Real Hope for Haiti

We understand that raising hope is metaphorical for raising money and awareness. If you want to literally hope and/or pray then get down to it. Now is not the time to tell people not to Hope for Haiti.

While Pairing President Obama's campaign slogan, now currently a liability, with a disaster seems cheesy, don't think twice about giving - except to reconsider Dr. Paul Farmer’s Partner’s In Health.

But in Haiti’s case getting up might be falling down, while getting down amounts to raising up. So we don’t consider raining on Hope for Haiti as negative, we feel that digging up dirt is exactly the positivity Hope for Haiti is lacking.

Hope for Haiti? Absolutely - as long as that means 50 years minimum of sustained reconstruction and a fundamental change in US and Western political circles.

Blaming governments alone isn’t enough though when the American people ignored their government's prison mentality of Haiti for decades. The island hovered in irrelevance except for its level of poverty, periodically but briefly exposed by riots, foot shortages, and hurricanes.

The earthquake accomplished what no US-backed coup or economic exploitation could - attract global, focused awareness to the island.

Unfortunately this awareness hasn’t translated into education, and a one-track response was set up where there should be two rails. This one track appeals to your heart to save the dying and support the surviving - without giving any information back. Helping Haiti isn’t a one way street, Americans must understand why they’re help is abnormally necessary.

Bill Clinton and George Bush won’t tell you. President Obama and his officials won’t tell you. The US media won’t tell you. The hundred celebrities at Hope For Haiti won’t tell you.

They wouldn’t get as much funding.

Without making a blanket statement, the majority of reports and op-eds on Haiti either skip America’s interference completely or whitewash it. Real talk on Haiti is often pyrite. As of this moment the cover up continues. They want your dollars and minds.

So after you give, make sure to look into US political and economic policies in Haiti and their effects. Read a few Paul Farmer books. You’ll want to help even more. Don’t let Washington and the media keep the lights off. Only by holding them accountable through educated awareness will future Haitis be prevented.

That is the only real hope.