16350: Dorce Re: 16267: Kathleen: Re: 16263:Dorce:We can't look away from the suffering (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: LAKAT47@aol.com

In a message dated 8/4/03 4:59:44 AM Pacific Daylight Time, Kathleen
<kathleenmb@adelphia.net> writes:

<< Dear Ms. Dorce - I don't want to see people "as they are in Pétionville
 parlors."  Why phrase it that way?  Either Cite Soleil or Pétionville?  How
 about including Papay, Port a Piment, LaViktwa? Why the severe dichotomy
 (and hostility)? I've never even been in a Petionville parlor.  kb  >>
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Ms. B., I phrase it that way because some want to see and show others the
high society part of Haiti, the lovely homes behind high barbed wire topped
walls, the oh so civilized cocktail parties on verandas while the rest of Haiti,
the vast majority of those living in Haiti, struggle to feed themselves and
their families for one more day.  I phrase it like that because if you are going
to err on the issue of what Haiti is like today, you should err on the side of
the destitute.  Yes, you and I know there are places to go where it smells
nice and people have nice things....but to pretend this is Haiti, is an insult to
those who continue to suffer.  Even in the provences, where it is not so
fetid and there is less squalor, people suffer and die way too soon.  You don't
see Haiti as some sort of macabre dichotomy?  I sure do.  A shameful one, but I
have a heck of a time getting those behind the walls to feel any sort of
shame.  (I'll keep trying...)

As for seeing what I wrote as hostile...that surprises me.  You didn't quote
the part that seemed hostile to you but I read my entire post and I thought it
was most compassionate and noble (if I do say so myself!).  If you see it
differently, perhaps it is a guilty conscience and I will tell you I have
compassion for you too.

Sincerely,

Kathy Dorce~