As video showing the devastation of Haiti flashed around the world, the media carried heart-rending stories of death and disaster. Dahoud Andre, host of a Haitian radio program in New York, told the story of a woman in Haiti’s capital who returned home after the earthquake to find her house flattened.
“Her husband and her two babies were inside,” Andre said. “She could hear them from under the rubble, but could do nothing. There is no 911 that you can call. There is no mobilized national guard.” Andre might have added that there was also no heavy equipment. People, desperate to save loved ones, dug through rubble with bare hands.
In their round-the-clock reports on Haiti’s desperate plight, few mainstream journalists asked why the country was so unprepared for yet another natural disaster. Canada boasts, for example, that Haiti is the second-largest recipient of Canadian aid after Afghanistan. Yet, the country remains as desperately poor and ill-equipped as ever. World Bank figures show that before the quake, less than a third of Haitian households had electricity and only 11 percent had piped water.
After his re-election in 2000, Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide tried to improve living conditions for the poor, only to face opposition from the US, France and Canada. The Bush administration blocked $500 million in international loans to Haiti and funnelled millions to anti-Aristide opposition groups. In 2003, Canada convened a secret meeting near Ottawa where US, French and Canadian diplomats discussed overthrowing Aristide. Meantime, Aristide’s government opened health clinics, built schools and doubled the minimum wage to about $1.60 per day to make life easier for the sweatshop workers who churn out cheap clothing for Canadian and American textile companies.
But those measures weren’t popular with the rich, Haitian business elites and their international backers. When thugs carrying US-made weapons crossed the border from the Dominican Republic, the US refused to come to Aristide’s aid, preferring instead to spirit him out of his country to Africa in February 2004. It was the second time Aristide had been forced into exile. In 1991, after only seven months in office, he fell victim to a military coup backed by the CIA. He was restored to power in 1994 by the Clinton administration on condition that he adopt harsh economic measures favouring big business, not the poor.
Since the 2004 coup, Haiti has suffered devastating hurricanes and floods, but instead of rebuilding the country, foreign aid donors like Canada have focussed on so-called “security.” A United Nations military force continues to occupy Haiti, killing pro-Aristide demonstrators and conducting routine beatings. “People are sick and tired of the millions being spent, having guys riding around in giant tanks pointing guns at them,” says Haitian journalist Kim Ives.
Sebastian Walker, a journalist with Al Jazeera, told viewers that a week after the earthquake, heavily armed UN troops were racing around the streets of the Haitian capital in armoured personnel carriers. “UN soldiers aren’t here to help pull people out of the rubble; they’re here, they say, to enforce the law,” Walker reported. “Most Haitians here have seen little humanitarian aid so far. What they have seen is guns, and lots of them.”
Meanwhile, the US military took control of Haiti’s main airport to facilitate the landing of weapons and 11,000 American troops. Aid groups complained that their relief planes were being turned away. Doctors Without Borders, for example, said five aircraft carrying medical supplies were diverted to the Dominican Republic. Journalist Amy Goodman reported that other supplies were stuck at the airport because the US and the UN feared distributing them would be risky even though there were few reports of violence.
To top it all off, Barack Obama put Bill Clinton and George W. Bush in charge of relief efforts, the two politicians who had done their damndest to keep Haiti poor. As the old saying goes, with friends like that, Haitians hardly need enemies.
This article appears in Jan 21-27, 2010.
@ Bruce, again your wrong
The reason why Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere is because the United States and Europeans refused to trade with it after its independence and the reason why it was the first Black Republic in the World and was found in 1804 after a successful slave revolt against the French Rulers or a event that is known by Latin American Historians as the Haitian Revolution between the years (1791-1803) which the slave revolt played a important key role in removing French rule on the Island of Hispaniola. Yes in 1915 the United States did occupied the Island and did establish a anti-Haiti government in the Dominican Republic and did help Cuba gain it independence from Spain due to the Haitian Revolution. Another reason was the United States government feared another Haiti happening in the United States and the occupation was most likely motivated by racism since back then the United States was a rather racist society back in 1915. The problem I have with this article I doubt the CIA even existed in 1804 or in 1915 the CIA as we know it came into existence in 1947 and reason why Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and has no connection with the 2004 coup or even CIA activities in the region and the causes are more deep rooted mostlikely United States and European Imperialism or even racism is a direct cause; and Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush are not the direct causes of extreme poverty in Haiti. PLEASE DUE SOME HOMEWORK whats next your going to blame the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) or illegally occupying the island since it’s is Israel that does have the most aid on the ground and it is currently IDF field Hospitals are the only ones that are driectly helping the people of Haiti well other then Cuban Doctors that has been in Haiti since the 90s.
