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Unfinished Country
Handbook: Haiti's developing civil society

The Haitian state has never been able to create stable institutions, nor has it built public infrastructure adequate to serve the needs of its people or business community. As a result, Haiti's people have faced not only a 200-year-long series of political crises, but they've found themselves facing a daunting -- and potentially catastrophic -- set of economic, social, and environmental challenges.

Where the state has been unable to serve, private institutions have begun to step in. Unthinkable under the dictatorship of François Duvalier, non-governmental organizations began to evolve during the brief period of liberalization instituted during Jean-Claude Duvalier's reign, and began to work more publicly after Jean-Bertrand Aristide came to power in 1991. Today, a multitude of local and regional groups, along with several international organizations, serve Haitians who have been underserved by their own government. Meanwhile, intrepid journalists and outspoken artists keep those people informed and entertained, and provide an arena in which the Haitian people can express themselves, against the odds.

Sources: USAID; United Nations; CIA World Factbook; BBC News; Pan American Health Organization

Arts

Haitian art, culture, literature, and music have evolved into dizzying mixtures of Caribbean, Cuban, African, indigenous, and European influences. Despite Haiti's long suffering in most areas of human experience, it has managed to develop and sustain strong traditions in the visual arts, literature, and music, and a number of present-day artists and gallery owners are working to preserve and extend its cultural legacy.

The most well-known Haitian style of painting, the "naïf" or "naïm" style, originated in the mid-1940s, when American-born teacher Dewitt Peters opened the Centre d'Art in Port-au-Prince. The intense, saturated style is today most commonly associated with Hector Hippolyte, who painted scenes of vodou ceremonies and spirits. Today's Haitian painters have both extended and reacted against this school; in 2004, painter Patrick Nal Boucard founded an art gallery and film festival in the southern coastal city of Jacmel, expressly dedicated to preserving Haiti's artistic heritage.

There has always been intense interest among collectors in the visual artifacts of vodou, especially the ornate ceremonial flags. The "vodou blacksmiths" of Croix des Bouquets, including sculptors Gabriel Bien-Aimé and Serge Jolimeau, create intricate and startling metal drum sculptures inspired by vodou mythology.

Before the beginning of the 20th century, Haitian literature was written almost exclusively in French. Notable writers include Jean-Price Mars (whose work inspired Duvalier) and Jacques Roumain, whose GOUVERNEURS DE LA ROSEE (MASTERS OF THE DEW, 1947) is considered a classic. In the mid-century, authors like Félix Morisseau-Leroy pioneered the use of Creole in literature and the performing arts. His seminal work was a Creole version of Sophocles' play, "Antigone," performed in 1953. Poet Rene Depestre has lived in exile, first in Cuba and now in France. Contemporary Haitian and Haitian American authors write in Creole, English, and French. Today, the Haitian diaspora's two most prominent writers are novelists Dany Laferrière and Edwidge Danticat; both have drawn heavily on Haitian history, culture, and traditions in their work.

Haitian music bears evidence of French colonizers, the West African slaves who brought vodou to the island, and rhythms from elsewhere in the Caribbean and the Americas. Ra Ra music, played during vodou carnival celebrations, has been mixed with reggae, rock, and elements of funk to produce Rasin or Roots music, known for its politicized lyrics and driving beats. Roots practitioners include singer/songwriter Manno Charlemagne and the band Boukman Eksperyans, named for a 17th-century revolutionary leader. Their 1990 carnival song "Keím Pa Sote" (I'm Not Afraid) was chanted in protests against Haitian dictator Prosper Avril. Compas and Zouk, genres mixing Creole song forms with meringue, rhumba, and mambo rhythms, have long been popular; Tabou Combo are the most visible exponents of zouk. A younger generation of Haitian musicians has turned their efforts to hip-hop; Haitian-American producer, musician, and activist Wyclef Jean is perhaps the most visible (and has recruited Haitian musicians to play on his recent recordings); younger hip-hop musicians include Freedom (Christopher LaRoche) and Baby One King (Ralph Michel), who provided the music for "Unfinished Country."

Economics

Political upheavals, brutal governments, widespread corruption, environmental catastrophes, trade embargoes, health crises, and the exodus of its skilled workforce have made Haiti the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with some 80 percent of the population living in absolute poverty. It is also one of the least industrialized nations in the Americas, and its agrarian economy has been decimated by state inaction, fluctuations in prices on the world market, and extreme deforestation. More than two thirds of Haitians are unemployed. Without any kind of viable governmental policies to spur the economy, in the past few years the private sector has moved in, with peasant associations and microfinance agencies supported by local charities, NGOs, and international aid organizations attempting to aid Haiti's working population -- up to 90 percent of whom are self-employed, mostly as vendors in rural or urban areas. These recent developments represent some possibility of change within the bleak economic landscape.

