Home > International > Americas > Noel before Christmas?
Noel before Christmas?
By Erline Vendredi, Haiti
Christmas came to Haiti early this year. Ironically, Noel, which means Christmas in French and Haitian Creole, was the hurricane that hit the Caribbean in October distributing a sack overflowing with unwanted gifts in its path of massive destruction.
"You would think that with a history of hurricanes that the islands would be better prepared to combat the devastation that they bring. But Haiti is like a sitting duck waiting for the next deluge to strike." -Erline Vendredi
How sad that a three year old boy drowned in a river right before his parents' eyes. They tried to rescue him but the river was so high that it carried him away.
More than 50 people died in Haiti and 84 in the Dominican Republic. At least 138 homes were destroyed in Port-au-Prince and another 1188 damaged.
Noel's path of destruction was less violent to other islands. But alas - islands are not always paradise.
You would think that with a history of hurricanes that the islands would be better prepared to combat the devastation that they bring. But Haiti is like a sitting duck waiting for the next deluge to strike.
This time around Haitians worried about the security in the emergency shelters. Rumors circulated in the capital city of Port-au-Prince that UN peace keepers did not help protect the evacuees and armed bandits invaded the shelters in Cite Soleil. Cite Soleil is renowned for being one of the most dangerous slums in Haiti and it was feared that the women might be raped.
Certainly a mindset like 43 year old Haitian resident Izmelene doesn't help develop solutions. "The hurricane is God's punishment. It is the Lord's will to clean Haiti of its sins like he did with Gomorrah."
But how could the Lord inflict such devastation on people struggling to survive? In my neighborhood of Morne Hercule (a small neighborhood in the city of Pétion-Ville) a tree fell on a house and caused the death of a mother and her daughter; three other members of the family were injured.
20 year old Jenny, a senior at the Taiwanese University, believes the Caribbean has two enemies - politicians and hurricanes. Indeed, Mother Nature inflicts enormous damages on the islands and Hurricane Noel was no exception. But what makes Haiti so vulnerable is the fact that government has not created any infrastructure to protect the people.
Exacerbating the situation for Haiti is deforestation. 95% of the country's forests have been cut down to produce coal and build furniture. Since there are fewer trees to hold the land, even a little rain pushes the soil and people's homes out to the sea.
The government and other organizations are trying to discourage further deforestation but for many it is a source of employment. In a country where a gas cylinder costs more than a month's salary, even those who are can afford one, choose to get their energy cheaply by using charcoal.
I wonder how many hurricanes it will take to jolt the Haitian people into recognizing the need to create better infrastructure and stop the ruination of our forests. Hurricanes will continue to deliver unwanted souvenirs even when gifts of joy should be arriving. The Haitian people must decide whether they want coal in their Christmas stockings or gifts of sustainable life.
