salaries for the teachers and many other costs so that families only have to cover about $10 in fees for a school year - a huge savings from the national average of $109 a year. Additionally, they arrange for school lunches and vaccinations for students to be provided by other organizations.

      But more than just focusing on schools, O'Brien's foundation has recognized what I discussed earlier - increasing education of the populace requires improving the lives of the childrens' families and their ability to attend. Lack of education and its solution do not exist in a vacuum  Rather, we have to acknowledge that they are embedded in complex contexts that are all interconnected. To this end his organization has also rebuilt a historic landmark and site of trade in Port-au-Prince called the Iron Market after it was destroyed in the earthquake. Digicel installed street signs in the capital, providing prosthetic limbs for those who lost theirs in the earthquake, and hosted entrepreneurship galas for local businesses.  The foundation is investing in tourism and broke ground for the first Marriott in Haiti, moved the company's call center to Haiti to create more jobs, and their buildings allow both the mayor of Port-au-Prince and the Red Cross free offices. They are building clean water pumps, building temporary and permanent housing for people still in tents (which are now breaking down), and sponsoring the special olympics in Haiti. They also started a pilot Youth Enterprise School in Fondwa that teaches teens and younger adults business skills, financial knowledge, literacy, and skills for careers. The school also breeds animals and grows crops to generate revenue and encourage production of local food (currently most eggs, chickens, and produce is imported.) If this school does well the foundation hopes to expand to other locations. I often run into adults who lament being unable to to move beyond their current situation because they lack the business and financial skills that could help them get ahead.

      There are some Haitians who are understandably wary of O'Brien. He is a billionaire with a mission meaning he has the money and clout to bypass the corruption and politics of the system. But it also means he isn't beholden to the system. So far his efforts have been pretty amazing and it is fascinating to see how well placed and informed spending of money can have huge payoffs. It is also heartening to see the good corporations can do in a time when big business seems like a bad word in America. Yet, I do sympathize with concerns about one man making decisions that are having such a huge impact in a country that is not his own. And it is undeniable that these efforts have made Digicel incredibly popular in Haiti and is good for business. However, for now he seems to be able to balance the practices that lead to good business on the one hand and his efforts to genuinely help the island on the other. The fact that if Haiti's economy and quality of life improves it will mean more subscribers and data use for Digicel should not automatically signal a problem. Businesses and lives can thrive in tandem.

Tourism

      Tourism obviously falls under the heading of economy, but I've separated it out because there are specific programs and national goals for tourism that I'd like to discuss in depth. I've encountered a lot of negative articles and comments about Haiti's investment in the tourism industry suggesting that the nation is foolish to spend its money on hotels when so many other problems plague the country. And it is true that Haiti is very poor and has huge health, housing, education, and social problems. Yet, an improved economy that increases the standard of living across a broad range of the population can create opportunities for improving all of those categories. It is vital that efforts to improve Haiti's situation do not perpetuate the cycle of poverty by merely giving away free things or only treating one aspect of the complex situation as if it exists in isolation. Haitian President Martelly announced that tourism would be a major component of his plan to rebuild the Haitian economy. At first glance, many people do not think of Haiti as an ideal tourist destination. Yet, I would like to argue that President Martelly is not crazy to suggest tourism has a huge potential for the island and that it might be a much more positive and fruitful alternative to his other plan for economic growth: sweat shops.

      Haiti used to have a thriving tourism industry that was vitally important to their economy. This shouldn't be that surprising since the Dominican Republic - the other half of the island of Hispaniola - still has a very active and profitable tourism industry. Caribbean beaches, great music, beautiful art forms, good food, and a long unique history all made Haiti an attractive place to relax and to party. Which is exactly what people like Mick Jagger, Jackie O, Jimmy Buffet, and John Barrymore went there to do. The Clintons honeymooned in Haiti. Graham Greene sat in the Hotel Oloffson and was inspired by it to write The Comedians. Luxury hotels, nightclubs, bars, and cafes lined the streets of Port-au-Prince in the 1970s1 waiting for the 150,000 tourists to arrive yearly. 25,000 jobs depended on the tourism industry. The recession that hit America in the early 1980s turned that number to 100,000 by 1981. But it was AIDS that really killed tourism in Haiti.  Americans were terrified of AIDS and did not fully understand how it spread. Anyone suspected of carrying AIDS was ostracized. In 1982, the CDC named Haiti as one of the infamous 4-H Club. Overnight Haiti became synonymous with HIV/AIDS and Haitians in America suddenly couldn't sell their homes, lost their jobs, got kicked out of their churches, and lost friends. And Americans certainly didn't want to travel to an island full of potential carriers. By the end of 1982, only 10,000 Americans had traveled to Haiti. Hotels, restaurants, clubs, resorts, and activities began folding left and right. Throughout the 1990s, the political unrest made tourism undesirable and the earthquake in 2010 destroyed what little tourist industry had recovered. But oddly enough, the earthquake also created a space for many Americans to rediscover Haiti as a place of tourism.

