[Xmca-l] Re: Haiti by the numbers, five years after

[rjsp2]

I know little about Haiti, apart from having seen some of the work of
Telecoms sans Frontieres (e.g.
http://www.unfoundation.org/assets/pdf/haiti-earthquake-tsf-emergency-response-1.pdf)
so perhaps I am badly placed to pronounce, but I have seen this sort of
thing before, so can I make some points based on my general experience.

First of all, doing something takes some effort. Although clicktivism is
possible these days (a splendid example of the tool influencing the
object), if you want to have any kind of real effect, you have to do
some heavy lifting.

Most of us ignore Haiti, as we ignore everything else most of the time.
There is too much stuff for us to do anything else. I have done exactly
the same. I now have two pieces of evidence: the page Paul mentions, and
Paul's own impassioned reaction.

 From the page I glean one conclusion, which is that US action is
directed, as it usually seems to be, primarily towards creating profit
for US organisations, with any benefit to Haiti being a secondary
consideration.

So it seems to me that there are two possible courses of action for a
concerned US citizen. Both are founded on doing some legwork to find out
more about Haiti's current position and needs, for which the internet
will serve as the starting point.

The first course of action will be to identify NGOs which are working
for the benefit of the people - I have no doubt there are some - and to
support their work.

The second is to use whatever means are at your disposal to influence
your local congress and senate representatives to redirect US policy so
that Haiti's needs become the first priority, not the second. You will
be going up against an immovable object. But nobody ever went into
politics for the short haul.

No doubt many people here will have radically different views of the
position, and you are welcome to shoot me down.

Rob

On 16/01/2015 01:51, Dr. Paul C. Mocombe wrote:
> There are too many hands in the pot in haiti...NGOs, foreign governments, protestant evangelists, and the Catholic Church once again...we ask the good people of the west to tell their governments to get out of the country!  Use your democratic powers to control your governments!
>
>
> Dr. Paul C. Mocombe
> President
> The Mocombeian Foundation, Inc.
> www.mocombeian.com
> www.readingroomcurriculum.com
> www.paulcmocombe.info
>
> <div>-------- Original message --------</div><div>From: Annalisa Aguilar <annalisa@unm.edu> </div><div>Date:01/15/2015  8:41 PM  (GMT-05:00) </div><div>To: "eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity" <xmca-l@mailman.ucsd.edu> </div><div>Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Haiti by the numbers, five years after </div><div>
> </div>Hi Paul,
>
> Well... thanks for calling the tool a fracking shovel. :)
>
> It doesn't mean that there are people, regardless of the Christian quotient, feel troubled by Haiti.
>
> If there were something to do that could really make a difference, we would, wouldn't we?  If doing nothing is the better thing to do, OK. I was doing that already! :)
>
> Could it also be that people do not know what is happening on the ground? Is it possible to become more equitably informed? Without butting in?
>
> Looking at facts and figures don't contribute the gasoline to a theory of change, do they?
>
> I really don't know how to talk about it, but I am making an effort, even if it is awkward.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Annalisa
>
>

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