Larry, the accusation is not personal; It was simply a...

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Reply to Msg 13681

Larry, the accusation is not personal; It was simply a statement of fact. As you yourself said it, you were only in there for such a short time that you did not even get to see how the other 8% of Haitians live. The 8% who in fact control whatever happens to the poor. How can you decide that you are going to try and solve a problem, when you and those like you never take the time to really understand the problem.

The problem of the Haitian living in the rural areas cannot be fixed by simply giving them a product to grow. This has been done more times than I can count in the past, and has failed each time. Hence, those who keep doing it must have some ulterior motives for repeating the same mistakes.

Such motives are many times linked to personal financial gains, or a selfish need to do something good which makes them feel better about themselves--even if that "something good" ends-up really not helping anyone but themselves.

This attitude, of let's just go out there and show that we are spending the money that we got, is selfish and has nothing to do with truly helping the Haitian people; So please don't pretend that it does. If you were being responsible and really just wanted to make the kind of changes that would work, you would make sure that you took the time to understand the real issues that affect the people you are trying to help. Haitians have a proverb for what you are actually doing, "lave min-u siye a tey" (most likely misspelled).

It means, "wash your hands than dry it with the floor." You are doing something that has been tried over and over again and expecting a different result.

If you are not doing it for financial gains at least greed is a natural human flaw. On the other hand, I think someone once said that repeating an act to produce a result that is never produced by that act, is a form of insanity.

Linda, March 19 2009, 12:37 AM

Topic: seeking economic security for Cerca la Source

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Larry, Welcome back! how did you find Haiti Thomas? I hope Haiti Quisqueya is still at the same location (smile), it's... read more >
Tiba, 12-Mar-09 3:37 pm
Larry said: aEoeWhile I was at least somewhat prepared to witness the material poverty, I was blessed to see the... read more >
Linda, 13-Mar-09 10:36 am
Thank you, Tiba, for your comments & suggestions. It is good to get some "local" feed back. If you want me to get the... read more >
Larry Mulligan, 17-Mar-09 10:39 pm
Linda - Thank you for your comments and Qs. As I said to Tiba, local input is invaluable. I wish we had the... read more >
Larry Mulligan, 17-Mar-09 11:03 pm
Larry, the accusation is not personal; It was simply a statement of fact. As you yourself said it, you were only in... read more >
Linda, 19-Mar-09 12:37 am
Linda - Thank you for your continuing input, even though it is critical. When I received your latest contribution, I... read more >
Larry Mulligan, 24-Mar-09 7:37 pm
I am beginning to develop some respect for you Larry. I am too tired right now to know if what I am observing in your... read more >
Linda, 24-Mar-09 10:23 pm
Larry, I can tell you have a great heart that really wants to make a difference in the lives of others, but I also... read more >
Tiba, 25-Mar-09 7:55 pm
Tiba - I am sorry to hear my fellow countrymen were so unwilling to listen & learn. I am trying to avoid that. I am... read more >
Larry Mulligan, 26-Mar-09 10:01 am
Larry, don't give up and don't go away. Do move slowly and cautiously, regardless of the financial pressures to do... read more >
Linda, 26-Mar-09 2:28 pm
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