The problem with dreaming

Haitians may suffer from a lack of basic services like clean water, food and shelter, but one thing they do not suffer from is a lack of ideas flooding into from foreign countries. In fact, the conference business here is booming, with all hotels (even large restaurants) constantly packed with NGO-backed seminars and symposiums to disseminate the future seeds of development. Yet the seeds are often ill-fitted to their environment and the sowing ceremonies in the form of lavish catered ceremonies become no more than excuses for fancy speeches claiming to have the key for improved development in Haiti.

NGOs bring prosthetic technology and expertise to
help many get back to a normal life

A recent (pre-cholera) conference focused on the rights of the disabled in Haiti. Those present included members of the special secretariat for the disabled, specialized NGOs and members of various embassies. The presenters took care to educate the audience on the extent of problems for the disabled in Haiti, and gave examples of work in progress to try to accommodate them. Photos of prosthetic limbs, ramp access, sign language classes all were proof of the good work going on around the country.

The conference was also designed to raise awareness for the rights of the disabled. The UN charter on the subject was referred to as proof of the responsibility of states to care for everyone, not just those considered mentally and physically fit. Everyone should be guaranteed access to education. Everyone should be able to get on a bus. Everyone should have the medical care they need. Who could disagree? The more the speakers painted pictures of special needs teachers and wheelchair access apartments, the more the expectations – and emotions – in the room were raised.

In development, the idea of implanting new ideas or technology is known as “leaping”. The theory is that you can speed up development by providing advanced ideas to developing countries rather than let them evolve towards them by themselves. For instance, by providing modern sewing machines to a Haitian garment factory, you will make them more competitive and successful. No need to force them go through the same trial and error methods that Western Europe went through during the industrial revolution. If this works for factories, there seems to be no reason why you cannot also provide enlightened ideas on human rights and achieve the same leaping effect. For instance, by promoting the rights of women, countries stand to gain quickly and widely. Empowered women are more likely to have smaller families, earn incomes and educate their children. But to what extent can you push the rights of other groups like the disabled?

According to the conference speakers, disabled rights should be extended as far as possible. After all, Haiti is a signatory to the UN convention on the rights of the disabled. To ratify this, a bill is before the Haitian senate to guarantee accessibility to all vulnerable peoples. After some research, I discovered that this bill contained the following sections:

II-2-10: The state guarantees all handicapped people access to health care, housing and all levels of education.

IV-2-24: All rented housing must be handicap accessible

IV-4-29: All national transport is to be handicap accessible. Those accompanying handicapped people are to travel free of charge.

Inter-city "Tap-Tap" Transport

Consider for a moment the context in which this law is being tabled. Haiti’s education system is mostly private with few curriculum standards. Over 1M people are homeless after the earthquake and many houses are weak structures of brittle bricks, corrugated iron and plastic tarps. There is no such thing as “national transport”, and private transport is mostly made up of “tap-taps”.

Yet the speakers went on and on. A government official dreamed about future designs of buildings to have ramps so that all Haitians can also enjoy theatres and cinemas. But there was no mention of the fact that the capital has no real sidewalks, let alone a working theatre or cinema. A member of a Latin American delegation spoke of the need of financial assistance for those who care for the disabled. This in a country with no social security system of any kind. Another mentioned the need to have quotas for businesses to employ mentally handicapped people. Hardly an option when unemployment is greater than 60%. The conference was closed with thunderous applause and flurries of colourful brochures.

Now, I’m hardly the person to condemn discourse on human rights. But I think this is a clear case of lack of consideration for the overall context. Haiti’s public sector is buckling from demands on it to change laws, approve projects and adjust resources. Additional expectations can put the government in a tough position where they have to appeal for more funds to spread over an increasingly wider, and less coherent, set of goals. A better approach would be to encourage the government to create a solid set of manageable objectives which can be prioritized and delivered upon.

Needless to say, identifying and implementing the proper objectives is full of difficulties. But understanding that there are trade-offs is a good start. We all recognize ethics and we all recognize justice. But we also recognize the reality of capacity and the need for compromise. Challenges need to be defined honestly and objectives made realistically.

So let’s start with the basics. Children need to get schools. Schools need to get teachers. Health clinics need doctors. Investors need to create jobs. In a country with the highest maternal mortality, illiteracy and unemployment in the hemisphere, these are already formidable challenges. No need to complicate things with kneeling buses for the moment.