Traveling to Haiti last week, I was dismayed to discover an international blame game. Everyone seemed to blame someone else for slow progress in recovery from January's earthquake. Frustrations with the slow pace are understandable but the incessant finger pointing helps no one. Still, we found some bright spots among the ruins and rubble and cause for a small dose of hope .
How does the blame game work? The media and foreign governments blame the Haitian government for not moving fast enough to aid the more than one million displaced Haitian citizens. Many commentators fear aid will fuel corruption. Haitian leaders want foreign governments that pledged aid for Haiti to follow through on these commitments - including the US government. (While the US has done much, for weeks an aid package that forgives Haiti's debt and replenishes aid coffers has been stuck in Congress.) Haitian officials are concerned that they lack control over the many small groups -run by US churches or hospitals -that travel to Haiti for short tours. Haitian citizens are angry because they see little evidence of aid and wonder if those who raised money for Haiti after the earthquake will deliver on their promises. Reputable aid groups worry that they are burning through aid dollars renting vehicles when their cars and other materials are stuck in the port, awaiting release by Haitian Customs. Disputes over land ownership prevent breaking ground on new homes for the displaced and dispossessed. All of this leads to criticisms of the Haitian government for not cutting the red tape... and the blame game continues.
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