Think of Haiti

Two papers are calling my name on this gorgeous Friday in Virginia, but I have to mention Haiti. On Monday a classmate and I gave a joint presentation about the country in our Post-Conflict Justice/Rule of Law class. We each spent at least 10 or 12 hours researching the country, which is full of great stories — being the world's #1 sugar producer and home of the world's only successful slave rebellion — and failures, such as a history of overthrown leaders and an impoverished people with little hope for the future.

This week Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Haiti. Now she's reminding the world that as the economic crisis hits us all, it hits the poor the hardest. Nowhere in the western hemisphere is there a place as poor as Haiti. They do not deserve the poverty, did not bring it on themselves. Their poverty is the result of a series of leaders, notably Papa Doc and Baby Doc Duvalier, who have taken advantage of a largely illiterate public and embezzled millions at the people's expense. The country's institutions remain in shambles, more than two decades after Baby Doc was exiled.

As so many people continue to feel sorry for themselves here in the United States — some rightfully so, of course — we would still do well to look southward, at a nation, Haiti, that desperately needs our help.