Haiti’s Brain Drain

In 1988 when I was in Eritrea, attending its war of liberation against Ethiopia, the headman of a tiny isolated village lamented against foreign aid.

It was surprising, because Oxfam had put a much-needed well in the village, and hitherto sterile land was now growing grain.

The headman agreed that the well was a boon, but his complaint about foreign aid was that it invariably resulted in roads, “and a road out of our village means that the clever young people immediately leave..”

In his case, a paved road meant a brain-drain towards Nairobi, robbing the small community of badly needed future leaders.

In some ways, “brain drain” helps explain why Haiti seems such a hopeless country, where democratic governments flounder and corruption, violence, incompetence flourish.

There is nothing innately limiting in Haitians as individuals. Haitians flourish in Canada and the U.S. as doctors, teachers, actors, entertainers, professors, even as governors general.

Surely such people are needed in leadership roles inside Haiti?

Yet each individual must make a choice for him/herself and family.

Why is Haiti the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and the recipient – even before the catastrophic earthquake – of the greatest amount of foreign aid? Yet signs of  improvement are few.

Much is made of Haiti’s unique history – the second independent country (after the U.S.) in the Americas, the first (maybe the only) successful slave revolt in the world, the only French-speaking country (after Quebec) in the hemisphere, an independent state since 1804.

Yes, Haiti’s had terrible times – but so has every country.

It is glaring to compare Haiti with the Dominican Republic which shares the island of Hispaniola. DR is also, a poor country, but one that functions and has shed the shackles of dictatorship (Trujillo) and is now a tourist mecca and producer of major league baseball players.

Toussaint l’Overature, who led the slave revolt was something of a military and political genius (his army defeated soldiers of Napoleon (1799), Britain, Spain), and was virtually kidnapped to die in France.

Toussaint was succeeded by Jean-Jacque Dessalines, a tyrant who declared himself Emperor (Jacques I), and is reputed to have shown foreign dignitaries his power by ordering troops to march over a cliff to their death.

After his assassination, Henry Christophe declared himself King of Haiti and created a peerage of princes, dukes, barons and such. As a haven for pirates, Haiti really never blossomed as a democracy or enlightened state.

Today, it is mindful in ways of Afghanistan and Somalia. Haiti’s roads are more or less the roads that the American Marines built from 1915 to 1937, when they occupied –  and then left Haiti to its own devices.

Whether the massive influx of earthquake aid will result in a chance to start over – to rebuild the country and establish a functioning government is uncertain, but is the hope of all who wish the country well.

In recent years, Canada has been involved in training the police. The U.S. donated some $3 billion before the earthquake, with little apparent effect.

Haiti’s side of Hispaniola island has been denuded of trees, thus contributing to erosion, mud slides and infertile soil. Without building codes or steel-reinforced concrete, Haiti will ever be susceptible to earthquake damage.

Still, the greatest threat may be the continuing brain-drain of Haitians who leave their homeland for greener fields and opportunity.