LAST week Hurricane Matthew, which started out at Category 4, pummelled Haiti in what the United Nations has described as the worst humanitarian crisis in the last decade. Haiti and Haitians need help and persons are encouraged to make contributions in whatever forms possible in lending a hand to them in this their moment of crisis. At the time of writing, more than 1000 are dead, families have been displaced, approximately 90 percent of the crops destroyed in the areas affected, buildings and other infrastructure have been destroyed. The health of survivors outside of the shortage of food and exposure to dangerous physical surroundings has been made more vulnerable to other forms of diseases. The deadly and highly infectious water-borne disease cholera has struck and persons are understandably terrified.
It is also noted that the hurricane hit The Bahamas, Cuba and the United States (U.S.), bringing destruction and loss of lives in its wake. Havoc has been wreaked in states such as Georgia, Florida, the Carolinas and Virginia, at a cost not yet fully estimated, but ranging thus far in the tens of billions. Natural disasters bring with them displacement in the lives of people through destruction of their communities and ways of life. For instance, there will be overloading of the healthcare system, destruction of schools and disruption of schooling, shortage of food, disruption of telephone and other utilities, and destruction of homes, buildings and other infrastructure.
Fortunately for the U.S., there exist mechanisms to minimise aftershocks. Government — federal, state and local — along with strong non-governmental organisations and individuals render support in mitigating the consequences and assisting the recovery. Unfortunately, poor societies such as Haiti, considered the poorest in the Western Hemisphere, are operating without these mechanisms and have been reliant on external support every time disaster hits.
When such support is not forthcoming, it leads to consequences such as increase in poverty, outward migration and persons risking their lives to flee as seen in the use of boats not equipped to navigate across the Atlantic or Caribbean Sea. It also creates space for predators such as paedophiles and human traffickers. Human disasters born out of failure or inadequacy to deal with dire consequences of natural disaster have to be addressed. Haitians should not be allowed to continue to dwell in such despair and despondency . Continuous poverty in Haiti results in continuous poverty throughout the world. The country is still struggling to get on its feet, having been ravished by an earthquake in 2010 that saw support pouring in from all quarters around the world. President Barack Obama had appointed former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton to head the United States’ government relief and rebuilding efforts.
Countries in the Caribbean Community (CARCICOM) share a common history with Haiti. These societies were not only enslaved and colonized, but share the waters of the Atlantic and Caribbean Sea that encircle Haiti. Caribbean people, resident or in the diaspora, share a common culture and a deep and abiding interest that we as a people can collectively overcome the adversities we face. The Caribbean community,people and governments,should not only be prepared to work with Haiti after every disaster, but also in a structured and continuous way in finding solutions to minimise the shocks that may occur from time to time. As North America and Europe seek to pay attention to the crisis in the Middle East that leads to migration and refugees, CARICOM, as an institution, has a responsibility to pay continuous attention to the plight of this member state. Structures need to be put in place to address issues such as resettlement of Haitians with specific goals in mind and providing food, since the country has been made barren through deforestation that resulted from bad environmental practices of local and foreign extractors. Our support to Haiti is needed not only in overcoming the present humanitarian crisis, but also in ensuring systems are put in place that could make the future better than the immediate past and present.