FONKOZE (Fondasyon Kole Zepòl, or The Shoulder-to-Shoulder Foundation) (www.fonkoze.org) functions as an alternative bank, tailored especially to the needs of the poor. Its 23 offices throughout Haiti serve 70,000 depositors and 28,000 borrowers (96 percent are women) who would not otherwise have access to the financial services -- loans and currency exchange, for example -- needed to start or expand small businesses. Tèt Kole Ti Peyizan Ayisyen/Heads Together Small Peasants of Haiti is a coalition of peasant groups formed in 1986; its members -- many of them landless sharecroppers -- pool resources to provide tool banks, food storage, export services, and agricultural supplies and otherwise fill in for absent state services. Recocarno (Reseau des Cooperatives Cafeieres de la Region Nord) is a network of small coffee-producing cooperatives in northern Haiti; modeled after similar successful programs in Nicaragua, it lets 4,500 farmers sell their crop on the world fair trade coffee market. Founded in 1997, it accounts for as much as 60 percent of northern Haiti's coffee exports.

Education

In addition to the current political, social, and economic crises, Haiti faces a future threatened by an education infrastructure that is in a state of collapse. Today, only 50 percent of the population is literate, the primary school enrollment rate is only 65 percent (fewer than 30 percent of children who do enter primary school make it through the sixth grade), and the country's approximately 12,000 primary schools are kept operational mainly though the assistance of private-sector organizations, including regional and international NGOs, religious groups, and community organizations. Most Haitians cannot afford to send their children to school, as tuition fees range from $6 to $9 per month -- a small fortune in a country where the average monthly wage is $12. Still, despite these obstacles, some persistent and innovative educational programs are trying to make a difference for future generations of Haitians.

FONHEP (Fondation Haïtienne de l'Enseignement Privé) reaches more than 23,000 students in the western and northern departments of the country, training teachers, providing materials and management, and reaching out to parents. Another FONHEP initiative is currently creating community-owned and -managed schools in the Central Plateau and Artibonite Valley regions. In collaboration with the EDC (Education Development Center), FONHEP has broadcast a radio-based distance-learning program since the early 1990s; airing games, songs, dramas, and activities five mornings a week to assist teachers in remote locations. The curriculum includes Creole, math, civic education, health, and environmental issues. Yele Haiti, founded by Haitian-born musician Wyclef Jean, currently provides scholarships to 3,600 children at 70 schools in the Gonaives area, and is renovating 20 schools damaged by tropical storm Jeanne in 2004, serving another 12,000 students. Project Teach/Konbit Pwof focuses on teacher training, running yearly professional development seminars for 250 to 300 Haitian teachers and administrators -- many of whom have only sixth-grade educations. The program arranges for volunteer teachers to run two-week workshops on effective ways of teaching, classroom management, school administration, and alternatives to corporal punishment.

Environment

The forests that once covered 25 percent of Haiti now cover less than 3 percent of the land. With up to 50 million trees cut down each year, the country -- now 98 percent deforested -- is in the grip of an ecological disaster. Haiti's political, economic, and health crises have left its people with few alternatives but to cut down trees for charcoal, the only fuel available for cooking and one of the few means of generating income. Without trees and roots to hold it in place, most of the country's rich, nutrient-filled topsoil has been washed away into the sea, further limiting agricultural capacity. Deforestation has also exacerbated the impact of hard rains and hurricanes -- in 2004, tropical storm Jeanne triggered extensive flash flooding in the coastal city of Gonaives, killing about 3,000 and destroying homes and businesses. And without topsoil and trees to absorb rainwater, aquifers remain dry, contributing to another environmental crisis: there's not enough water to meet the demands of Haiti's exploding urban growth. Within the last 50 years, Port-au-Prince's population has risen from 500,000 to 2.5 million, nearly a third of Haiti's population. Less than half of these people have access to clean drinking water, and there is no infrastructure organizing garbage and solid waste removal, contributing to the spread of diseases like malaria and typhoid. Most experts agree that Haiti has reached a point where the demands of the population are exceeding the resources of the land. A handful of local, private, and international organizations are working to try to bring these factors into balance again through reforestation and environmental education programs.