sources:
http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/haiti.…
http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/his…
or even the Wikipedia which you cite so often:( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Ha…)
that’s if you dispute the facts Bruce I doubt the CIA, the 2004 coup,Bill Clinton and George W. Bush as you said “the two politicians who had done their damndest to keep Haiti poor” has anything to due with Haiti being poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. History tells another story or why are you even using this horrible event that might have killed nearly 200,000 people as a front for your political agenda????
Bruce must have gotten a new hairshirt for Christmas.
I had nothing to do with this. Leave me alone.
Wow, you really love the United States, don’t you, Bruce?
I hardly think anyone really cares about the politics of this whole situation right now. We just want to do what’s right and help the people down there who need help. And not just lobby the government, but do something ourselves. I wonder what you’ll be doing, Bruce-if anything, that is?
Charles the Great,
Not only did many nations refuse to trade with Haiti, but Haiti had to pay for winning its independence. It paid an indemnity to France for the loss of its plantations from 1825 to 1947 (yes, that is 1947-after WWII and also coincidently the same year the CIA was created). The loss of this revenue coupled with trading embargoes are major contributing factors for Haiti’s lack of infrastructure and huge amounts of grinding poverty.
Not to mention the subsequent military occupations and U.S. supported dictators who secured obscene loans that Haiti has been forced to pay with no benefit to its people. Whether it was pre or post 1947, the U.S. (and other nations) have been punishing Haiti for its audicity to claim its independence from the beginning. The U.S. has fingerprints all over the present situation of Haiti.
Aristide’s attempts to uplift the nation’s poor majority and his demands that France, with a little interest and inflation, repay reparations that France extracted from Haiti threatened the elites. The bill he presented to France was about $21 billion and some change.
Here we have Haiti, rightfully demanding what it is entitled to. It should never have been forced to pay for winning a war. This money could have done so much to improve the country for everyone. There would have been improvements to infrastructure that could have saved so many lives. But the coup was orchestrated by the U.S., France, and Canada (google the Ottawa Initiative) to oust the democratically elected Aristide and Haiti is still paying with lives for the freedom that it won over 200 years ago.
I long for the day when Haiti’s history becomes history and not the tragic events that have unfolded in the last week. A day when the people that live there can choose their own leaders and economic destiny. But exploitation and racism hasn’t changed, justice for Haitians is still denied, and the addresses of those responsible hasn’t changed either, whether it is 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue or 55 rue du faubourg Saint-Honoré, or 24 Sussex Drive. I long for the day when leaders living at these addresses start to treat Haiti with respect, compassion, and with the spirit of equality they deserve.
Thank you Bruce for your excellent editorial!
“A United Nations military force continues to occupy Haiti, killing pro-Aristide demonstrators and conducting routine beatings.”
As if, Bruce you are really out on a limb on this one….you honestly think interference and abuse like that is actually being commited by the UN in the Western Hemisphere?
Look at your sources:
Sebastian Walker, a journalist with Al Jazeera
And Al Jazeera is reknowned for it’s accuracy and honesty.
Funny I have NEVER seen a clothing tag labelled “Made in Haiti” and before you say “Oh they are changed to support the evil capitalist repression of Haiti!” than tell me why more often than not the tag says CHINA or MALAYSIA or INDIA, are you going to say that they change the tags simply to cover up tales of evil capitalistic abuse in Haiti?
Seriously???
Than tell me why their GDP has consistantly decreased since 1985? Let me guess…faked?
Could it be the economic abuse is actually fostered by the wealthy minority there (as it is here and pretty much everywhere else)?
Stop spouting your conspiracy theories…it’s total non-sense, you might have pulled it off if you had left out the “The United Nations is in Haiti killing and beating people!”
Go check your sources thouroughly, me thinks you are getting your information from that transmitter the CIA installed in your molar…
Next you are going to tell us George Bush was secretly a plant for the Bilderberg Group and that they are secretly run by Scientologists from Beta Reticula…
Thank you DER?!
