This past year has been interesting to say the least. I "thought" that I knew quite a bit about Haiti from traveling here over the past 10+ years. But living here has opened my eyes to additional elements that are hard to wrap my mind around. The contrasts are interesting, confusing, disturbing, and just plain sad. I saw it to some degree before moving here, but being an integral part of this unique system is hard to handle at times.
Don't get me wrong, I like having a home to live in. I'm thankful that we have basic amenities. I’m thankful that the Lord has blessed us beyond measure with internet, electricity off and on, water on the property, a good price for housing (for Haiti), access to clean drinking water, an amazing little truck, and on and on...
The challenge is that not many people around us are blessed in such a way. I logically understand that these things are just "things" and the Lord blesses people in a range of ways. I could be (and would be) just as blessed living on a dirt floor. In fact, it could be a greater blessing to not have these things as the Lord tells us, “…it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." ~Matthew 19:24
Although we are not “rich” by American standards, to the Haitian masses (bulk of the population) we are certainly rich. I think we need to be cautious of this fact. We need to be very cautious and acknowledge the power of living “above” other people. There is white privilege seen though out the world (including in Haiti), even where the bulk of the population is obviously not white.
The challenge is that there really is no middle class (with the possible exception of some missionaries, but even they live quite far above the masses) and many of the individuals that do have homes are either lighter skinned Haitian or individuals of European descent. People tend to either live in a house with all the amenities listed above or they basically live with nothing at all.
And then there is the "upper class"....
This is a challenge for me. And to a great extent, missionaries roll with the upper class. Missionary kids typically attend the same schools as the upper class, shop at actual stores with the upper class, drive cars like the upper class, have help in the home, and a range of other things similar to the upper class. This is not necessarily “wrong”, but I do believe it is an element that needs continual evaluation and prayer. Again, there is separation and power that comes with that placement.
As a Christian, my belief is that the only way we will see sustainable change in Haiti is through our Lord and savior. The challenge though is determining specifically what our part is in this equation. Being a part in bridging the gap between socioeconomic status and class system is a piece of the process.
Here’s a little background about me, for those that may not know, I was raised by an MK (missionary kid). My grandparents served on the mission field essentially their entire lives and my mother (and her siblings) were raised in China and subsequently throughout Asia after all the missionaries were kicked out of China. My mother was severely traumatized by that experience, but that is a story for another day...
One thing that confused me when hearing about my mother talk about growing up in China was the discussion of house servants. I had never heard of such a thing. As a middle class kid in the Northwest, I had no experience with people that had servants. To me, that was something rich people had or maybe people in the South that lived on plantations. I did not understand the how and the why of it. It just seemed "wrong" to me in some way. Maybe the term "house servant" bothered me, but it was the term of the time. In Haiti, we're more likely to hear the term "workers" or maybe even "helpers", but they are treated essentially the same as servants to a great extent.
Then we moved to Haiti and I realized a small piece of the "why" of it. At least I began to understand why people had help in the home. I was told to get someone to work in the house because they can barter for food in the streets and it will help you to learn the language to have someone help around the home. Plus, it will employ someone that otherwise would have no way to feed their family. Ok....that made a little more sense to me, but I still was somewhat unsettled about employing someone to “work” for us when we feel more then capable of working hard ourselves. But then I realized the amount of time that it takes to do anything here in Haiti.
Yes, we could go it alone without help in the home, but our ability to serve in other ways is increased by having help in the home. Otherwise we would literally spend all day everyday just trying to get food and water (and all that entails). It's not like there is a 24-hour grocery store on the corner with reasonable prices. It's not like there are preservatives in the food where you can buy ahead for the following week. It's not like there is canned food (unless you pay astronomical prices) and you can stock up like we did in the states. Basically, you buy what you're going to eat for the next day or two and do the same thing day after day, week after week.
But there are still aspects of this whole contrast of living that disturbs me (even if logically I understand to a degree). When you have the workers or the masses and then you have the rest of the people, there is this vast divide that is incredibly sad. I'm not sure there is any other way to put it. We must find ways to bridge that gap, but it is not an easy thing to do in a country where we have a long standing system that works for many people. For those that have seen the movie The Help, it is very much like that. The workers are really expected to be thankful that they have a job at all. They either do not know or they are wise enough through experience to not complain about the setup.
They have learned to separate themselves from those that they work for because they have been conditioned to do so. You should have seen the reaction of our amazing helper (who we absolutely love and is a part of our family) when we were trying to persuade her to sit at the table with us when we eat meals. It is just not done. Workers are fed meals, but they eat those meals separate from those that they serve. They also use a scrappy little bathroom outside and are often housed in a concrete structure outside or under the house.
These workers often work 14+ hours a day, 6 days a week for an average of $200 a month. They are away from their family the majority of the time. If they are lucky, they may see their kids one day a week. Keep in mind, this is a country where the cost of living is 3x's what it is in the USA. It's not like many countries I have worked in where everything is incredibly cheap. Haiti is a small island that does not have enough food to sustain the vast population of over 14 million. A vast percentage of basic necessities are imported at a premium and controlled by the upper class. Often a family of 12 is attempting to live on one person being employed for under $2 an hour.
There are not enough jobs in Haiti, so everyone wants (or needs I should say) that $200/month job. This puts the upper class in a very powerful position. Many have drivers, yard men, inside workers, outside workers, and a range of other servants that do many things for them. Some is out of necessity and safety and some is out of convenience. Yes, they (we) are employing people that otherwise would not have jobs, but it’s more about the way people are treated that disturbs me.
On the other hand, there is this perpetual cycle of “reasons” why there may be a lack of trust between the class systems. We have a large number of people that are living in survival mode who may do whatever they need to do to survive (steal, lie, cheat, harm others, etc). This brings forward a fear response thoughout the country. I know when I did volunteer service years ago in Haiti, we would “help” so many people that would then turn around and harm us or the ministry in someway or another. It forced us to basically have our guard up and we really began to look at people from the lens of distrust. This is a very sad thing when we begin to always question an individual’s motives.
The amazing thing is that the Lord gives us an incredible guidebook in how to handle these challenges. We need to learn to forgive those that have wronged us in some way and acknowledge that we may be unfairly judging others based on our past experiences.
"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."- Jesus, as quoted in Matthew 6:14-15
I certainly do not have all the answers, but so far in this journey as missionaries, there are a few things that have helped our family. All of the kids have been memorizing the Beatitudes and I was thinking how wonderful it would be if we all lived with such a thought process and reminded ourselves daily that......
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
For they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and
thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted
because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
~ Matt 5:3-12
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