#2664:Structural Change, Charity : Knowles comments : Laleau replies

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From:NLaleau@aol.com

Dear Phil,

I liked your thinking ... in addition to that, I hope that the List and the 
friendships people form through it can carry over into Haiti when people 
return there. But meanwhile, I hope that while we are here in the US, 
Haitians and Haitiphile blans alike can benefit from the luxury we have to 
learn ways to collaborate with each other, so that our Haiti work won't be 
afflicted by the divisions and competition that destroy the effectiveness of 
well-intentioned people in Haiti. As far as I can tell, there are about as 
many divisions among us here in the US but there is a larger geographic space 
in which to operate, and much greater resources for us to survive on, so our 
conflict and competition for resources here are not as destructive to our own 
well-being as those of our confreres in Haiti. Haiti being the smaller space, 
bounded by ocean, is the pressure-cooker and the microcosm for all of us, and 
thus appears to be qualitatively different. But I don't think it is different 
-- only more concentrated.

Sincerely,
Nancy