Following the assasination of President Jovenel Moïse, devastating natural disasters and a local labor shortage, Haiti is in shambles.
Gang affiliation and a corrupt government structure has led to a deflux in student mission trips and foreign travel to the Caribbean. Bodies line the streets outside of hospital morgues while members of cults and gangs wreak havoc in the streets of Haiti.
According to New York Times journalist Natalie Kitroeff, “With gangs holding up fuel trucks at will, truck drivers have refused to go to work, setting off nationwide strikes by transportation workers and paralyzing a nation dependent on generators for much of its power.”
Powerless, hungry and lacking essential resources for life, Haiti is at the bottom of the list of locations for student missions trips in 2022.
Senior Lily Dumas elaborated on her experiences while on a mission trip to Belize and the complications imposed by external Haitian factors.
“The pastor at the church in Belize, Nehru, spoke to us about the issues they faced. In countries around Haiti, many mission trips aren’t able to happen,” Dumas explained. “On top of high COVID cases, we learned that Haiti faced extremely high crime and poverty rates. More specifically, the Haitian economy is very unstable and dangerous so mission groups are unable to travel there.”
Along with moral responsibilities, mission trips provide insight to students and help spread knowledge about cultures in foreign countries. However, Haiti’s crippling timeline of harmful events has prevented these trips from occurring.
Nonetheless, gang violence has ultimately broken down the Haitian society. Little to no effort is shown by citizens and Haiti has been on a downward economic spiral for years.
Reported by Jim Wyss, writer for the Bloomberg journal, “Julien Bartoletti, the head of Doctors without Borders in Haiti, suggests thinking about Haiti as a war zone. His organization was forced to shutter its 15-year-old hospital in Martissant this summer after it came under gang gunfire. At least three staff members have been kidnapped, one murdered and dozens are among the 20,000 Haitians who’ve fled due to gang threat.”
Regardless of GDP per capita, economic status or financial stability, Haiti is among several countries struggling to find light at the end of a very dark tunnel.
Students around the nation have been unable to experience valuable mission trips and cultural explorations as corruption and crime tear Haiti apart. Citizens continue committing criminal acts, going on strike and creating a hopeless environment for their youth.