Well DER? I can see that you don’t know much about recent history in Haiti, where UN forces have been guilty of much violence, including massacres of pro-Aristide supporters in Cite Soleil. In his comprehensive and extensively researched book “Damming the Flood: Haiti, Aristide, and the Politics of Containment,” professor Peter Hallward documents UN violence up to the publication of his book in 2007.
On July 6, 2005, for example, a UN assault on Cite Soleil killed at least 20 people. On December 22, 2006, another UN attack on Cite Soleil killed about a dozen. January-February, 2007 — the UN continues its attacks in the Port au Prince slums. And these are just the most blatant examples of UN violence.
You may not have immediate access to Hallward’s book, so let me direct you to an informative report on the Project Censored website. As you may know, Project Censored, which has been going now for 34 years, is managed by faculty in the School of Social Sciences at California’s Sonoma State University. Every year, it publishes a list of 25 under-reported stories. In 2008, number 12 on its list was: “Another Massacre in Haiti by UN Troops.” http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories…
If you take the time to read through this lengthy report and follow its many links, you’ll see that, if anything, my editorial grossly understated the extent of UN violence and abuse.
Not sure why you’re saying you’ve never seen a “Made in Haiti” tag on any clothing. Some of the long-sleeved t-shirts used as promotional items for Nova Scotia’s Democracy 250 carried “Made in Haiti” tags. In fact, on March 20, 2008, in an editorial headlined: “Democracy 180,” I wrote about how ironic it was that Nova Scotia politicians were promoting democracy using trinkets from China and shirts from Haiti where poorly paid workers have few — or no — rights. http://www.thecoast.ca/halifax/democracy-1…
As further documentation of Haiti’s garment production, see the Globe and Mail’s report on how after the earthquake, the Montreal firm, Gildan said it would have to shift production from Haiti after one of its factories there sustained extensive damage. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-b…
Finally DER?, I hope you don’t mind if I comment on your rhetorical techniques. Instead of citing concrete evidence for what you say (as I have done here), you indulge in gratuitous ad hominem attacks such as: “me thinks you are getting your information from that transmitter the CIA installed in your molar” or you attempt to make your assertions look sensible by attempting to put ridiculous words in my mouth: “Next you are going to tell us George Bush was secretly a plant for the Bilderberg Group and that they are secretly run by Scientologists from Beta Reticula…”
And finally, you resort to hectoring: “Stop spouting your conspiracy theories…it’s total non-sense…”
Oh DER? my friend, why are you so angry and what are you really afraid of?
UN violence has little to do with Haiti’s mess. On the contrary, if the UN was allowed a proper chapter 7 mandate in Rwanda, it would have stopped the genocide. It’s a completely made in America nightmare.
What is really obscene are the do-gooders.
‘…left of center and liberal NGOs were all too willing to accept Washington’s destabilization program for Haiti.’
Now we are flooded with a new wave of Haitian relief entities and events, ads so sappy on Q104 that it makes me want to burn my radio, the CBC’s no better, and so on, and so on.
Haiti is the cause du jour for a generation of self-centered over-educated know-nothings. It’s not even about helping somebody, it’s about being trendy, or in the case of the too wealthy, the vanity of running their own operation instead of helping the established organizations. And it will all be forgotten by the next awards show, or Kanye West album. This planet has disgusted me for far too long. It would be better off if Haiti was allowed to collapse, the way things should have gone in New Orleans. This is just the continuation of the nightmare that will never end, because the people who think they are helping don’t understand the problem. America.
A place like Haiti can’t blame all their problems on foreign powers. Their own corrupt leaders are responsible for the mess they find themselves in. If it weren’t for the US, Canada, and other nations bailing them out, where would they be after this earthquake.
Who do you think installed those corrupt Haitian leaders? Who do you think are pulling all the strings? Who is keeping their economy down? USA! USA!
Bruce,
You cite internet pages as if they are concrete proof of what you claim, the site you linked me to (Yes I did read the information you provided, I do base my deridement of your statements on researching what information is available to the common person), but the webpage makes claims, no proof (pictures, video) to back up the claim the UN is indescriminately killing and beating people.