      Many volunteers at various non-profit and NGO efforts in Haiti get a few days off every so often for relaxation and sanity. It is common for these groups to organize day trips to beaches, Bassin-Bleu, distilleries, historic sites, or areas to buy souvenirs. Though I've been cynical about the organizations themselves, many volunteers genuinely want to help and fall in love with Haiti while there. Tourism, therefore, is growing not only from the Americans who are stationed in Haiti for a short time but returning volunteers who would like to continue supporting the economy and share their experiences with friends and family. Also, many individuals who fled Haiti during the political upheavals, repressive regimes, and poor economy return frequently to visit family and enjoy the island. In 2011, tourism made up 4.4% of Haiti's GDP with projections for it to continue rising. In July 2011, President Martelly launched "Tourism Week," which aimed to bring attention to the different sites and attractions that might interest tourists. He has also pushed for preservation of historical sites like the Citadel, marketing campaigns, and building the infrastructure that will be needed to service tourists.

      Currently, it can be difficult to be a tourist in Haiti. Roads are bad, public transit is worse, and there are few resources for planning trips. There are tour services such as Tour Haiti, which I've had great experiences with, but their website is lacking and in French. Figuring out which area of Haiti a tourist would like to visit and what to do there is easier now that Trip Advisor has Haiti reviews, but deciding where to stay is still complicated. I've stayed in some amazing hotels in Haiti, but most do not have websites, phone numbers, or reviews online making it difficult to arrange reservations from abroad. And many hotels do not have the services and staff at the levels many Americans expect. While there are some tourists who like the adventure of a destination like Haiti, to really attract large numbers they will need to address these issues. Currently, there are efforts to improve roadways, the state built an airport in the beach community of Jacmel, they opened a hospitality school in the South thanks to the Clinton Bush Foundation, and have made arrangements with international agencies to create tour packages. Port-au-Prince just hosted an international Jazz Festival with some very well known New Orleans, Germany, France, and even Cameroon. Haiti's Minister of Tourism Stephanie Villedrouin has done an impressive job building up the services and attractions in Haiti as well as reaching out to the private sector to collaborate for investments. This has sometimes meant working with major hotel chains to give them incentives to build nice hotels.  Collaborative efforts between the private tourism sector, non-profits, and the government have at times come under heavy fire from news sites and popular web communities such as Reddit. Yet, if tourism is truly going to be a cornerstone of Haiti's economic development the government has to invest in it and encourage outside investment as well.

      Tourism in Haiti has a lot of potential if there is investment and encouragement from the government and private sector. Haiti might not be able to compete with all inclusive resorts that are identical in all but name to other such resorts around the Caribbean. However, the country's history, culture, and traditions could be huge tourist draws. Haiti was the first free black republic in the world. You can tour historic landmarks from the revolutionary period with magnificent views. Because of its history and isolation, Haiti has its own art, music, and dance forms. The language, religion, and many cultural traditions can be traced back to West African forms. Though Haitians paint most of the paintings you purchase in the Caribbean and Latin America (even if it says another country at the bottom), there are items only available in Haiti such as drapos, rum, metal drum art, carved pieces, and handmade dolls. You can go from hip jazz clubs and art galleries in Petionville to a lazy day at the beach in Cayes-Jacmel swimming in the ocean and eating grilled seafood caught that day. In the North, there are Saints festivals in the summer with church services for the saints in the morning, food and craft items sold during the day, bands playing live music in the evening, Vodou ceremonies all night long, and then repeat the next day. Or you can take a donkey ride up the mountains to see the ruins of Haiti's first and only King's caste Sans Souci and his fort the Citadel and enjoy the spectacular view. If tourism is pursued not in the vein of all inclusive copycat resorts but as a place with a unique history and culture that cannot be experienced anywhere else tourism could be a major part of Haiti's economic growth.  

