19430: Pierre Jean: Re: 19426: Corbett: In the politics it's easy to forget the common suffering (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Pierre Jean <pierrejean2004@yahoo.com>

The common person in Haiti (probably 98% of the
population) is always forgotten when troubles like
this occur.

I just stepped out of my house for the first time
today to get a sense of what is going on. I walked
around the corner to where a Anita, a "machann fritay"
(how do you possibly translate that?), usually sits
with her "bak" full of goodies, but she is not there
today. I know from previous conversations that she has
three children and no husband/mate/boyfriend. She
earns just enough money to buy her kids food and maybe
money for transportation if she is lucky. How will she
survive tonight? And what will she feed her children?
And if they are sick, what can she do? Where will she
go for help? All questions that our leaders probably
never think to ask themselves as they ponder the
"devenir" of their careers or the size of their
wallets. But then again, do our leaders across the
spectrum care? I doubt it. On the ruling side, they
long ago decided to sacrifices the ideals and
objectives of a just movement at the altar of greed
and corruption. The Opposition members are way too
comfortable in their nice houses up in the mountains
to really empathize with the suffering of the common
person.

But at least today is not as rough as yesterday. Even
the chimes who had set up the barricades a few houses
from the main road are taking a break. Instead there
are only two or three gangly teenagers trying to look
tough but who quickly engaged in a sports conversation
when I walked by. No politics! What a difference a day
makes.