Last week I was glued to the television hoping to get good news about Haiti. After watching a local Denver reporter interview Karen Ashmore, the executive director of the Lambi Fund, I soon realized things are moving in the right direction. The Lambi Fund has done a lot to help the earthquake victims. Click here to read and view a video of the interview.
Viewing the interview infused me with new hope and a fervent desire to continue to donate to the Lambi Fund. Let’s face it, things are tough economically right now, and with two children in college and one two years away from being a freshman, I have to be very frugal. And no sooner had I celebrated the good news about what the Lambi Fund is doing in Haiti, than I got the bad news about former ruler Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier’s arrival in the country.
At first, I thought it was a joke, but much to my dismay it turned out to be true. I asked myself, why on Earth did he return to Haiti after a 20-year absence? Is he dead broke? He went into exile to France and lived a life of luxury. Why was he allowed to return? What will become of Haiti? What are his intentions? Based on the past, I am having a very difficult time believing his intentions are good.
Call me a pessimist, but I am convinced Baby Doc came back because he wants a portion of the millions of dollars poured into Haiti after the earthquake. I hope and pray that the Haitian people will wake up and demand that Baby Doc go back to France.
I am also hoping the international community will intervene and watch closely what Baby Doc will do. Haiti can’t afford more genocide. Is it not enough that thousands died under Baby Doc’s regime, the January 12th earthquake, and recently the cholera outbreak? How much can one country take?