Conclusion

      While Haiti still faces many serious obstacles, there are reasons to hope that things will improve. It will take a combined effort from the government, non-profits, and for-profit investments but it is possible. Above I've discussed just a few areas where there are promising developments in the areas of education, quality of life, economy, and environment. As these projects move forward it will be important to keep an eye on them and periodically reassess. But for now I have hope that the Haitian people will be better off in the years to come. If you have any questions or would like to discuss an issue in more depth, I welcome you to ask questions on the Reddit History of Ideas post. As usual, I've also incuded a photo album of pictures I have taken that are related to the topics discussed. You can view that photo album here. 

Thanks to everyone who has read all or part of my History of Ideas series of essays on Haiti. If you would like to continue the conversation you can PM me on Reddit or email me at lcrocker@bu.edu. I may periodically update this blog in the future with my musings about Haiti. 

Further Reading and Sources

Environment
http://haitiinnovation.org/en/2010/09/22/jatropha-and-economic-development-haiti
http://chibas-bioenergy.org/
http://blog.acton.org/archives/51728-beyond-aid-the-flood-of-rice-in-haiti.html

Education & Economy
http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/gpo19359/sr245.pdf
http://fletcher.tufts.edu/_Fletcher-Forum/Archives/~/media/Fletcher/Microsites/Fletcher%20Forum/PDFs/2011winter/McNulty.pdf
http://www.cgdev.org/files/2844_file_EDUCATON1.pdf
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/world/americas/07schools.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
http://www.haitispecialenvoy.org/about-haiti/education/

Sloand, Elizabeth, Bette Gebrian, and Nan Marie Astone. "Fathers’ Beliefs About Parenting and Fathers’ Clubs to Promote Child Health in Rural Haiti."Qualitative Health Research 22, no. 4 (2012): 488-498.

Martelly's Education Issues
http://www.sopudep.org/story/246
http://canadahaitiaction.ca/content/education-plan-president-martelly-under-fire

Digicel 
http://www.theage.com.au/small-business/entrepreneur/irish-entrepreneur-banks-on-a-smarter-haiti-20130117-2cvgc.html
http://www.proparco.fr/webdav/site/proparco/shared/PORTAILS/Secteur_prive_developpement/PDF/SPD4/SPD4_Barberousse_Bernard_Pescatori_uk.pdf
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/16/us-haiti-digicel-obrien-idUSBRE90F0AQ20130116
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/mobile-money-plan-stumbles-start-haiti-142030133--finance.html
http://fondationdigicelhaiti.org/news/digicel-foundation-reaches-50-of-its-school-construction-goal/
http://www.imtfi.uci.edu/files/imtfi/docs/2012/taylor_baptiste_horst_haiti_mobile_money.pdf

Tourism
http://www.wttc.org/site_media/uploads/downloads/haiti2012.pdf
http://www.nytimes.com/1983/11/29/world/for-haiti-s-tourism-the-stigma-of-aids-is-fatal.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/aids/countries/ht.html
Farmer, Paul. AIDS and Accusation: Haiti and the Geography of Blame. No. 33. University of California Press, 2006.
http://www.cntraveler.com/features/2009/09/Love-and-Haiti
http://www.haititourisminc.com/
http://www.tourhaiti.net/index.html
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/17/v-fullstory/3187729/branford-marsalis-headlines-haiti.html
http://ayitinou.com/article-posts/29-haitian-articles/3398-haiti-news-martelly-relies-on-tourism.html
http://www.caribjournal.com/2013/02/14/developing-tourism-in-haiti-an-interview-with-minister-stephanie-villedrouin/
http://www.hougansydney.com/landmarks-of-haiti.php
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/17/v-fullstory/3187729/branford-marsalis-headlines-haiti.html

All photographs and essays are my own works. If you would like to reproduce this post whole or in part please contact me first. Thanks!

[HoI Course] Daily Life in Haiti (Haiti Today 3/6)

WELCOME TO THE THIRD LESSON FOR HAITI TODAY, 

PART OF THE HISTORY OF IDEAS ACADEMY

You can find the outline for the course here, a brief history of Haiti here, and an introduction to Vodou here. Please post all comments, requests, and questions in the Reddit post rather than the blog. That way we can continue our discussion within the History of Ideas subreddit.

Daily Life In Haiti

What does it mean to be Haitian?

