In reply to President Trump’s recent statement disparaging Haiti, I would like to share my observations of the continual improvement in Haiti in the last 29 years that I have been working there.
I am a pediatrician who has volunteered in Haiti for 29 years. I have personally witnessed a huge amount of progress in Haiti in that time.
From 1988 to 2003, I treated sick children in a village clinic. But it became clear to me that the problem of sick children would never be resolved with medical care because their underlying problem was that they were malnourished. And they were malnourished because their parents had no jobs and no money.
So, in 2003 Meds & Food for Kids (MFK) began to employ Haitians to make a ready-to-use therapeutic treatment (Medika Mamba/Plumpy’nut) product for malnutrition in Haiti. In 2012 we built a big factory with donor funds to make a much larger amount of this product and began selling it at cost to UNICEF, USAID, the World Food Program and many other mission groups in Haiti.Â
This life-saving product made by MFK’s 65 Haitian workers has not only treated thousands of children in Haiti but has now been exported to 14 countries on behalf of UNICEF. Our employees work hard and are committed to educate their children, gain skills and improve their country. These employees are responsible for saving the lives of over 300,000 children around the world.
When I first arrived in Haiti in 1988, there were few good roads, almost everyone was thin, and many people had no shoes. Only a minority of children were in school. Now roads are improved, malnutrition has been cut in half, almost everyone has shoes, and a majority of children attend school for at least a few years.
These improvements have been coming without stop despite earthquakes and hurricanes. The pace of improvement has been accelerated by cell phones and the internet, but mainly because of the resilience, hard work, and optimism of the Haitian people.
I am awed by the children doing their schoolwork under the gas station lights every evening because there is no electricity at home. I admire the parents who skimp and save to pay school fees because they know that education is the key to a better future. I am inspired by neighbors who fix their own streets and provide their own security. I am amazed that Haitian organize themselves into their own small credit unions because commercial bank loans are unaffordable.
I am humbled by Haitian persistence in the face of adversity and their ability to make do with so little. There is much we can learn from people who live in such difficult circumstances and continue to have a vibrant family and community life.
Patricia B. Wolff, M.D., is founder and executive director of Meds & Food for Kids in Quartier Morin, Haiti.
