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30667: Raber (reply) Re: 30662: Forrest (reply) RE: 30652: Kathleen (reply) 30648 (fwd)
From: PM Raber <raber88@zoominternet.net>
Let's see! In the last 10 years in Haiti I know personally:
-2 five year old girls who were raped, one 18 year old, one 15 year old, one 30
something old, 3 white missionaries (25 to 35).
-Murdedered: my high shcool litterature and chemistry teacher, my co-worders's
husband, an indigent lady I used to bail out at times, a high school friend's
husband, my sister's father in law, my other sister's husband's first wife, a
girl I played basketball with..
-Kidnapped: my 7 year old niece, a university student friend's nephew,
numerous other acquaintances.Some left the country forever afterwards
-Shot at: My sister above who married the guy whose wife as shot dead (hit her
arm), a couple of cousins,The sister to the guy above whose wife was shot dead
(her leg has never been the same), numerous other acquanitances
-Car jacked: a colleague (twice), two co-workers,
-Pointed a gun at or attempted kidnapping : too many to count
-Armed roberry: too many to list from little street merchant to better off
business people
In the USA, I personally know of one person who was raped. The closest I know
of a murder was that murder of a pregnant womant in Ohio the other day. The
baby who was abandonned alive about the same time was abandoned at the house of
a nurse I know.
Another difference in Haiti is that appearing of a certain social class makes
you a major target. In the USA the crime is more random. Most of the violent
crime reported in the USA has a domestic violence or gang retaliation
component. In Haiti many of the perpetrators are drug addicts but the victims
are far removed from the drug culture. They are true innocent bystanders.
There is also a good chance that perpetrators will be caught in the USA. The
places where criminals tend not to get caught are the inner cities gang
infested areas where people don't want to "snitch"...
Another difference is that dangerous areas in the States can usually be
avoided. The Haitian roads are such that one must go through certain roads
which are usually used as traps by criminals. When women are hearing their
doors being broken down at night (as the raped teenager above heard for a good
15-20 minutes before they got in) they cannot call 911 and expect the police to
show up. You can live a full life if the States and never set foot on the
Detroit of NYC streets. In Haiti one cannot avoid dealing with Port au Prince.