      The news tends to show a very limited view of what life in Haiti is like. We see image after image of poverty, tent cities, and starving children. These are real and present issues in Haiti. But we miss out on the context of these pictures and the fact that this is a very limited view of Haitian daily life. My goal for this lecture is to use a few different categories as windows into aspects of what it means to live in Haiti. My approach will naturally leave out some things in order to highlight others. If there is an aspect of Haiti that I do not cover but you would like to know more about, just let me know in the comments.

Family and Work in Rural & Urban Haiti

      After the revolution, most Haitians continued to work on the land as farmers producing their own food and selling any extra in nearby markets. Families staked out plots of land where they farmed together as a unit. As children grew up and started families of their own they might build their own house on the familial land or claim an unused plot to begin their own farm. Each family plot had space for agriculture, housing, cooking, religious obligations, and a graveyard for the dead. The eldest male of the family unit was usually in charge of religious duties to the spirits and ancestors. Nearby families came together for special religious and social celebrations, to trade, socialize, and help one another. Individual success was dependent upon communal success and so the tradition of a konbit became an important part of rural life. A konbit is similar to the concept of an Amish barn raising where everyone in the area comes to help out with harvesting, planting, or building. In return when they need assistance, the community will show up to help them. This allows people to do more in less time, helping ensure local success for everyone. It also means that the whole community is fully aware of how many resources every family has available. This helps stem stinginess and hoarding of resources and people are expected to share their successes with others in the community. Yet, they are also fully aware that to get ahead they need to save and reinvest. Some academics argue that this tension between individual and community is fundamental to understanding Caribbean and Central American cultures.

      These communities were usually bounded by geographical features such as rivers and mountains, isolating them to a certain extent for day to day purposes. Once a week women often took extra produce, cooked foods, and handmade goods down to a nearby market to sell. These market women could be absent for a day or two, depending on how long and difficult the journey was. They tended to stay in groups for safety and sometimes sleeping in the open air marketplace at night. They were shrewd negotiators who had to quickly discern local price changes and adapt their strategies to maximize their profits. In times of drought or other misfortunes that prevented families from growing enough produce, they sometimes sold their private "land" i.e. their bodies so they could purchase food at the market. This was only done if absolutely necessary and was not something they were proud of, but mothers did what they had to do in order to feed their children. In the end, the main moral obligation is to one's children and any action that serves to support them cannot be locally considered immoral. Back home, the earnings from the marketplace were usually controlled by the women and were used to send kids to school (when available), buy clothes and other goods in the marketplace, and save for the future.

      The reason that most of my description of rural life so far has been in the past tense is because few people are able to continue living this way. It is still the idealized way of life for many Haitians, the same way we idealize rural American life in TV and movies as an important source of authentic values and principles for the country. And three-quarters of Haitians rely upon agriculture for food or cash crops. Yet, making a living off the land has become increasingly difficult in Haiti due to environmental and socio-economic changes. Haiti has become increasingly deforested due to overpopulation, poor agricultural practices, a push towards cash crops like tobacco, and the need for charcoal. By 1954, only 8-9% of Haiti remained forested compared to 60% in the 1920s. In the 1950s, the need for charcoal grew and the easiest local source were the trees. Today, some of the poorest people in Haiti still make their own charcoal and sell it on the streets of the cities. As of 2008, less than 2% of Haiti is forested. The deforestation has caused erosion of the entire countryside, destroying the topsoil and polluting the water. Additionally, the push for cash crops meant a less stable market and less food crops for when the prices of tobacco and coffee were low. Prices for food crops decreased as tariffs on imported goods were lowered and projects like the USAID's free rice to Haiti program destroyed demand for local rice. Animal domestication suffered a serious blow when the USAID killed 1.3 million Haitian pigs in 1982 due to fears of swine flu. Like I mentioned in the history section, these Creole pigs were bred for the environment and were a safety net that could be sold or butchered in times of need. In short, the environmental devastation meant that farmers had a harder time growing crops, the market meant they had a harder time selling them, and the loss of their savings accounts on hoofs meant they had no backup.

      The increasingly inability to sustain an agricultural lifestyle meant more and more people went to the cities looking for work. With few non-agricultural skills and low levels of education, most people had to take menial jobs if they could even find them. Slums grew along the edges of cities, creating extremely condensed spaces of poverty and violence. The most well known example is Cite Soleil, a shanty town right outside Port-au-Prince which grew quickly after the slaughter of the Creole pigs and then again when President Delatour (who succeeded Baby Doc) encouraged people from the countryside to come to the neighborhood for industrial jobs. Unfortunately the industrial sector broke down after 1991, and most people living there have little to no education, half the houses are built from scrap, about 65% of the homes do not have latrines, and armed gangs are a serious problem. The damage from the earthquake was devastating to these shanty towns, especially since many of these homes were barely standing to begin with. However, there is a public school Lycee National where parents can try to send their children. And these neighborhoods provide free or extremely cheap places for people to use as a launching pad to better their situation. The problem, of course, is that it can be difficult to find the jobs necessary to afford better housing.

