HAITIAN MANGOES EXPORTED TO THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

A big part of the irony of the rocket like growth of the Dominican mango export industry over the past 30 years (read this post) is that this had not only happened while Haiti’s exporters had failed to increase their own exports or to effectively organize the mango industry: it was arguably launched with theRead More

Visual Fake News and the Absurdity of the Haiti Post-Earthquake Rape Epidemic

Cover Photo: This is an all too common abuse and/or misinterpretation of a photo from post earthquake Haiti. South Atlantic Press Agency, as well as MercoPress, used the AFP photo as an illustration (bait) for an article on gender violence in Haiti. You can find the original explanation for what happened here at an NBCRead More

Haiti Anthropology Brief: Importance of Housebuilding and Local Cost of Building a House in Rural Haiti

I have put this brief together with the post-earthquake housebuilding craze in mind. After the 2010 earthquake, international organizations did a lot of housebuilding in Haiti. Yet, there is a whole lot about the topic that seemingly no one at the time was interested in learning. And so here I want to get it downRead More

Haiti Anthropology Brief: A Word on the Violence of Haitian Compared to US Men

The 2005-6 Haitian EMMUS found that 19.3% of women interviewed had, at some point in their lives, experienced physical or sexual violence at the hands of a partner. However, putting this in regional perspective, it is the second lowest rate in Latin America (PAHO 2012); and 2.8% less than the 22.1% reported in year 2000Read More

The Story of the Haiti Earthquake Camps

In the wake of the January 12, 2010 Haiti earthquake, the world witnessed the growth of what would become the largest refugee crisis on the planet. If we can believe claims from the United Nations, the US and the EU governments, and the humanitarian aid agencies that together received some $3 billion in donations fromRead More

Violent Women in Haiti: Ethnographic and Survey Data

There is a great deal of concern in the NGO community about violence against Haitian women. Google ‘Haiti GBV’ and you’ll see that it’s a veritable rallying cry for feminine interventions and donations. It’s always good to help people, especially those who are victims of violence. But the vast majority of people seeking to helpRead More

TTFF Fake Breadfruit Flour Factories in Haiti

February 1st 2018, I visited a project of TTFF (Trees that Feed Foundation), founded and managed by Mary and Michael McLaughlin who claim to have breadfruit factories in Jeremie, Haiti (check their claims here). I found no evidence of them ever having produced anything. The “factory” –a tin shed valuing less than $1,000, had clearly beenRead More

Port-au-Prince Haiti Merchant Monopoly on Bad Snack Foods

The ingredients for prepackaged snack foods on the Haitian market are entirely imported, of low quality and low nutritional value. Their growing role as a main source of food for lower-income Haitians, especially school children, is a threat to the health of the population. And there is little anyone can do about it. Or perhapsRead More

Haiti Anthropology Brief: Eight Questions About a Welfare System in Haiti

This post deals with the impact of a welfare system in Haiti. USAID, the World Bank, and WFP have proposed a type of welfare system for Haiti’s most vulnerable (see KORE LAVI program). While there are definitively many vulnerable people in Haiti, the idea of an institutionalized safety-net brings up questions that should be addressed. Read More

History of Haiti’s Fabricated Rape Epidemics

In this article I begin with the rape epidemic that supposedly shook Haiti following the 2010 earthquake and then trace back in time the role of international aid agencies, activists, foreign governments, Haitian politicians and Haitian opportunist aid entrepreneurs in creating what has become an industry of being “viktim.”

Travesties in Haiti