Trust and Believe in Haitians to find solutions

Anne McConnell is a Haitian Methodist living in the UK and the daughter of Irish Methodist Minister and missionary in Haiti, Revd. Ormond McConnell. Revd McConnell arrived in Haiti in 1935, and pioneered literacy in Haitian Kreyol across the country. She has shared her thoughts with us on her homeland, in light of the 10 year anniversary of the earthquake:

“The trauma of the 12 January earthquake occurred to an already traumatised State bearing the scars of its history as the first independent Black Republic of the new world. Tragically, the unprecedented international response in terms of humanitarian aid has become a lesson in how not to do it. But the individual connections made through often small scale efforts and direct financial support spoke volumes… seeing and knowing that people cared helped ordinary Haitians endure as they got on with the task of clearing and re-building. 10 years on, much has been achieved but much still needs to be done. Haiti needs true friends prepared to go the second mile and to continue to accompany it and to trust and believe in Haitians to find solutions to the challenges ahead.     

It is so hard to continue to tell this story and heart rending to witness the country continuing to be so let down by its own government, so caught up in their own politicking and not truly seeking solutions for its people. The recent social unrest and street demonstrations born out of real hardship and frustration of the people has been such a set back. This perpetuates the false image of Haiti as a ‘basket-case' economy unable to help itself when in fact there are so many good initiatives and good work going on that do not make the headlines. That is why Haiti continues to rely so heavily on individual connections and the work of the ‘hand up’ agencies to have a chance to continue to function – among which I of course include the very important contribution of the Methodist Church in Britain and our sister church in the US. Let us not get discouraged and give up. Haitian lives depend on it”