      In the city there are more job opportunities for women than men like doing laundry, cooking, caring for kids, and cleaning. Women still dominate the markets, though men also sell goods there too. Men with trade skills like carpentry might find a job working in a warehouse or doing construction. If they have some education they might be able to find a job working in a store or hotel. Most government jobs are doled out to friends and family, though some people do earn those positions through higher education. Jobs that pay a known amount at a known time are called travay and are highly coveted but very hard to come by. The vast majority of Haitians do what is called commerce. This is when someone sells goods or food on the street for a profit. Early in the morning Haitians will purchase items cheaply from a source, cook or make goods, or gather items like coconuts. They then go out into the streets to hawk their wares for the day. In Port-au-Prince pedestrians have to walk in the street with the cars because every inch of the sidewalks are covered in goods for sale. In this sense, all Haitians are entrepreneurs. But most days they are lucky if they can make enough to feed their families for the day and buy items to sell the next. If they do manage to save, however, they might build a stand, send their kids to school, and move their families out of the slums. However, without access to higher education, most people reach a plateau since even if they understood the process of buying property and starting a business they could not get the loans to do so.

      These days many people migrate back and forth from rural to city many times over their lifetime. Rural families have few economic opportunities, but can provide housing and support for extended family members. Mothers who are unable to care for their children might send one or more of them to live with well-off extended family or rich families in city. These children are called restaveks, and in its ideal form they children do chores in exchange for free housing, food, and education. Unfortunately, many restaveks are taken advantage of and there are numerous cases of sexual abuse or children who are treated like slaves. When the restaveks become adults they usually go home or transition into being domestic servants for a well to do family in the city. Adult men may leave their children and partners behind in the city or rural family homestead in search of job opportunities, splitting up families. But this also extends networks across multiple spaces allowing people the ability to tap into extended family and friends for help wherever they move. Modern day technology of cell phones are cheap and easily accessible, meaning that even when separated in different cities people can stay in touch and maintain networks in ways previously impossible. Fathers who were no longer able to live with their children will pull out their cell phones to proudly show me tons of photos of their kids. Coffee farmers can call down from the mountains to check prices to avoid getting ripped off by middle men. And family that has immigrated to America can call home and easily send money. Modernization and technology have only increased the importance of networks and family and the ability to connect to them.

      Family is an incredibly important part of Haitian life because it is the foundation for the networks that help people succeed. In small rural communities everyone is a cousin if you go back far enough, which intensifies the bonds and obligations to assist one another. In cities it is harder to keep families together since often only one or two members left the homestead at a time and apartment or shanty spaces are much smaller. But fictive kinship (like your uncle who isn't really your blood uncle) can fill those spaces. Vodou houses have adapted to this reality, and in the South where people undergo initiations they become spiritual brothers, sisters, and children to other members in the group. These relationships provide familial networks allowing relationships similar to those found in rural regions to continue in urban spaces. Over time, these Vodou familial networks extend across rural and urban as well. All of these relationships provide friendship, assistance in times of need, links to news and gossip, and comfort.

Class

      In 1825, Haitian peasants were legally made second-class citizens. In 1945, the law required paysans (peasant) to appear on their birth certificates. This was eventually repealed, but the repeal was not implemented until 1995. Therefore, the divide between rich and poor has always been a part of the Haitian socio-political system. Though this divide is sometimes explained in racial terms with the elites being light skinned mulattos and the peasants dark skinned without French heritage this is not how it always plays out in reality. Mulat and Neg (mulatto and black) are more economic and social classes than racial ones, since people can easily transcend skin color barriers through economic status changes. There are mulats who are quite dark skinned and negs who are light skinned. Rather than using skin color and other racial markers, class is maintained through cultural aspects of language, dress, education, and behavior. Language plays a major role in this, with elites using French for all official purposes such as government, business, and education. Peasants usually only speak Haitian Kreyol fluently, which is a different language. Members of the lower class who have gone to some school may claim to speak French because that is the only language in which education takes place and therefore indicates they have some schooling. Yet, they are rarely fluent and at most speak a broken form of French. Access to education is a serious problem for many Haitians, but once there it can be difficult to adjust to instruction in a new language that is not taught as a second language. Children tend to sink or swim, and even if they catch on poor families can rarely afford to send their children to school past elementary age. This lack of education and language skills often prevents members of the lower class from achieving financial and social success, regardless of their intelligence.