What it does say is that 10,000 rioters were confronted by UN soldiers at the behest of the local government there (elected in a free democrated vote). Out of 10,000 rioters…30 were killed, ok those are numbers that are plausable…but it is doubtful that it was an indescriminate massacre as painted by the website and yourself. If 10,000 people protestedrioted here what do you think the response would be? As far as myself and a large number of the population of Canada understand it, we live in a free democratic (w/ socialist leanings) society…and even here the response would be armed riot police and possibly the Reserves called up to help (I doubt HRP could handle a mob of 10k people). It is also likely that some of those people would be injured andor killed in the mob rush to flee and also to engage these so-called “enforcers of repression”. Some possible would even be shot because the presented a direct and immediate moratal threat to an officer (there is always a violent nut in a rioting crowd of 10k…might even be at least 30, it’s not a stretch of the imagination).
To simply claim the killings were indescriminate and politically motivated is irresponsible and completely based on heresay (of the worst kind in fact: it’s on the internet so it must be true…). I don’t need to provide or cite any “facts” as you seem to think I do…what you have provided is scant and full of obvious holes, any reasonable and rational person can see. The website (and you) claim this has happened several times, I can understand in today’s busy World there isn’t always going to be an independant camera crew around (but there is ALWAYS at least one cell phone with a camera) and I can concede that perhaps the first time it happened no one managed to document the crime with at least ONE camera still or 10 second video clip (of actual shooting by UN personnel)…but multiple times??? You will note that all the referenced sites beneath the article you linked that the pictures do not show UN personnel firing AT ALL, what it does show is random pictures of injured or dead with absolutely no connecting imagery…simply a caption that claims how the injuries or deaths were caused. Seriously Bruce…if bad press and ugly incidents are reported from Iraq (and most nowhere near as ugly as this would be if it was factual) don’t you think there would be DOZENS of news groups (with bonafide axes to grind) over that place in a second getting actual video evidence?
I am not the one that needs to provide hard evidence here Bruce…YOU are. I cannot provide evidence that it didn’t happen if it isn’t happening, but if it IS happening there would be visual proof and so far…NOTHING has been discovered or provided only baseless claims from a suspect website with non-credited statements. If you notice all but one of the links used as reference for that article all point to the one website (HaitianAction.Net) and the one link that could possibly link to something credible (AmniestyUSA) leads to a dead link. Did you consider the possibility that HaitianAction.net is a politically motivated site created by opponents to democratic rule in Haiti? It looks more like a smear site that makes claims against the Haitian Government and the “Evil” UN they invited into the country.
Why am I so angry? I am not angry Bruce…more disappointed that you would make such claims against and organization (UN) that while not perfect by any means, helps to contribute so much to our World. Believe me when I say I am no fan of American Forgeign Policy, not by a long shot…
What am I afraid of? Innattentive drivers on the roads and highways mostly, what are you afraid of? I think you should be at least concerned in some small way of damaging your credibility by flouting what amounts to conspiracy theories with no hard evidence to support them. I apologise if my posts upset you or were a little more overt than I intended, my objective was to hopefully point out that while it is your opinion column…you should at least base your opinions on objective and concretely proven facts. The molar comment and the Beta Reticulans were a little much, admittedly but I wanted to get your attention to the fact that claims without certifiable proof can look a little crazy; even if they are not about tooth transmitters or religious aliens controlling society.
DER? Thanks for that reply to Bruce. I was just checking in here to post some similar thoughts in response to Bruce’s defense of his article and the article itself. So, if Bruce is interested, I echo DER?’s comments. In particular I thought this article strung together some facts to support conclusions without really putting them in context or acknowledging alternative interpretations of events. I typically dismiss writing like this as the work of conspiracy nuts like DER? suggested. That’s not to say I think that’s the case with Mr. Wark, it’s just my reaction to this particular type of editorialized writing. I don’t find this type of writing will convince a reader to agree with the presented argument unless they are completely uninformed about the subject and don’t really care about it, or they agree with it already.
