Haiti Like you Give a Damn
By: Debbie Jean Jacques. 15 July 2017
It’s Hurricane Season!!!
From June to November every year Haiti goes through another hurricane that displaces many families, destroys livestock, and has the international community “praying for Haiti.” Basic fact, Haiti does not have flood insurance to help those who have lost their homes or variables nor do they have a mitigated plan for natural disasters. With the rise of informality in major cities in Haiti; shanty towns are on the rise. “The migration of these Haitians was mainly generated by the fragility of the Haitian state and its consequent inability to secure its citizens’ basic subsistence needs, a reality which is always aggravated by natural disasters that, in that sense, act as a trigger—and not as the main driver—for the displacement.” In highly congested cities, this displacement thus contributes to an increase in crime and an increase of youth unemployment without any essential services and infrastructure that leave cities vulnerable to extreme natural disasters, water contaminations, and health hazards.
Most politicians often care more about filling their pockets than the lives of the citizens whose lives need improvement. Those who contribute to the informal sector also contribute to informal settlements; looking for a better life in the capital, however, in many cases like Haiti, we can see that those who moved to the cities to escape poverty only get trapped in poverty.