Well you again show how little you know about Haiti, me or anything for that matter.There will always be apologists and finger pointers. You have plenty of company. People have been blaming others for their position in life for centuries. Thankfully most do something about it, while others sit on a wall under a tree and chant woe woe is me.
Regarding Haiti... Thankfully... There are some who are doing something about it... Including Haitian citizens.
But no man is an island... We all need help at some stage in our life (perhaps even you, Big)... And to turn and beat on others who, for whatever failing of their own, are suffering, is to be a hypocrite.
And no... I am not a person who pulls out my wallet every time I see someone in need... But neither am I a person who simply turns away by ignoring the fact that there is a need.
And no... I'm not demanding this disposition for all... I'm simply saying to take an honest look and to speak in an honest way regarding the reality of what we are seeing... Only then can a proper, workable solution be identified — because the real problem has been identified — developed, and implemented.
Some here may have read about the project I'm working on, that involves giving young Haitians, who no fault of their own (they were brought to the DR as little children, by parents looking for work/better living circumstances), have received some support, care, and education from someone, who for the last sixteen years has given herself, in the DR, to provide this for these young Haitians, in the hope that they will be able to conduct themselves in a proper social manner and become productive members of whatever society they live in.
This person, an American who presently lives in Puerto Plata, after finishing college (Virginia Tech), gave up all her previous aspirations of working for some big company in a high-paying job to come to the DR to try and help the young children she had seen roaming the streets of Puerto Plata when she had visited the DR the year before... It was in 2007 when Caitlin created Project Esperanza... Today, she has a school that cares for 250+ kids, and has successfully taken many off the streets over the sixteen years she has given herself to doing just that... And does so with the help of many local Dominicans.
Caitlan, for me, is a person to be admired... And even supported... This is what I'm hoping the project that myself and my wife are working on can one day do.
And I didn't suddenly wake up one morning with the thought of heading to the DR to save Haitian children... It's just not how I know to do business.
First, my wife spoke to me about her desire to retire in the DR, which I kind of ignored for a couple of years. Then, for some reason, around November/December of 2022, I decided to look at what buying a little house with maybe an acre of land in the DR would cost... Maybe just to let my wife know I wasn't completely dismissing her retirement desire... But then I happened to come across some land way up in the DR mountains that caught my attention, and I showed it to my wife... Who, immediately asked what we were going to do with all that land... See, she was thinking of an acre of land... But this property was a few hundred acres.
Go big or go home, right.
Anyway... Long story kind of short... I began to do what I've done all of my professional life... I began to roll an idea around in my head... An idea that has grown into a vocational training center that the kids who have graduated from Caitlin's school can attend and gain vocational training... And perhaps, do so with the intention of returning to Haiti as mature, self-reliant, trained producers... In the fields of agriculture and forestry... Which are two of the foundational needs inherent in any rebuilding undertaking for Haiti.
Although this, developing a vocational school, is something I've never done... I have a vision that I believe is worth pursuing... And, as I have pursued it, I've found that others, some whom I don't even know, have picked up something that I've said and have had their interest piqued and asked for more info on it... Even right here on this website.
For that I'm grateful.