      In rural and city areas there are hierarchies within the peasant class. Women gain status through success in the marketplace and marrying up (hypergamy.) If they save up enough from selling items in the market they can start what is called a boutique, which may be a store in a permanent structure or a business they run out of their house. These businesses have more stability than commerce on the street and tend to carry nicer items. Women who marry in a church wedding also gain a certain status in part because of the lavish public parties and conspicuous consumption required of a wedding and in part because they tend to have husbands who can support them. Men are often lumped into either gwo neg or ti neg (big man and small man). Gwo neg are financially and socially successful, often having small businesses like a taxi service or store. They maintain their status through sponsoring dances, Vodou fets, and Rara parades. Ti neg are men who are not as successful and are dependent upon female family members. Machismo can be proven other ways, however, through excessive drinking and sexual prowess. 

      The elites make up about two percent of the entire population in Haiti. The vast majority live in big cities such as Port-au-Prince and Okap. They have the ability to send their children to school, hire domestic servants, and often have significant influence over governmental policies and decisions. While there have been presidents and prime ministers from the lower class, they require the support of elites to stay in power and get things done. Socially it is important to maintain the class hierarchy and hegemony, so that children are often forbidden to speak to the maid in Creole (even though they know the language) or even at all. As adults they are expected to marry within their class, get a college education, and go on to a job that is appropriate for their station. Though many experts recognize the importance of overcoming these class barriers to helping Haiti succeed, elites who do so commit class suicide and can result in being ostracized. Therefore, while educated elites may speak of treating everyone equally and working towards a unified Haiti, they rarely interact with the lower class. 

The middle class is made up largely of foreigners, who are called blans. Most businesses like hotels, grocery stores, book stores, etc. are owned by blans. They are often from the Middle East (sometimes just referred to locally as Arab) and represent a wide variety of backgrounds such as Lebanese, Palestinian, and Algerian as well as religious affiliations such as Jews, Muslims, and Bahai'i. Many are refugees from regions that were politically unstable or where they were persecuted. In Haiti they often band together for business and social purposes, leading to the oft heard joke that the only place in the world where Muslims and Jews get along is the Caribbean. Because they are isolated from most of Haitian society, they have maintained many of their own cultural traditions and their money tends to stay within their class or go abroad to help those back home. There have been frustrations with some of these financial aspects since many lower class Haitians feel they are prevented from entering into certain business opportunities because they are dominated by blans. Some have also taken advantage of the fact that embassies are not considered Haitian soil so that businesses built there are not subject to local taxes. However, they do provide jobs to many Haitians and are important for the economy and providing access to the goods they sell. 

Gender and Relationships

      In 1805, right after the revolution, Dessalines declared that unlike under French rule children born out of wedlock were legitimate heirs. This made sense considering the fact that after the white population either ran away or was killed, most of the Haitians who remained never even had the opportunity to marry. Some had also engaged in a formalized mistress relationship called placage prior to the revolution. This was common in many French colonies where white French men would marry white French women, but keep a placagee as a mistress in the city with her own household and promises that their children would be free. Eventually, this also became the term used for any couple that cohabitated without marriage - slaves included. This became the norm and continued after the revolution. To this day, church marriages are expensive and unnecessary from both legal and social viewpoints. Plus, avoiding legal documentation means avoiding the government, which given the history of corruption and violence in Haitian politics can be a wise decision. There are formal names sometimes given to partners or the relationship (fiyanse, renmen, marye, placage, viv avek) but outside of marriages documented by church and state none have legal ramifications. Most women engage in relationships with men one at a time (though some do have multiple partners) while many men may have loose arrangements with one or more women. Sometimes women are aware of their significant other's partners, but accept this as normal. Remember that in addition to what I've mentioned above, two-thirds of slaves at the time of the revolution had been born in West Africa where polygamy is common among many of the communities. Polygamy was important in rural areas of Haiti for a long time as a practical way to increase the labor needed for working the farm. Terms for female companions were fanm marie (married woman/spouse), fanm kay (house woman), and fanm jadin (garden woman). Today these more formal arrangements are less usual and relationships tend to be less well defined - especially since men can rarely stay on the family homestead.