For example, Aristide is presented as a saviour for Haiti yet his track record is far from squeaky clean. If western leaders plotted his downfall in 2004, maybe they had good reason to. Also, citing Haiti as Canada’s #2 aid recipient and then saying it’s still a poor country is a bit of a connect-the-facts game. How long has Haiti been receiving aid from Canada? How much aid is it? Is it enough to solve the plumbing and electrical problems of Haiti? If not, is it even reasonable to expect that Canada should be responsible for meeting those needs? Also, the article groups Canada in with the “West” (USA) as Haiti’s oppressors yet all the real problems seem to extend from American, not Canadian, foreign policy with the exception of a “secret meeting” in Ottawa for with the content of the discussion is completely unknown. Doesn’t that sound a little tinfoil hatish?
“Sebastian Walker, a journalist with Al Jazeera
And Al Jazeera is reknowned for it’s accuracy and honesty.”
Al Jazeera is no worse than CNN, and I’d be willing to bet they aren’t as dishonest as Fox News.
LOL I don’t even like to say the C** word…that garbage is so obviously geared towards people that can’t think for themselves, and I think Fox News is just the name they put on that show so people actually thought they were watching a news program instead of an “jump to conclusions” game show.
The really scary thing is that people watch those channels and honestly believe what they are fed.
I really wish that the academics, scientists and sociologists who study the analytic of evolution would step up their game and start informing communities of the evolutionary crux that is democracy. This would require a thorough and rigorous differentiation between democracy on its rise (a growing democracy, an ascending social apparatus not a judicial system) and dictatorship dressed in democracy.
It is time that educators began taking seriously the cause and affect of politics on a global scale.
Excellent article, Bruce. Canada, France, the US and the UN have much to answer for in Haiti, though there are many apologists for their crimes who refuse to look honestly at the historical record. Chomsky once called the reactionary invoking of “conspiracy theory” to discredit institutional analysis as the political equivalent of “fuck you”. Its usually a sign of desperation. And really, when one lacks either the knowledge or the competence to respond to something, its generally better to attack your opponent’s credibility and blow smoke. Nobody’s fooled. Keep up the great work!
Great article Bruce. Considering the length it was very concise and to the point. To your detractors on this comment page:
1- Al Jazeera IS more balanced then every major news organization in the USA. The fact that foreign journalists are drawn to work there is one sign that they do allow their reporters freedom to report without interference. In addition, the fact that they attract negative attention from organizations like FOX NEWS is another sign that they’re worthy of attention.
2- Miles “If western leaders plotted his downfall in 2004, maybe they had good reason to.” This kind of personifies the perspective of many people posting comments. He was DEMOCRATICALLY elected. Does Haiti have any “good reasons” to overthrow western leaders? Also, the juxtapositions posted by the likes of DER? (clever by the way) are evidence of a complete lack of knowledge on the subject, not an inquiring mind.
IGNORANCE IS NOT a legitimate perspective for establishing facts, it’s the playground of the lazy and the vicious. Inform yourself in place of posting more nonsense:
1- The Uses of Haiti By: Paul Farmer
2- Canada in Haiti: Waging War on the Poor Majority by Anthony Fenton and Yves Engler
3- Peter Hallwards’ “Damning The Flood”
Peace
I freely admit that I am not very knowledgeable on the subject of Haiti. After reading this article I don’t feel any more informed. That’s my point. If I took everything Bruce writes at face value I would not be getting anywhere near the full story on what is obviously a very complex issue. My comments were not to say that there IS a conspiracy, just that the article reads like one. To really convince me that what Bruce writes is the correct interpretation of the available facts, I would like him to address his detractors and the questions I posted in my comment. That would make the article stronger. It didn’t take me very long searching the internet to find opposing views to those presented by Bruce which are also from reliable news sources.
I don’t expect that Canada is blameless for the plight of Haiti, nor do I think we are solely responsible. I am sure the Haitians will be less critical of Canada than Bruce when they accept the aid that concerned Canadians are sending there.
I think Bruce has some interesting viewpoints from time to time, however, I have yet to read an article that is convincing enough to change my own.
With respect to my comment that Travis quoted: I don’t think any country has a right to overthrow a democratically elected leader in another country. However, if that leader is causing suffering of his people, world leaders might have a reason to get together to discuss how to deal with such a person. Since we don’t know the content of this Ottawa meeting, we have no idea what sort of role, if any, Canada played in the events of 2004. My point was that it might be something worth mentioning in the article.
