Aid and Identity Theft in Haiti

Working in Haiti is not always easy. The unstable political environment creates difficulties of its own, but there are even bigger obstacles to working in this impoverished country. Haiti has for too long been a major recipient of all kinds of aid. This has made a profound impact on the identity of many Haitians. Many have come to view themselves as poor, with nothing valuable to contribute, waiting for the next shipment of aid or hand out. Many have given up on themselves.
Floresta works to break this cycle of dependency and help Haitians create a positive identity for themselves, one where they have discovered their unique, God given talents, and use them to make a positive contribution to their community.
A familiar story of this problem is from one of our Haitian villages when Floresta first entered the community. At a community meeting of about fifty farmers, A woman stood up and said, “Another organization was here. They gave us food and left. She went on to list several others. So and so was here. They gave us things and left. A third organization was here and gave us stuff, then left. How are you going to be any different!?”
Floresta told her, “First of all we are not going to give you anything. Secondly we are not going to leave until you are ready for us to.”
Several years later in another meeting in the same village, a different woman stood up and excitedly shared, “What Floresta has given us is the knowledge that we are not helpless. That God has given us talents that we can use to improve our own situation!”
And so villages throughout Haiti, where Floresta works, have begun to improve their situation. They have formed credit cooperatives, which have made and collected hundreds of small business loans, they have planted thousands of trees, they have improved their crop yields and they have learned to work together. After working with Floresta for several years and seeing the difference being made, community members are inspired to give back. A number of them have even donated a portion of their profits to start a fund to build the first church in the community.
This is what Floresta means when we talk about community development. It can take a long time to get started, but it means that the work will continue long after Floresta is gone! That is fundamental to all the work Floresta does. Too much aid has created dependency and a loss of identity for many of the rural poor in Haiti. Floresta is committed to work along side these farmers to help them recover their identity and dig up their God-given talents that were buried under all the piles of free hand outs and aid.
Another related article from the news...
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=1955664&page=1