Haitians should be grateful for overseas help
Dear Editor,
The recent protests against the foreign troops who were sent to Haiti to help maintain some order after the earthquake shows very clearly how difficult it is for foreign governments to assist poor and disorganised countries.
The foreigners, especially the Nepalese, were accused of bringing the cholera plague to Haiti. It is very unfortunate that the Haitians should seek to put the blame of this terrible disease on foreigners.
First of all, Haiti has had cholera outbreaks before. As such, it is really hypocritical for the Haitians to blame these foreign troops for the cause of the outbreak.
However, what is much worse is the fact that the disease is really a symptom of a bigger problem – the complete breakdown of order typical of Haiti. Even before the earthquake, Haiti has been a perfect example of what a people should never aspire to be. While the earthquake certainly made a bad situation worse, before the quake the situation was very bad.
Indeed, if it were not for these foreign troops, the Haitian people would have been much worse off today. It must be very frustrating for British, American, French, Brazilian and other foreign taxpayers to be called upon to save these Haitians, largely from themselves, and be cursed for it at the same time.
If I were a Haitian, I would be most grateful to these foreign troops!
Michael A Dingwall
Kingston
michael_a_dingwall@hotmail.com