The Betty Black Blog

Jamaicans have opened up our hearts and our wallets to help Haiti. Our minds have turned from our own woes with the realisation that, just a stone’s throw away, is a neighbour who makes our problems look insignificant. We text, we write cheques and we drop supplies at ODPEM. But then we watch CNN, etc. [...]

The eyes of the world have been turned to Haiti over the past two weeks since unfathomable damage was done by a 7.0 earthquake on 12th January.  We wonder what has made Haiti so poor. Certainly their history before 1804 was the same as the rest of the West Indies. Then we read Sir Hilary [...]

Similar but Different
We would expect that two countries close both in geography and culture would have similar foods. It is therefore no surprise that neighbouring Jamaica and Haiti have similar cuisine. There are many indigenous fruit, vegetables and native animals in common. Canoes of the early Tainos plied back and forth between the two Islands. [...]

The telethon will be broadcast here (if I’ve done the codes right)

J$670, US$7.70, E5.35, Y699. That is the weekly income of the average Haitian. We bandy about the phrase “Poorest Country in the Western Hemisphere” as we would “the Tallest Building” or “the Longest River” without really stopping to think what it means. We tend to transfer ideas to things we know and most of are [...]

Since Wednesday morning we have all been waiting for help to reach ravaged Haiti. Unfortunately, we live in a world that has become used to writing a letter then pressing “send” and our letter to our Aunt in China arrives. We sit at our computers and do in an hour what once took a week. [...]

An Overview
Everyone in Jamaica, the Caribbean and indeed the entire world desperately wants to help the people of Haiti, the outpouring of aid is amazing. But before you donate there are three very important things to bear in mind.

Imagine the poorest country village or the most destitute inner city community you have ever seen. Now multiply that by ten and you just begin to imagine what most of Haiti is like. The life expectancy is 60 years; infant mortality is five times ours. There is 70% unemployment and 80% of the population live [...]