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A review by bgg616
Farewell, Fred Voodoo: A Letter from Haiti by Amy Wilentz
5.0
Who is Fred Voodoo? Fred Voodoo is a term invented by foreign journalists to mean “the (Haitian) man (woman) on the street”. It reflects a condescending view of Haitians. But Haitians know that, and they almost always beat foreigners at their own game, which the author Wilentz describes repeatedly in the book. In Haiti, every Haitian looks for his/her own “white man” (who can be a women) as a matter of survival. But the author contends that foreigners are equally dependent on Haitians to make them into do-gooders, and that the “white man” can be any foreigner, regardless of race.
Should Haiti be called a “developing country”? The substitution of the more politically correct “developing country” for “third world” may obscure the myriad ways in which countries like Haiti are underdeveloped. I am not an expert in international development. Despite this, I have been exposed to the theories, been in meetings at The World Bank, the Organization of American States, and the International Development Bank. More than anything, I have been struck by the huge contradictions at play – the grandness of these international institutions in Washington DC that exist to help the Global South grow their economies. What a contrast between these centers of power and the extreme neediness of the poorest nations on earth, and the most disenfranchised citizens on our planet. Less than a decade before I moved to the Washington DC area, I lived in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where there were frequent strikes and riots against the latest imposed price increases ordered by the International Monetary Fund. I saw it through the eyes of my ex-husband and his extended family and in how these manipulations were making life harder for all of them, working class and poor people. In 1999, I lived in southern Brazil, and although I worked in education, the talk of the impact of neo-liberalism was part of daily discourse. So my perception of “development” work has certainly been shaped by observing the other side of it, and first learning about it from the recipients rather than the "do gooders".
Many residents of the Global North – Americans, Europeans, Canadians – genuinely want to “make the world a better place”. What could be wrong with that? Wilentz’s book is an excoriating account of the impact of foreign do-gooders on Haiti. She describes how much harm is done, and how the condition of Haiti and its people deteriorate while huge amounts of money and profits are involved. One example she gives is the story of an American woman and her Haitian husband who try to build housing in a rural area after the earthquake. They end up buying the land they are building on three or four separate times, due to the lack of clear ownership. After two years, trying to build, they give up. After the earthquake, many worthless parcels of land owned by wealthy Haitians were sold for many times what they were worth. Disaster became a huge economic opportunity for "the haves". The Haitian have-nots already knew how it would all shake out.
Wilentz is also critical of herself, questioning her own involvement in Haiti for decades. She is fluent in Kreyol and has a deep affection for the people. She tells an account of a day spent with Haitian friends during her early days in Haiti, when she declared she loved Haiti. One of her friends then said that then she would gladly trade passports with Wilentz and leave Haiti to live in the US, and Wilentz could stay in Haiti. Wilentz does praise some genuinely good efforts – Dr. Paul Farmer and Partners in Health, and a Massachusetts doctor names Megan Coffee who has spent a couple of years in Haiti caring for TB patients for no pay, depending on the charity of others for food, shelter, wifi and an iPhone. She describes a business, Digitel, a cell phone provider, which has actually managed to change life in Haiti for the better, as Haitians, for the first time, have cheap access to phones and everything that access brings. She gives Sean Penn mixed reviews but by the end of the book seems to have decided he is genuine, though she is still not quite sure why he is in Haiti.
One of the most telling segments in the book was the following:
"The fault (for instability in Haiti) is not with the ignorant many, but with the educated and ambitious few. Too proud to work, and not disposed to go into commerce, they make politics a business of their country. Governed neither by love or mercy for their country, they care not into what depths she may be plunged. No president, however virtuous, wise and patriotic, ever suits them …."
From a lecture in Chicago in 1893 by Frederick Douglass, Ambassador to Haiti. One hundred and twenty years later, the haves still prevent Haiti from being what she could be, and Haiti remains one of the poorest countries in the world.
Should Haiti be called a “developing country”? The substitution of the more politically correct “developing country” for “third world” may obscure the myriad ways in which countries like Haiti are underdeveloped. I am not an expert in international development. Despite this, I have been exposed to the theories, been in meetings at The World Bank, the Organization of American States, and the International Development Bank. More than anything, I have been struck by the huge contradictions at play – the grandness of these international institutions in Washington DC that exist to help the Global South grow their economies. What a contrast between these centers of power and the extreme neediness of the poorest nations on earth, and the most disenfranchised citizens on our planet. Less than a decade before I moved to the Washington DC area, I lived in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where there were frequent strikes and riots against the latest imposed price increases ordered by the International Monetary Fund. I saw it through the eyes of my ex-husband and his extended family and in how these manipulations were making life harder for all of them, working class and poor people. In 1999, I lived in southern Brazil, and although I worked in education, the talk of the impact of neo-liberalism was part of daily discourse. So my perception of “development” work has certainly been shaped by observing the other side of it, and first learning about it from the recipients rather than the "do gooders".
Many residents of the Global North – Americans, Europeans, Canadians – genuinely want to “make the world a better place”. What could be wrong with that? Wilentz’s book is an excoriating account of the impact of foreign do-gooders on Haiti. She describes how much harm is done, and how the condition of Haiti and its people deteriorate while huge amounts of money and profits are involved. One example she gives is the story of an American woman and her Haitian husband who try to build housing in a rural area after the earthquake. They end up buying the land they are building on three or four separate times, due to the lack of clear ownership. After two years, trying to build, they give up. After the earthquake, many worthless parcels of land owned by wealthy Haitians were sold for many times what they were worth. Disaster became a huge economic opportunity for "the haves". The Haitian have-nots already knew how it would all shake out.
Wilentz is also critical of herself, questioning her own involvement in Haiti for decades. She is fluent in Kreyol and has a deep affection for the people. She tells an account of a day spent with Haitian friends during her early days in Haiti, when she declared she loved Haiti. One of her friends then said that then she would gladly trade passports with Wilentz and leave Haiti to live in the US, and Wilentz could stay in Haiti. Wilentz does praise some genuinely good efforts – Dr. Paul Farmer and Partners in Health, and a Massachusetts doctor names Megan Coffee who has spent a couple of years in Haiti caring for TB patients for no pay, depending on the charity of others for food, shelter, wifi and an iPhone. She describes a business, Digitel, a cell phone provider, which has actually managed to change life in Haiti for the better, as Haitians, for the first time, have cheap access to phones and everything that access brings. She gives Sean Penn mixed reviews but by the end of the book seems to have decided he is genuine, though she is still not quite sure why he is in Haiti.
One of the most telling segments in the book was the following:
"The fault (for instability in Haiti) is not with the ignorant many, but with the educated and ambitious few. Too proud to work, and not disposed to go into commerce, they make politics a business of their country. Governed neither by love or mercy for their country, they care not into what depths she may be plunged. No president, however virtuous, wise and patriotic, ever suits them …."
From a lecture in Chicago in 1893 by Frederick Douglass, Ambassador to Haiti. One hundred and twenty years later, the haves still prevent Haiti from being what she could be, and Haiti remains one of the poorest countries in the world.