Having worked in both the impoverished Haitian bateys and now with poor Dominicans, after reading all the posts in this thread, it seems to me that the issue is too complex to second guess one way or another.
One thing I don't see happening is Haitians working to empower themselves in the bateys. They value education, with each batey having one or more little Haitian school for kids to attend after they return from public school, but I don't see them scraping together their resources and becoming small entrepreneurs, working to get ahead. What I have seen is them waiting for the help from mission and charity groups......and I am talking about the areas behind Montellano in the small bateys.
No one in this world really gets ahead without the hunger to help themselves. Perhaps I am wrong to judge. Perhaps the Haitians have been beaten down too long to have the urge, yet that is what it is going to take, the willingness to do everything within their power to get Dominican papers, no matter what roadblocks the Dominican government workers place in their way.
It's not right for me to generalize, but my observations show me a level of comfort with life in the bateys just as it is. Perhaps as it is,it is still better than life in Haiti.
One thing I don't see happening is Haitians working to empower themselves in the bateys. They value education, with each batey having one or more little Haitian school for kids to attend after they return from public school, but I don't see them scraping together their resources and becoming small entrepreneurs, working to get ahead. What I have seen is them waiting for the help from mission and charity groups......and I am talking about the areas behind Montellano in the small bateys.
No one in this world really gets ahead without the hunger to help themselves. Perhaps I am wrong to judge. Perhaps the Haitians have been beaten down too long to have the urge, yet that is what it is going to take, the willingness to do everything within their power to get Dominican papers, no matter what roadblocks the Dominican government workers place in their way.
It's not right for me to generalize, but my observations show me a level of comfort with life in the bateys just as it is. Perhaps as it is,it is still better than life in Haiti.