Also, it might be worth pointing out that both Travis and moschi inform us, with much eloquence, that the “ignorant”, “lazy”, “vicious” and those lacking “knowledge” and “competence” try to attack their “opponent’s credibility and blow smoke” rather than address the issue. I wonder if the hypocrisy is lost on them? It’s not lost on me…but I don’t really care.
nobody’s asking you to take anything at face value. one’s own government’s involvement in a coup d’etat, military repression and the impoverishment of millions of people is a serious matter, and presumably worth some effort to inform oneself about. Bruce provided you with some information and some references in his follow up. Expecting anyone who rejects the standard – and fraudulent – framework of assumptions that forms the basis of mainstream Haiti coverage to explain and reference every statement, is to make it impossible to write a standard newspaper-length article on the subject. Do you apply the same standards to the endless stream of articles lauding the west’s noble efforts to raise benighted Haiti from its corruption, violence and self-imposed misery? Do those pieces, presented with no evidence and contradicted by innuberable facts, read like conspiracy theories to you?
As to the Ottawa conference, this was hosted by Canada’s Secretary of State for Latin America, MP Denis Paradis, who spoke about it with with Quebecois journalist Michel Vastel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Vastel). Here is how Vastel described the substance of interview on CBC’s the Current on August 6, 2004:
“Denis Paradis was Secretary of State for Latin America [Africa, and La Francophonie] at the time and had been in Haiti in the year 2000. And he was shocked by the state of the people over there, and he decided, he almost made it a personal goal about the problem of Haiti. Denis Paradis wanted to have a brainstorming session with the players in Haiti: France, La Francophonie, the European Union, the [U.S.] Secretary of State sent two what they call “high ranking officials”.
And, for Latin America there was the Minister of Foreign Affairs for El Salvador, and the idea was to just search for new ideas. So the meeting took place at the Meech Lake resort – you know the place – the last week of January 2003. It lasted three days over an extended weekend. Once again, all information that I’m giving you is coming from Paradis and from the French government. There was a consensus that ‘Aristide should go.’ But, how do you do that? This is the French government…who suggested there should be a ‘trusteeship’ like there was in Kosovo. That was not an intervention, they said, that was their responsibility – all these countries – to protect. When the story was published, the government of Haiti, Aristide actually, used it to say, ‘you see, these colonialists, once again they want to intervene, and then Haiti kept on protesting because they were not invited. You know, that was a meeting on Haiti, most everybody was there but not Haiti. The contribution of Canada to this, if I may say, was that it broadened the interest of the world over Haiti.” http://www.dominionpaper.ca/weblog/2004/08…
Paradis later denied that he had said any of this – government documents released through access to information requests and that would have shed light on the topic were heavily redacted by DFAIT according to Yves Engler and Anthony Fenton who wrote a book on Canada’s role in Haiti – but given what followed the following year and the fact that no Haitians had been invited to the Ottawa conference, Vastel’s account has considerable plausibility. That Canada refused any assistance to the Haiti’s democratically elected leader as he was being threatened with a coup, that they had military forces at the airport when he was removed, that they gave immediate diplomatic recognition to the coup-installed government and resumed aid to Haiti under Latortue, that the RCMP began training the dreaded Haitian National Police which committed numerous atrocities against Aristide supporters after the coup, this is all on the public record. So whether or not Paradis did or did not admit that the removal of Aristide was discussed at the Ottawa conference, the historical record of Canada’s involvement in getting rid of Aristide and supporting the illegitimate successor government is irrefuteable.
You say that “if that leader is causing suffering of his people, world leaders might have a reason to get together to discuss how to deal with such a person.”
As has been often observed almost every military intervention in history has been justified as a humanitarian mission. To attach any credibility to such pronouncements is to have learned nothing from history, and to reject the main pillar of international law which places very narrow limits on the justified use of force.
http://www.buddhanet.net/bt_24.htm
http://www.buddhanet.net/bt_25.htm
http://www.buddhanet.net/bt_26.htm
People should be focusing their donations locally, not Haiti and other far off lands. Support local!
GO LEAFS!!
haiti’s always going to be poor if you dont get that like africa they stole all there jewels and diamonds and they were the richist country and im ten all that money there donating is necessary i dont see anything but them putting those people on tv there not rebuilding there houses and that stuff all there doing is recovering injuries and givin them food but that is important what im trying to say is there poor for a reason you people are taking those children away from there parents and there home there is a reason why they were born there you people just dont get it ugh! your making me mad