Patrick's Musings #12

1) Last week we received some sad news; the CONASPEH seminary administrator and our friend Pastor Richard had suffered a stroke. He has been in the hospital for over a week now and is unable to move the left side of his body. A few of us visited Pastor Richard this week and we were happy to see that he had his brother and a friend from his church taking good care of him. Pastor Richard seemed to be doing all right and he was speaking without a problem, but he was visibly depressed about his situation. Please keep Pastor Richard in your thoughts as he deals with his health issues.

2) The big news pertaining to Haiti this week is the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have agreed to forgive $1.2 billion of Haiti’s debt to the two organizations. In turn, a third organization, the Inter-American Development Bank has also agreed to erase some debt that the Haitian government owed them. Currently Haiti has around $1.9 billion in debt, so this means that about 2/3 of the country’s debt has been forgiven. In general, this seems to be a good thing for the people of Haiti. Ideally the Haitian government will use the money they have been spending to repay their debt on programs that reduce poverty and strengthen things such as the infrastructure inside the country. However, I would like to draw attention to a couple of things that should be considered when thinking about the IMF and World Bank, as well as the debt of impoverished countries like Haiti.

First, we should all be conscious of the fact that the IMF and WB are two organizations that are lacking in moral integrity. Both of these organizations have historically provided poor nations, such as Haiti, with high interest loans that are virtually impossible for these countries pay back. These loans have often functioned to increase debt and further place desperate countries in the hole.

Secondly, both of these organizations are notorious for giving loans to countries run by dictators and other political leaders who do not have the best interest of their people in mind. Haiti serves as an illustration of this sketchy practice. When Papa Doc and his son Baby Doc were running Haiti they were both recipients of large loans from the World Bank. This money was used to line their pockets while the suffering masses in Haiti rarely saw a dime invested in improving their plight. Instead of taking a moral stand on this practice, the World Bank merely continued to hand out money to these dictators without any sort of requirements as to how the money was used. I can tell you that most of the Haitian people we have talked to have little to no confidence in their current government’s ability/willingness to use this new money in a manner that will help the people. Let’s hope they’re wrong.

Thirdly, the World Bank and the IMF have continuously been criticized for the level of cronyism that exists within their organizations. For example, while both of these organizations traditionally give out loans to impoverished countries for projects pertaining to improving infrastructure, it is wealthy companies from the North that are usually contracted to do the work. Time and time again both the WB and IMF have been charged with providing friends, family, and close business associates with opportunities to do business in these poor nations while turning an enormous profit that gets paid for by the poor (think Dick Cheney and Halliburton).

I say these things not because I want people to stop celebrating the recent debt forgiveness, but because as a people seeking to be in solidarity with Haiti we must be knowledgeable about the forces and structures that contribute to the oppression of Haiti. So let us be hopeful that the WB and IMF are undergoing a shift in consciousness that will benefit the people of Haiti now and in the future. Let us also be hopeful that the Haitian government will make positive choices about how to use this money. But while we are patting the WB and IMF on the back for their recent decision to forgive Haiti’s debt, let us not be ignorant of the role that they had in creating this debt in the first place.

3) Many would argue that Haiti is a much more challenging place to live than the United States, but Haiti has some unique things going for it too. While it is true that the U.S. may not have piles of burning garbage around every corner that turns your snot black, it is also true that the U.S. does not have people that swim in the ocean while wearing stocking caps. Haiti does. The majority of people living in the U.S. may have electricity to light the room while they change their infant’s dirty diaper in the middle of the night. However, if you want to get your shoes shined in the U.S. can you find someone ringing a bell and calling out his services below your bedroom window at 5am? You can in Haiti. Finally, if you are attending church in the U.S. in the middle of the summer and it gets too hot you may be able to turn on an additional fan to help with the heat. But can you remove part of the church wall made of metal to provide a larger area for the wind to blow through? I don’t think so. My hope is that Kim and I don’t get too attached to the various amenities that Haiti provides us before someday moving back to the States.

4) The t-shirt of the day goes to a woman wearing a “Pat Buchanan for President” t-shirt. Talk about missed opportunity for America. I once had the privilege of hearing Mr. Buchanan give a speech at the Iowa Caucus. One memorable moment was when Mr. Buchanan insisted that his first order of business as president would be to call the leaders of China and tell them, “You had better stop persecuting Christians or you have sold your last pair of chop sticks in the U.S.A.” Now there’s a man with the cultural awareness and sensitivity that the U.S. needs to move forward in an increasingly global world. Maybe next time the American voters, like this Haitian woman, will recognize a visionary leader such as Pat Buchanan when they see him or her.

5) To conclude I would like to present a quote from my favorite author, Tom Robbins. Robbins is the most unique and challenging thinker that I’ve ever encountered, although that Joel Osteen has some good ideas. Robbins is adamant that to live well, to truly live, one should approach life with a reckless abandon filled with curiosity, awe, and most importantly, a willingness to laugh at all that life throws our way. This is a truth that Haiti is insisting that I relearn over and over again. Robbins states, “A sense of humor is superior to any religion so far devised.”