FHE (Fondation Haitienne de L'Environnement/The Haitian Environmental Foundation), founded in 1999, is led by Jean Andre Victor, Haiti's most prominent agronomist. The foundation focuses on educational programs, teaching farmers soil conservation methods (and ways to finance them). Another program develops alternatives to charcoal, such as briquettes made from recycled paper, and encourages charcoal and wood consumers (like bakeries) to switch to alternative fuels. ORE (The Organization for the Rehabilitation of the Environment) is a grassroots group established in 1985, a rare success story in the reforestation campaign. The group's strategy is to replant with revenue-producing fruit trees, more valuable to peasants standing upright than they would be cut down as charcoal. The group estimates these plantings now earn their peasant owners up to $6.6 million per year. Operation Green Leaves, a Florida-based charity established in 1991, focuses on environmental education in Haiti. OGL has donated over 35,000 pine seeds and seedlings to Haiti through the Ministry of the Environment, and it produces a TV program about Haiti called ECO ALERT to raise awareness in Florida. It is currently raising funds for an initiative that aims to create tree nurseries as well as alternative sources of cooking fuel, such as kerosese and solar cookers.

Public Health

Haiti is in an acute health crisis. The statistics are devastating: the average life expectancy is under 53 years; 50 percent of the population is undernourished, and more than 5 percent of the population is infected with HIV. In fact, early on in the AIDS crisis, Haiti mistakenly became synonymous with HIV/AIDS. Though AIDS was brought there in the late 1970s by Western tourists, Haiti was misidentified as the source of AIDS and blamed for spreading the disease to developed countries, with significant consequences for tourism. Very quickly, AIDS became an epidemic, worsened by both cultural and economic factors, including the predominance of early sexual activity and lack of any preventive sex education. Perhaps the most startling statistic is that the diseases responsible for most of the deaths in Haiti -- malnutrition, diarrhea, gastroenteritis, and tuberculosis -- are either treatable or preventable. But because of the utter breakdown in the infrastructure of health care delivery, the difficulty of directing funds to programs, the political violence that disrupts consistent humanitarian efforts, and local reliance on traditional herbal remedies, much of the Haitian population is still in the grip of diseases that otherwise could be addressed via vaccinations or simple clinical treatment. It is estimated that there is only one physician for every 20,000 citizens.

Zanmi Lasanti (Creole for "Partners in Health") is the most prominent health services organization in Haiti. A partner organization of the Boston-based Partners in Health (founded in 1983 and led by doctor and advocate Paul Farmer), it operates a 104-bed hospital and a full range of laboratories and outpatient clinics, trains community health care workers, supports community-based treatment efforts for AIDS and tuberculosis, and advocates for public health and potable water projects across Haiti. Farmer's work is the subject of Tracy Kidder's book, MOUNTAINS BEYOND MOUNTAINS. The American Friends Service Committee is active; in western Haiti, it funds and operates community health projects including health education programs, pre- and postnatal care, midwife and health worker training, and sanitation projects. Project Medishare, a partnership with the pediatrics department of the University of Miami, operates a clinic and tuberculosis and AIDS programs in the community of Thomonde, providing care to as many as 35,000 people and raising TB cure rates from less than 50 percent to nearly 100 percent. Its work has been chronicled in the documentary film ONCE THERE WAS A COUNTRY, by Kimberly Green.

Journalism

Haiti is a dangerous place to be a journalist. For decades, the press has been at times stifled, at other times divided; and at all times, journalists and news organizations from every point on the political spectrum have faced threats and violence. During the Duvalier period, attempts at establishing an independent press were crushed; when Aristide returned from exile in 1994, many journalists believed that a new era of independent reporting would be possible. While there was something of an explosion of journalism, it was intensely politicized. Newspapers and radio and TV stations affiliated themselves with political parties, and were accordingly targeted by gangs from each side. Radio journalists were most at risk -- since more than half of Haiti's population is illiterate, radio is the primary medium, with some 250 stations broadcasting in Haiti. Studios and transmitters were destroyed, and journalists were beaten and killed. Since Aristide went into exile again in 2004, Reporters Without Borders has noted that press freedoms have improved, though other analysts have qualified this by adding that those media sympathetic to Aristide and the Lavalas party have become targets. In sections of the country controlled by illegal armed groups, there is no media coverage to speak of, and where there are media outlets, self-censorship is common. In this volatile environment, the simple fact that the press continues to report on Haiti is a testament to its dedication and endurance.

The Association of Haitian Journalists, headed by Guyler Delva, a former Voice of America correspondent, has played a prominent role in highlighting human rights abuses against journalists and financing legal actions against those responsible. In August 2005, it called for a day without news broadcasts to protest a communiqué issued by the current government calling for sanctions against media. A dozen media organizations stopped broadcasts. The Panos Institute, an international organization, sponsors a program encouraging children and youth to get involved in journalism; 11 groups of young journalists across Haiti produce radio newsmagazines and collaborate with similar programs worldwide.

It can be difficult to access Haitian media from outside the country. A few options include Radio Metropole in Port-au-Prince, Haiti's highest-profile news radio outlet, which has a Web site with streaming audio for international listeners; Le Nouvelliste, Haiti's leading daily newspaper, with a French-language Web presence reaching an international audience; and the government-owned Television Nationale D'Haiti.