R.I.P’d Off (Part 8)

Today I’d like to draw some attention and show some love to a country that I can’t help but admire and have heartfelt sympathy for; Haiti. To say as a nation they’ve had more than their fair share of hard times and bad luck is an understatement! They are the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with over 55% of the population living in poverty well before Hurricane Matthew hit, and I’d guess that figure has now risen some. I know there are plenty of countries deserving of aid but when I think of Haiti’s history they’d be the top of my list – and what better time to reflect on this than Black History Month?….I’ll tell you a better time – IF WE INCLUDE ALL OF THE OTHER 365 DAYS OF THE YEAR!! Why are we the only people willing to accept having our history condensed to one month? #JustSaying.

Like so many other countries their problems began after being “discovered” by Christopher Columbus in 1492, bringing with him diseases such as smallpox to help wipe out the indigenous people and leave who remained to work in gold mines and on plantations. Then the French came to stake their claim, bringing with them thousands of slaves from Africa to develop and work on sugar plantations. Around this time black people outnumbered white people by about 10-1 and they finally decided enough was enough. The Haitian Revolution started in 1791 – 1804, ending with Haiti seeing off the Spanish, French and British led by a former slave and the first black general of the French Army, Toussaint Louverture. Haiti became the first independent nation of Latin America and the Caribbean and the only nation in the world established as a result of a slave revolt. All but one leader of their government were former slaves. That’s BIG, and shows exactly what can be achieved when we unite.

Unfortunately the rest of the world were not so accepting of a country run by slaves and made things hard for the Haitians to thrive with no one willing to support their nation so many fled to the US. Fast forward a couple centuries and for those who chose to remain Mother Nature and sheer greed have had a devastating effect on an island full of history. In 2010 they were hit with an earthquake that killed hundreds of thousands of people and left them in ruins. But hold up, don’t fret, it’s all good, because here comes the UN and the ARC (American Red Cross) and the likes of the Clintons to save the day…..and what a grand job they did of that!😑

Ten months after the earthquake came a cholera outbreak – the first outbreak EVER to have occurred in Haiti. What the UN try to keep quiet is the fact it began near a base where Nepali peacekeepers were staying – and guess what was rife in Nepal at the time? Waste from their base leaked into the river and it spread like wildfire. The UN still class the origin of the epidemic as “undetermined”, but even one of their own advisors seems pretty determined that they are responsible for what occurred. To top all that off, the millions of dollars collected to provide relief in the form of 700 houses and much needed shelter by the ARC resulted in them building just six -SIX!, and very little has been done to really help by the other charities so tell me – WHERE DID ALL THE MONEY GO? It wasn’t spent on or in Haiti that’s for sure.

That brings us to the most recent devastation caused by Hurricane Matthew with a death toll of 1000 and rising. Still reeling from the effects of the earthquake six years on, Haitians are urging people not to give their money to the ARC – once bitten an’ all that! There’s been a few posts on certain celebrities such as Usain Bolt, Shakira, Beyonce and Jay Z donating millions to help Haiti but so far I’ve found them to be untrue – which really is a damned shame. Maybe if they’d made a profile support option on Facebook as they did for others Haiti would warrant a little more sympathy and attention by the masses. Sorry, I’m forgetting, it’s not really a tragedy until Facebook confirms it! 🙄The mainstream media soon brushed off their misery with the struggles of Amerikkka and their dozen deaths (and rising) and people with no electricity having to be evacuated to safety. I mean no disrespect to their dead at all, I’m just weighing up the devastation caused to both countries in comparison to the amount of coverage and level of sympathy shown and it sucks!

I urge my real, conscious celebrity brothers and sisters to step up to the plate and help Haiti. Those fabricated stories in the media could be a reality, no question about it, but we live in a society where it’s more acceptable to worry about and support a woman who was robbed of millions of pounds worth of bling than to worry about and support a whole country in dire need. It’s a mad, sad world for real!

Haiti you are not forgotten. R.I.P to all those who have lost their lives.

Children of Aleppo you’re in our thoughts still too.