Opportunity 21:
investing in Haiti’s future

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Long plagued by political turmoil, poverty, illiteracy and voodoo, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere now has to contend with the additional woes of AIDS and the fact that many of its brightest people are emigrating. In the face of such challenges, the only hope, according to the Haitian Bible Society, is to open people’s hearts and minds to the Word of God. And as the Society sets out for that goal, Opportunity 21 (O-21) is already starting to play a major role in its effort.

n A street scene in Cité Soleil, one of the poorest areas of Port-au-Prince

The factor cited by many as having held the country in bondage since it won independence in 1804 is voodoo, but others dispute the strength of this ancient, African-based belief system in the Haiti of the twenty-first century.

“When people think of Haiti, they think of voodoo,” admits Magda Victor, General Secretary of the Haitian Bible Society . “But if you live here, it is another story: voodoo is ‘under the table’. At one time I think it was something which appealed to people, but that is not the case today.”

“Haiti has a high proportion of Christians,” adds Mirette St-Louis, the Society’s O-21 Program Director. “In the schools the children learn about Jesus. The illiterate people in the countryside still practise voodoo but it is not the belief of Haitian people today.”

Although some people who call themselves Roman Catholics practise voodoo, the Catholic Church in Haiti has taken a strong stand against it, and Roman Catholic priests will not baptise the child of a known voodooist.

Spiritual battle

“The true Catholics don’t believe in voodoo because they have the Bible,” Mrs Victor notes. “It is the old people who mix the two, but they’re not the same.

“There is a spiritual battle going on,” she adds, “and that’s why I want to catch the children. They have not heard about voodoo, so I want to give them an early spiritual foundation in the Bible. As the Bible says, ‘Teach the children the way they should go, and when they are old, they will not depart from it.’ ”

Obstacles

One of the most obvious obstacles to progress in Haiti is the poor state of its infrastructure. Power cuts occur almost daily, forcing businesses and homes which can afford it to rely on auxiliary generators.

In Port-au-Prince ancient American-style traffic lights grace many intersections, but their bare wires testify that it is years since they actually exercised control over the traffic.

In rural areas, too, travel is difficult and dangerous. In the countryside, as in the city, decaying road surfaces go unrepaired.

“Something has to change in Haiti... The older generation is lost: they are only interested in filling their pockets and getting out”

“Ten years ago it took about three hours to travel overland from Port-au-Prince to Cap Haitian, on the north coast,” says Mrs Victor. “Nowadays because the roads are not being maintained it takes four or five.”

A few months ago, Mrs Victor made the journey with a visiting American Bible Society video team. The experience of driving there convinced them they should fly back.

Travelling

But in spite of the dangers, Bible Society staff are in the process of increasing the amount of travelling they do.

“We are doing the O-21 program all over the country,” Mrs Victor explains. “Often when we start programs only people in Port-au-Prince benefit from them. [With the O-21 program] we want to avoid that and reach all the children. We have the Portions and the Bibles, but now we need to travel, and at the moment we need new vehicles.”

Emigration

Another crisis facing Haiti is the less immediately obvious one of emigration. And while images of boat people leaving Haiti on rafts and small vessels, seeking a better life in the United States, the Bahamas or elsewhere, are familiar from television news, it is those who leave by airliner that threaten Haiti’s future.

n Magda Victor, General Secretary of the Haitian Bible Society: ‘We want to reach all the children’

“So many people are leaving,” Mrs Victor lamented,“and many who are professionals in the 30-40 age range. They represent the strength of this country, but they are so discouraged that they apply for visas and leave.” Estimates put the number of Haitians leaving at around 50,000 every year.

Mrs Victor has observed this trend at close hand. Her daughter’s school has traditionally been one for which applications far outnumber the available places.

“But so many families are leaving the country that we recently received a leaflet asking if we knew of any children who wanted places – and this is in a ‘good’ school!”

New stage