      When couples cohabitate or have children together, it increases the odds that the man contributes economically to the household. But in most cases women are the primary caregivers and financial supporters for the children. Women are called the poto mitan, a term for the central pillar that holds up a house. Since men so often must leave for work or because a relationship has ended, women and children are the primary familial unit in Haiti. Women and girls take care of all household duties such as cooking, cleaning, laundry, and child rearing. They sometimes help out in the fields and also engage in certain folk crafts such as basket weaving. They are also in charge of selling any items the family makes in the market, though men and boys also help sell items in commerce. In the past, boys were sent to school much more often than girls often because if the family could not afford to send all of their children they chose the males. Men were thought to put the education to better use and girls were more valuable at home. Yet, today the literacy rates and enrollment rates are quite close for girls and boys. Since more jobs are available to women than men, families may be beginning to see the value of educating their girls. Women also played an important role in fighting for their own education through the Mouvement Paysan Papay in the 1980s. As adults, poor women have a fair amount of autonomy and freedom. They control the finances, set prices for goods being sold, make most of the decisions regarding the household and children, and can end or being relationships with men as they see fit. Some researchers argue that upper class women have less freedom since they do not work and therefore are dependent upon their husbands and more limited to the household. However, it is important to remember that poor women are expected to do all household chores, some work in the fields, care for the children, and engage in commerce - an exhausting list of activities.

      Like many Caribbean societies, there are sexist views about women and their ideal roles. To be fair, anthropologists argue that women are second class citizens in every society on earth so that what we see in Haiti is just a local form and expression of ideas that exist everywhere. But every time there is an issue of political unrest that requires movement of people, military, and/or temporary camps it is women who often bear the brunt of the violence and sexual assault that seems to go along with such events. Haiti is no different but their frequent political unrest, the occupation of the island by various foreign nations, and the tent cities have led to upsetting amounts of violence and sexual assault against women. Women in dire economic situations may also find that their only option for feeding their children is prostitution. Not only is all of this traumatic, but it leaves women burdened with children they may not be able to raise and diseases they cannot afford to treat. Paul Farmer documents how these factors played a large role in the spread of HIV in Haiti, an issue I will take up in a later lecture. Despite all of this, in recent years Haitian women have fought for their rights and education. Women have formed organizations to support one another from domestic violence, to train other women to do jobs traditionally done by men, to teach women to read and write, and even purchase land together in order to farm without the assistance of men. Today there are a number of female Haitian politicians such as former prime minister Michele Pierre Louis who today is an ardent promoter of women's rights in Haiti. Many experts believe that economic empowerment and education are major factors in improving women's status and safety in Haiti.

      Men also have a social role and set of expectations to fulfill, though few are able to sufficiently do so. From a young age, boys begin helping their fathers in the field and carrying out duties considered too difficult or dangerous for women and girls. The traditional space for men is one of social authority, the head of the household, and the family member whose labor provides the financial support for the family. However, as I've explained above, for the most part this is no longer a role that men can completely fill. This tension is part of the reason why men so often out migrate from their families and plays a role in violence against women. From the day they are born men are told to expect this status and position, yet rarely are able to attain it. With few job options at home, men often tap into their networks of friends and family to find job opportunities outside their hometown. This might mean going into the city, traveling to another rural region for farm work, or going to Cuba or the Dominican Republic to work in the sugar cane fields. Sugar cane work promises guaranteed pay, but working conditions are often terrible. During periods of political instability men can temporarily gain status through joining militias such as the Tonton Macoutes. But these positions of power never last longer than the political power, which in Haiti can be quite fleeting. In the end, many men cannot find long-term work or the social positions society has told them to expect. Many turn to commerce, but some also become alcoholics. 

      Mansisi, a somewhat negative but prevalent term for gay men in Haiti, are another category that are worth mentioning. In anthropology we recognize that gender is not necessarily linked to sex in that our concept of what makes someone an appropriate woman or man is cultural rather than biological. Once we step back and recognize the variety of ways people are good men and women across the world, we can also see that this binary is not cross-cultural. Some societies have more than two genders, which we sometimes call third gender. In Haiti, it could be argued that mansisi can fall into a third gender category. Homosexuality is stigmatized in everyday Haitian life, but many men still choose to live openly as gay through specific dress, mannerisms, and occupations. Most openly gay men work selling clothes, and as such are considered good at this position and they can become financially well off through a pathway closed to most straight men. They also find a safe haven in Vodou communities where homosexuality is religiously sanctioned. There are a variety of explanations, from a ritual to change their sexuality for financial gain to a spirit such as Erzulie Freda controlling their head and imprinting her desires onto their own. Many mansisi can attain social status through Vodou initiations, and in Okap I once saw an entire Vodou house made up of mansisi who for all the world looked like Haitian versions of Hijras. 

