Before I post this, let me say two things. First, I have been informed by a reliable source (one of the editors) that the Tribune was not responsible for writing the article whose headline I slammed; it was an AP story that they re-ran as the lead.
And second, I am trusting that by reposting this I will find someone who will tell me that this is not what my Prime Minister actually said (the emphases are mine).
Ingraham added: “It is not appropriate for us to be collecting goods to send to Haiti because there is no means by which we can get [them] there. The port is in terrible shape. The airport is difficult to navigate. The ground transportation is terrible. The extent to which we in the region can provide assistance in terms of medical support, doctors, nurses, public health, pay for medicine, food, water, whatever it is, we are clearly prepared to do so.”
Here’s my problem. If this is what he said, the message that our Prime Minister is sending is that it is all right to allow practical impediments get in the way of help. It is OK to let the fact that it’s difficult (not impossible, as Miami has demonstrated by getting Channel 10 news crews in and survivors out, or as Jamaica has demonstrated by flying its PM and the leader of the Opposition in) to get planes and boats into Haiti stop us from giving whatever we can. It’s OK for us, the wealthiest and most fortunate independent nation in our region, to keep our wealth and fortune to ourselves in this time of great need because it’s hard to do something different.
I cannot think of a worse message to be sending to a group of people already hidebound by greed and fear. I hold my leaders responsible for setting standards of behaviour. If this is what he said, our Prime Minister just gave his people license to exercise selfishness, to continue to breed prejudice, to continue to choose greed over generosity, to continue to seek the easiest paths to comfort.
I hold our leaders responsible for the way in which some of us behave. The stands they take influence the attitudes we display; monkey see, monkey do after all. I am calling on all responsible Bahamians in positions of influence and power to behave as they know we should all behave, to encourage us to make every effort to find ways to get to Haiti, to encourage us to give and give and give until it hurts, to ask us to share our wealth a little more, to ask us to give up a little of our comfort and safety to build true community and nurture compassion with our neighbours. I am calling on all talk show hosts to refuse to allow more hate and fear to infect the air waves, on all politicians to think about what is right instead of what is expedient and to model it, to all teachers to model the highest standards for behaviour, to all administrators to exercise fairness and compassion. I am not giving any of these people a free ride any more; real change comes when individuals take risks. From here on in, let us call them out.
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Nico:
There is tons of stuff being done privately. The government position be damned.
The Rotary Clubs of The Bahamas are collecting stuff and money as are lot of other people.
I have a dear friend down there I’m trying to reach to get his thoughts on how to get stuff and money in.
Don’t we know by now that politicians of all stripes want to control all these things.
Glad to see you stepping out on a policy you disagree with.
Good to hear a Bahamian voice on this…
George
(Ex College of the Bahamas journalism lecturer)
I knew that Rotary had already sent one plane and were planning more. Even if the government feels helpless, it is wrong for the leader of the whole country to make such a statement, rather than commending and supporting the private outreach that is ongoing.
Take good care, Rick.
You think there is any chance he was trying to be helpful with all the trouble at the ports and airport etc?
Hello Nicolette
I must say that I truly enjoy reading your blog site and it is one of two site that I have in my favourite bar. As a Bahamian-American who have lived in the USA for the past ten years or so;it did not surprise me when I heard and read of the comments of the PM. The racsim ideology of the politicians and some people of the Bahamas have not change towards Haiti and have been promoted for years.The wealth that you mention of the Bahamas have been built on the back-bone of the Haitian people and every other West Indian living in the Bahamas.Bahamians have seem to forgotten that the first black Prime Minister of the Bahamas -Sir Lynden Pindling heritage was very Jamaican-Haitian,his father I got to know as a child growing up in Nassau. No I`m not making out Sir Lynden to be a saint and this is not a PLP/FMN ting.But our relationship and understanding of our West Indians brothers & sister in Haiti was far better and greed and fear was not promoted as it is now.As of now I have not heard or recieved an email from the Bahamas Embassy in Washington DC on what the large Bahamian residences in the DC/MD area are doing to got supplies and funding our Haiti brothers & sister ;but I know I doing my part and as much as I can.
In closing the only way this mind set can be change if real Caribbean history and anthropology is taught in the schools/colleges and especially @ home ,like a old saying that was drilled into my head as a child “Charity begins at home”
Please do excuse the typos in my last post..I do have a recommendation for a book for you Nico.. “War is a Racket ” by Gen.Smedley J Butler .This book was mention to me year ago when I was a teenager by a family friend and I purchased it a couple of years ago before I joined the US Navy and was assigned to the Marines.Looking at your background and interests I think you may enjoy it ;alot of good insight into why Haiti is the way it is now and the current financial situation in the US and the world.It can still be found on Amazon.com.
@Livingstone, thank you very much for the comment and the recommendation. Welcome to the blog.
@Rick, your interpretation is very likely correct; I do not think the PM harbours any malice whatsoever against the Haitian people, and believe that he was being his usual pragmatic self. I do not doubt that he was trying to be helpful. But life is more than practical necessities; human beings are also creatures of emotion and of intangible needs. Symbolic action, especially in this time when we are all so helpless in the face of the tragedy, is what is needed. What is lacking from all of our political leaders, from every one of them, is the willingness to stand up and express real solidarity with the Haitian people at this time, the willingness to seek ways to be helpful. The smallest things can be of assistance at this time, and can help ordinary Bahamians focus on doing good. If he had commended the private outreach and said that the government would be focussing on different, long-term and policy-based responses, or that the government would stand in solidarity with the people and the government of Haiti and render all assistance over time that it could, the statement would not have had the same impact.
But I am finished with that now. On to other things.
Do you know where I can find a list of the private initiatives of which you are aware so that I can publicize them? The Tribune published a short list of them, and I got the notices regarding the Rotary efforts, but I would like to highlight the activities of ordinary Bahamians in the face of our political leaders’ ineptitude in this situation.
Cheers.
The Salvation Army is another group.
Peter Bates at the Signman is doing stuff, but through Rotary I think.
BWA in Freeport.
Odyssey Air.
There is a person that has been doing work in Haiti for many years, directly with a church down there but I’m not sure he would want his name published.
I’ll see what he says and revert with a private e-mail tomorrow.
One thing that seems missing from all this is, Why is there poverty.
This link might help: http://bit.ly/4QctNA
God knows Haiti and Haitian’s need a better chance.
Thanks, Rick!
Thanks for the link Rick;very interesting read.
QC was collecting goods all day on Saturday. They had already sent down 2 planes and there were 4 planes coming to Nassau from the U.S. that would also take goods down to Haiti. I am not sure if that was part of Rotary or not. You can contact the Methodist church office for more info.
Thank you!!
Maybe it’s just my cynicism but this country is too caught up in this by-election madness to care about anything/one else. It’s healthy to see that some people actually care about Haiti – the private donations, the telethon, et cetera – but that our leaders are unsympathetic is an atrocity. It’s like you were saying too many people were not participating in our Haitian situation. We always only heard one side of the story. I am proud that so many people are helping – regardless of what their families or the government says. But that is still not to say that there are those that could care less about the earthquake that destroyed lives. They just want to make sure that we’re prepared for an influx of migrants.
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