      These gender ideals and realities are reflected in the Vodou religion. Erzulie Freda is sometimes characterized as the lwa of love but this is not quite correct. She is the seductive virgin, the excitement of the first blush of love, the possibility of everything that could be. She is light skinned - the ideal of beauty in Haiti - and desires all things beautiful and luxurious. But she often cries because she cannot reach the very ideals she represents. In another nation (lwa are grouped in the spiritual nations that reflect their West African geographical & cultural origins) Ezili Dantor is a very different kind of woman. She is tough, dark skinned, and a devout mother. In her Catholic form she holds a baby - but this child is a daughter because daughters are more highly valued. Her veve is a pierced heart that may bleed but still stands strong. She is the peasant woman's reality. These are just two female ideals present in the Vodou pantheon, but they stand as contrasts to one another. They are what women want to be, what they are, and what they cannot always attain.

      For men, Ogou Feray represents the powerful warrior king who is attractive, manly, a good father, and a leader. In this sense he represents what men could and should be. But unable to attain this, many men also find reflections of their reality in other Ogou members of the Nago nation. The Ogous are brothers that at times work together but might also fight one another. Some are healers, father figures, or elders. But some are also womanizers, drunks, and are vain. Ogou is the lover of Ezili Dantor, but in this form he is unreliable and does not provide economic assistance. Thus, their relationship mirrors the reality for many Haitians. But there are also positive examples of relationships through Azaka and his wife. He is a hard working peasant farmer and his wife is a shrewd market woman. Together they make a formidable pair and represent the achievements of hard work not only for material things but relationships as well. Of course, Azaka sometimes partakes of his wormwood laced alcoholic drink a little too much. But he is not abusive or cruel as a drunk - merely bratty and sleepy. Drinking is a common pastime in Haiti but men without concerns about their machismo can enjoy it as a social activity rather than a way to prove themselves. There are still spaces and opportunities for men to be successful and content with their lot in life, and Azaka is one example of how that can be achieved. 

Conclusion

      These categories have hopefully provided windows into the Haitian world and what life is like for many people living there. Despite the length of my lecture, it is obviously incomplete and at times simplified. You can also see my obvious anthropological bias given that the categories I chose fall in line with topics covered by many classic ethnographies. However, these categories of kinship, gender, economy, and class are real concerns and important aspects of the Haitian people. I've built this paper around my readings but also my personal experiences and conversations in Haiti. If you have any questions or want to discuss a topic, please post your comments in the reddit thread here. I have also put together an album of relevant photos I have taken that you can view here. If you would like to do your own research on these topics I have included some suggestions below. Thanks for reading!

'Fanm Se Poto Mitan': Haitian Woman, the Pillar of Society
Author(s): Marie-José N'Zengou-TayoReviewed work(s):Source: Feminist Review, No. 59, Rethinking Caribbean Difference (Summer, 1998), pp. 118-142

Women's Moral and Spiritual Leadership in Haitian Vodou: The Voice of Mama Lola and KarenMcCarthy BrownAuthor(s): Claudine MichelReviewed work(s):Source: Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, Vol. 17, No. 2 (Fall, 2001), pp. 61-87

Oswald, Laura. Culture Swapping: Consumption and the Ethnogenesis of Middle‐Class Haitian Immigrants.
Journal of Consumer Research. Vol. 25, No. 4 (March 1999), pp. 303-318

Kovats-Bernat, J. Christopher. Sleeping Rough in Port-Au-Prince: An Ethnography of Street Children and Violence in Haiti

Of Men and Gods - A documentary about Haitian sexuality http://www.der.org/films/of-men-and-gods.html

Melville J. Herskovits. 1937. Life in a Haitian Valley. Garden City, NY: Anchor Books.

Mintz, Sidney “The employment of capital by Haitian market women,” in Firth, R., and B. Yamey, eds., Capital, Savings and Credit in Peasant Societies: 256-86. 1964.

http://open.salon.com/blog/timotuck/2011/04/30/polygyny_in_haiti

All photos and text are my own original work. 

If you would like to reproduce them in whole or in part please contact me first. Thanks!